NCA disrupts $multi-billion Russian money laundering networks with links to, drugs, ransomware and espionage, resulting in 84 arrests

An international NCA-led investigation – Operation Destabilise – has exposed and disrupted Russian money laundering networks supporting serious and organised crime around the world: spanning from the streets of the UK, to the Middle East, Russia, and South America. Investigators Read More …

Europol coordinates global action against criminal abuse of Cobalt Strike

Law enforcement has teamed up with the private sector to fight against the abuse of a legitimate security tool by criminals who were using it to infiltrate victims’ IT systems. Older, unlicensed versions of the Cobalt Strike red teaming tool Read More …

US sanctions Russian accused of laundering Ryuk ransomware funds

The U.S. government has sanctioned a Russian national for allegedly laundering millions of dollars’ worth of victim ransom payments on behalf of individuals linked to the notorious Ryuk ransomware group. According to an announcement from the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Read More …

UK cracks down on ransomware actors

Seven Russian nationals have assets frozen and travel bans imposed ransomware is a tier 1 national security threat, with attacks against businesses and public sector organisations increasingly common. Recent victims include UK schools, local authorities and firms – whilst internationally Read More …

Bruised but Not Broken: The Resurgence of the Emotet Botnet Malware

The Emotet botnet malware is well known in the cybersecurity industry for its success in using spam emails to compromise machines and then selling access to these machines as part of its infamous malware-as-a-service (MaaS) scheme. Operators behind notorious threats Read More …

FIN7 Lures Unwitting Security Pros to Carry Out Ransomware Attacks

The financially motivated cybercrime gang behind the Carbanak backdoor malware, FIN7, has hit upon a genius idea for maximizing profit from ransomware: Hire real pen-testers to do some of their dirty work instead of striking partnerships with other criminals. According Read More …

Case Study: From BazarLoader to Network Reconnaissance

BazarLoader is Windows-based malware spread through various methods involving email. These infections provide backdoor access that criminals use to determine whether the host is part of an Active Directory (AD) environment. If so, criminals deploy Cobalt Strike and perform reconnaissance Read More …

Microsoft MSHTML Flaw Exploited by Ryuk Ransomware Gang

Criminals behind the Ryuk ransomware were early exploiters of the Windows MSHTML flaw, actively leveraging the bug in campaigns ahead of a patch released by Microsoft this week. Collaborative research by Microsoft and RiskIQ revealed campaigns by Ryuk threat actors Read More …