Would you pay a couple of bucks to skip an interminably lengthy taxi wait line on the airport? That is basically what Daniel Abayev and Peter Leyman did, in line with the DOJ, besides they targeted on taxi drivers. The 2 males, each from Queens, have been arrested for hacking into JFK’s taxi dispatch system with the assistance of Russian nationals. From September 2019 and September 2021, they charged drivers $10 to leap forward of JFK’s taxi queue. Sometimes, these automobiles are despatched out relying on their order of arrival.
“For years, the defendants’ hacking saved trustworthy cab drivers from having the ability to decide up fares at JFK within the order wherein they arrived,” U.S. Legal professional Damian Williams mentioned in a press release. “Now, because of this Workplace’s teamwork with the Port Authority, these defendants are dealing with critical felony expenses for his or her alleged cybercrimes.”
In response to the DOJ’s indictment, each males explored a wide range of methods to interrupt into JFK’s taxi dispatch system, from bribing individuals to insert a malware-filled flash drive into a pc, stealing tablets and logging into the system over Wi-Fi. Abayev at one level messaged one of many Russian hackers: “I do know that the Pentagon is being hacked[.]. So, can’t we hack the taxi business[?]”
The pair used chat threads to speak with drivers, a few of whom additionally had their $10 charge waived if they may recruit others. Abayev and Leyman have been charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit pc intrusion, which carry a most 10-year sentence in jail. Their story follows a spate of Russian cyberattacks during the last ten years, together with the notorious hack on Florida’s voter databases in 2016, a decade-long malware scheme to steal hundreds of thousands, and the theft of NATO knowledge in 2014.
All merchandise advisable by Engadget are chosen by our editorial group, unbiased of our dad or mum firm. A few of our tales embody affiliate hyperlinks. For those who purchase one thing via one in every of these hyperlinks, we could earn an affiliate fee. All costs are appropriate on the time of publishing.
