Estonian hacker sentenced to 11 years in prison for cyberattack that stole $9.4 million

An Estonian man who pleaded guilty to orchestrating a 2008 cyberattack on a credit card processing company that enabled hackers to steal $9.4 million has been sentenced to 11 years in prison by a federal judge in Atlanta.

Prosecutors said Friday that 30-year-old Sergei Nicolaevich Tsurikov was also ordered to pay restitution of $8.4 million.

Sally Quillian Yates, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, called Tsurikov the leader of "one of the most sophisticated cybercrime rings in the world."

Prosecutors say Tsurikov and others in November 2008 hacked the Royal Bank of Scotland Group in Atlanta and created counterfeit payroll debit cards used to withdraw money from more than 2,100 ATMs in at least 280 cities worldwide.

Tsurikov of Tallinn pleaded guilty to federal charges in September 2012.