Ukrainian security services acting in concert with ten national law enforcement agencies have busted a criminal ring accused of stealing more than $72 million from personal bank accounts worldwide.
The underground hacker ring is believed to have been responsible for spreading the special purpose Conficker malware that is designed to infiltrate PCs and steal banking credentials in phishing expeditions.
The ring was rounded up during a co-ordinated raid on 30 addresses in several countries. Ukrainian authorities, working with the FBI, seized more than 74 items of computer hardware, 300 memory devices, documentation and an unspecified amount of cash. In total sixteen individuals were arrested.
The action follows a similar bust in October last year, during which five 'key players' in the spread of the Zeus Trojan were arrested. The arrests were part of an international operation, dubbed Trident Breach, that saw over 70 people charged in the US and 11 in the UK.