“Russian-linked computer crime at American colleges, reported earlier this month to have occurred at Arizona State University, also appears to have sprung up at two institutions in Southern California.
Philip L. Mullendore, chief of the Pasadena City College police, announced Friday that he had arrested Russian-born Dimitri Sinilnikov at the institution last month as Mr. Sinilnikov allegedly was installing software on computers that could record users’ credit card numbers and other personal data.
Immediately before the arrest, federal Secret Service agents and the security chief of the California Institute of Technology, also in Pasadena, had advised Chief Mullendore to be on the lookout for Mr. Sinilnikov, the police chief said.
The announcement followed a disclosure last week that Arizona state police officers in May had seized hard drives and computers at Arizona State that were infected with similar software.”