Category Archives: law enforcement

Using Foreign Nationals to Bypass US Surveillance Restrictions

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Remember when the US and Australian police surreptitiously owned and operated the encrypted cell phone app ANOM? They arrested 800 people in 2021 based on that operation.

New documents received by Motherboard show that over 100 of those phones were shipped to users in the US, far more than previously believed.

What’s most interesting to me about this new information is how the US used the Australians to get around domestic spying laws:

For legal reasons, the FBI did not monitor outgoing messages from Anom devices determined to be inside the U.S. Instead, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) monitored them on behalf of the FBI, according to previously published court records. …

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Law Enforcement Access to Chat Data and Metadata

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A January 2021 FBI document outlines what types of data and metadata can be lawfully obtained by the FBI from messaging apps. Rolling Stone broke the story and it’s been written about elsewhere.

I don’t see a lot of surprises in the document. Lots of apps leak all sorts of metadata: iMessage and WhatsApp seem to be the worst. Signal protects the most metadata. End-to-end encrypted message content can be available if the user uploads it to an unencrypted backup server.

EDITED TO ADD (12/13): Here’s a more legible copy of the text.

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The story of the year: ransomware in the headlines

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In the past twelve months, the word “ransomware” has popped up in countless headlines worldwide across both print and digital publications. But how did we get here and what has changed about the ransomware landscape since it was first our story of the year in 2019? Continue reading The story of the year: ransomware in the headlines→

Massive online crime crackdown leads to 1,000 arrests

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An operation coordinated by INTERPOL codenamed HAECHI-II saw police arrest more than 1,000 individuals and intercept a total of nearly $27 million of illicit funds, underlining the global threat of cyber-enabled financial crime. Taking place over four … Continue reading Massive online crime crackdown leads to 1,000 arrests→

Potent Brazilian banking trojan resurfaces in South America, despite arrests that averted $4M theft

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Back in June, police in Spain arrested 16 people accused of being part of a gang laundering stolen money with the Mekotio and Grandoreiro banking trojans. The suspects in that arrest had already swiped more than $320,000, authorities said, but were on the verge of taking about $4 million before their arrests. But that arrest wasn’t the end for the malware. In the last three months, Mekotio malware has been used to actively target victims again, a report published Wednesday by Check Point Research suggests, with more than 100 attacks detected that show new stealth and evasion techniques in Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Spain and Peru. “Although the Spanish Civil Guard announced the arrest of 16 people involved with Mekotio distribution in July 2021, it appears the gang behind the malware is still active,” said Kobi Eisenkraft, the malware research and protection team leader at Check Point. The research, written by […]

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US, allies pledge to combat money laundering as part of efforts to slow ransomware

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Nations must better clamp down on money laundering in order to disrupt ransomware gangs’ illicit financial transactions, according to a statement Thursday from 32 countries that participated in two days of White House meetings focused on slowing hackers and digital extortion. The joint statement also included commitments to other methods of countering ransomware, such as encouraging cyber hygiene practices to the private sector, collaborating across law enforcement and national security agencies and using diplomatic pressure against nations that harbor cybercriminals. The initiative comes after a White House summit that included presentations and intelligence sharing between countries including Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France and Germany, among others. The two days of meetings were the latest steps the Biden administration has taken to battle ransomware, a frequent focus of the White House since major attacks this summer on Colonial Pipeline, JBS and Kaseya. However, the meetings excluded Russia, […]

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Deep From the Trenches in Bulgaria! – Part Two

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define:peasantRelated posts:Dancho Danchev’s Disappearance – 2010 – Official Complaint Against Republic of Bulgaria – Part FourDancho Danchev’s Disappearance – 2010 – Official Complaint Against Republic of Bulgaria – Part ThreeDancho Danchev’s Disappea… Continue reading Deep From the Trenches in Bulgaria! – Part Two→