Since the inception of Bitcoin, it has made it attractive to illicit online actors. Cryptocurrency’s latest rally and rise to popularity have once again made it highly lucrative for malicious actors. In recent developments, the Karnataka Police Central Crime Branch [CCB] arrested a 25-year-old software engineer for allegedly hacking websites to steal data and money and then converting them to bitcoins.
Kamal Pant, Commissioner of Police, during a press conference, stated,
“CCB has arrested Srikrishna alias Shreeki, aged 25 years, adept at computer programming and had done his Bachelors in Computer Science. He hacked many websites, online gaming portals, and made illegal gains. He also tried to hack into government websites.”
According to reports, the accused, who is known as Sri Krishna used peddle as well as consume drugs bought from the darknet. Earlier, he had allegedly hacked online poker games to win money and Bitcoins online. The authorities accused him of visiting hacking gaming websites and other sites to steal data, get information on credit/debit cards used by people who accessed the sites.
A CCB official also went on to say that Sri Krishna was approached by Suneesh Hegde who was looking to purchase hydro ganja through dealers on the darknet, to which Sri Krishna agreed to help them out. For the last two years, the duo would buy hydro ganja and other drugs from the darknet and pay with Bitcoins which Sri Krishna got by converting money by hacking accounts.
The drugs were couriered in consignments and the accused confessed collecting them at the foreign post office in Chamarajpet, Bengaluru.
Besides, he also happens to be the prime accused in the case of stealing Rs. 11 crores from the e-procurement website and has reportedly confessed to hacking the website of the Karnataka government back in August 2019.