Latest cybersecurity reporting from selected sources.

A U.S. government agency paid $1M to Kairos, a group focused on data theft and extortion rather than ransomware, Ransom-ISAC reports. A new case study from Ransom-ISAC reconstructs a complete data-extortion incident involving a U.S. government body and a threat actor called Kairos, using a leaked negotiation transcript and blockchain tracing of the ransom payment. […]

A U.S. government entity paid about $1 million to keep stolen files from being leaked, according to a new case study by Rakesh Krishnan for Ransom-ISAC, built on a leaked negotiation chat and the blockchain trail the payment left

Domain of dark web money laundering platform AudiA6 seized and suspects arrested in joint operation by the FBI, Europol and others

Authorities in Europe have disrupted AudiA6, a cryptocurrency laundering service used by ransomware gangs and cybercriminal networks

Law enforcement has dismantled the “AudiA6” cryptocurrency service allegedly used by ransomware actors and other cybercriminals to launder more than $380 million. [...]

The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has announced sanctions against Nobitex, Iran's largest cryptocurrency exchange, for facilitating payments related to terrorist activities. [...]

Stan Duijf of Dutch National Police on Collaborative Law EnforcementGlobal law enforcement agencies are shifting tactics to disrupt ransomware earlier in the attack chain. Stan Duijf of the Dutch National Police describes how collaboration, threat intelligence and cryptocurrency seizures are making cybercrime more costly and less effective for criminals.

Credential and cryptocurrency theft, live surveillance, ransomware - an attacker's Swiss Army knife A new remote access trojan (RAT) being sold on cybercrime networks enables double extortion attacks on Windows machines by bundling ransomware and data theft, along with credential and cryptocurrency stealers, live surveillance, and a whole host of other illicit capabilities, all controllable from a centralized dashboard.…

Bitcoin Joining Fee for Affiliates and No Proven Victims Cited by ResearchersNewcomer ransomware group 0APT is being branded a "likely scam operation," not least after a list of over 200 supposed victims turned out to be bogus, if not entirely AI-generated - never mind a 1 bitcoin joining fee for would-be affiliates and outdated crypto-locking malware.

Stealthy Group Taps Blockchain 'EtherHiding' to Facilitate Victim CommunicationsThe DeadLock ransomware group, a newly emerged digital extortion group, is using blockchain smart contracts to store proxy server addresses for facilitating ransomware negotiations with victim organizations. The technique suggests the group is made up of experienced cybercriminals.

A new DeadLock ransomware operation uses Polygon blockchain smart contracts to manage proxy server addresses

New crooks on the block get crafty with blockchain to evade defenses Researchers at Group-IB say the DeadLock ransomware operation is using blockchain-based anti-detection methods to evade defenders' attempts to analyze their tradecraft.…

Americans Extorted at Least 5 Firms, Earning $1 Million From a Medical Device MakerTwo American cybersecurity professionals who moonlighted as BlackCat ransomware gang affiliates pleaded guilty to using the crypto-locking malware to extort at least five victims in the United States, including a medical device maker that paid a cryptocurrency ransom worth over $1 million.

Law enforcement has seized the servers and domains of the E-Note cryptocurrency exchange, allegedly used by cybercriminal groups to launder more than $70 million. [...]

Justice Department claims unlicensed exchange funneled ransomware profits US feds have dismantled a crypto laundering service that they say helped cybercrooks wash tens of millions of dollars in dirty digital cash, seizing its servers and unsealing charges against an alleged Russian operator.…

Multiple European law enforcement agencies recently disrupted Cryptomixer, a service allegedly used by cybercriminals to launder ill-gotten gains from ransomware and other cyber activities.

New encryption, wiper, and cryptocurrency-stealing capabilities make the evolving ransomware-as-a-service operation more dangerous than ever.

A new large-scale campaign has been observed exploiting over 100 compromised WordPress sites to direct site visitors to fake CAPTCHA verification pages that employ the ClickFix social engineering tactic to deliver information stealers, ransomware, and cryptocurrency miners

Crypto mines, BEC scams, fake passports, and a $300M fraud empire allegedly brought down during Serengeti 2.0 Interpol's latest clampdown on cybercrime resulted in 1,209 arrests across the African continent, from ransomware crooks to business email compromise (BEC) scammers, the agency says.…

If you wanted to hurt Putin’s ransomware racketeers, these info-stealing npm packages are one way to do it Researchers at software supply chain security outfit Safety think they’ve found malware that targets Russian cryptocurrency developers, and perhaps therefore Russia’s state-linked ransomware crews…