Ukrainian security services announced on Friday, September 23, that they had arrested a group of hackers specializing in the resale of user accounts.
This is the personal data of more than 30 million accounts of Ukrainians and citizens of the European Union. Operating from Lviv, a city in the east of the country, the hackers would have sold this information to pro-Kremlin clients for the purpose of disinformation.
New proof of the effectiveness of Ukrainians in cyber warfare
This announcement is further proof of the importance of cybersecurity in the war between Russia and Ukraine, but also of the effectiveness of Ukrainian security services in this area. Since the beginning of the invasion at the end of February, they have indeed largely succeeded in resisting cyberattacks, keeping most of their strategic infrastructure and government data protected, despite the fear that Kremlin hackers aroused before the conflict.
Since the beginning of the year, the Ukrainians have also managed to identify and shut down tens of thousands of bots operating from their territory. The latter were mainly used to relay communication from the Russian authorities and spread panic among Ukrainian citizens.
Data sold to Kremlin propagandists
In a press release, the Ukrainian security services announced that the Lviv-based hacker group, which allegedly managed to amass a database of more than 30 million accounts on different sites and platforms, had accumulated a profit of 372 000 dollars. The transactions would have been made in particular via YooMoney and Kiwi, illegal payment systems in the country, because they are of Russian origin.
But what is especially criticized for the group of hackers, beyond this theft and resale, are above all its customers. Indeed, these data were sold to organizations which used them extensively for the purpose of propaganda in favor of the action of the Kremlin. The final objective was to organize disinformation and destabilization in several European countries through the dissemination of false information on the situation at the front.
Sources: The Hacker News, Bleeping Computer
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