Two US citizens have been arrested and accused of conspiring with Russian nationals to hack the taxi dispatch system at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), charging cab drivers a $10 fee to access the front of the queue between September 2019 and September 2021.The JFK taxi dispatch system ensures cab drivers have a fair working environment, but can result in lengthy wait times between tripsThe computer-controlled JFK taxi dispatch system manages how cabs are dispatched between the airport’s holding lot and terminal.The hackers utilized group chats to communicate with taxi drivers and advise them how to avoid detection by law enforcement.According to the indictment, Leyman and Abayev approved as many as 1,000 trips a day and transferred at least $100,000 to the hackers in Russia as “payment for software development.”Prosecutors allege that the pair explored several ways to hack the system, including bribing someone to infect its computers with malware via a flash drive, stealing connected computer tablets, and accessing the dispatch system without authorization via Wi-Fi.Both men face a maximum 10-year sentence in prison if found guilty for their alleged cybercrimes“For years, the defendants’ hacking kept honest cab drivers from being able to pick up fares at JFK in the order in which they arrived,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams in a statement."