Ukraine hackers steal EUR 1.5 mln from DHL

Cyber Police Department of the National Police of Ukraine together with German law enforcers revealed that two residents of the western Ukrainian city of Chernivtsi from 2013 to 2016 illegally got hold of digital package stamps of the DHL global logistics service.

By reselling stamps with significant discounts, the two hackers inflicted on the company a damage of over EUR 1.5 million, the cyber police press service reported.

"By accessing the accounts of German mail customers, criminals ordered bulks of digital package stamps using the previously stolen authorization data (including identifiers, passwords, and banking card numbers). The perpetrators would later resell the stamps with significant discounts of 50-70% of the cost," the report said.

It is noted that law enforcers documented more than 200 cases of illegal sale of postal package stamps. Criminal proceeds were immediately cashed via accounts opened with banks in Cyprus and Spain.

Read alsoUkraine struggling to tackle vulnerabilities against Russian cyberattacks - mediaComputer equipment and data carriers were seized in authorized searches at the hackers' homes to be sent for further examination.

As UNIAN reported, in late February, Ukrainian cyber police rearrested in Kyiv a Russian-born Hennadiy Kapkanov, an alleged mastermind behind a sophisticated global cybercrime network of computer servers, known as Avalanche.

The cybercrime network Avalanche was active for seven years, and it took the efforts of law enforcement agencies from 40 countries to shut it down. That operation, which unfolded on the territories of four countries, took place on November 30, 2016. The FBI and its international partners described the operation as an unprecedented global law enforcement response to cybercrime.

Read alsoUkrainian "poison ad" hacker group exposed after stealing $50 mln in cryptocurrency - mediaKapkanov's initial arrest in Poltava, even involving a brief shootout with police, did not leave to sentencing as a local judge ruled on his release citing errors in prosecutors' paperwork. The decision caused a firestorm among law enforcement agencies, and Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko threatened to have the judge removed.