Category Archives: Indictment

North Korean hacker used hospital ransomware attacks to fund espionage

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Federal prosecutors announced the indictment Thursday of a North Korean hacker accused of carrying out ransomware operations that targeted American health care facilities and used the proceeds of those operations to fund espionage efforts against the U.S. military and defense contractors.  Rim Jong Hyok is accused of using malware developed by North Korea’s military intelligence […]

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Russian indicted, added to ‘Most Wanted’ in cybercrime market case

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Igor Dekhtyarchuk allegedly ran the cybercrime forum Marketplace A, which specialized in stolen credit card data and website logins.

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Veteran Justice official who oversaw cybercrime cases to step down

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The Justice Department official who leads the division that prosecutes state-linked and criminal hackers is resigning by the end of June, a department spokesman said Monday. John Demers will step down after more than three years as assistant attorney general for national security, during which time the department brought multiple charges against alleged Russian and Chinese spies for hacking. Mark Lesko, the acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, will likely serve as Demers’ temporary replacement, department spokesman Marc Raimondi said. Demers’ departure, which the Associated Press first reported on, has been expected for months. The White House said last month it would nominate Matt Olsen, a security executive at Uber, to replace Demers. The assistant attorney general for national security is one of the most important cybersecurity-related perches in the U.S. government as the incumbent can wield the full force of the Justice Department to pursue […]

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Trickbot indictment demonstrates how one hacking tool built on older malware

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More than five years ago, Russian authorities reportedly raided a Moscow-based film company affiliated with the scammers behind Dyre, a notorious piece of malicious software linked with tens of millions of dollars in losses. No charges against the hackers were made public, but scams using the Dyre banking trojans seemed to abruptly disappear. A U.S. indictment unsealed last week confirmed what security researchers had long suspected: From the ashes of Dyre sprung TrickBot, a piece of malicious code that has caused untold financial costs by infecting tens of millions of computers worldwide and playing a part in a series of ransomware attacks. TrickBot rose to such prominence, and menace, that U.S. military hackers took aim at its infrastructure ahead of the 2020 election to reduce the potential for ransomware attacks that could disrupt the vote. The episode exemplifies how cybercriminal groups can evolve and, drawing on old hacking tools, haunt […]

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Latvian national charged with writing malware used by Trickbot hackers

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U.S. prosecutors have charged a 55-year-old Latvian national with developing computer code used in tandem with the infamous malicious software known as TrickBot, which has defrauded countless people while infecting tens of millions of computers worldwide. The defendant, known as Alla Witte, was arraigned in a federal court in Cleveland on Friday after being arrested in Miami in February, the Justice Department said. She is accused of being part of a criminal organization that operated in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Suriname, and which infected the computers of hospitals, schools, public utilities and government agencies in the U.S. Witte wrote “code related to the control, deployment, and payments of ransomware,” the Justice Department said in a press release. She also allegedly provided computer code to other members of the criminal group that tracked users of the TrickBot malware. The malicious code was designed to steal banking login credentials, credit card numbers […]

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Kansas man indicted in connection with 2019 hack at water utility

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A U.S. grand jury has indicted a 22-year-old man for allegedly hacking the computer system of a rural water utility in Kansas and shutting down processes that affect procedures for cleaning and disinfecting water. Federal prosecutors allege in an indictment unsealed Wednesday that Wyatt Travnichek logged into Ellsworth County Rural Water District’s computer system in 2019 as part of an “unauthorized remote intrusion” that resulted “in the shut-down of the facility’s processes.” Travnichek is accused of tampering with a water system, and causing “reckless damage to a protected computer.” The charges carry maximum prison sentences of 20 years and five years, respectively. Angela Naegele, a customer service specialist at the water utility who answered the phone Thursday, said the 2019 incident had no impact on customers’ drinking water. The utility continuously monitors its water quality and safety, Naegele added. The facility serves Ellsworth County, a county of about 6,100 people […]

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Hacking for Dollars: North Korean Cybercrime

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In mid-February 2021, the Department of Justice shared the content of what had been a sealed indictment charging three North Korean (DPRK) hacking “operatives” with a plethora of cybercrimes, including “cyber heists and extortion schemes, targeting bo… Continue reading Hacking for Dollars: North Korean Cybercrime→

Justice Department official accuses China of acting as ‘safe haven’ for cybercriminals

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China is increasingly tolerant of criminal hackers on its soil if they are willing to hack on behalf of the Chinese government, a senior U.S. Justice Department official has alleged. Recent U.S. indictments of accused Chinese hackers indicate that the country “has become a safe haven for cybercriminals as long as they’re also doing work on behalf of the state,” John Demers, the assistant attorney general for national security, alleged in an interview for CyberTalks, the annual summit produced by Scoop News Group. “That’s very worrisome…because now you’ve got a country that’s giving free rein to criminal hackers.” It’s an accusation that U.S. government officials and security researchers have frequently leveled against Russia, as well. The blend, though, of criminal and state-sponsored activity in China will make it even more difficult for U.S. companies to defend themselves, Demers said. A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., called the allegations “groundless,” adding: “China is a […]

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Video-Game Piracy Group ‘Team Xecuter’ Leaders in Custody

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The two alleged leaders of Team Xecuter targeted popular consoles like the Nintendo Switch, the Sony PlayStation Classic and Microsoft Xbox. Continue reading Video-Game Piracy Group ‘Team Xecuter’ Leaders in Custody→

US arrests suspected hackers accused of video game piracy

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The alleged leaders of an international video game piracy group apparently didn’t do enough to protect their scheme from the prying eyes of the feds. The Department of Justice says two men have been arrested on felony charges of helping run Team Xecuter, which sold modification kits and other tools that allowed users of the Nintendo Switch and other gaming devices to play pirated versions of games. The federal indictment charges Canadian national Gary Bowser, French national Max Louarn and Chinese national Yuanning Chen with 11 counts of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering in connection with Team Xecuter. The indictment does not link the three men to any other hacking groups. In many ways, though, the Justice Department’s approach to charging them mirrors other recent efforts to accuse and apprehend foreigners in cybercrime cases involving financial fraud or cyber-espionage. Team Xecuter, which claims to have been […]

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