A 36-year-old resident of Netishyn has been detained after the Cyber Police Department, in collaboration with the Svyatoshyn district prosecutor’s office, uncovered a major data breach that could have affected more than 300 million people from Ukraine and EU countries.
The perpetrator, an administrator of closed groups and channels in the Telegram messenger, was selling the personal data of citizens for between $500 and $2,000, depending on the amount of data.
The databases contained sensitive information, such as passport data, taxpayer numbers, birth certificates, driver’s licenses, and bank account data.
The suspect was found to be receiving payment for the sale of databases from citizens of the Russian Federation, using currencies that are prohibited on the territory of Ukraine. During an authorized search, the perpetrator obstructed the actions of law enforcement officers and injured a cyber police officer, leading to his arrest and placement in a temporary detention facility.
Law enforcement officers seized mobile phones, three dozen hard drives, SIM cards, computer equipment, and server equipment from the suspect’s home. The cyber police officers found databases with limited access to the seized equipment, and are currently establishing the origin of these bases. The investigation is ongoing.
In response to the attack on the cyber police officer, the Shepetivskyi District Police Department has started a pre-trial investigation under Part 2 of Art. 345 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which provides for a term of up to five years’ restriction of freedom or deprivation of liberty for the same term.
