A new court hearing has been held in the criminal case of Tural Aliyev, Executive Director of "Zeromap" LLC, who was arrested following an operation conducted by the State Security Service and accused of creating programs that externally infiltrate mobile phones and other technical devices, as well as illegally obtaining computer data, APA reports.
In the trial held at the Yasamal District Court under the chairmanship of Judge Rashad Javadzade, the defendant's lawyer requested that his client be allowed to testify again since he had rejoined the case.
Tural Aliyev gave a new statement.
He stated that his area of work was checking system security: “I admit guilt in attempting unauthorized access to the server of 'Ultra Technologies' LLC. I just wanted to gain recognition in this field. That’s why I surrounded myself with experienced people. I also checked the security of various company servers.”
The judge asked the defendant about the equipment found on him at the time of his arrest and the software on that equipment.
In response to the lawyer’s question — “Did you intend to unlawfully access the systems of ‘Ultra Technologies’ LLC?” — Tural said that his aim was only to test: “I’m an expert. Testing is part of my job. I met this company through a forum where hundreds of people like me participated. During testing, I noticed some vulnerabilities.”
Tural Aliyev stated that since he did not physically access the system of "Ultra Technologies" LLC, he considers himself only partially guilty: “I didn’t secretly enter the servers of ‘Ultra Technologies’ LLC. I just tested them. However, the access remained on my device. When the device reconnected, it logged in automatically.”
The defendant said that the software he used was for auditing purposes, and when vulnerabilities were found, the company was informed: “The software I developed was a big project for Azerbaijan. I needed to make a name for myself. I even informed Hikmat Abdullayev, the director of Idrak company, about the software. I stored the program on equipment that belonged to me.”
It was revealed during the trial that the defendant had contact with someone under the username “User Elshan” and had small discussions with him regarding infiltrating company systems. VPN was used for confidentiality.
The defendant obtained 25 MB of data from a company based in Israel and 1 MB of data from a company based in the U.S.
It was also revealed that he had ties to the cybercriminal group "Alfa Black Cat." At the end of 2023, Tural contacted someone with the alias “Karnaval” and sold login credentials of a company to him for $500, which he received in cryptocurrency.
Additionally, the defendant sold data from a maritime company based in Argentina to private individuals.
The court hearing will continue on May 1.
Note that Tural Aliyev was detained during an operation carried out by the State Security Service.
The accused is charged under Articles 271.2.1 (Unauthorized access to a computer system), 272.2.1 (Illegal acquisition of computer data), Article 273-1.1 (Distribution of tools designed for committing cybercrimes) of the Criminal Code. The indictment states that the defendant accessed mobile phones and computer systems of both local and foreign individuals and legal entities over a 4-year period and read their messages. Moreover, Tural also gained access to confidential data of foreign companies through cyberattacks.
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