‘Russian Agents Offer Crypto For CEC Data on the Darknet’

Ukrainian Cyber Police: ‘Russian Agents Offer Crypto For CEC Data on the Darknet’

Ukrainian Cyber Police chief Sergey Demedyk states that Russian intelligence agents are buying Ukrainian CEC chairmen personal data over the darkweb. They are using cryptocurrencies to do it, the chief claims. 

Also read: U.K. Watchdog Outlines 3 Token Types, Says Utility Tokens ‘Not Securities’

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The Imperial Scouts Look For Personal Data

Demedyk says that Russian agents pay with cryptocurrencies on Darknet forums for the personal data of CEC chairmen. The head of police points out that the tracks lead to mercenary hackers who work under the direction of Russian Secret Services.

Particularly, the agency has spotted a number of virtual attack attempts coming from the Russian territory since 2017. Attackers have tried to crack judicial power servers and some of the servers behind the Ministry of Temporarily Occupied Territories.

On January 26th, Demedyk told Reuters that the hackers are also attacking Ukrainian CEC servers, as well as personal computers in campaign offices that have a connection to the Web.

After an investigation, police officers concluded that the crypto payments for both CEC data leaks and collateral attacks on the government were made from the same wallet. Considering Ukrainian and Russian darknet users prefer using bitcoin, this may be a case of successful blockchain tracking.

Elections May be the Cause of the Attacks

The largest attacks are expected to begin when the Central Election Commission branches will begin working. Which means one month before the March 31st elections.

Ukrainian officials are already getting dozens of spam emails pretending to be from their own government offices. Those emails contain malware that steals passwords and other personal data from the device. Hackers continue their everyday attacks on Electoral Servers and a number of other institutions.

Sergey stressed that hackers sent emails with holiday greetings to the relatives and friends of government workers as well. The emails pretend to be sent by online shops, software update vendors, or the Ukrainian government: all to ensure that people will be in hurry to open them. Per Demedyk:

“Such virtual greetings are sent to officials and their dear ones, containing malware that obtain control over their computer hardware. New Year greetings with viruses sent under the name of Ukrainian govt. institutions have become terribly popular.”

Ukrainian Internal Enemies Won’t Get Away Unpunished

The cyber police fights with its own internal enemies too. As reported on January 24th, a wise hacker was arrested in the city of Zaporizhia. The man has created harmful code that steals users’ passwords from crypto exchanges once injected into the system.

Ukrainians are susceptible to the code from a number of popular local websites or via spam emails, which look the same as those sent from Russian agents. Users who open the attachment had their crypto account logins and passwords compromised. The hacker then got into their exchange accounts and sent their funds to his own bitcoin address.

This is not the first time the Ukrainian Cyber Police have arrested local crypto-related crooks. Despite the political crisis in the country, efficient police departments remain vigilant. A new generation of cyber cops deliver the stolen bitcoin back to the owners. This leave Ukrainian citizens and tourists with some hope for help in cases of cryptocurrency theft.

What do you think about malware, email spam, and hackers? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images by Jeff Fawkes, Blogspot, UCP