Romanian prosecutors, secret service foil Israeli hackers’ attack on local banking system

Prosecutors from the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) have dismantled a criminal group consisting of Israeli and Romanian citizens, specialized in computer crime and money laundering. The Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) notified DIICOT of the hackers' illegal activities and helped in catching them. Prosecutors and police officers made several home searches in Bucharest and Ilfov county on February 10, reads a DIICOT statement. Prosecutors suspect two Israeli citizens, Iahr Giora and Azouri Oren Avraham, of conducting cyber-criminal activities that targeted the national banking system. They used technical means with a high level of complexity, such as specialized malware applications, to extract data about clients' accounts. They allegedly used banks' employees to access the IT systems and to plant the malware. The criminal group also received help from the Middle East. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com