As most people know by now, the cybersecurity community recently lost one of its brightest lights when Vitali Kremez died in a diving accident. Vitali and his wife Natalia were expecting their first child in a few months from now. His mother, Irina, was here in the U.S. on a visit at the time of…
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SIM Swapper Abducted, Beaten, Held for $200k Ransom
Brian Krebs reports: A Florida teenager who served as a lackey for a cybercriminal group that specializes in cryptocurrency thefts was beaten and kidnapped last week by a rival cybercrime gang. The teen’s captives held guns to his head while forcing him to record a video message pleading with his crew to fork over a…
Treasury Sanctions Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Minister for Malign Cyber Activities
Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) and its Minister of Intelligence for engaging in cyber-enabled activities against the United States and its allies. Since at least 2007, the MOIS and its cyber actor proxies have conducted malicious cyber operations…
Violence-as-a-Service: Brickings, Firebombings & Shootings for Hire
Brian Krebs reports: A 21-year-old New Jersey man has been arrested and charged with stalking in connection with a federal investigation into groups of cybercriminals who are settling scores by hiring people to carry out physical attacks on their rivals. Prosecutors say the defendant recently participated in several of these schemes — including firing a…
Court Authorizes Service of John Doe Summons Seeking the Identities of U.S. Taxpayers Who Have Used SFOX Cryptocurrency Dealer
On Aug. 15, 2022, a federal court in the Central District of California entered an order authorizing the IRS to serve a John Doe summons on SFOX, a cryptocurrency prime dealer headquartered in Los Angeles, California, seeking information about U.S. taxpayers who conducted at least the equivalent of $20,000 in transactions in cryptocurrency between 2016…
RaidForums admin “Omni” granted conditional bail while U.K. considers U.S. extradition request
As seen on Breach Forum, U.K. High Court Judge Stephen Morris has rejected a request by the U.S. to keep Diogo Santos Coelho (aka “Omni” of RaidForums) in jail while the U.S. appeals a magistrate judge’s decision to grant him conditional bail. Coelho was arrested in January 2022, but his arrest was not announced until…