The people were identified as higher education students and have been hacking phones for two years through phishing attacks. Over time, they have hacked hundreds of people’s phones, to steal banking credentials or sell access to other buyers.
Arresting Pheonix Hacking Batch
On Wednesday, the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) made five arrests in Kyiv, who were all graduates of higher technical education institutes. The five members arrested are allegedly part of ‘Phoenix’, an international hacking group specializing in the remote hacking of mobile phones. The batch’s aim is to gain mobile account access of targets, through phishing campaigns resembling Apple and Samsung login portals. Once hijacked, they’d scour for bank details of the victim for monetization. This will be used for personal financial gains or selling the account access for, of course, money. Aside from this, the Phoenix gang has also offered hacking services for hire, for about $100-$200, and has been unlocking lost Apple devices. This happened for over two years until the Ukrainian police caught five of them today.
The police have seized computer equipment, mobile phones, specialized software, and hardware belonging to the Phoenix gang, and devices that were prepared for reselling as new in Kyiv. As per reports, these five people may face criminal charges like illegal interference into computers networks and, systems, as per Article 361 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The police are investigating the case further to draw out more people involved in this gang. The Ukrainian cyber teams have been so active lately, as they tracked down several ransomware groups, DDoS attackers, and botnet maintainers.
