Collaborate Disseminate
The Western District of Washington has sentenced a Ukrainian man to seven years in prison for his role in a hacking gang that is estimated to have caused more than one billion dollars worth of damage.
Read more in my article on the Hot for Security … Continue reading FIN7 hacking gang’s “pen tester” jailed for seven years by US court
A U.S. court on Thursday sentenced Andrii Kolpakov, a Ukrainian national, to seven years in prison for his role in the FIN7 gang. Kolpakov, 33, functioned as a supervisor for a small team of hackers who between 2016 and 2018 breached victims including Chipotle, Red Robin, Arby’s and other U.S. corporations. Victims experienced “enormous” losses, according to the Justice Department, that by some estimates have exceeded $1 billion. Kolpakov pleaded guilty in November 2020 and faced up to 25 years behind bars. Spanish police arrested him in 2018, ultimately extraditing him to the U.S. “During the course of the scheme, [Kolpakov] received compensation for his participation in FIN7, which far exceeds comparable legitimate employment in Ukraine,” the plea deal noted. “For the purposes of this plea agreement, the parties agree that — during [Kolpakov’s] participation in the malware scheme — FIN7 illegal activity resulted in over $100 million in losses […]
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A hacking group known for innovative fraud techniques impersonated angry restaurant customers and targeted specific individuals with unique access to financial information, U.S. prosecutors argue in a court filing that sheds new light on the scammers’ work. The FIN7 gang, which researchers have blamed for more than $1 billion in theft since 2015, relied on more than 70 members who were assigned to various departments under the larger organization, according to court documents filed on June 17 in U.S. District Court in Seattle. By masquerading as a cybersecurity testing company dubbed Combi Security, FIN7 leaders organized their personnel into separate teams charged with developing malware, crafting phishing documents and collecting money from breached victims. The group targeted hundreds of U.S. companies, prosecutors say, infecting victims as diverse as the burrito chain Chipotle and the department store Saks Fifth Avenue. Court documents filed in the case of Andrii Kolpakov, who pleaded […]
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The long-awaited 2020 MITRE ATT&CK evaluations are out! With the MITRE ATT&CK framework now being the standard by which Defenders can measure the effectiveness of various solutions in tracking adversary behavior, cyber vendors are cherry-p… Continue reading MITRE ATT&CK: Cybereason Dominates the Competition
A key member of the FIN7 cybercrime gang – which is said to have caused over one billion dollars worth of damage around the world – has been sentenced to 10 years in jail.
Read more in my article on the Hot for Security blog. Continue reading Sysadmin of fake cybersecurity company sentenced to jail after billion-dollar crime spree
A U.S. federal judge on Friday sentenced Fedir Hladyr to 10 years in prison for his alleged role as an administrator of the multibillion-dollar cybercrime group known as FIN7, which has breached hundreds of U.S. firms. The 10-year sentence includes three years Hladyr has already spent in detention since his arrest, and $2.5 million in restitution to be distributed to victims. FIN7 is one of the most formidable cybercriminal groups of the last decade, allegedly siphoning off millions of credit card numbers from restaurant and hospitality chains in 47 U.S. states. And Hladyr, a Ukrainian in his mid-30s, is allegedly a big reason that FIN7 operated like a well-oiled multinational corporation. Hladyr allegedly controlled an instant messaging service that the crime group used to upload stolen payment card data and screenshots from hacked financial firms. He also allegedly organized FIN7’s work through a project-tracking software that managed thousands of stolen usernames […]
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Morphisec Labs has been tracking FIN7 (Carbanak Group) activity for the past several years. Morphisec’s ability to collect rich forensic data from memory has provided unique visibility into multiple FIN7 campaigns that our researchers were proud t… Continue reading The Evolution of the FIN7 JSSLoader
One of the ringleaders of FIN7, a global hacking crew accused of stealing more than $1 billion by posing as a cybersecurity vendor, has admitted his role in the scheme. Andrii Kolpakov pleaded guilty on Monday to conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud and conspiracy to commit computer hacking as part of his involvement with FIN7. U.S. prosecutors had accused Kolpakov, a Ukrainian national, of working as a manager and recruiter for the crew, a role in which he hired and supervised computer specialists who spent their days stealing payment card information from dozens of companies, including Chipotle, Red Robin and Sonic Drive-In. “During the course of the scheme, [Kolpakov] received compensation for his participation in FIN7, which far exceeds comparable legitimate employment in Ukraine,” the plea deal notes. “For the purposes of this plea agreement, the parties agree that — during [Kolpakov’s] participation in the malware scheme — […]
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Professional hackers who already try to hide their activity through an array of technical means now seem to be trying on more corporate disguises, by creating front companies or working as government contractors to boost their legitimacy. U.S. law enforcement in September accused hackers based in Iran and China of conducting global espionage operations while appearing to exist as otherwise innocuous technology firms. While the public nature of the charges are proof the efforts weren’t entirely successful, the tactic marks an evolution of the use of dummy corporations since a group of financial scammers stole a reported $1 billion by posing as a cybersecurity testing firm. “It just makes it harder to figure out who’s doing what, and what are their motivations,” John Demers, the U.S. assistant attorney general for national security, said of the apparent motivation in a recent interview. “For a company that’s suffered a breach, it may […]
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There are quite a few West African scammers who try to explain away their wealth by claiming they are a “bitcoin entrepreneur” or “real estate investor” when in fact they conduct Business Email Compromise scams against American companies, and Romance S… Continue reading Hushpuppi and Mr.Woodbery, BEC scammers: Welcome to Chicago!