Police Officer Jae-young Cho who apprehended the GandCrab ransomware distributor. [Photo by National Police Agency]
[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] The case of the Korean police arresting distributors of the so-called 'GandCrab ransomware,' a malicious program that hijacks computers and demands ransom, was presented at the United Nations (UN).
On the 20th, the National Police Agency's National Investigation Headquarters announced that on the 19th, at the 30th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice held in Vienna, Austria, they presented the investigation case of arresting GandCrab distributors for the first time in Korea. The UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice is a committee operated by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and holds regular meetings every May.
Korean police arrested two individuals who, from February to June 2019, impersonated police stations, the Constitutional Court, and the Bank of Korea, sending GandCrab ransomware disguised as summons letters via email 6,486 times to portal site users. The police cooperated with 10 countries including Romania, the Philippines, and the United States, and after a two-year investigation, succeeded in apprehending them in February this year.
The UNODC selected the Korean police investigation as a model case and requested a presentation at the regular meeting. Sergeant Jo Jae-young, who investigated the case, personally explained the investigation's initiation, the method of the crime, and key points considered during the investigation to resolve the case. Sergeant Jo emphasized the importance of swift and close international cooperation in investigations, given the recent trend of crime proceeds being transferred via virtual currencies in cybercrime. Sergeant Jo is a cyber investigation expert who arrested the operator of 'Welcome to Video,' the world's largest dark web child sexual exploitation site, in 2018.
A National Police Agency official stated, "This UN presentation was a great opportunity to showcase the Korean police's cyber investigation capabilities to investigative agencies worldwide," and added, "We will continue to promptly resolve the latest cybercrimes such as malicious programs demanding ransom and DDoS attacks through advanced cyber investigation techniques and active international cooperation, minimizing damage to the public."
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