Two Russian nationals charged for hacking taxi system at JFK Airport

MANHATTAN (CN) — A pair of Russian nationals face charges of conspiring to hack the taxi dispatch system at John F. Kennedy International Airport, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Monday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York.

According to the indictment, Aleksandr Derebenetc and Kirill Shipulin, both 30, worked with two Americans, Queens residents Daniel Abayev and Peter Leyman, in the scheme that brought certain favored cab drivers to the front of the line at JFK Airport.

Abayev and Leyman were charged last year, with Abayev pleading guilty Monday and Leyman pleading guilty this month.

Taxis at the airport are typically required to wait in line at a nearby holding lot before being dispatched to pick up a passenger, a process that can often take several hours. An electronic system is used to ensure that the cabs are sent out on a first come, first served basis.

But Derebenetc, Shipulin and their co-conspirators gained unauthorized access to that electronic system between 2019 and 2021, using it to allow certain drivers to cut in line in exchange for a small fee, according to the complaint.

“Members of the hacking scheme charged individual taxi drivers $10 each time they were advanced to the front of the line, and individual taxi drivers paid the members of the hacking scheme in a variety of ways, including through a mobile payment system or in cash,” the indictment said.

According to the criminal complaint, Abayev and Leyman served as the frontmen of the operation, collecting the cash and communicating with drivers. Derebenetc and Shipulin, who were charged Monday, appeared to take more of a behind-the-scenes role.

Prosecutors claim the cab drivers learned of the scheme primarily via word of mouth, with the perpetrators even offering to waive the $10 fee in exchange for recruiting other drivers to the scheme.

It was a profitable endeavor, with the scheme moving as many as 1,000 taxis to the front of the line every day and at least $100,000 being transferred from the American conspirators to the duo in Russia, according to the complaint.

In order to gain access to the dispatch system, prosecutors say the defendants tried several strategies that included “bribing someone to insert a flash drive containing malware into computers connected to the dispatch system, obtaining unauthorized access to the dispatch system via a Wi-Fi connection, and stealing computer tablets connected to the dispatch system.”

“I know that the Pentagon is being hacked,” one of the hackers texted the other in Russian, according to the complaint. “So, can’t we hack the taxi industry?”

Once inside the system, prosecutors claim the peddlers of the scheme used messaging apps to give drivers directions and coordinate which ones could skip the line and when. When the hackers had access to the system, they’d message the drivers, “Shop open." When their connection was interrupted, they’d send a “Shop closed” message, according to the complaint.

They even issued warnings to the drivers, deterring them from going to certain areas around the airport that could attract attention.

“Please do not wait at Rockaway av,” one of the defendants wrote to the drivers, accompanied by two police officer emojis, according to the complaint. “You have to be very very carefully.”

Derebenetc and Shipulin have been charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit computer intrusions, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison if convicted. Their American co-conspirators Leyman and Abayev each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit computer intrusions.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams announced the unsealing of Derebenetc and Shipulin’s charges Monday in collaboration with John Gay, the Inspector General of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

“The significant charges in this alleged hacking conspiracy show that the Port Authority takes seriously our obligation to safe and equitable operations across our facilities,” Gay said in a statement Monday. “As alleged, this brazen scheme corrupted a system that hard-working taxi drivers rely on to earn a living, all so the defendants could make some extra cash. We are grateful for our partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.”

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