Kyiv detains hackers who created fake accounts of Malyuk and Budanov
Kyiv • UNN
Kyiv detained two pro-Russian hackers who created fake social media accounts posing as Ukrainian officials and spreading disinformation about the war.
Law enforcers detained two pro-Russian hackers in Kyiv who created fake accounts for the heads of Ukrainian special services, including the head of the Security Service and the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. The hackers used social media to spread disinformation about the war in Ukraine. UNN reports this with reference to the SBU.
In the course of complex measures, two organizers who massively spread disinformation about the war in Ukraine and tried to artificially discredit the Defense Forces were detained. For this purpose, they created fake accounts in social networks and messengers, in particular on behalf of the Head of the Security Service and the Chief of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine
In order to create the appearance of "real" pages, the men reposted official posts from the SBU and the GUR on these accounts. However, in personal messages, the criminals extorted money from people and offered their "help."
They also registered fake pages of Ukrainians from different regions on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tik-Tok, as well as on Russian Odnoklassniki and Vkontakte.
"In total, the bot farm's capacity allowed its organizers to generate more than 1,000 fake accounts daily," the SBU added.
According to the Ukrainian service, the men coordinated their actions with representatives of Russian intelligence, from whom they received "instructions."
In this way, the enemy hoped to undermine the socio-political situation in Ukraine and damage the image of our country in the international arena
During the searches of the bot farm organizers' homes, they were found:
- specialized equipment for "growing" fictitious Internet addresses;
- SIM cards of mobile operators to which controlled accounts were registered.
Also, unregistered firearms with ammunition and combat grenades were seized from the offenders.
SBU investigators have served both detainees a notice of suspicion under Part 1 Art. 263 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (illegal handling of weapons, ammunition or explosives).
The defendants are in custody. The offenders face up to 7 years in prison.
