Four alleged hackers arrested in Phuket for hacking 17 Swiss firms

Four alleged European hackers have been arrested in Phuket for deploying ransomware on the networks of 17 Swiss firms. The suspects are accused of causing significant damage and stealing $16 million in Bitcoins from 1,000 global victims.

Cyber crime and immigration police arrested four alleged European hackers in Phuket on Monday after they allegedly deployed ransomware onto the computer networks of 17 Swiss firms.

Pol Lt Gen Trairong Phiewphan, commissioner of the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau, told a press conference that the four unnamed Europeans were arrested after his bureau’s officers joined forces with Phuket and immigration police to search locations in Phuket.

Trairong said the four individuals were wanted by both the US government and the Swiss Confederation after they allegedly hacked 17 Swiss firms, causing significant damage to Bitcoin owners.

He added that police had seized over 40 items of evidence from the four, including laptop computers, smartphones, and digital wallets.

Trairong also mentioned that the Swiss Confederation had requested the Thai government to extradite the four suspects to face charges in Switzerland.

The four were accused of deploying Phobos ransomware on the computer networks of 17 companies in Switzerland between 30 April 2023 and 26 October 2024.

They allegedly used the Phobos malware to encrypt information on the networks, blocking the companies from accessing the data unless a ransom was paid and a decryption key was provided by the gang.

The suspects were also accused of stealing approximately 16 million US dollars' worth of Bitcoins from around 1,000 victims worldwide.

(2025/02/10-00:00)