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Karim Baratov’s sentencing was postponed while Judge Vince Chhabria sought comparisons with sentences in other hacking cases and considered whether prosecutors’ requested term was too long. Baratov was ultimately sentenced on May 29, 2018.
Why was the sentencing delayed?
Baratov, a Canadian resident, pleaded guilty on November 28, 2017, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. His sentencing was initially scheduled for February 20, 2018. At an April 24 hearing, Judge Chhabria sought further briefing and comparisons with sentences imposed in similar hacking cases, pushing the proceeding to late May.
Prosecutors sought 94 months in prison. Contemporaneous reports said Chhabria questioned whether that request exceeded the sentences given to comparable hackers. The delay was therefore tied to the court’s consideration of the proposed punishment, not a change to the date of the guilty plea.
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According to U.S. Department of Justice charging materials, Baratov was paid to obtain passwords and access to webmail accounts for Russian FSB officers Dmitry Dokuchaev and Igor Sushchin. Prosecutors described his role as hacking for hire; the broader case also charged Russian hacker Alexsey Belan.
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The DOJ described the wider operation as including unauthorized access to Yahoo’s network and spear-phishing targeting accounts at Yahoo, Google and other providers. Baratov’s paid account-access work should be distinguished from the alleged state tasking and the other conduct charged in the broader case.
How many email accounts were involved?
The reported numbers refer to different scopes and should not be treated as interchangeable:
- About 11,000 accounts: CyberScoop reported in 2018 that this was the scale of Baratov’s individual hacking-for-hire activity.
- At least 500 million Yahoo accounts: The DOJ’s 2017 indictment announcement said information was stolen from at least this many accounts in the Yahoo intrusion. This figure describes the broader Yahoo breach, not Baratov’s individual target count.
What sentence did Baratov receive?
On May 29, 2018, Chhabria sentenced Baratov to 60 months in prison and imposed a $250,000 fine encompassing his remaining assets, according to the DOJ’s sentencing announcement. The plea agreement also addressed restitution and provided a fine framework of up to $2.25 million, subject to the court’s orders and available assets; that framework was not the fine ultimately imposed.
In the DOJ announcement, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California Alex G. Tse said: “The sentence imposed reflects the seriousness of hacking for hire.”
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