Bulgaria arrests 23 in operation against hackers involved in international customs evasion group
Bulgaria’s chief directorate against organised crime said on May 19 that 23 people had been arrested so far in an operation against an international organised crime group involving hackers using malware against the Customs Agency’s computer systems.
Under the supervision of the Special Prosecutor’s Office, directorate staff were carrying out raids in Bulgaria’s capital Sofia and in Dobrich, Varna, Dragoman and Kalotina, an Interior Ministry statement said.
The anti-smuggling operation was directed against the group which was using hackers that had created malware that, through its introduction into the Customs Agency computer system, gave remote access to the system.
The idea was to mislead the system so that it would show that lorries carrying goods had passed through customs checks when in fact they had not.
The Interior Ministry said that those detained so far included hackers, representatives of traders, former and current Customs Agency inspectors.
Search-and-seizure operations were being carried out in homes, businesses, and at the offices of the Customs Agency building in the capital city. The operation was ongoing, the ministry said.
(Photo: Shamseer Sureash Kumar/freeimages.com)
/Panorama
