Cyber specialists of the Security Service of Ukraine, together with the cyber police and American and British partners, conducted a large-scale special operation to eliminate a powerful hacker service.
According to the intelligence service, the defendants committed hacker attacks on foreign companies, as well as provided paid services to change IP addresses for other hackers. According to preliminary estimates, the group has earned more than $1 million during its activity.
"Unlike the "usual" VPN services that can be legally bought and used by everyone, the services of the attackers had a much broader functionality. In particular, they allowed computer viruses, spyware, and other malicious programs to be loaded directly through the platform. That is, it was a purely "gangster" service created by intruders for intruders and not controlled by any government or law enforcement agencies," the SBU explained.
During the investigation, it turned out that the service was organized by citizens of Ukraine, including those wanted by foreign law enforcement agencies. They administered the work of the service from home personal computers, and to avoid responsibility they hid under different nicknames on the Darknet network.
It should be noted that the services were popular among members of international hacker groups who regularly hacked into the systems of government and commercial institutions to collect confidential information; distributed ransomware viruses that encrypt information available on a PC and demand a ransom from the user; carried out DDoS attacks to paralyze the operation of systems.
According to the SBU, in order to legalize the funds received from such activities, the attackers carried out complex financial transactions using a number of online services, including those banned in Ukraine.
During the searches conducted at the place of actual residence of the defendants and in their cars, mobile phones, computer equipment, and other material evidence of illegal activity were found and seized. Hackers face up to 15 years in prison.
