“Officers of the ‘K’ Administration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, in cooperation with representatives of regional administrations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia and the FSB of Russia, with the participation of the Rosgvardia, suppressed the illegal activities of a group of persons suspected of creating and distributing a malicious software program. Six residents of the city of Penza aged between the 17 and 20 were detained within the framework of a criminal case initiated by the Investigative Administration of the MIA of Russia Administration for the Penza Region on the grounds of a crime under Part 2 of Article 273 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

According to the investigation materials, in January 2020, three offenders agreed to create a malicious software program intended for unauthorized obtaining of Internet users' data and neutralizing information security tools. One of them was involved in the software development, others were responsible for checking the program's functionality and distributing it. Subsequently, they were joined by three more acquaintances. The accomplices followed strict secrecy measures – they sought anonymity by spoofing IP addresses, using virtual mobile phone numbers and communicating via instant messengers.

The program remained unnoticed by antivirus tools and allowed, without the knowledge of users, to illegally copy information about logins and passwords to access various Internet services, primarily Youtube.

With this information at hand, the participants in the criminal scheme got access to user channels on video hosting and created new logins and passwords, thereby depriving the owners of the opportunity to perform any actions with them. Then, through shadowy Internet sites, the suspects sold to interested parties the information that would allow them to manage those channels. For one such operation, the attackers received on average $300.

In the course of nine searches carried out also at the addresses of temporary residence of the defendants, computers, laptops, mobile phones and other information carriers were seized.

Currently, with respect to the detainees a preventive measure has been selected in the form of their own recognizance and appropriate behavior. Measures aimed at identifying all the circumstances of the suspects' criminal activity are underway. The preliminary investigation continues,” said the official representative of the Russian MIA Irina Volk.