A Ukrainian dwelling within the U.S. has reportedly hacked a significant drug market on the Russian darkish net, diverting a few of its crypto proceeds. The person says he donated the digital money stolen from the illicit web site to a corporation delivering humanitarian help throughout his war-torn homeland.
Wisconsin Resident With Ukrainian Roots Hacks Russian Darkish Net Market Solaris
Ukrainian-born cyber intelligence professional Alex Holden, who left Kyiv as a youngster within the Eighties and now lives in Mequon, Wisconsin, claims he has hacked into Solaris, considered one of Russia’s largest on-line drug markets, Forbes informs in a report.
Supported by his workforce at Maintain Safety, he was capable of pay money for a number of the bitcoin despatched to sellers and the darknet website’s homeowners. The cryptocurrency, value over $25,000, was later transferred to Having fun with Life, a charitable basis based mostly within the Ukrainian capital.
With out revealing precisely how he did it, Holden defined he took management of a lot of the web infrastructure behind Solaris, together with some administrator accounts, obtained the web site’s supply code and a database of its customers and drop off places for drug deliveries.
For some time, the Ukrainian and his colleagues additionally gained entry to the “grasp pockets” of {the marketplace}. It was utilized by consumers and sellers to deposit and withdraw funds and operated because the platform’s crypto trade, the article particulars.
Given the fast turnover, the pockets not often had greater than 3 BTC at a time. Holden managed to acceptable 1.6 BTC and ship it to Having fun with Life. Maintain Safety donated one other $8,000 to the charity, which offers help to folks affected by the warfare in Ukraine.
Solaris Linked to ‘Patriotic’ Russian Hacking Collective Killnet
The darknet market Solaris is suspected of getting connections to the hacking crew Killnet, which after Moscow launched its invasion in late February grew to become considered one of Russia’s “patriotic” hacker teams vowing to focus on Ukrainians and their supporters.
Killnet has additionally performed quite a lot of assaults within the U.S., together with on airport and state authorities web sites in addition to the Nationwide Geospatial-Intelligence Company. It reportedly hit the Eurovision music contest, the Estonian authorities and Italy’s Nationwide Well being Institute.
The group was additionally blamed for attacking Rutor, the primary rival of Solaris, which grew to become Russia’s main underground medication market after Hydra was shut down this previous spring. Based on U.S. cybersecurity agency Zerofox, Solaris was paying Killnet for DDoS companies.
Apart from the battlefield, Russia and Ukraine have additionally clashed within the on-line house, with the federal government in Kyiv recruiting specialists for its personal cyberforce. The particular unit was tasked to establish and stop Russian assaults but additionally hack again.
Hits comparable to these on Russia’s largest financial institution, Sber, and the Moscow Inventory Trade have been attributed to the Ukrainian IT military. Social media accounts related to the hacktivist collective Nameless took accountability for a lot of different assaults.
What do you consider Alex Holden’s assault on the Russian darknet market Solaris? Tell us within the feedback part under.
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