Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT), in coordination with gendarmerie forces and the National Cybersecurity Intervention Center (USOM), launched an operation against a gang stealing the personal data of thousands of people worldwide, including Türkiye.
Security sources said 11 members of the cyber espionage gang, which is accused of selling stolen data to terrorist groups, were arrested.
MIT has been running a surveillance operation on the gang with connections abroad and discovered that they obtained personal data and shared it with any potential buyers, including terrorist groups. Sources said personal data supplied to terrorist groups was of vital importance.
Suspects were remanded in custody while the operation led to the shutdown of numerous websites linked to the gang.
A confidential investigation into the activities of the gang and data seized from suspects are ongoing. Sources said MIT could carry out more cyber espionage operations and widen the scope of investigation abroad to find out more about the gang's foreign connections.
Throughout 2023, Türkiye has emerged as one of the most targeted regions for cybercrime globally, according to findings released by Kaspersky, underscoring the nation's increased vulnerability to cyber threats as digitalization efforts persist among institutions. Cyberattacks, particularly phishing attempts, have seen a notable surge in Türkiye and the third quarter of 2023 witnessed a 20% increase in phishing attacks compared to the previous quarter and a staggering 47% rise compared to the same period in 2022. These attacks, characterized by deceptive tactics, aim to illicitly acquire users' personal information, such as passwords, credit card numbers and sensitive banking details. Moreover, Türkiye is among the prominent regions targeted for attacks on industrial control systems (ICS computers). These systems play a pivotal role across various industries, including energy, mining, automotive manufacturing and building automation. ICS computers support a range of operational technology functions, from engineers' workstations to supervisory control and data acquisition servers, making them a lucrative target for cyber threats seeking to disrupt critical infrastructure.