Кіберполіція Запорізької області
Cyberpolice in Zaporizhzhia region exposed a 35-year-old hacker who hacked into the accounts of more than 5,000 customers of a well-known hosting service and mined cryptocurrencies on the servers.
The Poltava native has been engaged in criminal activity since 2018. In open sources, he found information about weaknesses in protection international campaigns to gain access to their servers. As follows from the message of cyber police, this episode with the hosting provider was not the only one.
After gaining access, the attacker deployed virtual machines on the servers, where he launched cryptocurrency mining using the servers’ power. Law enforcement officials did not disclose how much the hacker managed to earn, but they estimated the losses at $4.5 million (or UAH 185 million). The cybercriminal changed his place of residence from time to time, in particular in Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, Poltava, and Dnipro regions.
During searching the suspect’s home cyber police seized computers, phones and other material evidence. An examination of the equipment revealed many accounts on hacker forums associated with its user. They found data of mailboxes used for hacking, crypto wallets for storing generated assets, software for mining, remote control and information collection.
The cyber police initiated criminal proceedings under Part 5 of Art. 361 (Unauthorized interference with the operation of information (automated), electronic communication, information and communication systems, electronic communication networks). The offenses are punishable by up to 15 years in prison with restrictions on employment for up to 3 years.