I watched the downfall and eventual jailing of someone who had a great job, career, and family after he started getting involved in cybercrime.

As far as I can make sense of it, he enjoyed the thrill of feeling superior to others: Evading the law, exploiting people who viewed as stupid, and enriching himself in the process.

He got caught through a mistake that was really dumb in retrospect. I think he believed his intellectual superiority combined with the stupidity of others so much that eventually he couldn’t imagine anyone catching him.

> The people involved definitely have the skills to be profitable at legitimate work; it just puzzles me that they choose to support criminals.

I don't think it's that easy to go legit. having a tech job nowadays is already a luxury

Cybersecurity is always last on the budget list. It is not easy to make money working in cybersecurity.

The only upside here is that criminals will (through legislation) eventually force companies to invest more.

often the issue is capital. they're working for money, at the end of the day.

you can build your own skills and develop your own motivation. but if the only funding you can access is illicit, there's one path forward.

or maybe it's ideological. this example seems to be a bit of a geopolitical thing too.

Law enforcement doesn't typically talk about ongoing investigations.

The article spells it out clearly: charging them with violating sanctions law by directly or indirectly making economic resources available to EU-sanctioned entities.

I feel like you’re only asking this because you disagree with their charges, not because you genuinely have no clue why they’re arrested.

> …charging them with violating sanctions law by directly or indirectly making economic resources available to EU-sanctioned entities…

I guess that's why.

> charging them with violating sanctions law by directly or indirectly making economic resources available to EU-sanctioned entities.

Did you read this part?