As the crypto market remains in suspense, security issues in the blockchain field continue to be a topic of concern. According to the US Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, four members of the FIN9 group have been accused of causing over $71 million in damages through crypto-related attacks on US companies. Here are the notable developments on the matter.
FIN9 Team Caught
The indictment alleges that four Vietnamese nationals, Ta Van Tai, Nguyen Viet Quoc, Nguyen Trang Xuyen, and Nguyen Van Truong, hacked the computer networks of numerous US-based companies between May 2018 and October 2021. FBI Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy made the following public statement:
“Cyber actors hide in the virtual world, a realm most people can’t see or understand. No matter how smart these hackers think they are, the FIN9 members couldn’t hide their data theft from companies by concealing themselves.”
The indictment details how FIN9 members, including the defendants, accessed the computer networks of victim companies through phishing campaigns or supply chain attacks. It explains how the defendants used this access to obtain non-public information to secure employee benefits and funds.
What Are the Details?
The case also mentions that the defendants stole credit card information from the companies’ employees and customers. To conceal their identities, the defendants registered online accounts on crypto exchanges in the names of the stolen identities. If found guilty, the four individuals face various charges that could result in prison sentences ranging from five to 20 years. US Attorney Philip R. Sellinger thanked the FBI Newark Cyber Team and the Little Rock Cyber Team for the arrests.
Although crypto-related hacking attacks have started to decrease recently, notable incidents continue to surface. The collaboration between centralized exchanges and crypto companies with law enforcement agencies restricts hackers’ movements and makes many attackers uneasy.
