Security News

DC Police confirms cyberattack after ransomware gang leaks data
2021-04-27 02:35

The Metropolitan Police Department has confirmed that they suffered a cyberattack after the Babuk ransomware gang leaked screenshots of stolen data. The Metropolitan Police Department, also known as the DC Police or MPD, is the primary law enforcement agency for Washington, DC, the US capital.

Emotet malware forcibly removed today by German police update
2021-04-25 07:16

Emotet, one of the most dangerous email spam botnets in recent history, is being uninstalled today from all infected devices with the help of a malware module delivered in January by law enforcement. Emotet was used by the TA542 threat group to deploy second-stage malware payloads, including QBot and Trickbot, onto its victims' compromised computers.

Belgian police seize 28 tons of cocaine after 'cracking' Sky ECC's chat app encryption
2021-04-08 10:39

The Belgian plod says it seized 27.64 tons of cocaine worth €1.4bn from shipments into Antwerp in the past six weeks after defeating the encryption in the Sky ECC chat app to read drug smugglers' messages. "During a judicial investigation into a potential service criminal organization suspected of knowingly providing encrypted telephones to the criminal environment, police specialists managed to crack the encrypted messages from Sky ECC," the Belgian police claimed, CNN reports.

UK terror law reviewer calls for expanded police powers to imprison people who refuse to hand over passwords
2021-03-29 14:01

The UK's Government Reviewer of Terrorism Laws is again advising the removal of legal safeguards around a controversial law that allows people to be jailed if they refuse police demands for forced decryption of their devices. In what appears to be a recurring theme, Jonathan Hall QC said police should be able to threaten people arrested under terror laws with five years in prison if they don't hand over passwords on demand.

Engineer reports data leak to nonprofit, hears from the police
2021-03-25 08:35

A security engineer and ex-contributor to an open systems non-profit organization recently reported a data leak to the organization. On discovering this GitHub repository which, the engineer says, was public since at least 2019, the engineer privately reported it to Apperta, and got thanked by them.

Engineer reports data leak to Apperta, hears from the police
2021-03-25 08:35

A security engineer and ex-contributor to an open systems non-profit organization recently reported a data leak to the organization. On discovering this GitHub repository which, the engineer says, was public since at least 2019, the engineer privately reported it to Apperta, and got thanked by them.

City of London Police warn against using ‘open science’ site Sci-Hub
2021-03-22 04:11

The City of London Police, which has responsibility for intellectual property crime across the UK, has warned universities and scientists not to use "Open science" site Sci-Hub. The site does not have permission to host or offer access to those papers, which is why it has in the past been shuttered by US courts for copyright breaches.

Encrypted phones biz Sky Global shuts up shop after CEO indictment, police raids on users in Europe
2021-03-19 07:11

Encrypted phone network Sky Global has seemingly shut down after European police swooped on users and distributors, and its chief exec was indicted by American prosecutors. News of the company shutdown was broken by Vice News after raids in Belgium and the Netherlands on Sky ECC users and resellers.

Swiss Police Raid Over Hack on U.S. Security-Camera Company
2021-03-15 18:01

Swiss authorities on Monday confirmed a police raid at the home of a Swiss software engineer who took credit for helping to break into a U.S. security-camera company's online networks, part of what the activist hacker cited as an effort to raise awareness about the dangers of mass surveillance. The Federal Office of Justice said regional police in central Lucerne, acting on a legal assistance request from U.S. authorities, on Friday carried out a house search involving hacker Tillie Kottmann.

UK to introduce new laws and a code of practice for police wanting to rifle through mobile phone messages
2021-03-11 11:30

A new UK law will explicitly authorise the "Voluntary" slurping of data from mobile phones of crime suspects and witnesses. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which was introduced to Parliament this week, contains clauses that will allow police and others to extract data from mobile phones if the user "Voluntarily" hands the device over.