14 DAY TRIAL // A couple of Polish men – Piotr Smirnaw, 31, and Patryk Surmacki, 35 – were arrested at the Heathrow airport in London last week. The two are accused of blackmailing a major Manchester-based company and launching a distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) attack against one of its websites.
According to the Greater Manchester Police, the suspects have been taken into custody and questioned.
The UK’s Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) has also taken part in the investigation.
“This investigation centres on an allegation that the on-line company was blackmailed. As part of this blackmail attempt, one of the company's websites was made temporarily unavailable by the offenders,” noted Detective Inspector Chris Mossop, of the Greater Manchester Police’s Serious Crime Division.
“Denial of service attacks have become increasingly common offences in recent years and can have a devastating effect on the victim's on-line business or presence. They involve offenders flooding the target website with information, rendering it unable to function as it should do,” Mossop added.
“This particular case has involved a fast-time investigation by a number of agencies across a number of countries, including the UK, the US and Poland.”
The police hasn’t named the targeted company, but security expert Graham Cluley reveals that it’s the Club World Casino. The organization’s online gambling website was attacked on August 2, 2013.
The cyberattack, which lasted for 36 hours, prevented users from accessing the website.
As Cluley highlights, gambling websites are often targeted by cybercriminals that run extortion schemes. The crooks are aware of the fact that a DDOS attack on such a site can have a severe financial impact on the company.