Tag: us department of justice
Cryptocurrency Laundering Top Dog Arrested
Russian-Swedish native Roman Sterlingov has been sentenced to twelve years in prison for his alleged involvement in Bitcoin Fog, the longest-running cryptocurrency laundering service on the dark web. Sterlingov reportedly operated Bitcoin Fog for a decade and processed over 1.2 million Bitcoin, valued at approximately $400 million at the time of the transactions. Bitcoin Fog ran from 2011-2021 and quickly garnered a reputation among the dark web community as the “go-to” cryptocurrency “mixer” for cybercriminals looking to hide their illicit funds from law enforcement. Bitcoin Fog would pool the “dirty” cryptocurrency and redistribute it in order to make the funds untraceable. According to court documents, the cryptocurrency laundered was mainly derived from darknet marketplaces tied to illegal narcotics, identity theft, and child sexual abuse material.
Dutch Police Take Down major global cyber threat
The Dutch Police, Politie, claim to have removed a major threat to organizations all over the world by dismantling two of the most notorious ‘infostealers’, software designed to breach computer systems to steal sensitive information. “Operation Magnus,” conducted in collaboration with Team Cybercrime Limburg, is reported to have taken down the Redline and META info stealers, which have been responsible for infecting millions of computers worldwide with malware, leaving them open to devastating ransomware attacks and other threats.
Secret Service Hot on the Trail of Cybercriminal “Stalin”
The United States Secret Service is doubling down on the search for cybercriminal “Stalin.” On August 26, 2024, the U.S Department of State partnered with the US Secret Service to put out a bounty of up to $2.5 million for information leading to the arrest of Belarusian hacker Volodymyr Kadariya, sometimes going by the alias “Stalin.” Kadariya was allegedly part of a malicious advertising (“malvertising”) ring responsible for transmitting the Angler Exploit Kit, a toolkit utilized by threat actors to exploit vulnerabilities in a system or code.
Two Individuals Linked to “Hive RAT” Arrested – April 16th
The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) announced the arrest of two individuals in Australia for their ties to the "Hive RAT" remote access trojan (RAT). The two arrested individuals are suspected of being behind the distribution of the RAT, as found on the ‘Hack Forums’ cybercrime forum.
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.
China uses AI to power new propaganda campaign
China has stepped up its propaganda and disinformation war with the US in the latest escalation of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s cyber war on the West. Microsoft reports a marked rise in CCP-affiliated covert influence operations that engage with target US audiences on social media.