The Ukrainian authorities together with Europol neutralized the transnational hacker group

[Brother]

According to the intelligence services, they managed to arrest 11 people who are suspected of hacker attacks around the world.

As part of an international special operation, the security forces stopped the activities of a transnational criminal group that caused $ 120 million in damage to foreign companies. This was reported by the press service of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.

The special operation was carried out by the Office of the Attorney General in conjunction with the Cyber Police Department and the Investigation Department of the National Police of Ukraine with the involvement of Europol, Eurojust, law enforcement officers from France, the United States, the Netherlands and Norway.

According to the investigation, the group consisted of 11 people. Two of them distributed malicious software, the rest kept the servers running and helped to withdraw money obtained illegally.

They used ransomware to attack more than 50 companies in different countries. The defendants gained control over the companies' computer systems by exploiting their vulnerabilities. When access to the data was restored, the members of the group demanded a ransom in cryptocurrency. Among the victims are companies from France, Norway, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States.

On the territory of Kiev, Kiev, Ternopil, Kharkov, Zaporozhye and Donetsk regions, at the places of residence of the members of the criminal group and in their cars, law enforcement officers conducted 28 searches. Also, at the same time, a search was carried out in Switzerland at the premises of an accomplice of the group. The security forces seized computer equipment, hard drives, mobile phones, bank cards and cars.

Currently, there is a pre-trial investigation into the facts of unauthorized interference in the operation of computers, automated systems, computer networks or telecommunication networks and extortion (part 2 of article 361 and part 4 of article 189 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

 

[Tomcat]

Europol reports on arrest of groups that "earned" millions of euros through SIM swap attacks​

European authorities have announced the liquidation of two gangs responsible for stealing millions of dollars through SIM card hijacking. The essence of such attacks is that the criminal turns to the representatives of his victim's cellular operator and uses social engineering. For example, posing as the real owner of the number, the attacker claims that he has lost or broke the SIM card and is trying to transfer the number to a new SIM card. Then the attackers steal the accounts linked to the phone number, in fact, stealing other people's identities completely. Such attacks are often used to steal large amounts of cryptocurrency, from bank accounts (after all, intercepting 2FA codes is becoming quite easy) or hijacking expensive Instagram accounts ...

Operation Quinientos Dusim involved the European Cybercrime Center (EC3), the Spanish National Police and the Spanish Civil Guard.
Europol reports that members of two criminal groups involved in hijacking SIM cards were arrested last week: dozens of people were detained in Spain and Romania. For example, 12 suspects were arrested in Spain, who allegedly stole more than 3,000,000 euros. Detainees - persons between the ages of 22 and 52 were citizens of Italy, Romania, Colombia and Spain. They allegedly launched more than 100 attacks and, on average, stole between 6,000 and 137,000 euros per attack.
Using banking Trojans or other hacking methods, hackers obtained victims' online banking credentials, then provided fake documents to the victim's mobile provider and obtained a duplicate SIM card. This allowed them to receive two-factor authentication codes from banks and make fraudulent transfers to money mule accounts within one to two hours. That is, in fact, the victims had practically no time to notice that the phone was not working and temporarily did not belong to them.

In Romania, the authorities arrested 14 more members of the fraudsters: arrests were made simultaneously in Bucharest, Constanta, Mures, Braila and Sibiu. In early 2019, these attackers reportedly devastated several bank accounts in Austria. Using stolen credentials and stolen phone numbers, criminals entered mobile banking applications to complete transactions, which were then verified with one-time passwords sent via SMS. Using this tactic, the attackers allegedly stole over half a million euros.