Two American citizens have been arrested for allegedly conspiring with Russian hackers to hack the taxi dispatch system at John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK).
For a fee of $10, they would push specific taxis out of the waiting “queue.
The taxi dispatch systemisa computer-controlled system. Its role is to ensure that taxis leave the airport parking lot to pick up the next “ride” at the correct terminal.
Typically, taxis at airports have to wait parked for several hours before the dispatch system calls them.
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The dispatch system was established to be fair to all drivers, especially in an area where there is a high demand for their services.
Hacking the system
According to the indictment released yesterday by the US Department of Justice, two men, Daniel Abayev and Peter Leyman, hacked the JFK taxi dispatch system between September 2019 and September 2021 with the help of Russian hackers.
Since 2019, the two men had been investigating and testing various ways to access the taxi dispatch system. Among other things, paying someone to insert a USB stick (containing malware) into computers connected to the dispatch system, gaining unauthorized access via Wi-Fi and stealing tablets already connected to the dispatch system.
The participants in this attack communicated with each other via messages in which they openly declared their intention to breach the taxi dispatch system.
For example, Abayev sent one of the Russian hackers the following message in Russian around November 10, saying: “I know the Pentagon has been hacked[…]. So why can’t we hack the taxi business?”
According to the Justice Department, the hackers used their unauthorized access to create a paid-for service that allowed taxis waiting in the JFK airport parking lot to skip the line and quickly get a ride.
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Taxi drivers who participated in the scheme were required to give the hackers $10 in cash or via a mobile payment platform.
Those who recommended the service to their colleagues would be given a “free” skip-the-line ticket.
Communications between the taxi drivers and the hackers were conducted via private group chat apps.
The scheme reportedly helped the taxi drivers make about 2,500 trips per week, according to documents seen by authorities.
In addition, according to the indictment, Abayev and Leyman transferred at least $100,000 to the Russian hackers, writing as a “payment for software development.”
For the two counts of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, the maximum sentence for both men is 10 years in prison.
The two hackers will also have to hand over to the US any property directly or indirectly linked to the crimes they committed, if found guilty.
Information source: bleepingcomputer.com
