November 30, 2025

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AI News

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Criminal use of AI enters new and dangerous phase

Cybercriminals have just added what may be the most dangerous weapon yet to their arsenal of illegal software, a Dark Web version of legitimate artificial intelligence (AI) platforms. Tel Aviv-based network security company, Cato Networks, has uncovered an emerging criminal platform called Nytheon AI that it says is “a fully-fledged illicit AI platform”. While there have been other attempts to offer criminal versions of popular AI models, Nytheon AI is the first truly comprehensive multilingual offering. Threat actors can now use the platform to conduct a variety of attacks including tailored spear-phishing campaigns, deepfake documents, and polymorphic malware capable of constantly mutating its appearance.

Arrest cybercrime News

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Cybercrime forums span national boundaries

The bust of the illegal Cracked and Nulled crime forums evidences the global nature of cybercrime and the impossibility of seeing it as a threat that has no regard for national boundaries.

Although at least 17 million US citizens were victims of the crime forums. law enforcement agencies in the United States, Romania, Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and Greece were all involved in the bust, according to the US Department of Justice.

Cryptocurrency cybercrime News

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“Crazy Evil” Threatens Cryptocurrency Ecosystem

A new and rising threat to decentralized financing has been identified. Threat intelligence researcher, the Insikt group, has uncovered “Crazy Evil,” a rapidly growing Russian crypto-scam gang that targets cryptocurrency users and influencers. According to Insikt Group, over ten active social media scams are linked directly to Crazy Evil, garnering millions of dollars in illicit funds and infiltrating tens of thousands of devices.

Crazy Evil is what is referred to as a “traffer” team, which Insikt describes as “a collective of social engineering specialists tasked with redirecting legitimate traffic to malicious landing pages.” Allegedly operating since 2021 on dark web forums and amassing thousands of followers on their public Telegram channels, Crazy Evil’s primary targets are cryptocurrency users, non-fungible token (NFT) traders and gaming professionals – all of whom often use decentralized platforms with little or no regulatory oversight.

Healthcare News ransomware

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‘Hellcat’ is new breed of cybercriminal

A ransomware gang, Hellcat, that emerged in 2024 is being seen as representative of a new type of threat actor using off-the-shelf malware and innovative extortion techniques.

According to cybersecurity company Cato Networks: “Hellcat’s emergence in 2024 marks a troubling shift in the landscape of cybercrime. By leveraging a ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) model and utilizing double extortion tactics, Hellcat has not only increased the accessibility of ransomware but also heightened the psychological impact on its victims.”

Arrest Cryptocurrency News

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FBI Takes Down Crypto-Laundering Scam

The line between cybercrime and plain old-fashioned fraud has become yet more blurred following the sentencing of international virtual currency vendor Anurag Pramod Murarka to 121 months in prison for his involvement in a classic money laundering operation that he advertised on Darknet marketplaces.

According to recently unsealed court documents, Murarka operated an international money laundering business from April 2021 until September 29, 2023. Murarka was able to operate out of India and serviced shady clients in the United States through an intricate Indian “hawala” money transferring system and the use of the US Postal Service as his “unwitting partner in transferring ill-begotten funds.” The original Hawala scam was an Indian political and financial scandal involving illicit payments allegedly sent by politicians through a network of four Hawala brokers that implicated some of the country’s leading politicians.

China News Telecommunications

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US takes on Chinese hackers

A man alleged to be behind the recent Salt Typhoon US telecoms network and US Treasury department breaches has been sanctioned by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Yin Kecheng “has been a cyber actor for over a decade and is affiliated with the People’s Republic of China Ministry of State Security (MSS)”, says the Treasury Office. Yin is alleged to have had direct and associated involvement in both breaches.

Two key individuals in President Donald Trump’s new administration, Elon Musk, and the president’s nominee to head the Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, have specifically cited the two devastating breaches as the prime examples of why the nation’s cybersecurity strategy is in pressingly urgent need of being overhauled.

Geopolitics News Russia

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Russian cyber gangs escalate attacks on US

Two Russian groups, the People’s Cyber Army and Z-Pentest, claim to have taken attacks on critical infrastructure in the US to a new and more dangerous level. Dark web researchers at threat intelligence firm Cyble have discovered Telegram videos detailing attacks on US energy and water facilities far beyond the previously supposed capabilities of such groups.

Cyble believes that the two groups may be working in cooperation with one another. Previously, the People’s Cyber Army, which also goes by the name of the Cyber Army of Russia Reborn, and lesser-known groups such as Z-Pentest, have largely confined their attacks on US critical infrastructure to simple and easy-to-repel distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.

Arrest News Russia

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Russian Authorities Arrest FBI’s Most Wanted Hacker

The FBI’s most wanted hacker, Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev, dubbed the “Moriarty” of cybercrime, has finally been arrested by Russian authorities. Described by the FBI as a “prolific” cybercriminal, Matveev has had a $10 million bounty on his head for any information leading to his arrest since 2023.

The arrest is a turning point on the part of the Russian authorities, as cybercriminals have long seen Russia as a safe haven. According to intelligence sources, this could either represent an attempt to try and legitimize the Russian economy or an indication that the state is taking back control of cyber-attacks on Western economies.

Government News Russia

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London’s transport cyber-breach is spreading fast

A cyber-attack on the London transport system earlier this month was far more serious than initially reported and is rapidly spreading across the UK. It is also now ringing loud alarm bells on both sides of the Atlantic, particularly in light of the upcoming US elections in November.

Transport for London (TfL) has now admitted that over 5,000 customers’ personal details and, in many cases, their financial details have been stolen. TfL added that the breach is also rapidly starting to affect services outside London.

The London Underground, the UK capital’s vast underground rail network, like most European metros, has a touchpad automatic electronic payment system using prepaid plastic cards. London also allows travelers simply to use their visa or MasterCard on the touchpads at the London underground barriers. This means that organizations such as TfL have become repositories of millions of commuters’ financial details, making them a tempting target for small-time cyber crooks.

Banking Threats Cybersecurity Executives Expert Opinions

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Banks swamped by fake account scams

In an exclusive interview with Cyber Intelligence, Andy Sheldon, North American VP of US-based ID fraud specialist Deduce reveals how banks are now struggling to combat armies of fake account holders currently being generated by artificial intelligence (AI).

News ransomware Russia

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It’s official…It definitely IS the Russians

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has laid the blame for escalating worldwide ransomware attacks squarely at Russia’s door.

Speaking at the 2024 Boston Conference on Cyber Security last week, FBI Cyber Division Assistant Director Bryan Vorndran said: “Almost all of the criminals developing sophisticated malware to enable ransomware attacks are based in Russian-speaking countries and operate as organized crime syndicates, similar to traditional organized crime elements.”

He focused on the FBI’s earlier this year disruption of Dark Web ransomware gang LockBit, stressing that organized cybercriminal gangs, particularly Russian ones, are essentially the same as old-school mafia mobsters. They differ only in their methods and avenues of attack.

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Feds bust $100m online drugs market ‘Pharoah’

On Saturday, US authorities arrested a 23-year-old Taiwanese man alleged to have operated and owned the infamous ‘Incognito’ dark web drug-dealing website.

“Drug traffickers who think they can operate outside the law on the dark web are wrong,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “As alleged, Rui-Siang Lin was the architect of Incognito, a $100 million dark web scheme to traffic deadly drugs to the United States and around the world. The long arm of the law extends to the dark web, and we will bring to justice those who try to hide their crimes there,” commented Attorney General Merrick B. Garland yesterday.

News One Minute Roundup

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Zscaler Clarifies, Only The Test Server Was Compromised – May 14th

In conclusion, in its investigations on hacking claims, Zscaler found that only an isolated test environment was compromised.

The investigation arrived after a hacker named ‘IntelBroker’ confirmed that he breached Zscaler, offering to sell their data for $20K. The incident investigation is now also being conducted with Europol.

Breaking News cybercrime News

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‘Brute force’ cyber-attacks continue to escalate

Cybersecurity firm Okta reports a spike in ‘brute-force’ credential-stuffing attacks over the last month. This follows earlier reports of a spike in ‘brute force’ credential-stuffing attacks reported last week.

Increasingly sophisticated ‘brute force’ attacks use trial and error techniques to crack passwords, login credentials, and encryption keys. New life is now also being breathed into what is essentially an old hacking technique, with widely available software using artificial intelligence (AI) that can carry out large numbers of attempts automatically.

News One Minute Roundup

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Millions of AT&T Data at Risk from Data Breach – April 1st

AT&T sent out a mass announcement to its customers, informing them that a dataset containing sensitive data from 7.6M current users and 65.4M former users is for sale on the dark web.

To mitigate the breach, AT&T reset the passcodes of all its current users and will constantly communicate with customers to further protect accounts.

News One Minute Roundup

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UK Deputy PM Warns of Chinese Cyber Threats to Government – March 25th

The UK’s Deputy Prime Minister, Oliver Dowden, is expected to formally announce to the press that China is behind a wave of cyber attacks against UK government officials and will urge the protection of voters’ data.

Despite the denial from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the UK government remains on high alert for politically fueled cyber attacks as the election period nears.

News One Minute Roundup

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LockBit Resurfaces After Takedown – February 26th

Arriving days after law enforcement agencies took down LockBit’s servers, the ransomware gang resurfaces with a new data leak portal on the dark web.

On a public announcement of their re-launch, a LockBit administrator disclosed that their websites were confiscated, however, their operations recovered due to backup servers.

cybercrime News Social Media

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90 percent of US users mistrust social media

Nine out of 10 US citizens do not trust social media. In some other developed markets, trust in services such as Facebook is even lower. In the UK, only three percent of consumers trust social media services with their personal data, and in Japan, it is only two percent, about one in fifty.

Thales 2024 Digital Trust Index, which surveyed 12,426 people worldwide, reports that, while the majority of users mistrust social media and online retail and entertainment services, trust in some other services is far higher. Consumers have much more trust in banking, healthcare, and government services when it comes to sharing their personal data – a universal trend witnessed in all the markets surveyed. Banking services are the most highly trusted with 44 percent of users placing their trust in them. This was closely followed by healthcare with 41 percent and government services with 37 percent.

cybercrime News ransomware

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Ransomware payments top US$1 billion in 2023

Last year, ransomware payments topped US$1 billion for the first time. According to a report from blockchain analyst firm Chainalysis, in 2023 ransomware gangs reached “an unprecedented milestone” in extorted cryptocurrency payments.

“This number does not capture the economic impact of productivity loss and repair costs associated with attacks. This is evident in cases like the ALPHV-BlackCat and Scattered Spider’s bold targeting of MGM resorts. While MGM did not pay the ransom, it estimates damages cost the business over US$100 million,” warns the report.

News One Minute Roundup

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Critical Sectors Faced 13 Cyber Attacks per Second in 2023 – January 30th

A Forescout Research – Vedere Labs report disclosed that over 420 million attacks were recorded between January and December 2023 in the medical, power, communications, waste, manufacturing, and transportation equipment sectors, amounting to 13 attacks per second.

Forescout’s report “2023 Global Threat Roundup” states that despite the ongoing surge in cyber attacks, the cybersecurity landscape remains optimistic considering proceedingly enhanced visibility and proactive defense strategies in the affected sectors.

News One Minute Roundup

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Cyberattack Shuts Down loanDepot IT Systems – January 8th

In response to complaints regarding its payment portal, loanDepot informed its customers that they fell victim to a cyberattack that shut down its IT systems, disrupting its business operations.

Currently in coordination with law enforcement and forensics experts to further investigate the attack. The attack on loanDepot marks the second major cyberattack on a US mortgage loan provider in the past few months, after the cyberattack on Mr. Cooper.

AI Analysis cybercrime

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AI “overrated and overhyped” say cybercriminals

The verdict on artificial intelligence (AI) from the real experts is finally in; professional cybercriminal fraternities have judged AI to be “overrated, overhyped and redundant,” according to fresh research from cybersecurity firm Sophos.

It has, hitherto, been accepted wisdom in the cybersecurity industry that cybercriminals, free from any regulatory authority or moral scruples, were among the first to harness the awesome power of AI to create bespoke and virtually unstoppable malware. However, having infiltrated the Dark Web forums where top professional cybercriminals discuss their trade, Sophos reports that the cybercrime sector has thoroughly tested the capabilities of AI and found it wanting.

Data Leak News Threat Intelligence

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Enterprises face a steep rise in insider threats

As we predicted earlier this year, harsh economic conditions across Western democracies are acting as a catalyst for cybercrime – particularly those cyber-attacks that target staff inside the organization. As cybersecurity becomes more effective, cybercriminals are finding ways to bypass digital security barriers by victimizing and sometimes terrorizing key personnel within the target organization.

News ransomware Trends

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Ransomware gangs start to fight dirty

According to cybersecurity company SecureWorks’ annual State of the Threat Report, over the last 12 months, attackers have shortened the time between the initial penetration of the corporate network to the ransomware demand itself from 4.5 days to less than one day. This period, known in the cybersecurity industry as ‘dwell time’, offers well-equipped cybercriminals a leisurely opportunity to drain the company of funds and its most sensitive secrets. In 10 percent of cases, ransomware was even deployed within five hours of initial access.

Breaking News Data Leak News

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Millions of individuals’ DNA selling for a dollar a piece

At least seven million customers of San Francisco-based DNA company, 23andMe, are now seeing their confidential and highly personal genetic data up for sale on the internet. The hackers are also offering the millions of victims’ personal email addresses for good measure and to best assist potential blackmailers and fraudsters.

News One Minute Roundup

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Dark web ads are seeing a massive surge – September 25th

There has been a surge of advertisements on the dark web this year, with over 700 adverts advertising Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks through the Internet of Things (IoT) devices having been identified.

The cost of employing the sinister DDoS attack services ranges from $20 per day to $1 000 per month, depending on the amount of protection the target has.

Analysis cybercrime European Union

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Europol aims to dismantle the EU’s Euro188bn criminal economy

The European Police Office (Europol)’s first-ever threat assessment on the topic, ‘The other side of the coin: an analysis of financial and economic crime in the EU’, aims to shine a spotlight on a EUR 188 billion-plus international underground criminal economy.

News One Minute Roundup

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Dunghill Leak group claims responsibility for Sabre attack – September 7th

Dunghill Leak group claims responsibility for Sabre attack The Dunghill Leak group has claimed responsibility for the cyberattack on travel booking giant Sabre which left its files exposed on a dark web leak site. The company is investigating the claims by the threat actors. New scholarship launched in response to increasing cyber threats The SANS […]