Category Archives: Indictment

US charges alleged Iranian hackers with stealing aerospace, satellite data

Posted on by

The Department of Justice on Thursday unsealed an indictment charging three Iranian men in connection with a scheme to steal critical data from U.S. aerospace and satellite companies — the latest in a string of U.S. charges against suspected Iranian hackers. U.S. prosecutors accused the three men of “engaging in a coordinated campaign of identity theft and hacking” on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The scheme allegedly spanned more than three years, and a targeted list of over 1,8000 online accounts comprising aerospace and satellite companies and government organizations, from the U.S. to the United Kingdom to Israel. The charges followed sanctions from the U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday against dozens of Iranians, including alleged members of hacking group known as APT39, for allegedly targeting Iranian dissidents and journalists. It’s the latest update in an aggressive crackdown on Iranian hacking this week that has been a coordinated effort across multiple U.S. […]

The post US charges alleged Iranian hackers with stealing aerospace, satellite data appeared first on CyberScoop.

Continue reading US charges alleged Iranian hackers with stealing aerospace, satellite data→

US indicts two hackers for retaliating for Soleimani’s killing; more Iran-related charges expected soon

Posted on by

U.S. prosecutors have indicted two hackers, including an Iranian national, for allegedly defacing a slew of websites in retaliation for the U.S. killing of a top Iranian general in January. The indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Massachusetts accuses Behzad Mohammadzadeh, an Iranian thought to be 19, and Marwan Abusrour, a 25-year-old Palestinian, of attacking U.S. websites and planting messages such as “Down with America.” Mohammadzadeh is a “self-described spammer” who allegedly traffics in stolen credit cards, the Department of Justice said. Such defacement attacks do not require much skill, and are not the retaliatory cyberattacks that officials feared after the U.S. military killed Qassem Soleimani, Iran’s top general. The FBI had warned companies that Iranian hackers had stepped up their reconnaissance in the immediate aftermath of the Soleimani killing. The indictment unsealed Tuesday is one of multiple indictments that U.S. prosecutors are expected to announce this week related to Iranian hacking, according to two people familiar with the matter. It […]

The post US indicts two hackers for retaliating for Soleimani’s killing; more Iran-related charges expected soon appeared first on CyberScoop.

Continue reading US indicts two hackers for retaliating for Soleimani’s killing; more Iran-related charges expected soon→

Notorious Hacker ‘Fxmsp’ Outed After Widespread Access-Dealing

Posted on by

The Kazakh native made headlines last year for hacking McAfee, Symantec and Trend Micro; but the Feds say he’s also behind a widespread backdoor operation spanning six continents. Continue reading Notorious Hacker ‘Fxmsp’ Outed After Widespread Access-Dealing→

Julian Assange accused of conspiring with Anonymous and LulzSec in superseding US indictment

Posted on by

The U.S. government has broadened its criminal case against Julian Assange in an indictment unsealed Wednesday that accuses the WikiLeaks founder of collaborating with hackers affiliated with the Anonymous and LulzSec hacking groups
The new superseding… Continue reading Julian Assange accused of conspiring with Anonymous and LulzSec in superseding US indictment→

Michigan man accused in 2014 hack of medical center, sale of data on 65,000 people

Posted on by

Federal agents have arrested a 29-year-old Michigan man for allegedly hacking into a medical center in 2014, stealing data on more than 65,000 people and then selling it on the dark web, the Department of Justice announced Thursday. A 43-count indictment charges Justin Sean Johnson with wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy for the hack of a database at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pennsylvania’s largest health care system. Johnson’s sale of medical center employees’ Social Security numbers and addresses led other alleged criminals to claim hundreds of thousands of dollars in fake IRS tax refunds, prosecutors said. “The health care sector has become an attractive target of cyber criminals looking to update personal information for use in fraud,” Timothy Burke, special agent in charge for the U.S. Secret Service in Pittsburgh, said in a statement. The indictment also alleges that from 2014 to 2017 Johnson sold other personally identifiable information […]

The post Michigan man accused in 2014 hack of medical center, sale of data on 65,000 people appeared first on CyberScoop.

Continue reading Michigan man accused in 2014 hack of medical center, sale of data on 65,000 people→

Ex-Inspector General indicted for stealing data on 250k govt colleagues

Posted on by

Crime doesn’t pay, even if you have the audacity to try to sell your employer its own, free software and personal data on your own colleagues. Continue reading Ex-Inspector General indicted for stealing data on 250k govt colleagues→

Ex-DHS inspector general indicted for allegedly stealing government software

Posted on by

Federal prosecutors on Friday announced charges against the former acting inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security for allegedly stealing proprietary software from the watchdog and trying to profit from it. Charles K. Edwards, who served as acting DHS inspector general from 2011 to 2013, and his former associate Murali Yamazula Venkata, are accused of aggravated identity theft, wire fraud, and conspiring to steal government property to defraud the United States. The alleged scheme took place from 2014 to 2017, after Edwards had already left DHS’s inspector general (IG) office. But the head-turning indictment accuses Edwards of coordinating with Venkata, who still worked at the IG’s office, to steal the IG’s software. Edwards and Venkata also allegedly took “sensitive government databases” containing the personal identifiably information of DHS and U.S. Postal Service employees. Edwards then allegedly used the stolen code to improve software made by his company, Delta Business Solutions, […]

The post Ex-DHS inspector general indicted for allegedly stealing government software appeared first on CyberScoop.

Continue reading Ex-DHS inspector general indicted for allegedly stealing government software→

U.S. charges Huawei with conspiracy to steal trade secrets, racketeering

Posted on by

Chinese telecommunication giant Huawei and a number of its subsidiaries were charged with conspiracy to steal trade secrets and racketeering in a federal indictment made public Thursday. The charges, filed by prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York, build on a prior indictment, announced a year ago, alleging that the Shenzhen-based company had engaged in a pattern of criminal behavior that included the theft of trade secrets from U.S. firms including T-Mobile. The superseding indictment unsealed Thursday comes amid a years-long argument from U.S. officials that Huawei, as a Chinese company, presents a national security threat. Now, Huawei, the world’s largest manufacturer of telecommunication equipment, also is accused of stealing source code and manuals from other vendors’ internet routers, robot-testing technology, and antenna technology, then using its subsidiaries to reinvest money made from this alleged racketeering activity. The charges also accuse the company of flouting U.S. sanctions by operating subsidiaries in North Korea and Iran. The government in Tehran […]

The post U.S. charges Huawei with conspiracy to steal trade secrets, racketeering appeared first on CyberScoop.

Continue reading U.S. charges Huawei with conspiracy to steal trade secrets, racketeering→

Feds are lining up more indictments related to Chinese cyber-activity, officials say

Posted on by

U.S. prosecutors are preparing to issue new charges against Chinese nationals related to alleged hacking and insider threats at U.S. organizations, senior Department of Justice officials said Thursday. “Chinese theft by hacking has been prominent,” Attorney General William Barr said in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. “Those actions by China are continuing, and you should expect more indictments and prosecutions in the future.” It is unclear when prosecutors will issue the next indictment related to Chinese activity. Asked when that would happen, John Demers, the assistant attorney general for national security, would only say “soon.” “I think you’ll see more cyber-related indictments and you’ll see more of the insider indictments that, more recently, have actually … dominated the number of indictments we’ve brought,” Demers told reporters, referring to cases in which an employee of a U.S. company is coopted into stealing sensitive data. The Chinese […]

The post Feds are lining up more indictments related to Chinese cyber-activity, officials say appeared first on CyberScoop.

Continue reading Feds are lining up more indictments related to Chinese cyber-activity, officials say→