A mammoth global spying and data theft effort currently leaves web surfing citizens at risk, with several Bitcoin and crypto domains included in the mix, according to research from Awake Security. At the heart of the problem — a web domain registration company named CommuniGal Communication, or GalComm. "Of the 26,079 reachable domains registered through GalComm, 15,160 domains, or almost 60%, are malicious or suspicious," Awake wrote in a June 18 blog post. A list of sites at risk Although the nefarious movement uses several different methods, including malware, such activity has passed under the radar of popular security systems, …

The Korea Internet and Security Agency, or KISA, plans to develop an artificial intelligence-based software to trace cryptocurrency transactions on the dark web in response to the Telegram Nth Room sexual ring case. According to New Daily, the government has been working on solutions since January, as authorities faced difficult obstacles amid the investigation of the child porn case in South Korea, where people could buy access to videos with sexually explicit content containing minors. The KISA says that such software relies on machine-learning technology, which automatically traces inside South Korean’s dark web sites that process crypto transactions. The authority …

A Russian hacker was sentenced to nine years in prison by a U.S. court on June 26. The hacker, Aleksei Burkov, was previously considered to be of personal interest by Russian President, Vladimir Putin. Exclusive cybercrime with premium $5k membership fee Burkov was accused of running a website called “Cardplanet” which sold payment card information: “Many of the card numbers offered for sale belonged to U.S. citizens. The stolen credit card data sold on Burkov’s site has resulted in over $20 million in fraudulent purchases made using U.S. credit card accounts.” Allegedly Burkov also ran an exclusive invite-only club for …

A new ransomware called CryCryptor is targeting Canadian Android users. It is distributed via multiple websites that pose as portals for a government-backed COVID-19 tracing app. According to research published by ESET on June 24, CryCryptor appeared shortly after Canada's government announced a COVID-19 tracing app that utilizes voluntary information submitted by citizens. Source: ESET Once the victim installs the fake app, the ransomware encrypts all files, leaving a "readme" note with the attacker's email instead of locking the device. For this particular attack, ransom instructions appear to only be distributed via email. An open source ransomware The ransomware’s code …

A group of researchers from SophosLabs state that hackers operating the cryptojacking malware, Glupteba, have been using the Bitcoin blockchain network to communicate in secret. According to the report published on June 24, cybercriminals rely on a command and control center where they send encrypted secret messages that require a 256-bit AES decryption key. Encrypted messages used to update malware The purpose of the communication channel is for hackers to receive updated configuration information for the malware. This data is used by attackers to obtain precise instructions and thus update the malicious software. Glupteba is what’s known as a zombie …

Giving the opening remarks during a U.S. House meeting on illegal digital activities, Representative and subcommittee chair Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) noted a major jump for online crime in 2020. "We are seeing a 75% spike in daily cybercrimes, reported by the FBI since the start of the pandemic,” Cleavor said in his opening statements of the June 16 virtual hearing before the Subcommittee on National Security, International Development, and Monetary Policy. Speaker dials into specific attacks and sectors After COVID-19 prevention measures caused business closures and shelter-in-place orders in mid-March, many companies looked to remote work. As droves of people …

The office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced on June 16 the addition of six Nigerian individuals to the sanctions list for cybercrimes. According to the official announcement, Nnamdi Orson Benson, Abiola Ayorinde Kayode, Alex Afolabi Ogushakin, Felix Osilama Okpoh, Micheal Olorunyomi, and Richard Izuchukwu Uzuh are the individuals that joined to the “OFAC’s Special Designated Nationals” list. Special cybercrime-related issues authority given to the U.S. Treasury The announcement does not name the allegations against the new specially designated nationals. However, the “CYBER2” classification derives from the Obama administration, which issued an executive order …

Cybercriminals have reportedly created a fake site version of the legitimate encrypted self-destructing notes service privnote.com. The fake version can be shared with other users to steal Bitcoin. According to a June 14 report from KrebsOnSecurity, the creators of the encrypted notes service complained about a fake clone site, privnotes.com, whose scam scheme consists of the following: “Any messages containing Bitcoin addresses will be automatically altered to include a different Bitcoin address, as long as the Internet addresses of the sender and receiver of the message are not the same.” Privnote.com said in the report that the phishing site does …

Hackers have obtained more than 5,000 email addresses and phone numbers from Canada-based cryptocurrency exchange, Coinsquare. Now, they’re reportedly hoping to use the data to perform SIM swapping attacks. One of the alleged hackers spoke to VICE Motherboard on June 2, explaining that the collective originally intended to sell the information, but realized they could “make more money by SIM swapping the accounts.” Coinsquare’s CEO Cole Diamond told Cointelegraph the theft was from a third party and not the exchange itself. “Coinsquare’s systems have never been breached,” he said. “As stated to VICE, this was an employee theft of data …

Yassine Elmandjra, a crypto asset analyst at ARK Invest, said in a May 24 tweet that the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) hashrate fell by 30% since its halving event, and only accounts for about 2% of the SHA-256 hashrate. Elmandjra now thinks it’s only a question of time before somebody takes advantage of the network: “Surprised we haven't seen a large scale attack yet.” According to data from BitInfoCharts, the Bitcoin Cash average daily hashrate fell by nearly 25.6% since its April 8 halving. Still, Elmandjra presumably did his calculations based on May 23 data, where the hashrate was down by …

A security researcher has discovered another 22 Google Chrome web browser extensions built to steal their users' cryptocurrencies. Cybersecurity news outlet Naked Security reported on Friday that Harry Denley, a security researcher specializing in cryptocurrencies, discovered 22 more malicious Google Chrome extensions. The extensions he discovered impersonated well-known crypto firms such as Ledger, KeepKey, MetaMask and Jaxx. Their purpose is to trick users into giving away the credentials needed to access their wallets. Most of the phishing extensions have already been taken down as of press time. Per the report, most were down within 24 hours of Denley reporting them. …

South Korean IT experts claim that investigators in the Telegram Nth room case could have trouble identifying users who used crypto payments to access illicit videos via the chat platform. Overseas exchanges’ transactions could be an issue According to local media, Maeil Kyungjae, it is more difficult to trace payments made via international crypto exchanges versus local exchanges. A police officer involved in the investigation told Maeil Kyungjae: "It is complicated to realistically track the money that criminals have exchanged in foreign exchanges into Korean Won through illegal exchange offices." South Korean law enforcement members also warned that when illegal …