In Russia, for the first time, a hacker is being tried for cheats for games

The criminal case of Andrei Kirsanov is being heard in the Upper Iset District Court of Yekaterinburg. A 37-year-old man may become the first criminal in the history of Russia accused of "cheating" on the computer games market. His main "victim" was the Belarusian developer of online games World of Tanks and World of Warships.

In the age of digital technology, it is difficult to surprise people with crimes committed with the help of malware. But lawyers call this case a precedent, since the Ural hacker is accused of a special kind of crime, for which no one has been tried before.

In the course of the investigation, which began more than a year ago, it turned out that the attacker through the sites Cyber Tank and Cyber Ship since 2015 conducted a brisk trade in "cheats", that is, special computer programs that allow participants in online games to receive undeserved technical advantages in the gaming space.

And while some game users continued to rely on their ability to conduct virtual battles, others acquired from the hacker means of automatic aiming and easy earning points (that is, game currency). For the developer company, this development meant the loss of interest in the game among honest users and the loss of money.

According to experts hired by Wargaming, the damage is estimated at 670 million rubles.

Kirsanov sold programs of unauthorized influence on the gameplay at a price from 25 to 2125 rubles. In the first case, it was possible to pay for 150 game battles, and in the second case – 15 thousand virtual battles.

They "took" the hacker thanks to the work of the employees of the department "K" of the BSTM of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. A special technical bureau decided to conduct a "control purchase". "Cheat" was purchased by an operative, replenishing an online wallet with 2125 rubles. After passing the amount through the payment terminal, the "cheat" became available in the "My Keys" section.

The case was initiated initially on the territory of the capital and was heard by the Cheremushkin court. Kirsanov himself, who initially passed as a witness, was quickly reclassified as an accused. It was assumed that the case would be considered in a special order, since the citizen fully confessed to the crime.

However, Kirsanov unexpectedly refused to testify.

The Moscow court subsequently referred the case to the court of the Ural capital at the place of residence of the accused. Now it has become known that Kirsanov still pleaded guilty, hiding his face from journalists under a medical mask. He is accused under part 2 of Article 273 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which involves a penalty of up to 5 years of real imprisonment.