Security News
A year-long international investigation has resulted in the arrest of the suspected head of the SilverTerrier cybercrime group by the Nigeria Police Force. "The suspect is alleged to have run a transnational cybercrime syndicate that launched mass phishing campaigns and business email compromise schemes targeting companies and individual victims," Interpol said in a statement.
After a year-long investigation that involved Interpol and several cybersecurity companies, the Nigeria Police Force has arrested an individual believed to be in the top ranks of a prominent business email compromise group known as SilverTerrier or TMT. Codenamed Delilah, the law enforcement operation engaged police agencies across four continents and is the third one focused on identifying and arresting suspected members of the SilverTerrier gang. SilverTerrier activity dates since at least 2015 and expanded into a massive BEC and phishing operation, with many of its members originating from Nigeria.
Witschi, the assistant director for cybercrime threat response and operations at Interpol, told The Register about recent successes that the agency's Gateway cyber-threat intel sharing project has had, and the increasingly well-funded, targeted attacks that law enforcement agencies are trying to prevent. Through the project private-sector security shops including Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks, Trend Micro, Kaspersky Lab and others share intelligence with Interpol member countries' law enforcement agencies to help them investigate cybercrime and attribute attacks to the various crime rings.
Dubbed Tourniquet, the seizure of the cybercrime website involved authorities from the U.S., U.K., Sweden, Portugal, and Romania, with the criminal investigation resulting in the arrest of the forum's administrator at his home last month in Croydon, England. Interestingly, the "Raid" in RaidForums is a nod to its early beginnings as a hub for organizing various forms of electronic harassment - like "Raiding," which refers to a form of targeted harassment by posting an overwhelming volume of messages to a victim.
A] large-scale social engineering and extortion campaign against multiple organizations, with some seeing evidence of destructive elements. More recent campaigns have expanded to include organizations globally spanning a variety of sectors.
British cops investigating a cyber-crime group have made a string of arrests. In a statement, the force said: "Seven people between the ages of 16 and 21 have been arrested in connection with an investigation into a hacking group. They have all been released under investigation. Our inquiries remain ongoing."
The Security Service of Ukraine said it has detained a "Hacker" who offered technical assistance to the invading Russian troops by providing mobile communication services inside the Ukrainian territory. The anonymous suspect is said to have broadcasted text messages to Ukrainian officials, including security officers and civil servants, proposing that they surrender and take the side of Russia.
Spain's National Police Agency, the Policía Nacional, said last week it dismantled an unnamed cybercriminal organization and arrested eight individuals in connection with a series of SIM swapping attacks that were carried out with the goal of financial fraud. The suspects of the crime ring masqueraded as trustworthy representatives of banks and other organizations and used traditional phishing and smishing techniques to obtain personal information and bank data of victims before draining money from their accounts.
The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday announced the arrest of a married couple in connection with conspiring to launder cryptocurrency worth $4.5 billion that was siphoned during the hack of the virtual currency exchange Bitfinex in 2016. Ilya Lichtenstein, 34, and his wife, Heather Morgan, 31, both of New York, are alleged to have "Stolen funds through a labyrinth of cryptocurrency transactions," with the law enforcement getting hold of over $3.6 billion in cryptocurrency by following the money trails, resulting in the "Largest financial seizure ever."
Russia arrested six people today, allegedly part of a hacking group involved in the theft and selling of stolen credit cards. Russian media reports that the arrests come at the request of investigators from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation.