Hacker Who Spread Malware to 80K Freelance Workers Finally Nabbed

Source: PCMag A hacker who sent malicious Excel attachments a decade ago, circulating malware to 80,000 freelance workers, has finally been caught, according to federal investigators.

Searzhudin Tamirlanovich Aktulaev allegedly exploited a “well-known freelance employment technology company” in California to spread the malware between Jun. 2016 and Nov.

2017. Aktulaev used about 255 fake accounts to send messages containing malicious Microsoft Excel attachments. “The indictment against Aktulaev was filed in 2021 but was finally unsealed this week. He was arrested in May 2025 in Cyprus.

Federal investigators then successfully extradited him to the U.S., where Aktulaev made his initial appearance in a federal court in San Francisco earlier this week. Full Story