Or: why using the same iCloud account for malware development and gaming is a bad idea

The US government has named and charged a Russian national, Maxim Rudometov, with allegedly developing and administering the notorious Redline infostealer. 

The story of how the FBI found and identified the alleged Russian malware developer spans years of digital detective work connecting the suspect's online monikers, email and IP addresses, the iCloud account he reportedly used for gaming and code sharing, plus his dating and social media profiles. 

It also serves as a cautionary tale for would-be cybercriminals about the potential pitfalls of leaving a permanent digital footprint for law enforcement to track — but more on that in a minute.

Redline, which the feds say has been used to infect millions of computers worldwide since February 2020, was sold to other criminals via a malware-as-a-service model under which affiliates pay a fee to use the infostealer in their own campaigns.

Once deployed on targeted machines, the data-stealing malware scoops ...