Cyber police officers of the Zaporizhia region together with investigators of the police No. 1 of the district police department of the Main Police Department in the region under the procedural guidance of the Voznesenivka District Prosecutor's Office of the city of Zaporizhia, with the assistance of the Department of International Police Cooperation and with the support of Europol exposed a man who hacked into the accounts of users of an international company in order to mine cryptocurrency on the company's servers.
Police officers established that a 35-year-old native of Poltava had been collecting information from open sources since 2018, finding weaknesses in the protection of various international companies, and gaining access to their servers.
In particular, the defendant illegally gained access to over 5 customer accounts of an international hosting company that provides server rental services for the operation of various websites and online platforms.
After gaining access to these accounts, the attacker began to deploy unauthorized virtual machines (software that simulates the operation of a computer) using the company's server resources.
As a result of such actions, the company suffered losses of about $4,5 million, or almost 185 million hryvnias in equivalent.
Law enforcement officers identified the hacker, who periodically changed his place of residence within the Poltava, Odessa, Zaporizhia, and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Police conducted a series of searches and seized computer equipment, mobile phones, bank cards, and other physical evidence.
During an examination of the seized equipment, cyber police officers determined that the man had numerous accounts on hacker forums and documented the following evidence of the defendant's illegal activities:
- authorization data of email accounts that were used to hack accounts;
- crypto wallets where the generated cryptocurrency was stored;
- software (scripts) for configuring, launching and managing cryptocurrency mining;
- specialized software for collecting information and remote management of equipment.
Criminal proceedings were initiated under Part 5 of Article 361 (Unauthorized interference in the operation of information (automated), electronic communication, information and communication systems, electronic communication networks) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The sanction of the article provides for a penalty of imprisonment for a term of up to fifteen years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to three years.
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