Russian pleads guilty in U.S. to operating Kelihos botnet

(Reuters) - A Russian man pleaded guilty on Wednesday in U.S. federal court in Connecticut to criminal hacking charges stemming from his operation of the Kelihos botnet, the U.S. Justice Department said in a statement.

Peter Yuryevich Levashov, 38, used the Kelihos botnet to facilitate malicious activities including harvesting login credentials, distributing bulk spam e-mails, and installing ransomware and other malicious software, the department said.

(Reporting by Eric Beech in Washington; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)