The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) has arrested five members of the international ‘Phoenix’ hacking group who specialize in the remote hacking of mobile devices.
The SSU’s announcement states that all five suspects live in Kyiv or Kharkiv and are higher technical education institutes graduates.
The goal of ‘Phoenix’ was to gain remote access to the accounts of mobile device users and then monetize them by hijacking their e-payment or bank accounts or selling their private information to third parties.
To steal mobile accounts of mobile device users, the actors used phishing sites that were clones of Apple’s and Samsung’s login portals.
This activity went on for at least two years, during which Phoenix hacked several hundred people’s accounts.
The hackers also offered remote mobile phone hacking services to others, charging between $100 and $200.