Daniel Abaev and Peter Leyman of Queens were arrested for hacking the JFK (John F. Kennedy International Airport) taxi dispatch system. Citizens of Russia assisted them in this.
According to the US Department of Justice, between September 2019 and September 2021, they charged drivers $10 to jump in line for taxis at Kennedy Airport. As a rule, taxi cars depart for the trip depending on the order of their arrival.
“For years, the defendants’ hacking attacks prevented honest taxi drivers from accepting orders at JFK in the order in which they arrived,” US Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. “Now, thanks to the Office’s cooperation with the airport administration, these defendants have been charged with serious criminal charges for possible cyber crimes.”
According to the Justice Department’s indictment, the suspects explored various ways to break into JFK’s taxi dispatch system: bribing people to connect a flash drive with malware to their computer, stealing tablets, logging into the system via Wi-Fi. At some point, Abaev wrote to one of the Russian hackers:
“I know that the Pentagon will be hacked [.]. So, can we crack the taxi industry[?]»
Criminals used chat to communicate with drivers. Some of them were offered not to pay $10 each if they helped recruit other drivers to the scheme. Abaev and Leiman are charged with two counts of conspiracy to hack computer systems, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
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Source: Engadget
