Fighting cybercrime
Two sides of the same coin – Just as Knowit is a leader in digital innovation, the company also works to counter digital attacks by assisting our clients with cutting-edge expertise and innovative cybersecurity solutions. One of Knowit’s clients in this area is state-owned Postnord.
Through its long-term security work at Postnord, Knowit has assisted the company in proactively securing its information assets, as well as reactively handling and investigating incidents. The waves of ransomware, when cybercriminals abused Postnord’s brand, are examples of Knowit playing a leading role in mapping and investigating criminal activities with the ultimate purpose of revealing the perpetrators. Knowit and Postnord have collaborated with Sveriges Television (SVT) and others in order to make life difficult for cybercriminals by exposing them publicly.
The cybercriminals who attacked people and organisations in Sweden using ransomware made at least SEK 300 million, and this was reported on the SVT Nyheter news programme on 30 October 2017. The criminals were able to use scam emails that appeared to come from companies like Telia and Postnord to con money from their victims. Anyone falling for the scam found their computer locked and were forced to pay a ransom to recover their files. The payments were made using digital currency Bitcoin, and these transactions can be traced on the internet. The investigation revealed that more than 11,000 Bitcoin transactions from victims can be traced to the digital fraudsters. The money was paid via a known money launderer with connections to the Russian mafia - exchange company BTC-E. It is unclear who ultimately received the money.
