Security News > 2024 > January > Secret multimillion-dollar cryptojacker snared by Ukrainian police
Supported by the National Police of Ukraine, Europol arrested a 29-year-old, whose identity is being withheld, this week in Mykolaiv, Ukraine.
An unnamed cloud provider worked with Europol et al to bring the crook into custody - an effort that also saw three properties raided as authorities built up their portfolio of evidence against them.
The Register asked Europol for the identity of the cryptojacker, but was told by a spokesperson that it's being held under judicial secrecy in Ukraine.
"A cloud provider approached Europol back in January 2023 with information regarding compromised cloud user accounts of theirs. Europol shared this information with the Ukrainian authorities, who subsequently opened an investigation."
"Europol's European Cybercrime Centre set up a virtual command post on the action day, supporting the Ukrainian National Police from Europol's headquarters, with analysis and forensic support on the data gathered during the searches."
Cryptojacking's definition doesn't strictly have to mean the siphoning of cloud resources specifically - the unauthorized use of anything capable of mining crypto falls under the umbrella term - but if criminals want the quickest results then cloud services are the main target.