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25-Year-Old Techie Nabbed For Hacking Websites, Carrying Out Bitcoin-Related Illicit Activities

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Since the inception of Bitcoin, it has made it attractive to illicit online actors. Cryptocurrency’s latest rally and rise to popularity have once again made it highly lucrative for malicious actors. In recent developments, the Karnataka Police Central Crime Branch [CCB] arrested a 25-year-old software engineer for allegedly hacking websites to steal data and money and then converting them to bitcoins.

Kamal Pant, Commissioner of Police, during a press conference, stated,

“CCB has arrested Srikrishna alias Shreeki, aged 25 years, adept at computer programming and had done his Bachelors in Computer Science. He hacked many websites, online gaming portals, and made illegal gains. He also tried to hack into government websites.”

According to reports, the accused, who is known as Sri Krishna used peddle as well as consume drugs bought from the darknet. Earlier, he had allegedly hacked online poker games to win money and Bitcoins online. The authorities accused him of visiting hacking gaming websites and other sites to steal data, get information on credit/debit cards used by people who accessed the sites.

A CCB official also went on to say that Sri Krishna was approached by Suneesh Hegde who was looking to purchase hydro ganja through dealers on the darknet, to which Sri Krishna agreed to help them out. For the last two years, the duo would buy hydro ganja and other drugs from the darknet and pay with Bitcoins which Sri Krishna got by converting money by hacking accounts.

The drugs were couriered in consignments and the accused confessed collecting them at the foreign post office in Chamarajpet, Bengaluru.

Besides, he also happens to be the prime accused in the case of stealing Rs. 11 crores from the e-procurement website and has reportedly confessed to hacking the website of the Karnataka government back in August 2019.

Binance Exchange Helps Ukrainian Police Nab $42M Money Laundering Darknet Cartel

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Ukrainian law enforcement praised the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, for its input in helping to take down a large-scale darknet money laundering cartel. Ukrainian cyber-police teamed up with Binance to take down a group of cyber attackers for their role in $42 million ransomware and money laundering operations.

According to a joint statement made by Binance and the Ukrainian police, the three arrested individuals distributed malware and laundered stolen funds for more than two years. The report notes that the police seized $200,000 worth of computers, weapons, bullets, money and evidence connecting the three arrested suspects to the crime.

Binance helps identify money laundering darknet cartel

According to Binance, the trio arrested were all from Ukraine and were indicted back in June. The statement also notes that although their operations were based in Ukraine, the Darknet money laundering cartel has deployed a number of attacks worldwide. However, Binance does not disclose information on the size of the cartel or on the firms involved.

Binance started working with the Ukrainian authorities earlier this year, and the partnership seems to have begun to bear fruit. Successful operation is part of Binance ‘s alleged “Bulletproof Exchangers” scheme, which is aimed at tracking transactions between Binance and risky entities.

Binance and Huobi received more than half of all illegal Bitcoin in 2019

Binance participated in a similar criminal investigation in the United Kingdom last September. According to the exchange, it helped UK law enforcement to identify and arrest individuals who defrauded investors of $51 million.

Well, it is a realistic move for Binance to partner with law enforcement to track down illegal transactions. According to a study conducted by blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis, Binance and Huobi exchanges took in more than 52 percent of all illegal BTC transfers last year. Furthermore, Binance single-handedly accounted for over 27 percent of the whole amount.

Hackers Steal $3.1 Million in Bitcoin From Crypto Exchange Cashaa

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The U.K.-based crypto exchange, Cashaa, claims that hackers stole 336 bitcoins worth about $3.1 million from the exchange. The exchange firm has now halted all cryptocurrency transactions, such as withdrawals and deposits, in order to pave the way for security breach investigations.

Cashaa revealed through a tweet that the attacker hacked one of their wallets on Blockchain.com. The wallet is used to maintain the BTC and to make transfers to the crypto exchange platform. It is believed that the hacker has embedded malware into one of Casha’s computer systems.

Crypto exchange Cashaa attack took 3 minutes

Moreover, as one of the employees accessed the computer on July 10 to validate two separate transactions, the attacker swooped in, getting away with 336 Bitcoins worth approximately $3.1 million under the current market price. The incident took place within three minutes, between 1:23 pm and 1:26 pm. The CEO of Cashaa, Kumar Gaurav, reportedly told media outlets that:

“We are still investigating the damage caused by the incident and suspend all withdrawals for 24 hours. We have called the board meeting to decide whether the company will bear all the losses.”

Cashaa CEO wants exchanges that allow transfer of stolen funds to be shut down

According to Cashaa crypto exchange, the funds were transferred to this bitcoin address: 14RYUUaMW1shoxCav4znEh64xnTtL3a2Ek. There are some suggestions that the crypto mixing software is being used to transfer the stolen BTC; to confine the digital trails. Cashaa also suspects that the perpetrator is from East Delhi , India, and has therefore filed a report with the Delhi Police Cyber Crime Department.

In addition, Cashaa has reported the address involved to all crypto exchange platforms in an attempt to prevent the hacker from spending the stolen crypto. Through a statement directed at exchanges that permit stolen funds transactions; Guarav said attackers are assured of hacking cryptocurrency addresses and moving the funds via these exchanges.  Gaurav also noted the need to shut down these platforms and charge owners for money laundering.

Corporate Credit Card Info, Personal Data Leaked in Cognizant Ransomware Attack

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Cognizant cyber solutions firm has notified both employees and the California state regulators that the majority of private information that was compromised during the April Cognizant ransomware attack involved corporate credit cards. The credit cards were issued to the firm’s employees.

Back in April Maze attackers orchestrated the Cognizant ransomware attack. The firm has now notified its employees that their private information, such as company corporate credit card names and account numbers, has been leaked.

“A limited amount of personal data (of associates) was compromised before the attack was contained on May 1. Vast majority of the information consisted of names and account numbers (and no other personal information) from some American Express cards,” Cognizant wrote in a corporate letter to the employees.

The technology solutions firm is expected to be impacted by $50-$70 million in generated revenues during this quarter. Furthermore, the Cognizant ransomware attack has been reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) for investigations.

As of now, there are no details on whether the attack only affected employees in the United States or employees from other geographical locations. However, the firm has informed the affected employees that they will receive access to credit card monitoring, dark web monitoring, and free restoration of services.

Moreover, the firm also noted that some employees’ data beyond the corporate credit card info had been leaked.

“The small number of associates who have had other kinds of personal information exposed will be notified directly by June 24, 2020, and will also receive complimentary identify theft protection,” the firm allegedly stated.

Details of the leaked personal information include tax identifications, social security details, passport information, driver’s license details, and many more. Cognizant has allegedly filed two statements with California authorities regarding the Maze ransomware attack. The initial letter is directed to employees regarding the attack, while the second one is directed to the affected persons.

Child Pornography Ring Leader Sees Crypto Assets Frozen by Seoul Court

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A justice court in Seoul has agreed to the petition by prosecutors requesting to freeze cryptocurrency wallets belonging to the leader of the Nth Room case. In addition, the court also froze all the security deposits, and stock accounts of the alleged child pornography ring leader. 

The accused, Cho Ju-bin is the suspected head of the Nth Room, which is a Telegram channel under investigation for child pornography. According to a report by media outlet  KBS Korea, the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Settlement Division 30, under the guidance of Judge Lee Hyun-woo, agreed to the demands by prosecutors to confiscate 15 crypto wallets allegedly owned by Cho.

The crypto assets held within the seized wallets are suspected to shed light on the magnitude of profits that the child pornography ring leader earned with the illicit scheme. In addition, the court noted that the  130 million won ($106,734) found in Cho’s apartment back in April as a crucial piece of evidence in determining the gains made by Cho.

Cho is being charged with organizing and overseeing a network of sexually-related crimes such as broadcasting of child rape footage. According to the investigators, the child pornography scheme gained a lot of members who subscribed using cryptocurrencies to gain access to the chat rooms. 

Crypto industry aiding with investigations against child pornography ring

Furthermore, both the domestic cryptocurrency industry and the authorities have participated by aiding in investigations. The crypto industry aims to minimize the usage of digital currencies in committing criminal activities. 

For instance, Bithumb cryptocurrency exchange officially delisted Monero (XMR) from the platform on June 1, as part of its contribution to the Nth Rooms investigations. Monero was allegedly the primary cryptocurrency used by the child pornography ring. 

The authorities have allegedly managed to track the digital fingerprints of about 40 individuals who allegedly paid using digital currencies to view child porn videos and sexual violence content. It is suspected that South Korean crypto exchanges helped the authorities to track down the suspects; although it is not yet officially confirmed.

Free Ross Billboard Spotted in New York’s Times Square

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A ‘Free Ross’ billboard, demanding for the release of Ross Ulbritch, the founder of Silk Road darknet market, was spotted on Times Square on May 21. It appears the ‘FREE ROSS’ movement has leased a billboard in New York’s Times Square as they advocate for the liberation of Ross.

As per a tweet by ‘Clemency for Ross’ the billboard will display the movement’s communication and image for a couple of months. The Twitter account noted that the Times Square billboard was sponsored by “a generous supporter” and not from the site’s donations.

Free Ross billboard sponsored by “a generous supporter” 

Ulbricht was given a double life sentence and is currently in his seventh year in prison. Only clemency can save him now. The 36-year-old was apprehended and incarcerated back in 2013 for initiating Silk Road darknet market that facilitated illicit trades through Bitcoin.

The illicit drugs and fake documents market operated for three years making sales amounting to $214 million before the FBI brought it down in 2013. Ulbricht was found guilty of multiple charges including money laundering, drug trafficking, criminal enterprise and others. 

Ulbricht still influential behind bars

Even while in prison without access to the internet, Ulbricht has been actively contributing to the digital currency community through friends who share his articles on the internet. On Wednesday this week, his Medium account shared an article suggesting a solution to encrypted child pornographic content.

Ulbricht suggested a partnership with the authorities to coach the ‘ZKANN’ system to pinpoint child pornography; by use of seized media, before introducing the system to the world.

After the Silk Road founder was arrested back in 2013, a clemency petition was initiated arguing that his imprisonment was ‘rife with abuse.’ The petition will then be submitted to the United States president asking for a reduction in Ulbricht’s sentence when it gets 300,000 signatures. At press time, the petition has already garnered 291,177 signatures.

COVID-19 Research Supercomputers Infected With Crypto-Jacking Malware

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European COVID-19 research supercomputers were hacked and infected with crypto-mining malware by an anonymous cyber-crime gang over the past one week. More than ten supercomputers in Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Switzerland were attacked by a group of hackers to illegally mine cryptocurrencies.

Moreover, following the crypto-jacking of COVID-19 research supercomputers, some of them have had to be shut down to curb the damage. Among the supercomputers shut down is the University of Edinburgh’s “Archer” supercomputer. Archer was performing COVID-19 research analysis before being taken offline.

According to reports, the hacking group stole COVID-19 research supercomputer’s login credentials to gain access. The unknown group stole credentials from compromised networks of universities in Poland and the People’s Republic of China. 

A cybersecurity firm, Cado Security noted that it is normal practice for users from various high-performance computing facilities to have credentials of other institutions. This makes it easy for hackers to sieve their login credentials. 

COVID-19 research supercomputers installed with Monero mining software

In two of the events, the attackers linked with the supercomputers through a compromised SSH account. The account then took advantage of a weakness on the Linux kernel to get access and afterward installed a Monero mining software. Interestingly, the crypto-jacking malware has been set to operate during the night only, to avoid detection.

Furthermore, the majority of targets were COVID-19 research supercomputers. These computers were being used in conducting the coronavirus pandemic research. As per a publication by the Swiss Center of Scientific Computations in Zurich, the illegal crypto-mining activity led in the external access to the center taken offline to fix security issues.

The attackers’ intention of installing crypto-jacking malware is believed to make some cash. Regardless, the attack is contemplated as to cause a major disruption in the ongoing coronavirus pandemic research due to the intrusion and the resulting downtime.

This incident is yet another example that hackers are not satisfied with making money merely from their data hacks where they later sell compromised information online. On the contrary, they keep flowing with the air to take advantage of users’ weaknesses (whether it’s emotional or machine/software hole) to fill their pockets at the fullest.

Australian Woman Indicted Over Illegal Exchange of Bitcoin worth $5M

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In what is being reported as Australia’s first cyber crime sees an Australian woman indicted for allegedly running an unregistered crypto currency exchange. In addition, the woman aged 52, was seized at a shopping center in Burwood, Sidney on May 14, for laundering over$5 million in crypto through the exchange.

The woman was allegedly part of a money-laundering syndicate that efficiently operated as its own unlicensed crypto exchange. The syndicate has traded more than 326 BTC ($3.1 million) since 2017, according to detective Mathew Craft, the squad commander of the State Crime Command’s Cyber Crime Squad. 

Australia woman indicted with 3.8 BTC and over AUD$60,000 in cash

Moreover, reports suggest that the police apprehended the 52 years old woman red handed, with over AUD$60,000 in cash and 3.8 BTC which was all deemed dirty. The police confiscated all the ill-gotten wealth.

Additionally, after conducting a search exercise at her apartment in Hurstville, the police seized computers, hardware wallets, smartphones and telephones. The woman will be arraigned in court on July 20 after successfully securing a conditional bail.

“That equates to over $5 million in today’s money. This is a significant quantity of Bitcoin for somebody who is not a registered digital currency exchange,”  Detective Superintendent Craft stated.

Dealing with crypto-related crimes at the international stage

Governments and key regulators all over the world are concerned over the relationship between digital currencies; and illegal criminal activities such as money laundry. The private nature of certain cryptocurrencies make them ideal for cyber criminals, and even some rogue countries to evade sanctions and launder cash.

Furthermore, the involvement of such cryptocurrencies in the majority of ransomware threats has created a dirty reputation for Bitcoin and more privacy oriented coins like Monero. As a result, task forces aiming to combat the threat, like the one for Australia; have been created to combat the threats related to crypto. In addition, some countries have united to form an international system to fight money laundering. 

FBI Warns Rising Cryptocurrency Scams During COVID-19 Pandemic

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The coronavirus pandemic tends to bring out the best of so many people as individuals, governments, and companies come together to fight COVID-19. And there are the cybercriminals taking advantage of paranoia and the need for information to spread malware and defraud victims.

As cybercriminals continue to exploit the COVID 19 pandemic, the FBI is advising that people be alerted to a spike in COVID-19 related cryptocurrency fraud schemes. The widespread acceptance of cryptocurrency by business and its growing popularity have contributed to the spike in crypto scams. In a warning published on its website said :

“Fraudsters are leveraging increased fear and uncertainty during the COVID-19 pandemic to steal your money and launder it through the complex cryptocurrency ecosystem”

According to the FBI, people should be watchful about cryptocurrency fraud schemes such as blackmail attempts, work from home, paying for non-existent treatments or equipment, investment scams.

With the current COVID-19 situation, traditional methods of blackmail are coming with a twist. The scammer may threaten you to release your personal information or secrets and infect you and/or your family with coronavirus unless payment is sent to the Bitcoin wallet.

The FBI warns about the Money Mule Scheme in work from home scams, where criminals trick their victims into illicit money laundering by asking them to send donations or receive money on behalf of someone who pretends to be in need.

Scammers may try to sell online products claiming to prevent COVID-19 and accept payment in cryptocurrencies for products that do not actually exist. Many of the COVID-19 scams are attempts by corporations and individuals to sell goods that they say to prevent or cure the novel coronavirus that has already killed more than 100,00 people all over the world.

To Stop Scams Involving Cryptocurrency

The FBI advises

  • Verify that a vendor/charity is legitimate and accepts cryptocurrency before sending payments/donations.
  • Conduct extensive research on potential investment opportunities.
  • Do not use your personal bank accounts for work-from-home business-related activity or provide your bank account information to someone who is not named on the account.
  • Contact law enforcement before paying out blackmail and/or extortion attempts and before converting your money into cryptocurrency to pay them.

 

Since the end of February, phishing emails have increased by more than 600 percent as cybercriminals try to capitalize on the fear and confusion caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to reports.

The confusion, diversion and, weakness that results from crises spells space for criminals. Epidemic coronavirus is no exception. When some of you are at home, practicing social distance and regular hand washing to stop the coronavirus, note that scammers are always busy trying to trick people.

It is the duty of the person to protect themselves and their loved ones from being scammed by staying alert and contact the law enforcement immediately if you think you have been a victim of a coronavirus scam.