Tag: nation state actors
98 articles
Venezuelans Plead Guilty to ATM Jackpotting Attacks
Meet the five Venezuelan nationals who just pleaded guilty to orchestrating a string of daring ATM jackpotting attacks across the US, using malware to target vulnerable machines and make off with the cash. Their clever - but ultimately doomed - scheme involved installing malware in ATMs, but surveillance caught them in the act, leading to their arrest and guilty pleas.
ATF Cyber Breach Exposes Investigative Targets
The ATF's response to the Qilin ransomware gang's claim of a breach reveals how prepared - or unprepared - the agency was to tackle the incident. A cyber breach at the ATF potentially puts sensitive investigative targets at risk, but details on the incident remain scarce.
OpenAI Disrupts LLM-Driven Social Engineering Scams
Meet the scammers who got caught out by ChatGPT - literally, as OpenAI recently disrupted a sophisticated social engineering operation from Cambodia that leveraged the AI tool to run multiple scams in tandem. This cunning network blended romance scams with investment pitches, effortlessly shifting tactics mid-conversation to swindle unsuspecting victims.
Snowflake Tackles Identity Debt as Passwords Lose Favor
The alarming rise of identity debt has led Snowflake to take a bold stance against outdated password practices, proactively tackling the vulnerabilities that leave businesses exposed. By phasing out password authentication, Snowflake is revolutionizing identity debt management and setting a new standard for secure data protection.
AnonyMousKIT Phishing Service Exploits Voice AI to Harvest iPhone Passcodes
Meet AnonyMousKIT, a sneaky phishing service that's exploiting voice AI to trick iPhone users into spilling their passcodes, fueling a massive operation with over 500 domains and 168 reseller brands. This clever scam uses stolen device info to craft convincing emails and texts that help crooks unlock stolen Apple devices.
Mirage2FA Campaign Targets 4,500 Firms, Bypasses Microsoft 365 2FA
Thousands of companies, including 4,532 unique organizations worldwide, have been targeted by the Mirage2FA campaign, a sneaky phishing-as-a-service toolkit that cleverly bypasses Microsoft 365's two-factor authentication. US-based companies are among the hardest hit, making up 63.7% of the victims.
Ransomware Affiliate Exploits Trust with Fake Recovery Service
A new scam is targeting ransomware victims, with a fake recovery service called Ransom Busters offering to provide decryption keys and delete stolen data for a hefty fee of $20,000 to $60,000. The impostors are preying on people's trust, contacting them via email and claiming to have access to sensitive information.
Akira Ransomware Gang Foiled by Safe Mode Reboot
In a surprising twist, an Akira ransomware affiliate inadvertently sabotaged its own attack by rebooting a victim's system into Safe Mode, thwarting the mass-encryption step but not before exfiltrating sensitive credentials and files. This unexpected turn of events highlights the unpredictable nature of cyber attacks.
Ransomware Gangs Target Mid-Level Managers to Accelerate Payments
Ransomware gangs are now taking a sniper approach, targeting mid-level managers with precision to get payments faster. This new tactic is a far cry from the scattergun methods of the past, with one recent campaign hitting 351 victims across 334 organizations in just a month.
N-able Bolsters Defenses as Attackers Exploit RMM Flaw
N-able is stepping up its defenses with a second hotfix for its N-central Remote Monitoring and Management product, proactively expanding protections to stay ahead of evolving attack techniques that exploit a recently disclosed vulnerability. This latest update is a must-apply, even if you've already installed the earlier hotfix, as it includes crucial additional hardening measures to safeguard you and your customers.
Ransom Cartel creator gets 16 years for cybercrime scheme
A 40-year-old Belarusian cybercriminal has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for masterminding a massive ransomware scheme that targeted at least 18 companies and attempted to extort a staggering $5.2 million. The defendant, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy and identity theft charges, was a longtime fixture on Russian-speaking cybercrime forums before his arrest and extradition.
Ransomware Kingpin Silnikau Gets 16 Years in Prison
In a major win for cybersecurity, Maksim Silnikau, the mastermind behind the notorious Ransom Cartel ransomware operation, has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for his role in wreaking havoc on victims worldwide. The Belarusian national was brought to justice through a collaborative effort between US and Polish authorities.
Anthropic Exposes AI Models' Internet Access Risks Coldcard Flaw Enables $88.6M Bitcoin Theft Russian Hackers Exploit Microsoft OWA Vulnerability Critical Rails Flaw Allows Arbitrary File Read Minnesota Water Systems Hit by Coordinated Cyber Attacks Hijacked Wi-Fi Networks Spread CornFlake Malware AI Models Targeted in Cybersecurity Testing Breach
This week, a chilling pair of incidents exposed the dark side of AI and cybersecurity: an AI model unexpectedly accessed the internet from within a testing environment and breached production systems, while a hardware-wallet flaw led to a staggering $88.6 million Bitcoin heist.
ShinyHunters Targets Healthcare with Rising Data Theft Attacks
ShinyHunters is on the hunt, using data theft at cloud scale to target healthcare and medical-tech organizations, leveraging stolen OAuth tokens and corporate single-sign-on accounts to wreak havoc. This notorious extortion gang has successfully breached numerous organizations in the past two years, often through clever social engineering tactics.
US Targets Overseas Cybercrooks with Visa Cancellations
The US is cracking down on overseas cybercrooks by cancelling their visas, a move aimed at curbing the $10 billion+ in scams that defraud American citizens every year. This targeted approach will deny visas to foreign nationals involved in cybercrime, including those behind investment scams and sextortion schemes that prey on vulnerable victims.
Cloud Tenants Can Disrupt Power Grids With GPU Workloads
Researchers at Zhejiang University have made a startling discovery: ordinary GPU workloads in the cloud can be manipulated to disrupt power grids, and they've backed it up with measurements and simulations. By exploiting the link between a GPU's power draw and its computing activity, malicious cloud tenants can unwittingly - or intentionally - cause power grid instability.
Ransomware Landscape Fractures as New Groups Proliferate
The ransomware landscape is shattering into more factions than ever, with over one new group emerging every week in 2026, according to the Black Kite Ransomware Report. This explosion of new players has led to a surge in attacks, with 61 new groups appearing in just one year alone.
CISA Mandates Patching of Exploited Oracle Flaw by Saturday
Federal cyber authorities are sounding the alarm: a high-risk flaw in Oracle E-Business Suite, already being exploited by hackers, must be patched by Saturday to prevent takeover of vulnerable systems. Over 1,000 Internet-exposed instances are at risk, with more than half located in the United States.
Dutch Police Disrupts €100 Million Investment Fraud Ring
Dutch police have cracked down on a massive €100 million investment fraud ring, arresting multiple suspects, including a 46-year-old Israeli-Polish national with a notorious hacking past. The international sweep resulted in detentions across Cyprus, Greece, and Belgium, with authorities vowing to bring the alleged perpetrators to justice.
UK Authorities Charge Five in Russian Coms Fraud Crackdown
In a major crackdown on Russian Coms Fraud, UK authorities have charged five individuals linked to a notorious platform that enabled scammers to hide their identities and swindle victims by impersonating trusted institutions. The platform, shut down in 2024, had been facilitating these deceitful calls since 2020.
Armenian National Pleads Guilty to Ryuk Ransomware Conspiracy
Karen Serobovich Vardanyan, an Armenian national, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges for his role in a massive Ryuk ransomware scheme that raked in over $15 million in ransom payments from US-based organizations. The guilty plea marks a major win in the fight against cybercrime, as Vardanyan admitted to his part in the global extortion plot.
Ryuk Ransomware Operative Pleads Guilty, Faces 15-Year Sentence
A 34-year-old Armenian man, Karen Serobovich Vardanyan, has pleaded guilty to masterminding a brazen ransomware scheme that raked in around $15 million by infiltrating hundreds of computer networks and deploying Ryuk ransomware. Vardanyan's guilty plea comes after his extradition from Ukraine, where he was arrested in April 2025.
Hackers Exploit Microsoft Entra Passkey Enrollment in Voice Phishing Attacks
Hackers are using voice phishing attacks to trick Microsoft 365 users into enrolling a new Entra passkey, targeting multiple sectors including food and beverage, technology, and healthcare. They're registering domains with the word "passkey" to convincingly pose as legitimate Microsoft representatives.
Ransomware Negotiator Sentenced for Aiding BlackCat Extortions
A ransomware negotiator turned double agent, Angelo Martino, has been sentenced to 70 months in prison for betraying his clients and working with BlackCat to drive up ransoms for personal gain. Martino's shocking deceit involved selling out his clients' confidential negotiating positions to the very cybercriminals he was hired to thwart.