OPP arrest Ottawa resident following major cybercrime investigation

Ontario Provincial Police logo and cruiser.

Ontario Provincial Police say a 23-year-old Ottawa resident was charged on Thursday following an investigation into two major “botnets,” groups of infected devices used to launch cyberattacks.

In January, the Cybercrime Investigations Team began investigating Kimwolf and Aisuru, two botnets believed to be responsible for “some of the largest Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks recorded to date,” according to police.

In March, German, American and Canadian law enforcement agencies carried out an operation to disrupt four major botnets, including Kimwolf and Aisuru, that infected more than three million devices across the world.

According to OPP on March 19, police executed a search warrant at an Ottawa home seizing multiple electronic devices.

On Wednesday, a 23-year-old individual was arrested and charged with multiple criminal code offences, including unauthorized use of a computer, possession of a device to obtain unauthorized use of computer system or to commit mischief and mischief in relation to computer data.

The accused is in custody and will appear before court on May 26.

Anyone with information relevant to the investigation is asked to contact OPP at 1-888-310-1122. Anonymous tips can be submitted to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or ontariocrimestoppers.ca.

With files from Reuters

• Sign up now for daily CTV News Ottawa newsletters
• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App