Law enforcement officials in Spain have arrested a Russian computer programmer who has been identified by some experts as an infamous spam kingpin.

Pyotr Levashov was arrested in Barcelona, a spokesman for the Russian embassy in Spain confirmed over the weekend, according to Reuters.

Levashov, who authorities say is also known as Peter Severa, is accused of using malware to create a global network of hijacked computers called "Kelihos" that he used to send spam email messages. Those spam messages may have been criminal in their own right, including "pump and dump" stock market schemes. He is also accused of stealing credentials to financial accounts.

http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/...programmer

Sources say this was at the request of the FBI