Is Your Browser Extension a Botnet Backdoor?
A company that rents out access to more than 10 million Web browsers so that clients can hide their true Internet addresses has built its network by paying browser extension makers to quietly include its code in their creations....
How $100M in Jobless Claims Went to Inmates
The U.S. Labor Department’s inspector general said this week that roughly $100 million in fraudulent unemployment insurance claims were paid in 2020 to criminals who are already in jail. That’s a tiny share of the estimated tens of billions...
Checkout Skimmers Powered by Chip Cards
Easily the most sophisticated skimming devices made for hacking terminals at retail self-checkout lanes are a new breed of PIN pad overlay combined with a flexible, paper-thin device that fits inside the terminal’s chip reader slot. What enables these...
Mexican Politician Removed Over Alleged Ties to Romanian ATM Skimmer Gang
The leader of Mexico’s Green Party has been removed from office following allegations that he received money from a Romanian ATM skimmer gang that stole hundreds of millions of dollars from tourists visiting Mexico’s top tourist destinations over the...
U.S. Indicts North Korean Hackers in Theft of $200 Million
The U.S. Justice Department today unsealed indictments against three men accused of working with the North Korean regime to carry out some of the most damaging cybercrime attacks over the past decade, including the 2014 hack of Sony Pictures,...
Bluetooth Overlay Skimmer That Blocks Chip
As a total sucker for anything skimming-related, I was interested to hear from a reader working security for a retail chain in the United States who recently found Bluetooth-enabled skimming devices placed over top of payment card terminals at...
What’s most interesting about the Florida water system hack? That we heard about it at all.
Stories about computer security tend to go viral when they bridge the vast divide between geeks and luddites, and this week’s news about a hacker who tried to poison a Florida town’s water supply was understandably front-page material. But...
Microsoft Patch Tuesday, February 2021 Edition
Microsoft today rolled out updates to plug at least 56 security holes in its Windows operating systems and other software. One of the bugs is already being actively exploited, and six of them were publicized prior to today, potentially...
Arrest, Raids Tied to ‘U-Admin’ Phishing Kit
Cyber cops in Ukraine carried out an arrest and several raids last week in connection with the author of a U-Admin, a software package used to administer what’s being called “one of the world’s largest phishing services.” The operation...
Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter Target Resellers of Hacked Accounts
Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter this week all took steps to crack down on users involved in trafficking hijacked user accounts across their platforms. The coordinated action seized hundreds of accounts the companies say have played a major role...
‘ValidCC,’ a Major Payment Card Bazaar and Looter of E-Commerce Sites, Shuttered
ValidCC, a dark web bazaar run by a cybercrime group that for more than six years hacked online merchants and sold stolen payment card data, abruptly closed up shop last week. The proprietors of the popular store said their...
U.K. Arrest in ‘SMS Bandits’ Phishing Service
Authorities in the United Kingdom have arrested a 20-year-old man for allegedly operating an online service for sending high-volume phishing campaigns via mobile text messages. The service, marketed in the underground under the name “SMS Bandits,” has been responsible...
The Taxman Cometh for ID Theft Victims
The unprecedented volume of unemployment insurance fraud witnessed in 2020 hasn’t abated, although news coverage of the issue has largely been pushed off the front pages by other events. But the ID theft problem is coming to the fore...
Arrest, Seizures Tied to Netwalker Ransomware
U.S. and Bulgarian authorities this week seized the darkweb site used by the NetWalker ransomware cybercrime group to publish data stolen from its victims. In connection with the seizure, a Canadian national suspected of extorting more than $27 million...
International Action Targets Emotet Crimeware
Authorities across Europe on Tuesday said they’d seized control over Emotet, a prolific malware strain and cybercrime-as-service operation. Investigators say the action could help quarantine more than a million Microsoft Windows systems currently compromised with malware tied to Emotet...
Dairy Giant Lactalis Targeted by Hackers
France-based dairy giant Lactalis revealed last week that it was targeted by hackers, but claimed that it had found no evidence of a data breach.
The company said a malicious third party attempted to breach its computer network, but it...
Crypto firm Tether says it won’t pay $24 million ransom after being threatened with document leak
Controversial cryptocurrency developer Tether says it will not give in to extortionists who are demanding a 500 Bitcoin ransom payment (currently worth approximately US $24 million).
Mysterious Macintosh Malware
This is weird:
Once an hour, infected Macs check a control server to see if there are any new commands the malware should run or binaries to execute. So far, however, researchers have yet to observe delivery of any payload...
What Did I Just Read? A Conversation With the Authors of '2034'
Elliot Ackerman and Admiral James Stavridis discuss their inspirations, personal experiences, and what keeps them up at night.
2034, Part VI: Crossing the Red Line
“Eventually, the Americans would find them. But by then it would be too late.”
