(BLOOMBERG) -- The mastermind behind malware attacks that programmed ATMs to spit out cash on demand and caused more than 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) of losses, has been arrested in Spain.
The leader of a criminal gang that carried out the malware attacks known as Carbanak and Cobalt was detained in Alicante following an investigation by Spanish police, Europol and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Spain’s Interior Ministry named the suspect as Denis K, a Ukrainian national. Europol, the European Union agency for law enforcement cooperation, said in a statement that Romanian, Belorussian and Taiwanese authorities also took part in the manhunt.
The organized crime group has been operating since 2013, targeting over 100 financial institutions around the world in heists of as much as 10 million euros per operation. The malware they created could instruct ATMs to dispense cash at a pre-determined time, with gang members waiting by the machines collecting the money.