Security Service of Ukraine arrested a man operating a huge DDoS botnet

Ukrainian police arrested a cybercriminal who controlled a botnet composed of 100,000 devices that was available for rent to launch DDoS attacks.

Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) has arrested a hacker who controlled a DDoS botnet composed of 100,000 devices that was available for rent. The botnet was also used for other malicious activities, including spam campaigns, brute-force attacks and reconnaissance in web-based attacks.

The agents arrested the man at his home in Prykarpattia, he is a representative of the Russian electronic system of instant payments Webmoney, which is subject to the sanctions of the National Security and Defense Council.He found customers on closed forums and in Telegram chats, and made payments to “customers” through electronic payment systems banned in Ukraine.

The crook was advertising his botnet on closed forums and in Telegram chats, he accepted payments through electronic platforms such as Webmoney.

The man used his real address to register an account on Webmoney, an error that allowed the Ukrainian police to find his residence.

“During searches conducted at the addresses of registration and actual residence of the malefactor, computer equipment with evidence of illegal activity was seized.” reads the press release published by the Ukrainian SSU.

The botmaster is now facing charges for the violation of Part 2 of Art. 361-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, for the sale and the rent of malicious software and its use to interfere with computer systems networks.

The man could risk several years in jail in case a Ukrainian judge will condemn him.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, cybercrime)

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Pierluigi Paganini

Pierluigi Paganini is member of the ENISA (European Union Agency for Network and Information Security) Threat Landscape Stakeholder Group and Cyber G7 Group, he is also a Security Evangelist, Security Analyst and Freelance Writer. Editor-in-Chief at "Cyber Defense Magazine", Pierluigi is a cyber security expert with over 20 years experience in the field, he is Certified Ethical Hacker at EC Council in London. The passion for writing and a strong belief that security is founded on sharing and awareness led Pierluigi to find the security blog "Security Affairs" recently named a Top National Security Resource for US. Pierluigi is a member of the "The Hacker News" team and he is a writer for some major publications in the field such as Cyber War Zone, ICTTF, Infosec Island, Infosec Institute, The Hacker News Magazine and for many other Security magazines. Author of the Books "The Deep Dark Web" and “Digital Virtual Currency and Bitcoin”.