The group that in July last year orchestrated the theft of more than US$2 million from cash machines at First Commercial Bank was also behind an ATM hacking spree in more than a dozen European nations last year, according to cybersecurity firm Group-IB.
The methods that the so-called “Cobalt group” used in Europe matched those used in Taiwan, Group-IB said in its client report.
Three Eastern European men were arrested in Taiwan in July last year on suspicion of collecting cash stolen from ATMs owned by First Commercial Bank, a unit of First Financial Holding Co Ltd.
Photo: Reuters
Attorneys for the three defendants in an ongoing trial in Taipei said their clients were not familiar with Cobalt.
The men — identified in court documents as Peregudovs Andrejs of Latvia, Colibaba Mihail of Romania and Pencov Nicolae of Moldova — were among a total of 22 individuals, all foreign nationals, that Taiwanese authorities suspect of taking part in the theft, where most of the money was subsequently recovered.
The suspects used malware dubbed “ATM spitter” in the First Commercial Bank attacks, as well as similar hacks in Armenia, Belarus, Britain, Bulgaria, Estonia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia and Spain, Group-IB said in a report to its customers.
Group-IB first detailed the European spree in a report published in November last year, identifying the hackers as the Cobalt group.
The firm linked Cobalt to the Taiwan heist in its report last week.
Investigators in Taiwan said they were not aware of any links between Cobalt and the hackers behind the First Commercial Bank heist.
“What we can say is the people behind this hacking were very good,” an investigator familiar with the case said on condition of anonymity because the investigator was not authorized to speak with media.
The defendants, who maintain their innocence, in a court hearing on Wednesday said that they were not members of any international crime organization.
Taipei prosecutors have said they suspect First Commercial Bank’s network was breached at a London branch office.
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