Russian cybergang raises fear of new crime wave

The most notorious player in global cybercrime has suddenly vanished from the web, sparking fears that the Russian-based group is set to re-emerge as an even greater threat from a new base in China. Security experts believe that the Russian Business Network (RBN), a shadowy organisation based in St Petersburg and run by a figure known only as “Flyman”, has played a role in most of the online crime committed in the UK in recent years. Dubbed “the mother of cybercrime”, RBN has been linked by security firms to child pornography, corporate blackmail, spam attacks and online identity theft.