[BreachExchange] Ottawa man charged in ransomware attacks

[Terrell Byrd]

https://www.wellandtribune.ca/ts/news/canada/2021/12/07/ottawa-man-charged-in-ransomware-attacks-as-cybercrimes-in-canada-on-the-rise.html

An Ottawa man has been charged with a series of cybercrimes in Canada and
the U.S. after a joint investigation that lasted almost two years by the
Ontario Provincial Police and RCMP in Canada and FBI in Alaska.

Police say a 31-year-old resident from Ottawa has been charged with fraud,
possession of a device to obtain unauthorized use of a computer system or
to commit mischief, and unauthorized use of a computer under the Criminal
Code.

They say a quantity of “evidentiary materials” was seized and held for
investigation, including desktop and laptop computers, a tablet, several
hard drives, cellphones, and a quantity of blank cards with magnetic
stripes.

The accused is being held in custody pending further court appearances in
Ottawa.

Police used the announcement of the arrest on Tuesday to warn of the threat
of cybercrimes to individuals, businesses and governments.

“It’s not just the way of the future,” OPP Detective Inspector Matt Watson
said in an interview. “It’s the way of the present ... This is real.”

The OPP reports a 140 per cent increase in cybercrime since 2019, targeting
individuals and businesses.

Watson said that organized crime and governments are behind some of the
digital misdeeds.

“It’s an incredibly invasive type of crime that leaves people destroyed,”
Watson said. “This isn’t a run of the mill property crime. Cybercrime moves
at the speed of the internet,” Watson said.

The 23-month probe began when the OPP contacted the FBI regarding, what
police call, Canadian-based ransomware attacks on business, government and
private personal data systems across North America, including against
computers for medical facilities in Alaska

What followed was a joint effort by the OPP Cyber Operations Section, the
RCMP’s National Cybercrime Coordination Unit (NC3), the FBI, Europol and
Dutch authorities.

“We’re much further ahead of where we were five years ago,” Watson said.

Brian Abellera, the FBI’s assistant legal attaché in Ottawa, said the
bureau will continue to work with the OPP and RCMP “to investigate these
malicious cyber actors who continue to target US and Canadian
infrastructure.”

“The effort is one of many to come between Canada and the U.S.,” Abellera
said at a press conference.

Chris Lynam, the Director General of the National Cybercrime Coordination
Unit and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, said that cybercrime requires a
multi-agency response.

“Cybercrime is an ever-growing threat to Canadians,” Lynam said during the
press conference, urging people and organizations who think they have been
victimized to contact local police and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.

“All Canadians should take some time to educate themselves,” Lynam said.
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