The cyber department of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) has dismantled a hacking group that stole accounts of about 30 million people and sold them on the dark web.
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The hackers used malware to obtain credentials and other sensitive data available on victim systems in Ukraine and the European Union.
The SSU says the threat actor offered data packages, which were purchased en masse by pro-Kremlin propagandists, who then used the accounts to spread fake news on social media, sow panic, and cause destabilization in Ukraine and other countries.
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“According to preliminary data, hackers sold about 30 million accounts and received a “profit” of almost 14 million UAH ($380,000),” the SSU reports.
They used anonymous dark web marketplaces to sell this information and received payments via YooMoney, Qiwi, and WebMoney, which are banned in Ukraine.
During raids on the perpetrators' homes in Lviv, Ukraine, police found and seized multiple hard drives with stolen personal data along with computers, SIM cards, mobile phones and flash drives.
The number of people arrested remains unknown, but all face criminal charges for unauthorized sale or distribution of restricted information stored on computers and networks. These charges carry multiple prison sentences.
The distribution of fake news about the war has become an epidemic in Ukraine, starting immediately after the initial stages of the Russian invasion. The deluge of both disinformation and misinformation continues today.
In March, the SSU dismantled five disinformation bot farms across the country, which used 100,000 fake social media accounts. In August, a massive bot farm, numbering one million bots, was discovered and destroyed by Ukrainian police.
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In September, SSU found two more bot farms that were spreading fake news on social media through 7,000 accounts.
In many cases, bot farms are easier to detect, but by using real people's accounts the chances of the business being exposed are much lower due to the history of posts and organic activity.
Information source: bleepingcomputer.com
