They threatened Internet users to broadcast intimate videos of them if they did not pay a ransom. Two young hackers will be tried from Monday in Paris, suspected of having activated the cameras of thousands of computers remotely thanks to a virus in 2019.
Now aged 25, these two French computer hackers will appear free before the 13th correctional chamber for four half-days, for extortion and fraudulent attempt, access and maintenance in an automated data processing system and organized gang money laundering.
A “malware” called Varenyky developed between January and June 2019
Described by investigators as having “great skills” in computing and programming, between January and June 2019 they developed “malware” called Varenyky. Contained in an attachment sent by e-mail inviting you to pay an invoice, it entered the computer if the victim opened the document, thus creating a “botnet”, a network of infected computers.
An extortion message was then sent to thousands of email addresses, purchased on the dark web or stolen thanks to the virus: he threatened the victims to send their contacts images of them masturbating in front of pornographic films if they did not pay a ransom of around 500 euros, in bitcoin on a “wallet” digital (“wallet”). Initially, the blackmail would have been based only on bluffing, but the computer program would then have made it possible to actually activate the webcams to film Internet users without their knowledge, as soon as it detected certain keywords in the search bar. pornographic character.
1.3 million euros in bitcoins on their wallet
The two hackers estimate they won 150,000 euros, but investigations revealed 1.3 million euros in bitcoins on their wallet, without us knowing if all this money came solely from this fraud. The cryptocurrencies were converted into cash – thanks in particular to a currency exchange office in Odessa in Ukraine – which they spent on daily life (rent, hotels, restaurants, car, computer equipment) and their numerous trips between Ukraine, France and several Eastern European countries, according to the survey’s findings.
On their computer equipment were discovered, among other things, files containing personal data of victims and screenshots of videos of people recorded by their webcam in front of pornographic sites.
More than 20,000 people reported, and 1,300 filed complaints
The investigation by the Paris prosecutor’s office was opened in 2019 after numerous individuals had received this blackmail email. More than 20,000 people reported in June 2019 to the investigators’ dedicated email address and 1,300 people filed complaints. 47 had declared having made the payment. Sources close to the case believe that many victims, out of shame, never dared to file a complaint or say that they had paid.
After several months, investigators from the Central Office for the Fight against Crime Related to Information and Communication Technologies (OCLTIC) were able to identify these two young men. Never convicted by the courts, they met during their adolescence on video game sites and became friends. Having broken away from their family, they would have earned their living thanks to this type of Internet scam.
The one who called himself “Aquazus” on the forums, holder of a BEP in digital electronic systems, was arrested in Roissy on his return from Poland in September 2019. The second, self-taught, went himself to a Paris police station two months later, knowing he was wanted. Both defendants acknowledged their participation but downplayed their respective degree of involvement.