Russian malware chief Aleksandr Panin admits masterminding SpyEye bank hack

A Russian man has pleaded guilty in a US court to conspiring to drain bank accounts across the US and overseas with a computer program he created.

Aleksandr Andreevich Panin - also known as "Gribodemon" and "Harderman" - pleaded guilty in a federal court on Tuesday to a charge of conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud.

Authorities said malware he created infected more than 1.4 million computers in the United States and abroad and was responsible for untold amounts of financial theft.

He appeared in court wearing an orange jail uniform with his legs chained together as he entered a guilty plea after reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors.

Another man, Hamza Bendelladj, was also indicted in the case and pleaded not guilty in May after being extradited from Thailand, where he was arrested a year ago. The case against him is still pending.

Authorities say 24-year-old Panin was the main author of SpyEye - a type of program known as a banking Trojan, which was implanted onto computers to harvest financial information so its users could drain accounts.