Kidnappers in France target cryptocurrency entrepreneurs for ransom


French police rescued the father of a wealthy cryptocurrency entrepreneur in a nighttime raid after he was taken hostage for ransom, the latest alleged criminal effort in France to extort people involved in the management of digital assets.

The man was kidnapped Thursday morning in Paris, the prosecutor’s office said Sunday. “The victim turned out to be the father of a man who made his fortune in cryptocurrencies, and the incident was accompanied by a ransom demand,” its statement said, without giving their names or other specifics about their identities. Police investigators located the hostage in a house in the Essonne region south of Paris, from which he was rescued on Saturday night, the prosecutor’s office said.

Read more…
Source: AP News


Sign up for our Newsletter
The latest news and insights delivered right to your inbox.


Related:

  • ‘High-level’ organiser of FIN7 hacking group sentenced to ten years in prison

    April 19, 2021

    The US Department of Justice described Ukranian national Fedir Hladyr, 35, as a systems administrator for the FIN7 hacking group. He was arrested in Germany, in 2018 at the request of U.S. law enforcement and was extradited to Seattle. In September 2019, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy ...

  • The Security dilemma of smart factories [Part 3] Fundamental security risks in robot languages

    April 19, 2021

    Industrial robots are the core of the automation of manufacturing processes in smart factories, and are the most important components as they support the manufacture of all kinds of products such as automobiles, aircraft, processed foods, and pharmaceuticals. In addition, as equipment that realizes unmanned manufacturing in the post-COVID-19 world where minimal or no contact ...

  • Cybercrime rises by almost 40% in Moscow since beginning of 2021

    April 19, 2021

    The number of cyber crimes in Moscow rose by almost 40% since the beginning of the year, “More than 14,600 crimes involving information and communication technologies were recorded in Moscow in the first quarter of the year, up 38% compared to the same period last year,” the statement reads. According to the prosecution authorities, most cyber criminals ...

  • Discord Nitro gift codes now demanded as ransomware payments

    April 18, 2021

    In a novel approach to ransom demands, a new ransomware calling itself ‘NitroRansomware’ encrypts victim’s files and then demands a Discord Nitro gift code to decrypt files. While Discord is free, they offer a Nitro subscription add-on for $9.99 per month that provides additional perks, such as larger uploads, HD video streaming, enhanced emojis, and the ...

  • Ryuk ransomware operation updates hacking techniques

    April 17, 2021

    Recent attacks from Ryuk ransomware operators show that the actors have a new preference when it comes to gaining initial access to the victim network. The trend observed in attacks this year reveals a predilection towards targeting hosts with remote desktop connections exposed on the public internet. Furthermore, using targeted phishing emails to deliver the malware continues ...

  • NSA: 5 Security Bugs Under Active Nation-State Cyberattack

    April 16, 2021

    The Feds are warning that nation-state actors are once again after U.S. assets, this time in a spate of cyberattacks that exploit five vulnerabilities that affect VPN solutions, collaboration-suite software and virtualization technologies. According to the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), which issued an alert Thursday, the advanced persistent threat (APT) group known as APT29 (a.k.a. ...