The cyber department of Ukraine's Security Service (SSU) has dismantled a hacker group in Lviv that compromised internet accounts of users in Ukraine and the European Union in order to steal personal data. The hacked accounts were then sold on illegal markets in the dark web.
The SSU says the threat actors gained access to the accounts with the help of malware. The hackers sold up to 30 million accounts and earned almost UAH 14 million (approximately $380.000).
A large portion of the suspects’ customers were pro-Kremlin propagandists that used hacked accounts to spread fake news about the ongoing Russia-Ukrainian war and the situation on the front lines to create panic among citizens of Ukraine. Some of the compromised accounts were used to disseminate false narratives about the social and political situation in Ukraine and the EU.
The police seized computer equipment, mobile phones, SIM cards, flash drives, and hard magnetic disks with confidential information.