Hacked accounts and sold them on a hacker forum: police exposed a man from Bukovyna

Cyberpolice of Chernivtsi region, together with the SBU, exposed a resident of Bukovyna who hacked social media accounts and sold them on a hacker forum. The man faces up to 15 years in prison. This was reported by the National Police of Ukraine, according to UNN.

Details

Law enforcement officers established that the man independently created malicious software for automatically hacking user accounts on social networks and other platforms. The victims were mostly citizens of the USA and Europe.

The attacker sold compromised accounts on one of the hacker forums. Over time, the man became a trusted person of the administrators of this forum, gaining the status of an "arbitrator". The defendant was involved in resolving disputes between forum users, in particular, regarding transactions related to the purchase/sale of services and digital goods.

In addition, the man administered a bot farm with more than 5,000 accounts.

The Bukovynian administered a bot farm with more than 5,000 profiles on various social networks, with the aim of "boosting" subscribers for customer accounts. Usually, the latter need this to implement various shadow schemes and scams.

Cyberpolice and investigators of the Chernivtsi region police, with the силової підтримки of the special purpose police company, conducted searches in the suspect's apartment and car and seized computer equipment and mobile devices with evidence of illegal activity.

The attacker was notified of suspicion under Part 5 of Article 361 (Unauthorized interference with the operation of information (automated), electronic communication, information and communication systems, electronic communication networks), Part 1 of Article 361-1 (Creation for the purpose of illegal use, distribution or sale of harmful software or technical means, as well as their distribution or sale), Part 1 of Article 361-2 (Unauthorized sale or distribution of restricted access information stored in electronic computing machines (computers), automated systems, computer networks or on carriers of such information) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

The articles provide for up to 15 years in prison with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to three years. Currently, the man is under round-the-clock house arrest, and the pre-trial investigation is ongoing.

Recall

In Poland, a Russian citizen was arrested, suspected of hacking the IT systems of several Polish companies. Poland records up to 4,000 cyberattacks daily, most of which are related to pro-Russian groups.