Four former cybersecurity engineers implanted Trojan horses to extort companies, demanding over 330000 yuan in cryptocurrency, and were sentenced

According to Guangzhou Daily, the Shangcheng District People's Court in Hangzhou recently made a first instance judgment on a case of extortion using a Trojan virus. Four defendants were sentenced to imprisonment ranging from three years to seven years and six months for the crimes of extortion and infringement of citizens' personal information. The main culprits of the gang, Qi and others, were originally network security engineers, familiar with system vulnerabilities, and had engaged in illegal crawling of citizens' personal information for profit. At the end of 2023, they turned to ransomware attacks, using Trojan viruses to encrypt enterprise files and demanding digital cryptocurrency ransom. After a "time-honored" medical institution in Hangzhou was attacked, 89 servers were paralyzed, and electronic medical records and registration systems could not operate. Eventually, it was forced to pay ransom to restore business. The police investigation found that the gang also attacked two other companies and extorted over 330000 yuan worth of cryptocurrency. The gang has a strong anti investigation awareness, uses overseas springboard servers to hide their whereabouts, and uses AI to optimize virus code. In December 2023, the police arrested four people in Inner Mongolia, Beijing and other places. The court ruled that his behavior seriously undermined network security and ultimately made a judgment in accordance with the law.