Global cybercrime network taken down, Georgia involved in process
Small businesses, law firms, international corporations and non-profit organisations fell victim to the malware. Photo:CPO Magazine.
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A global organized cybercrime network that used malware GozNym to infect computers and steal 100 million USD from more than 41,000 institutions has been taken down - Georgia helped in the process.
The malware included various criminal services such as inaccessible hosting domains, encryption of malicious program, so-called spammers, technical support.
Small businesses, law firms, international corporations and non-profit organisations fell victim to the malware.
The BBC says ten members of the gang were charged in Pittsburgh, US on various offences, including stealing money and laundering those funds via US and foreign bank accounts.
Criminal persecution against the gang leader and his assistant is underway in Georgia while five Russian citizens are still at large including the person who developed the malware.
Other members of the network are persecuted in other countries. Namely:
- A member who took over different bank accounts was extradited to the US from Bulgaria
- Another member who encrypted the malware faces charges in Moldova
- Other two people will be judged in Germany for money laundering
An inaccessible hosting service administrator named Avalanche provided the gang with a reliable hosting service. It also served more than 200 cyber-criminals and approximately 20 malicious campaigns.
Georgia has been ranked ninth in Europe in the Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) 2018, which is a composite index produced, analysed and published by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to measure the commitment of its 194 member states to cybersecurity in order to raise cybersecurity awareness.
Georgian Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia claims that a cyber-attack on the leading Georgian bank TBC was identified and responded to several weeks before the address of bank officials.
Minister of Defence of Georgia Levan Izoria and Minister of National Defence of Lithuania Raimundas Karoblis signed a declaration of intent on cooperation in the field of cyber security today.
The administration of the President of Georgia has announced that the manager of President Salome Zurabishvili’s Twitter account made a mistake in re-tweeting US President Donald Trump’s tweet calling democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden “sleepy Joe.”
Georgian Interior Minister Giorgi Gakhtaria has met with 9-year-old Dachi Gulua who has requested that local traffic signs portray women as well.
Police have detained an individual in Georgia’s Black seaside region of Adjara for stealing money through Internet fraud that affected dozens of people. The Georgian Interior Ministry reported today that an individual identified as G.I. received 8,000 GEL [Up to $2,919/€2,588] through fraud since December 2018.
3,000 IT specialists will be retrained as a part of a programme supported by the World Bank. The programme’s budget is 7 million lari ($2,495,543/ €2,212,898). The tender to retrain the specialists was announced earlier today at the Courtyard Marriott. The free course will be launched in autumn 2019.
The US condemns Russia’s ‘widespread disruptive cyber attack against Georgia,' carried out in October 2019, the press office of US State Secretary Mike Pompeo said earlier today.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry has stated that on October 28, 2019, the Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) Main Center for Special Technologies carried out a ‘widespread, disruptive cyber attack’ against web pages and servers of Georgian governmental agencies, court and media organisations.“The attack caused serious damage to the web pages and servers. The cyberattack aimed to undermine Georgia’s national security, harming the Georgian population, disrupting the functioning of government agencies, as well as various organizations, and stirring commotion in public."
Police have detained a Georgian citizen for cyber crimes in Tbilisi, Interior Ministry reported yesterday. The ministry said the individual, identified only as A.B. and born in 2000, fraudulently accessed the Facebook accounts of 25 people between December 2019 and May 2020.
Georgia and 15 other states were involved in a large-scale, international operation coordinated by Europol to arrest 20 individuals suspected of belonging to the QQAAZZ criminal network which has laundered tens of millions of euros on behalf of the world’s foremost cybercriminals.
Georgian police have detained an Indian citizen for illegally accessing computer systems, extraction and misuse of computer data and theft. The crime is punishable by three to five years in prison.
Police have detained five individuals for unauthorized access to computer systems and fraud in Tbilisi, Gori and the western municipality of Tsalenjikha.