Security News
Image: Sky ECC. European law enforcement authorities have made a large number of arrests after a joint operation involving the monitoring of organized crime communication channels after "Unlocking" Sky ECC chat's encryption. The investigation started after Belgium police seized mobile phones from criminals who used Sky ECC. After "Unlocking" the chat platform's encryption, investigators have been able to monitor communications between roughly 70,000 Sky ECC users.
Police have arrested 10 people in the U.K., Belgium and Malta for allegedly hijacking mobile phones belonging to U.S. celebrities including internet influencers, sports stars and musicians to steal personal information and millions in cryptocurrency, authorities said. The European Union police agency Europol said Wednesday that the gang is believed to have stolen more than $100 million in cryptocurrencies by using so-called SIM swap attacks.
Cyber cops in Ukraine carried out an arrest and several raids last week in connection with the author of a U-Admin, a software package used to administer what's being called "One of the world's largest phishing services." The operation was carried out in coordination with the FBI and authorities in Australia, which was particularly hard hit by phishing scams perpetrated by U-Admin customers. The Ukrainian attorney general's office said it worked with the nation's police force to identify a 39-year-old man from the Ternopil region who developed a phishing package and special administrative panel for the product.
Law enforcement officials in Ukraine, in coordination with authorities from the U.S. and Australia, last week shut down one of the world's largest phishing services that were used to attack financial institutions in 11 countries, causing tens of millions of dollars in losses. The Ukrainian attorney general's office said it worked with the National Police and its Main Investigation Department to identify a 39-year-old man from the Ternopil region who developed a phishing package and a special administrative panel for the service, which were then aimed at several banks located in Australia, Spain, the U.S., Italy, Chile, the Netherlands, Mexico, France, Switzerland, Germany, and the U.K. Computer equipment, mobile phones, and hard drives were seized as part of five authorized searches conducted during the course of the operation.
The proprietors of the phishing service were variously known on cybercrime forums under handles such as SMSBandits, "Gmuni," "Bamit9," and "Uncle Munis." SMS Bandits offered an SMS phishing service for the mass sending of text messages designed to phish account credentials for different popular websites and steal personal and financial data for resale. Sasha Angus is a partner at Scylla Intel, a cyber intelligence startup that did a great deal of research into the SMS Bandits leading up to the arrest.
U.S. and Bulgarian authorities this week seized the darkweb site used by the NetWalker ransomware cybercrime group to publish data stolen from its victims. NetWalker is a ransomware-as-a-service crimeware product in which affiliates rent access to the continuously updated malware code in exchange for a percentage of any funds extorted from victims.
Black man sues police, saying he was falsely ID'd by facial recognition, joining other Black Americans falling victim to the technology's racial bias. Racial bias against non-white skin in facial recognition landed Nijeer Parks ten days in jail in 2019 after the technology falsely identified him as a shoplifting suspect, a new lawsuit says.
21 people have been arrested across the UK as part of a nationwide cyber crackdown targeting customers of WeLeakInfo[. A now-defunct online service that had been previously selling access to data hacked from other websites.
Italian police have arrested two people allegedly for using malware to steal 10 GB of confidental data and military secrets from defense company Leonardo S.p. A. Leonardo is one of the world's largest defense contractors, with 30% of the company owned by the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance.
Three Nigerian citizens suspected of being members of an organized cybercrime group behind distributing malware, carrying out phishing campaigns, and extensive Business Email Compromise scams have been arrested in the city of Lagos, Interpol reported yesterday. "The suspects are alleged to have developed phishing links, domains, and mass mailing campaigns in which they impersonated representatives of organizations," Interpol said.