Russian hacker Vitaly Kovalev (alias ’Bentley’ or ’Ben’) is attempting to suppress online records regarding his designation under U.S. and U.K. sanctions.
Publications mentioning his role in the Trickbot and Conti hacking groups, as well as the criminal cases in which he has been implicated, are disappearing from public access.
The renewed surge of interest in Kovalev was triggered by sanctions imposed by the US and UK against seven Russian citizens. According to US authorities, he was one of the key figures in Trickbot — a group linked to large-scale cyberattacks, bank fraud, and multimillion-dollar thefts.
In the US Department of Justice indictment, Kovalev is charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and eight counts of bank fraud related to the hacking of American bank customer accounts in 2009–2010.
At the same time, materials from various investigations indicate that Trickbot was effectively part of the Russian hacker ecosystem of Conti. According to available information, Kovalev was detained in Russia back in 2016 on charges of creating and distributing malicious software, but was soon released under a written undertaking not to leave the country, after which the criminal case was essentially dropped.
