A system administrator installed a virus on a client: a year of litigation

The Supreme Court of Ukraine overturned the acquittal of a man who installed SkyLogger spyware on clients' computers. The court ruled that distributing malware is a crime, even if it is in the public domain.

The Case for SkyLogger

Offering Services on OLX

An offer from a computer repair and setup specialist has appeared on the popular classifieds platform OLX. One of his clients contacted him not only for standard PC setup, but also with a request to install a program to monitor computer activity.

Cybercrime of a system administrator a year of struggle for justice

Installing spyware

For a fee, the contractor installed a pre-prepared SkyLogger malware program on the customer’s device. This application, unnoticed by the user, records all activities on the computer: launching programs, entering data, the contents of the clipboard, taking screenshots. All collected information is saved in special folders and can be sent to email, FTP server or local computer.

Cybercrime of a system administrator a year of struggle for justice

Repeated offense

Despite being aware of the malicious nature of the software, the defendant did not stop at one case and subsequently provided similar services to another client.

Trial

Law enforcement agencies qualified these actions as a crime under Article 361-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine - distribution of malicious software. The case went to trial, where the accused was acquitted by the trial court due to insufficient evidence. The court considered that no convincing arguments were provided to confirm the defendant’s awareness of the harmfulness of the distributed software.

Position of the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court did not agree with the acquittal. The panel of judges ruled that a crime is considered committed from the moment of transmission of at least one malicious program, even if it is in the public domain and does not lead to negative consequences. Repeated commission of such a crime is punishable by imprisonment for up to 5 years.

Glossary

OLX - popular online classifieds platform
SkyLogger - malicious software for monitoring computer activity
Criminal Code of Ukraine
Supreme Court - the highest judicial body of Ukraine
FTP - file transfer protocol in computer networks

Answers to questions

What is SkyLogger and what functions does it perform ?

SkyLogger is a malicious software that secretly records computer activity. It records the launch of programs, data entered, the contents of the clipboard and takes screenshots. The collected information is saved in special folders and can be sent to email, FTP server or local computer.

What charges were brought against the man who installed SkyLogger?

The man was charged under Part 1 and Part 2 of Article 361-1 of the Criminal Code. His actions were classified as the sale of malicious software, as well as the repeated sale of such tools.

Why did the trial court acquit the accused?

The court of first instance acquitted the man due to lack of evidence that he was aware of the harmfulness of the SkyLogger program. The defendant claimed that the program was freely available on the Internet, and he did not imagine that it could be malicious.

What decision did the Supreme Court make in this case?

The Supreme Court overturned the acquittal. He ruled that the crime is complete once the malware is transmitted to another person, even if it was freely downloaded from the Internet and did not cause harm.

What is the penalty for reselling malicious software?

For repeated sale of malicious software, part 2 of Article 361-1 of the Criminal Code is punishable by imprisonment for up to 5 years.

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Discussion of the topic – Cybercrime of a system administrator: a year of struggle for justice

2024-07-09

The article tells the story of a system administrator who installed a spyware virus on a client's computer during a repair. It took a year and three trials to bring him to justice.

Larisa Shishkova
Larisa Shishkova Copywriter Elbuz

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