Chinese Police Arrested Suspected Hackers over Cryptocurrency Theft

State media reported on 19 August, 2018, that three Chinese hackers, who are suspected of allegedly stealing assets worth of $87 million (i.e. 600 million yuan) in the form of bitcoins and various other cryptocurrencies, were arrested by the Chinese police from different cities of China. The hackers were targeting bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies holders.

As per the report in state-owned press agency of China, Xinhua, a complaint was lodged in the month of March by a victim - whose surname was Zhang. It was then that the police started investigating on the matter in Northern China's Xi'an city. As per the victim, the hackers first compromised the computer to steal an amount of around $15 million (i.e. 100 million yuan) in the form of cryptocurrencies, which included ethereum, bitcoin, and the others.

The police set up a task force to investigate on the theft. The initial investigation revealed that the hackers used the techniques of remote hijacking in order to gain an access to the victim's cryptocurrency accounts and transfer the same.

After three months of investigation, the task force with the help received from popular internet companies within China, successfully spotted the suspect, with a name Zhou. Investigation authorities secretly monitored Zhou's activities for two more months. While investigating, the police also identified two accomplices of Zhou, who were considered as highly experienced hackers. The police was able to track the suspects by snooping in on the communication of Zhou.

It was found that all three suspects together have allegedly stolen the crypto assets, which initially was estimated to be around $87 million or 600 million yuan. The police claimed that the thefts were carried out by targeting both personal as well as corporate network systems via various illegal means, which included hacking and cyber-intrusion.

The police have taken Zhou and the other two alleged accomplices into its custody. They were busted on 15 August, 2018, from Changchun and Hunan provinces, as well as from Beijing, as per report of Xinhua on 18 August, 2018.

The police of China - all across the three provinces - are still investigating on the case together. Now it is to be seen whether the value of cryptocurrencies stolen exceeds the value estimated by the police initially.

» SPAMfighter News - 9/3/2018