Category Archives: Cybercrime

What is hybrid warfare, which some fear Russia will use after Ukraine’s strike?

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Strike with US-made missiles has prompted fears of Russian reprisal that would broaden the scope of a frontline

A Ukrainian strike using American-made missiles to hit targets deep inside Russia using American-made weaponry, has prompted renewed fears of reprisal through “hybrid warfare” – a chaotic tool of conflict that muddies borders and broadens the scope of a frontline.

Over recent years, European nations have witnessed a spate of incidents – cyber-attacks, arson, incendiary devices, sabotage and even murder plots. The aim of such episodes, security officials believe, is to sow chaos, exacerbate social tensions among Ukraine’s allies and disrupt military supplies to Kyiv.

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‘Quishing’, ‘vishing’ and AI scams – the new cybercriminal techniques duping Australians

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Australian Signals Directorate sounds alarm on ‘shifting tactics’ by state-sponsored hackers and cybercriminals, and targeting of critical infrastructure

Cybercriminals are using fake QR codes or sophisticated artificial intelligence scams to trick Australians into giving up their private details or downloading dangerous files, the nation’s signals intelligence agency has warned, as fraudsters take advantage of the technology’s popularity.

The Australian Signals Directorate also sounded the alarm on the “shifting tactics” of state-sponsored hackers and cybercriminals, who they said are burrowing into computer systems of businesses and other organisations and then sitting quietly to avoid detection until they choose to strike.

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‘Fear of missing out’ keeping girls and young women online despite sexism

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Almost half of girls aged 11 to 21 in Girlguiding survey say sexism and misogyny makes them feel less safe

Girls and young women are seeing more unwanted sexual images and suffering more cyberstalking online, but still don’t want to take a break from social media because of a fear of missing out, a survey for Girlguiding has found.

“Fomo” is keeping more than half of 11- to 21-year-olds on apps such as TikTok, Snapchat and WhatsApp despite nearly one in five saying they have been being stalked online and more than a third saying they are seeing sexual images they didn’t wish to see, the survey of more than 2,000 girls and young women found.

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Sellafield ordered to pay nearly £400,000 over cybersecurity failings

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Nuclear waste dump in Cumbria pleaded guilty to leaving data that could threaten national security exposed for four years, says regulator

Sellafield will have to pay almost £400,000 after it pleaded guilty to criminal charges over years of cybersecurity failings at Britain’s most hazardous nuclear site.

The vast nuclear waste dump in Cumbria left information that could threaten national security exposed for four years, according to the industry regulator, which brought the charges. It was also found that 75% of its computer servers were vulnerable to cyber-attack.

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Russia’s FSB protected Evil Corp gang that carried out Nato cyber-attacks

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NCA says cybercriminal gang used family links to spy agency to shield members targeted by US authorities

A prolific Russian cybercriminal gang carried out attacks against Nato countries at the behest of state intelligence services and used family links with Russia’s domestic spy agency to protect its members after being targeted by US authorities, according to the UK’s National Crime Agency.

The dramatically named Evil Corp group had an unusually close relationship with the Russian state, said the NCA.

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How west Africa’s online fraudsters moved into sextortion

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With ‘hustle kingdoms’ teaching young people the tricks of the trade, there has been a surge in blackmailing crimes

In the late 90s and early 2000s, as internet connectivity began penetrating west Africa, young people soon realised that individuals in North America and Europe with access to more money than them and potentially susceptible to blackmail were now reachable by the click of a button.

Along came the “Nigerian prince” letters, a famous scamming technique employed by online fraudsters – known as Yahoo boys in Nigeria, Sakwa boys of Ghana and the brouteurs of Ivory Coast – preying on unsuspecting targets across the web. The emails typically involved someone pretending to be Nigerian royalty and asking for money, a claim so outlandish that victims presumed it couldn’t be a lie.

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National Crime Agency threatens extraditions over rise in sextortion cases

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Exclusive: Agency says foreign gangs not safe from prosecution in UK and plans new recording label to track extent of the crime

The National Crime Agency has warned international cybercriminals that it could seek to extradite them as part of a crackdown to tackle an alarming rise in the numbers of young people being targeted for sextortion.

The agency said the gangs, often based in west Africa, were “not safe from prosecution in our country” and that it would seek justice for all victims of the crime.

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Australia politics live: Michael Sukkar ejected from question time as Coalition and Greens attack Labor over housing

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Pocock: no evidence that gambling companies are good faith actors

There is the possibility that the Coalition will support Labor’s capped advertising plan (as it exists at the moment – the legislation has not been presented and is yet to go through cabinet) which would mean the crossbench and the Greens would not have any negotiating power (Labor and the Coalition in the senate is enough votes).

I’ll be supporting what the Murphy review recommended, which was a full ban phased in over three years.

That has the broad support of the parliament, and is what I’m hearing from people I represent here in the ACT [is] they are sick and tired of seeing gambling ads every time they try and watch something with their kids …

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NHS confirms stolen data published online is from blood test provider

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Health service in England issues update saying there is ‘no evidence’ hackers published entire database

Stolen data published online has been confirmed as having come from the NHS provider Synnovis, NHS England has said.

Synnovis, which manages blood tests for NHS trusts and GP services, primarily in south-east London, was the victim of a cyber-attack – understood to have been carried out by the Russian group Qilin – on 3 June.

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NHS patients affected by cyber-attack may face six-month wait for blood test

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Only ‘urgent’ tests to go ahead in short term after hospitals in south-east London hit by Russian gang’s seizure of data

Patients denied a blood test because of a Russian cyber-attack on the NHS may have to wait up to six months to have their sample taken, the Guardian has learned.

The delays are so long that some patients have decided to pay to have their blood taken and analysed by a private clinic rather than remain on the NHS waiting list.

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Cyberattack hobbles car dealers across US and Canada for third day in a row

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CDK said in a letter to its 15,000 customers that it ‘did not have a an estimated time frame for resolution’

A cyber outage at a major retail software provider for automobile dealers entered its third consecutive day on Friday, delaying car sales throughout North America, the affected companies said. The software provider, CDK, said there was no end in sight.

“The CDK outage is impacting automotive dealerships across the US and Canada, including a portion of BMW Group dealers,” a spokesperson for BMW North America told Reuters.

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Ticketmaster hit by data hack that may affect 560m customers

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Cybercrime group ShinyHunters reportedly demanding £400,000 ransom to prevent data being sold

Ticketmaster has been targeted in a cyber-attack, with hackers allegedly offering to sell customer data on the dark web, its parent company, Live Nation, has confirmed.

The ShinyHunters hacking group is reportedly demanding about £400,000 in a ransom payment to prevent the data being sold.

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Europol and US seize website domains, luxury goods in $6bn cybercrime bust

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‘World’s largest botnet’ – spread through infected emails – taken down through coordinated police action among several countries

US authorities announced on Thursday that they had dismantled the “world’s largest botnet ever”, allegedly responsible for nearly $6bn in Covid insurance fraud.

The Department of Justice arrested a Chinese national, YunHe Wang, 35, and seized luxury watches, more than 20 properties and a Ferrari. The networks allegedly operated by Wang and others, dubbed “911 S5”, spread ransomware via infected emails from 2014 to 2022. Wang allegedly accrued a fortune of $99m by licensing his malware to other criminals. The network allegedly pulled in $5.9bn in fraudulent unemployment claims from Covid relief programs.

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Christie’s says $850m auctions to go ahead as planned despite cyberattack

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Sales to proceed despite failing to regain control of its website as staff and cybersecurity scramble to fix issue

The success of New York’s spring art auctions was in jeopardy Sunday, a day after auction house Christie’s confirmed that its website had been hacked, potentially shutting out some bidders on $850m worth of art work going up for bid this week.

Yet despite failing to regain control of its website, Christie’s said that its auctions – the most important of the year in the art world – would go ahead in person and by phone.

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Australia news live: Queensland poised to limit K’gari visits amid wave of dingo attacks; Electric Fields crash out of Eurovision semi

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The number of tourists on K’gari could soon be capped on the busiest days of the year. Follow today’s news live

CFMEU welcomes funding of 15,000 fee-free construction Tafe places in budget

The CFMEU has welcomed a funding boost for apprenticeships and traineeships in the upcoming budget.

This investment will mean more apprentices and trainees will get the training they need to build critical housing and infrastructure that Australia desperately needs …

There’s an often-overlooked distinction between apprenticeships and traineeships but thankfully the government recognises the importance of both – that’s critical to addressing construction skills gaps.

If they don’t mobilise this government into real action I just don’t know what will. Half of all threatened species becoming extinct is an intolerable outcome.

Report after report has shown the terrible decline of biodiversity in NSW, and the Ken Henry review of biodiversity laws gave the government very clear recommendations on how to slow and reverse this trend, but the government still hasn’t responded after seven months.

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Australia bans alleged Russian leader of global ransomware group LockBit

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Dmitry Khoroshev named as having a ‘senior role’ in group allegedly behind 18% of reported Australian ransomware attacks in 2022-23

An alleged leader of the international ransomware group LockBit has been hit with financial sanctions and banned from travelling to Australia.

The Australian government named Dmitry Yuryevich Khoroshev, a Russian citizen, as having a “senior leadership role” in a criminal group that supplied a global network of hackers with the tools and infrastructure to carry out online attacks.

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Police arrest Sydney man for blackmail over major data breach affecting up to 1 million NSW and ACT residents

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IT provider Outabox, used by dozens of hospitality venues, blamed an ‘unauthorised third party’ for the breach

Police have arrested a Sydney man they expect to charge with blackmail as they investigate a major data breach that saw personal details for up to 1 million New South Wales and ACT residents shared online.

NSW police officers have been working with state, federal and international agencies as they investigate the major breach that is believed to be either blackmail or corporate sabotage after data was published this week.

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No more 12345: devices with weak passwords to be banned in UK

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Makers of phones, TVs and smart doorbells legally required to protect devices against access by cybercriminals

Tech that comes with weak passwords such as “admin” or “12345” will be banned in the UK under new laws dictating that all smart devices must meet minimum security standards.

Measures to protect consumers from hacking and cyber-attacks come into effect on Monday, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said.

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Foreign states targeting sensitive research at UK universities, MI5 warns

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Ministers considering more funding to protect important research sites, with China seen as a particular concern

MI5 has warned universities that hostile foreign states are targeting sensitive research, as ministers consider measures to bolster protections.

Vice-chancellors from 24 leading institutions, including Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial College London, were briefed on the threat by the domestic security service’s director general, Ken McCallum, and National Cybersecurity Centre (NCSC) chief, Felicity Oswald.

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Cyber-attacks linked to Chinese spy agencies are increasing, say analysts

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Warning comes after UK and US announce sanctions against Chinese companies following mass hacking of UK data

Cyber-attacks linked to Chinese intelligence agencies are increasing in capability and frequency as they seek to test foreign government responses, analysts have warned in the wake of revelations about a mass hacking of UK data.

On Tuesday, the UK and US governments accused hacking group Advanced Persistent Threat 31 (APT 31), backed by China’s government spy agency, of conducting a years-long cyber-attack campaign, targeting politicians, national security officials, journalists and businesses. The UK said the hackers had potentially gained access to information on tens of millions of UK voters held by the Electoral Commission, as well as for cyber-espionage targeting lawmakers who have been outspoken about threats from China.

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