Blog 8: Ukraine Thrives As Cybercrime Haven

When Ukraine in October 2010 arrested five alleged hacker kingpins behind a multimillion-dollar scam, authorities touted it as part of a broader crackdown on cybercrime. But they were swiftly released and remain free as the investigation drags on. With more than a year passing by, Ukraine’s would-be major crackdown on cybercrime is increasingly looking like the real bust.  Authorities finally admit that Ukraine remains a heavenly haven for hackers due to inadequate anti-cybercrime laws and the lack of knowledgeable computer scientists working on the side of the law.  The sentencing of two convicted cyber crooks by a British court last November to four-and-a-half years in prison each for siphoning around $4.5 million from British back accounts only backed up this thesis. The two Ukrainians – Yuriy Konovalenko, 29, and Yevhen Kulibaba, 33 – used a computer virus to obtain confidential bank account information, which they used to transfer large sums of money from these accounts to the ones controlled by their group.  The duo pleaded guilty to conspiracy with the intent to defraud, but denied money laundering charges. Another 11 members of the group were also sent to prison for online fraud by British courts.  It did not take British investigators very long to take the online theft case, which had been taking place between September 2009 and March 2010, to the court. In Ukraine, however, such criminals are rarely brought to justice, let alone properly prosecuted and convicted of online scams. Reports of cybercrimes originating on Ukrainian soil are numerous.  Ukraine has frequently been cited in recent years as an origination point for cybercrimes. Analysts contend that the country is ahead of Russia as a source of spam and malware. “Ukraine’s a huge problem. I would rank it above Russia right now,” said Paul Ferguson, a researcher with Trend Micro, one of the world’s top internet security software firms.  It is evident that cybercrime is a huge problem in the Ukraine today and it needs to be taken care of soon.  If it continues to go on like it is today, without any help from the police to end this problem, it will only continue to get worse.  It is understandable that there are no set laws on cybercrime today, but this is why laws need to be implemented in order to stop cybercrime.  It is also understandable that it is difficult to track cybercrime and pinpoint where it is coming from, but this is why governments need to discover new ways of tracking cyber criminals.  As the Internet becomes more and more prominent in society, it is important that these things get taken care of.  If they continue as they are, there could be massive repercussions.

http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/123965/