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In September 2023, KrebsOnSecurity published findings from security researchers who concluded that a series of six-figure cyberheists across dozens of victims resulted from thieves cracking master passwords stolen from the password manager service LastPass in 2022. In a court filing this week, U.S. federal agents investigating a spectacular $150 million cryptocurrency heist said they had reached the same conclusion.

White House Order Centralizes Crypto Seized Through Civil, Criminal ForfeituresThe Trump administration pledged not spend taxpayer dollars on cryptocurrencies deposited into a federal "Strategic Bitcoin Reserve" created by a Thursday evening executive order. The government has collected an estimated 200,000 digital coins through criminal and civil forfeiture.

Also: the Recent Ransomware Surge, Crypto Reserve ControversyIn this week's update, four ISMG editors discussed the recent surge in ransomware attacks, implications of the U.S. military's pause on cyber operations against Russia, and President Trump's bold but controversial plan to create a national cryptocurrency reserve.

Self-Described Hacktivists Appear to Remain Moscow Foreign Policy ExtensionRussia's use of high-profile online nuisance attacks as a psychology ploy designed to amplify Moscow's geopolitical agenda continues. As Europe has rallied to support Ukraine, self-proclaimed Russian hacktivists have trumpeted their targeting of the U.K. and EU member states, instead of the U.S.

Self-Described Hacktivists Appear to Remain Moscow Foreign Policy ExtensionRussia's use of high-profile online nuisance attacks as a psychology ploy designed to amplify Moscow's geopolitical agenda continues. As Europe has rallied to support Ukraine, self-proclaimed Russian hacktivists have trumpeted their targeting of the U.K. and EU member states, instead of the U.S.

U.S. authorities have seized over $23 million in cryptocurrency linked to the theft of $150 million from a Ripple crypto wallet in January 2024. Investigators believe hackers who breached LastPass in 2022 were behind the attack. [...]

Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex, a money laundering destination for Russian and North Korean hackers, is no more after international law enforcement seized its servers. Prosecutors in the United States indicted the exchange's two principals in federal court.

The administrators of the Russian Garantex crypto-exchange have been charged in the United States with facilitating money laundering for criminal organizations and violating sanctions. [...]

A coalition of international law enforcement agencies has seized the website associated with the cryptocurrency exchange Garantex ("garantex[.]org"), nearly three years after the service was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in April 2022

Also, BianLian Ransomware Hackers Aren't Really Mailing YouThis week, the U.S. sanctioned the Nemesis admin, Poco RAT spotted in Latin America, Apple challenged a British order to weaken encryption and the FBI warned against scam letters purportedly from BianLian. Also, a Nigerian tax scammer extradited to the U.S., a new botnet and a Webex vulnerability.

President ordered officials to ramp up vetting 'to the maximum degree' The US government's Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) is considering monitoring not just the social media posts of non-citizens coming into the country, but also those already in America going through an immigration or citizenship process.…

The U.S. Secret Service has seized the domain of the sanctioned Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex in collaboration with the Department of Justice's Criminal Division, the FBI, and Europol. [...]

Provisional Agreement Tied to Ransomware Attack Affecting 2.2 Million CustomersAmerican pharmacy chain giant Rite Aid reached a $6.8 million agreement to settle a data breach class action lawsuit, which includes a pledge to improve its cybersecurity practices. The breach involved a ransomware group stealing data pertaining to 2.2 million customers.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has announced charges against 12 Chinese nationals for their alleged participation in a wide-ranging scheme designed to steal data and suppress free speech and dissent globally

Xi's freelance infosec warriors apparently paid up to $75K to crack a single American inbox US government agencies announced Wednesday criminal charges against alleged members of China's Silk Typhoon gang, plus internet domain seizures linked to a long-term Chinese espionage campaign that saw Beijing hire miscreants to compromise US government agencies and other major orgs.…

Would 'destroy a pipeline of top talent essential for hunting' Chinese spies in US networks, Congress told Video Looming staffing cuts to America's security and intelligence agencies, if carried out, would "have a devastating effect on cybersecurity and our national security," former NSA bigwig Rob Joyce has told House representatives.…

Prosecutors Accuse Yin Kecheng of 2024 Department of Treasury HackingU.S. federal authorities Tuesday seized digital infrastructure traced to two Shanghai hackers operating on behalf of the Chinese government as "Silk Typhoon," responsible for a late 2024 incursion into the Department of Treasury.

iSoon CEO, COO and Sales Director Among 10 Indicted for Cyberespionage, Wire FraudA U.S. federal grand jury in Manhattan indicted the senior leadership of a Chinese private sector hacking contractor iSoon for supporting Beijing cyberespionage operations roughly a year after internal documents from the firm leaked online.

The threat actor known as Dark Caracal has been attributed to a campaign that deployed a remote access trojan called Poco RAT in attacks targeting Spanish-speaking targets in Latin America in 2024

Scammers are impersonating the BianLian ransomware gang in fake ransom notes sent to US companies via snail mail through the United States Postal Service. [...]