Cybercrime , Fraud Management & Cybercrime
Ukrainian Forces Shutter Bot Farms and Illicit VPN Provider
Arrests Made and Computer Equipment SeizedUkrainian law enforcement dismantled more than half a dozen bot farms and a virtual private network infrastructure spreading disinformation and fake Russian propaganda.
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The cyber specialists of the Security Service of Ukraine and the National Police seized thousands of SIM cards, bank cards, GSM gateways and other specialized equipment used to support a network of 5,000 anonymous social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The accounts had almost 200,000 users. Police did not disclose the exact number of arrests, which took place in nine separate regions of Ukraine.
This takedown is the latest in a string of raids on botnet operators, including the December 2022 dismantling of more than a dozen bot farms, the September 2022 takedown of two bot farms and the August 2022 dismantling of a group that operated more than 1 million bots.
The SBU on Monday also seized operations of an illicit VPN the agency said had been used by Russians to conduct disinformation operations.
The police arrested two persons from Poltava and one from the Kharkiv region of Ukraine in association with the illegal activity.