Two men were arrested on suspicion of conspiring to hack into a taxi control system at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York..
According to an investigation by authorities, the subjects hacked into the taxi dispatch system and charged a $10 fee to taxi drivers to access the first positions in line between September 2019 and September 2021.. The detainees were identified as Daniel Abaev and Perter Leiman, both 48 years old and from Queens.
The Department of Justice indictment filed in the Southern District of New York detailed thatHacking the taxi dispatch service system became possible thanks to the assistance of Russian citizens, whose identity remains anonymous. In addition to charging taxi drivers for the opportunity to advance in the delivery queue, the criminals also created a scheme whereby if taxi drivers hired other colleagues, they did not have to pay a “commission” of $10.
The Taxi Dispatch System operated at John F. Kennedy International Airport is designed to control the rate at which taxis depart between waiting areas and the airport terminal. Thus, in addition to optimizing work, a fairer and more orderly working environment is created for all taxi drivers.
However, this also means that in some cases, taxi drivers have to wait for hours between customers, which negatively affects their income.
The indictment states that on average, detainees approved up to 1,000 trips a day and that they transferred more than $100,000 to cybercriminals as payment to Russian hackers.
“For years, Defendants’ hacks prevented honest taxi drivers from paying fares at JFK in the order in which they arrived. Now, thanks to this office’s collaboration with the Port Authority, these defendants face serious criminal charges for alleged cybercrimes,” said Damian Williams, the US Attorney assigned to the case.
If guilt is proven both Abaev and Leiman face up to 10 years in prison.
Source: La Opinion
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