Category Archives: U.S. Justice Department

PlugwalkJoe Does the Perp Walk

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One day after last summer’s mass-hack of Twitter, KrebsOnSecurity wrote that 22-year-old British citizen Joseph “PlugwalkJoe” O’Connor appeared to have been involved in the incident. When the Justice Department last week announced O’Connor’s arrest and indictment, his alleged role in the Twitter compromise was well covered in the media.

But most of the coverage so far seem to have overlooked the far more sinister criminal charges in the indictment, which involve an underground scene wherein young men turn to extortion, sextortion, SIM swapping, death threats and physical attacks — all in a bid to seize control over highly-prized social media accounts. Continue reading PlugwalkJoe Does the Perp Walk→

Task Force Seeks to Disrupt Ransomware Payments

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Some of the world’s top tech firms are backing a new industry task force focused on disrupting cybercriminal ransomware gangs by limiting their ability to get paid, and targeting the individuals and finances of the organized thieves behind these crimes. Continue reading Task Force Seeks to Disrupt Ransomware Payments→

Arrest, Seizures Tied to Netwalker Ransomware

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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 through the spreading of NetWalker was charged in a Florida court. Continue reading Arrest, Seizures Tied to Netwalker Ransomware→

Sealed U.S. Court Records Exposed in SolarWinds Breach

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The ongoing breach affecting thousands of organizations that relied on backdoored products by network software firm SolarWinds may have jeopardized the privacy of countless sealed court documents on file with the U.S. federal court system, according to… Continue reading Sealed U.S. Court Records Exposed in SolarWinds Breach→

Two Russians Charged in $17M Cryptocurrency Phishing Spree

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U.S. authorities today announced criminal charges and financial sanctions against two Russian men accused of stealing nearly $17 million worth of virtual currencies in a series of phishing attacks throughout 2017 and 2018 that spoofed websites for some… Continue reading Two Russians Charged in $17M Cryptocurrency Phishing Spree→

Three Charged in July 15 Twitter Compromise

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Three individuals have been charged for their alleged roles in the July 15 hack on Twitter, an incident that resulted in Twitter profiles for some of the world’s most recognizable celebrities, executives and public figures sending out tweets advertising a bitcoin scam.  Continue reading Three Charged in July 15 Twitter Compromise→

New Charges, Sentencing in Satori IoT Botnet Conspiracy

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The U.S. Justice Department today criminally charged a Canadian and a Northern Ireland man for allegedly conspiring to build multiple botnets that enslaved hundreds of thousands of routers and other Internet of Things (IoT) devices for use in large-scale distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. In addition, a defendant in the United States was sentenced to drug treatment and 18 months community confinement for his admitted role in the conspiracy. Continue reading New Charges, Sentencing in Satori IoT Botnet Conspiracy→

A Light at the End of Liberty Reserve’s Demise?

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In May 2013, the U.S. Justice Department seized Liberty Reserve, alleging the virtual currency service acted as a $6 billion financial hub for the cybercrime world. Prompted by assurances that the government would one day afford Liberty Reserve users a chance to reclaim any funds seized as part of the takedown, KrebsOnSecurity filed a claim shortly thereafter to see if and when this process might take place. This week, an investigator with the U.S. Internal Revenue service finally got in touch to discuss my claim. Continue reading A Light at the End of Liberty Reserve’s Demise?→

U.S. Charges 4 Chinese Military Officers in 2017 Equifax Hack

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The U.S. Justice Department today unsealed indictments against four Chinese officers of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) accused of perpetrating the 2017 hack against consumer credit bureau Equifax that led to the theft of personal data on nearly 150 million Americans. DOJ officials said the four men were responsible for carrying out the largest theft of sensitive personal information by state-sponsored hackers ever recorded.  Continue reading U.S. Charges 4 Chinese Military Officers in 2017 Equifax Hack→

DDoS Mitigation Firm Founder Admits to DDoS

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A Georgia man who co-founded a service designed to protect companies from crippling distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks has pleaded to paying a DDoS-for-hire service to launch attacks against others. Continue reading DDoS Mitigation Firm Founder Admits to DDoS→