"Ukrainian Police Arrest Suspected Brute-Force Account Hijackers"

Ukrainian cyber police recently arrested three men suspected of hijacking the accounts of over 100 million internet users.  The trio, aged between 20 and 40, were arrested by police in the country’s Kharkiv region under the guidance of the regional prosecutor’s office.  The police said that the trio were operating as part of a cybercrime group and used brute-force techniques to hijack victims’ email and Instagram accounts that were protected by easy-to-guess passwords.  These attacks typically use automated software to try various combinations of commonly used credentials in order to gain access.  The police noted that although the three lived in different parts of the country, they each played a particular role: the organizer dividing responsibilities among the other two, who compiled databases of hacked accounts and sold them on the dark web.  According to police, these were mainly purchased by fraud groups for use in follow-on scams targeting other victims.  Law enforcement officers carried out seven searches at the homes of suspects in Kyiv, Odesa, Vinnytsia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Donetsk, and Kirovohrad regions.  Over 70 pieces of computer equipment, 14 phones, bank cards, and more than $3000 in cash were seized.  The three are being held under Part 3 of Article 28 and Part 5 of Article 361 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and face up to 15 years in prison if found guilty.

Infosecurity Magazine reports: "Ukrainian Police Arrest Suspected Brute-Force Account Hijackers"