Default Passwords Led to $55 Million in Bogus Phone Charges
The U.S. Justice Department today unsealed indictments against three Filipino residents accused of hacking into thousands of private telephone networks in the United States and abroad, and then selling access to those networks at call centers in Italy that advertised cheap international calls.
The indictments correspond to a series of raids and arrests announced today in Italy, where authorities apprehended five men alleged to have been operating the call centers and using the profits to help finance terrorist groups in Southeast Asia.
The U.S. government alleges that the individuals arrested in the Philippines were responsible for hacking so-called private branch exchange (PBX) systems -- computerized telephone switches and voice mail systems -- owned by more than 2,500 companies in the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe.
