Phuket police arrest four Russian nationals accused of running crypto-ransomware attacks
Legislation enforcement in Phuket has arrested 4 hackers suspected of orchestrating ransomware assaults on Swiss corporations and stealing hundreds of thousands in cryptocurrency.
The accused, all Russian nationals, reportedly deployed ransomware on the networks of 17 Swiss firms between April 2023 and October 2024, a Feb. 10 report from native media outlet The Nation Thailand mentioned.
For these unaware, ransomware assaults contain hackers locking up a sufferer’s knowledge and demanding a payout—often in crypto—to revive entry. On this case, the hackers allegedly used the Phobos malware, the report added.
The accused had been reportedly a part of the Russian ransomware group 8Base and had been additionally accountable for stealing roughly $16 million value of Bitcoin from round 1,000 victims worldwide.
In accordance with Pol Lt Gen Trairong Phiewphan, commissioner of the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau, the suspects had been needed by each U.S. and Swiss authorities.
Thai police, in coordination with immigration officers, tracked them down in Phuket and seized over 40 gadgets of proof, together with laptops, smartphones, and digital wallets. Switzerland has already requested their extradition to face fees.
In the meantime, Phuket has change into the middle of a number of cryptocurrency-related crimes over the previous months.
Final month, a Russian man was assaulted and robbed of $20,000 in a resort in Karon, Phuket, in what authorities described as a crypto-related dispute turned violent. In accordance with reviews, the sufferer was confronted by two Russian associates over an unsettled cryptocurrency debt linked to prior enterprise dealings in Russia.
In November 2024, a Ukrainian nationwide in Phuket was forced to switch $250,000 value of Tether whereas visiting buddies. Native reviews acknowledged that the sufferer was tied up with cables and coerced into making the transaction earlier than the assailants fled.
