The Notorious FIN9

The FIN9, a sophisticated international cybercrime organization, is known for its illegal access to individuals' computers through their victims' company networks. This syndicate, consisting of four Vietnamese Internationals: Tan Van Tai, Nguyen Viet Quoc, Nguyen Trang Xuyen, and Nguyen Van Truong, has been active from 2018 to 2021. Their activities involve the theft and attempted theft of private information, employee benefits, and employee funds, resulting in a staggering $71 million in losses for their victims. They accessed the companies' networks primarily through phishing campaigns and methods such as supply chain attacks.

CrowdStrike describes a supply chain attack as a cyberattack targeting a trusted third-party vendor who offers services or software vital to the supply chain. The potential harm of these attacks is significant, as they have the ability to inject malicious code into applications that can infect users or compromise physical components with the same objective. They potentially chose a more easily concealed offense as an attempt to preserve their identities. Following their infiltration, they compromised their victim's assets and information; the scams they carried out reflect this example: they hacked into an employee benefits account and redirected gifts such as gift cards to accounts they administered.

The defendants' methods of concealing their identities were extensive. However, their attempts were futile when challenging departments such as the FBI's cyber task force. They unsuccessfully tried to mask their actions through VPNs, fake identities (including those of their victims), and registration on sites that enabled the disguise of their stolen money with bogus names. They are not facing all the exact charges; however, collectively, they are being charged with one count of conspiracy to commit fraud, extortion, and related activity in connection with computers, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and two counts of international damage to a protected computer. In addition to these charges, Tai, Xuyen, and Truong are being charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering. Furthermore, Tai and Quoc are being charged with aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit identity fraud. If convicted on all charges, Tai faces 82 years, Quoc 62, Xuyen 65, and Truong 65.

Stay vigilant, stay encrypted. Over and out, Rae

References:

Notorious hacker sentenced to 18 months in prison. District of Columbia | Notorious Hacker Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison | United States Department of Justice. (2023, November 15). https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/notorious-hacker-sentenced-18-months-prison