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US citizens Abaev and Leiman hacked the dispatch system with the help of Russian hackers and organized a business that helps taxi drivers not wait in line for an order. For this, Abayev received four years in prison, while Leiman received two years in prison.
The Russians helped the Americans
The hacking of the taxi dispatcher system at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) resulted in two Americans being jailed for several years, PCMag reported.
U.S. citizens Daniel Abayev and Peter Leyman were sentenced to four and two years in prison, respectively, after both pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to hack a computer system. The monetary punishment of the accused amounted to more than $3.5 million.
They were in cahoots with Russian citizens Alexander Derebenets and Kirill Shipulin, who, according to US officials, remain at large.
Abaev and Leiman "allegedly, with the assistance of Russian hackers, caused damage to JFK's electronic taxi dispatching system, disrupting fair order and creating chaos for honest taxi professionals," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.
"Their actions have enabled up to a thousand fraudulent taxi rides a day, highlighting the serious threat that cyber hacking poses to critical infrastructure. Thanks to our joint efforts with law enforcement partners, their scheme was uncovered, and the defendants were rightfully sentenced, " Williams said.
To make taxi driving in New York work like a human being
At JFK Airport, taxi drivers usually have to wait in the parking lot before the dispatch system calls them so they can pick up a passenger. This is a first-come, first-served system that could lead to hours of waiting for drivers.
CNews wrote in detail about how the Russians helped the Americans solve this problem in December 2022. But the identities of Russian cyber intruders were still unknown at the time.
Enterprising 48-year-old Americans Abaev and Leiman agreed with "Russian hackers "to break into the information system, which allowed them to write out so-called" passes " to taxi drivers at the beginning of the queue in exchange for a modest reward of $10 (690 rubles at the exchange rate of the Central Bank on December 21, 2022).
"I know the Pentagon is being hacked... so can't we hack the taxi industry[?], "Abayev wrote in a message to one of the Russian hackers.
According to the US Department of Justice, the scheme operated from at least September 2019 to September 2021.
To use it, drivers sent their taxi company employee ID numbers to a group chat. In response, they received a message about which terminal to drive to.
Entrepreneurs even came up with a system of bonuses and incentives that provides drivers with a 100% discount on their services. To get the right to free travel to the front of the queue, you had to connect another driver to the system who had not previously used their services. As a result, everyone won — Abaev and Leiman got a new client, and the driver saved $10.
Abaev and Leiman were able to compensate for the cost of hackers, who they paid $100 thousand, in less than two weeks, after which they began to make a net profit.
The maximum penalty for the charges against them is 10 years in prison. So they still got off easy.
The Russians helped the Americans
The hacking of the taxi dispatcher system at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) resulted in two Americans being jailed for several years, PCMag reported.
U.S. citizens Daniel Abayev and Peter Leyman were sentenced to four and two years in prison, respectively, after both pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to hack a computer system. The monetary punishment of the accused amounted to more than $3.5 million.
They were in cahoots with Russian citizens Alexander Derebenets and Kirill Shipulin, who, according to US officials, remain at large.
Abaev and Leiman "allegedly, with the assistance of Russian hackers, caused damage to JFK's electronic taxi dispatching system, disrupting fair order and creating chaos for honest taxi professionals," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.
"Their actions have enabled up to a thousand fraudulent taxi rides a day, highlighting the serious threat that cyber hacking poses to critical infrastructure. Thanks to our joint efforts with law enforcement partners, their scheme was uncovered, and the defendants were rightfully sentenced, " Williams said.
To make taxi driving in New York work like a human being
At JFK Airport, taxi drivers usually have to wait in the parking lot before the dispatch system calls them so they can pick up a passenger. This is a first-come, first-served system that could lead to hours of waiting for drivers.
CNews wrote in detail about how the Russians helped the Americans solve this problem in December 2022. But the identities of Russian cyber intruders were still unknown at the time.
Enterprising 48-year-old Americans Abaev and Leiman agreed with "Russian hackers "to break into the information system, which allowed them to write out so-called" passes " to taxi drivers at the beginning of the queue in exchange for a modest reward of $10 (690 rubles at the exchange rate of the Central Bank on December 21, 2022).
"I know the Pentagon is being hacked... so can't we hack the taxi industry[?], "Abayev wrote in a message to one of the Russian hackers.
According to the US Department of Justice, the scheme operated from at least September 2019 to September 2021.
To use it, drivers sent their taxi company employee ID numbers to a group chat. In response, they received a message about which terminal to drive to.
Entrepreneurs even came up with a system of bonuses and incentives that provides drivers with a 100% discount on their services. To get the right to free travel to the front of the queue, you had to connect another driver to the system who had not previously used their services. As a result, everyone won — Abaev and Leiman got a new client, and the driver saved $10.
Abaev and Leiman were able to compensate for the cost of hackers, who they paid $100 thousand, in less than two weeks, after which they began to make a net profit.
The maximum penalty for the charges against them is 10 years in prison. So they still got off easy.
