The Pacific is increasingly becoming an important transshipment hub and an operational and destination point for organized crime syndicates, according to a new report launched today by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Titled Transnational Organized Crime in the Pacific: Expansion, Challenges, and Impact, the report provides a detailed analysis of the rapidly evolving organized crime landscape and related drivers. It highlights how foreign criminal groups are capitalizing on the region’s geographic isolation, infiltrating legitimate businesses and using new technologies to advance their illicit operations while evading law enforcement.
Read more…
Source: UN Office on Drugs and Crime
Related:
- DDoS mystery: Who’s behind this massive wave of attacks targeting Dutch banks?
February 1, 2018
There is as yet no indication of who is behind the massive distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on Netherlands banks and government websites that ran from last weekend to Tuesday. Initial reports suggesting a Russian connection appear baseless. The attacks began just a couple of days after media reports stated that Dutch intelligence tipped off their ...
- Meltdown-Spectre: Malware is already being tested by attackers
February 1, 2018
German antivirus testing firm AV-Test has identified 139 samples of malware that seem to be early attempts at exploiting the Meltdown and Spectre CPU bugs. “So far, the AV-Test Institute discovered 139 samples that appear to be related to recently reported CPU vulnerabilities. CVE-2017-5715, CVE-2017-5753, CVE-2017-5754,” the company wrote on Twitter. The company has posted SHA-256 hashes of several ...
- Cryptocurrency Mining Malware Infected Over Half-Million PCs Using NSA Exploit
January 31, 2018
2017 was the year of high profile data breaches and ransomware attacks, but from the beginning of this year, we are noticing a faster-paced shift in the cyber threat landscape, as cryptocurrency-related malware is becoming a popular and profitable choice of cyber criminals. Several cybersecurity firms are reporting of new cryptocurrency mining viruses that are being ...
- Digital Extortion: A Forward-looking View
January 30, 2018
In 2017, we saw digital extortion increasingly become cybercriminals’ first and foremost money-making modus operandi. It’s mostly due to ransomware — cybercriminals’ currently most popular weapon of choice, helping them in extorting cash from users all over the world and in hitting big businesses and organizations. By infecting business-critical systems through their shotgun-style ransomware attacks and ...
- Ploutus.D Malware Variant Used in U.S.-based ATM Jackpotting Attacks
January 29, 2018
The United States Secret Service issued a warning on Friday to financial institutions citing “credible information” about “planned” attacks against U.S. cash machines using malware that can quickly drain ATM machines dry of cash. The warning came a day after ATM maker Diebold Nixdorf also warned its customers of “potential” ATM Jackpotting attacks moving from Mexico to the U.S. But journalist Brian ...
- Ransomware: Is time running out for the biggest menace on the web?
January 26, 2018
Ransomware attacks like WannaCry and Petya caused major chaos last year, while the likes of Locky and Cerber were less high-profile, but still managed to generate large amounts of income for their criminal creators. 2017 was the year of ransomware, but it could be that the file-encrypting malware has already reached its peak, as an analysis of cybercriminal campaigns appears to show that malicious ...