Browsing tag

Cyber Crime

Hive RAT Creators and $3.5M Cryptojacking Mastermind Arrested in Global Crackdown

Two individuals have been arrested in Australia and the U.S. in connection with an alleged scheme to develop and distribute a remote access trojan called Hive RAT (previously Firebird). The U.S. Justice Department (DoJ) said the malware “gave the malware purchasers control over victim computers and enabled them to access victims’ private communications, their login […]

10-Year-Old ‘RUBYCARP’ Romanian Hacker Group Surfaces with Botnet

A threat group of suspected Romanian origin called RUBYCARP has been observed maintaining a long-running botnet for carrying out crypto mining, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS), and phishing attacks. The group, believed to be active for at least 10 years, employs the botnet for financial gain, Sysdig said in a report shared with The Hacker News. “Its […]

Exit Scam: BlackCat Ransomware Group Vanishes After $22 Million Payout

The threat actors behind the BlackCat ransomware have shut down their darknet website and likely pulled an exit scam after uploading a bogus law enforcement seizure banner. “ALPHV/BlackCat did not get seized. They are exit scamming their affiliates,” security researcher Fabian Wosar said. “It is blatantly obvious when you check the source code of the […]

MoqHao Android Malware Evolves with Auto-Execution Capability

Threat hunters have identified a new variant of Android malware called MoqHao that automatically executes on infected devices without requiring any user interaction. “Typical MoqHao requires users to install and launch the app to get their desired purpose, but this new variant requires no execution,” McAfee Labs said in a report published this week. “While […]

INTERPOL Arrests 31 in Global Operation, Identifies 1,900+ Ransomware-Linked IPs

An INTERPOL-led collaborative operation targeting phishing, banking malware, and ransomware attacks has led to the identification of 1,300 suspicious IP addresses and URLs. The law enforcement effort, codenamed Synergia, took place between September and November 2023 in an attempt to blunt the “growth, escalation and professionalization of transnational cybercrime.” Involving 60 law enforcement agencies spanning […]

Telegram Marketplaces Fuel Phishing Attacks with Easy-to-Use Kits and Malware

Cybersecurity researchers are calling attention to the “democratization” of the phishing ecosystem owing to the emergence of Telegram as an epicenter for cybercrime, enabling threat actors to mount a mass attack for as little as $230. “This messaging app has transformed into a bustling hub where seasoned cybercriminals and newcomers alike exchange illicit tools and […]

BreachForums Founder Sentenced to 20 Years of Supervised Release, No Jail Time

Conor Brian Fitzpatrick has been sentenced to time served and 20 years of supervised release for his role as the creator and administrator of BreachForums. Fitzpatrick, who went by the online alias “pompompurin,” was arrested in March 2023 in New York and was subsequently charged with conspiracy to commit access device fraud and possession of […]

Operation RusticWeb: Rust-Based Malware Targets Indian Government Entities

Indian government entities and the defense sector have been targeted by a phishing campaign that’s engineered to drop Rust-based malware for intelligence gathering. The activity, first detected in October 2023, has been codenamed Operation RusticWeb by enterprise security firm SEQRITE. “New Rust-based payloads and encrypted PowerShell commands have been utilized to exfiltrate confidential documents to […]

CISA Sets a Deadline – Patch Juniper Junos OS Flaws Before November 17

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has given a November 17, 2023, deadline for federal agencies and organizations to apply mitigations to secure against a number of security flaws in Juniper Junos OS that came to light in August. The agency on Monday added five vulnerabilities to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, […]

N. Korean Lazarus Group Targets Software Vendor Using Known Flaws

The North Korea-aligned Lazarus Group has been attributed as behind a new campaign in which an unnamed software vendor was compromised through the exploitation of known security flaws in another high-profile software. The attack sequences, according to Kaspersky, culminated in the deployment of malware families such as SIGNBT and LPEClient, a known hacking tool used […]

Iranian Group Tortoiseshell Launches New Wave of IMAPLoader Malware Attacks

The Iranian threat actor known as Tortoiseshell has been attributed to a new wave of watering hole attacks that are designed to deploy a malware dubbed IMAPLoader. “IMAPLoader is a .NET malware that has the ability to fingerprint victim systems using native Windows utilities and acts as a downloader for further payloads,” the PwC Threat […]

FBI Dismantles QakBot Malware, Frees 700,000 Computers, Seizes $8.6 Million

A coordinated law enforcement effort codenamed Operation Duck Hunt has felled QakBot, a notorious Windows malware family that’s estimated to have compromised over 700,000 computers globally and facilitated financial fraud as well as ransomware. To that end, the U.S. Justice Department (DoJ) said the malware is “being deleted from victim computers, preventing it from doing […]

Two LAPSUS$ Hackers Convicted in London Court for High-Profile Tech Firm Hacks

Two U.K. teenagers have been convicted by a jury in London for being part of the notorious LAPSUS$ (aka Slippy Spider) transnational gang and for orchestrating a series of brazen, high-profile hacks against major tech firms and demanding a ransom in exchange for not leaking the stolen information. This includes Arion Kurtaj (aka White, Breachbase, […]

North Korean Affiliates Suspected in $40M Cryptocurrency Heist, FBI Warns

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Tuesday warned that threat actors affiliated with North Korea may attempt to cash out stolen cryptocurrency worth more than $40 million. The law enforcement agency attributed the blockchain activity to an adversary the U.S. government tracks as TraderTraitor, which is also known by the name Jade Sleet. […]

Cybercriminals Increasingly Using EvilProxy Phishing Kit to Target Executives

Threat actors are increasingly using a phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) toolkit dubbed EvilProxy to pull off account takeover attacks aimed at high-ranking executives at prominent companies. According to Proofpoint, an ongoing hybrid campaign has leveraged the service to target thousands of Microsoft 365 user accounts, sending approximately 120,000 phishing emails to hundreds of organizations worldwide between March […]

Fenix Cybercrime Group Poses as Tax Authorities to Target Latin American Users

Tax-paying individuals in Mexico and Chile have been targeted by a Mexico-based cybercrime group that goes by the name Fenix to breach targeted networks and steal valuable data. A key hallmark of the operation entails cloning official portals of the Servicio de Administración Tributaria (SAT) in Mexico and the Servicio de Impuestos Internos (SII) in […]

Owner of BreachForums Pleads Guilty to Cybercrime and Child Pornography Charges

Conor Brian Fitzpatrick, the owner of the now-defunct BreachForums website, has pleaded guilty to charges related to his operation of the cybercrime forum as well as having child pornography images. The development, first reported by DataBreaches.net last week, comes nearly four months after Fitzpatrick (aka pompompurin) was formally charged in the U.S. with conspiracy to […]

20-Year-Old BreachForums Founder Faces Up to 5 Years in Prison

Conor Brian Fitzpatrick, the 20-year-old founder and the administrator of the now-defunct BreachForums has been formally charged in the U.S. with conspiracy to commit access device fraud. If proven guilty, Fitzpatrick, who went by the online moniker “pompompurin,” faces a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison. He was arrested on March 15, […]

Pompompurin Unmasked: Infamous BreachForums Mastermind Arrested in New York

U.S. law enforcement authorities have arrested a New York man in connection with running the infamous BreachForums hacking forum under the online alias “Pompompurin.” The development, first reported by Bloomberg Law, comes after News 12 Westchester, earlier this week, said that federal investigators “spent hours inside and outside of a home in Peekskill.” “At one […]

Dutch Police Arrest 3 Hackers Involved in Massive Data Theft and Extortion Scheme

The Dutch police announced the arrest of three individuals in connection with a “large-scale” criminal operation involving data theft, extortion, and money laundering. The suspects include two 21-year-old men from Zandvoort and Rotterdam and an 18-year-old man without a permanent residence. The arrests were made on January 23, 2023. It’s estimated that the hackers stole […]