German police have taken down one of the world’s largest child porn sites with over 400,000 members and arrested four people accused of running it.
The site, dark web market list web darknet market known as BOYSTOWN and accessible only via the so-called Darkweb, had existed since July 2019 and was used for dark web link the worldwide exchange of child porn.
Investigators spent months probing the site and those behind it, before arresting three main suspects along with a fourth man in raids last month.
German police have taken down a child porn site with over 400,00 members and arrested four men in connection with running it (file image)
Officers say the main suspects are a 40-year-old from Paderborn, a 49-year-old from Munich and a 58-year-old from northern Germany who had been living in Paraguay for many years – all of whom are accused of operating the site.
The fourth man, a 64-year-old from Hamburg, is accused of uploading more than 3,500 images and videos to the site since becoming a member in 2019 – making him one of the most prolific contributors.
Police said the site was designed to allow the international exchange of child abuse material by its members, mainly focusing on the abuse of young boys.
‘Among the images and video recordings shared were also recordings of the most severe sexual abuse of young children,’ prosecutors said.
Members were also able to speak with one-another via chat areas of the website and voice channels.
Officers say the three main suspects also provided members with instructions on anonymous surfing to minimize the risk of detection.
The site was detected by a task for set up in Germany, dark web darknet market list but aided by investigators in the Netherlands, Sweden, Australia, the United States and Canada.
Following the raids and arrests, best darknet markets the BOYSTOWN platform has been taken down, police added.
La entrada German police take down one of the world's biggest child porn sites se publicó primero en JugoTerapia.]]>Cash and cryptocurrency worth 26.7 million euros ($31 million) and 234 kilograms of drugs were also seized, according to Dutch broadcaster KRO-NRCV.”This operation proves that we can reach (criminals on the dark web) even if they think they are hiding somewhere, they cannot be sure we won’t be there at one moment to knock on their door”, Europol’s deputy executive director of operations, Jean-Philippe Lecouffe told the broadcaster.
Europol would not comment on the report, but referred to a press conference set for 10AM local time (1400 GMT) in Washington with the Department of Justice.
According to the Dutch media 65 U.S.nationals were arrested, along with 47 Germans, 24 Brits and a handful of Dutch, dark darknet market French, Swiss and Bulgarian nationals.
The operation focused on sellers and buyers on the darknet market rather than the people running the sites as in earlier crackdowns.
darknet market markets are e-commerce sites designed to lie beyond the reach of regular search engines.They are popular with criminals, as buyers and sellers are largely untraceable.
In January this year, Europol announced it had taken down an online marketplace called “DarkMarket” that sold illegal drugs in an operation led by German law enforcement agencies.
($1 = 0.8593 euros)
(Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg, darknet market markets onion address editing by Bart Meijer and Christina Fincher)
In a series of cringey videos posted to YouTube, the wannabe performer can be seen walking around Wall Street while reciting lyrics such as: ‘I’m many things, a rapper, an economist, a journalist, a writer, a CEO, and a dirty, dirty, dirty dirty h*’.
Morgan’s music videos, including the 2019 single Versace Bedouin, are all on her YouTube page together with various unboxing videos. The page has been made private since her arrest.
She and darkmarket list her husband Ilya ” Lichtenstein, 34, dark darknet market onion who had bail set at $5million were both arrested for allegedly laundering $4.5billion in stolen in the 2016 Bitfinex exchange hack.
The pair were arrested on Tuesday in Manhattan on federal charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
But when Morgan wasn’t allegedly shifting around billions of dollars in the world of cryptocurrency, dark market web darknet market links she was taking to the mic and shooting rap videos.
One website which decided to wade through all of the footage suggested ‘Laundering billions in Bitcoin may not even be the worst crime of her life.’
‘When she’s not reverse-engineering black markets to think of better ways to combat fraud and cybercrime, she enjoys rapping and designing streetwear fashion,’ her states.
Photos of self proclaimed ‘Crocodile of Wall Street’ Heather Morgan who was arrested in New York over an alleged Bitcoin hack. Photos of Morgan were taken in June 2020
Heather Morgan, 31, who calls herself the ‘Crocodile of Wall Street’ (hence the croc picturedin her hand) also spends time creating low-budget rap videos and posing for quirky photoshoots
Morgan was arrested on Tuesday in Manhattan, together with her husband, on federal charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the United States
Morgan, who raps under the name Razzlekhan, (seen in front of Federal Hall on Wall Street in a music video) declared herself the ‘Crocodile of Wall Street’ in one of her rap songs
In this courtroom sketch, attorney Sam Enzer, center, sits between Heather Morgan, left, and her husband, Ilya ‘Dutch’ Lichtenstein, in federal court on Tuesday
The August 2016 Bitfinex hack itself was one of the largest crypto heists ever recorded – so massive that news of the theft knocked 20 percent off Bitcoin’s value at the time.
Lichtenstein and Morgan are thus far not charged directly with perpetrating the hack, but rather with receiving and laundering the stolen funds. The case was filed in a federal court in Washington, D.C.
It was unclear who will be representing the couple in the criminal case and whether they had an attorney to speak on their behalf.
They were due to appear in federal court in Manhattan at 3pm on Tuesday.
The couple is accused of conspiring to launder 119,754 bitcoin that was stolen, after a hacker attacked Bitfinex and initiated more than 2,000 unauthorized transactions.
Morgan, a rapper and former Forbes contributor, describes herself as ‘an expert in persuasion, social engineering, and game theory’
The couple is accused of conspiring to launder 119,754 bitcoin that was stolen, after a hacker attacked Bitfinex and initiated more than 2,000 unauthorized transactions
Justice Department officials said the transactions at the time were valued at $71 million in Bitcoin, but with the rise in the currency’s value, it is now valued at over $4.5 billion.
‘As the complaint alleges, the FBI and federal prosecutors were able to trace the movement of Bitcoin from this hack,’ said Matthew Graves, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.
He added that the money moved through a major darknet market exchange tied to a host of crimes, as well as cryptocurrency addresses tied to child sexual abuse materials.
Lichtenstein and Morgan are facing charges of conspiring to commit money laundering, as well as to defraud the United States.
Prosecutors said on Tuesday the illegal proceeds were spent on a variety of things, from gold and non-fungible tokens to ‘absolutely mundane things such as purchasing a Walmart gift card for $500.’
Bitfinex said in a statement that it was to working with the Department of Justice to ‘establish our rights to a return of the stolen bitcoin.’
‘We have been cooperating extensively with the DOJ since its investigation began and will continue to do so,’ the company said.
Bitfinex said it intends to provide further updates on its efforts to obtain a return of the stolen bitcoin as and when those updates are available.
Tuesday’s criminal complaint came more than four months after Monaco announced the department was launching a new National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, which is comprised of a mix of anti-money laundering and cybersecurity experts.
The August 2016 Bitfinex hack itself was one of the largest crypto heists ever recorded – so massive that news of the theft knocked 20 percent off Bitcoin’s value
Lichtenstein and Morgan are facing charges of conspiring to commit money laundering, as well as to defraud the United States
Morgan is seen rapping with the New York Stock Exchange behind her to the right
Cyber criminals who attack companies, municipalities and individuals with ransomware often demand payment in the form of cryptocurrency.
In one high-profile example last year, hackers caused a widespread gas shortage on the U.S. East Coast when by using encryption software called DarkSide to launch a cyber attack on the Colonial Pipeline.
The Justice Department later recovered some $2.3 million in cryptocurrency ransom that Colonial paid to the hackers.
Cases like these demonstrate that the Justice Department ‘can follow money across the blockchain, just as we have always followed it within the traditional financial system,’ said Kenneth Polite, assistant attorney general of the department’s Criminal Division.
Justice Department officials say that though the proliferation of cryptocurrency and virtual currency exchanges represent innovation, the trend has also been accompanied by money laundering, ransomware and other crimes
‘Toda’´s arrests, and the Department’s largest financial seizure ever, show that cryptocurrency is not a safe haven for criminals,’ Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement.
‘In a futile effort to maintain digital anonymity, the defendants laundered stolen funds through a labyrinth of cryptocurrency transactions. Thanks to the meticulous work of law enforcement, the department once again showed how it can and will follow the money, no matter the form it takes.’
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The history of technology is riddled with unintended consequences. As William Gibson wrote in Burning Chrome, “…the street finds its own uses for things.” Though Bitcoin may not have been originally conceived as a medium for ransom payments, it’s quickly become a central tool for online criminals.
Ransomware, a category of “,” blocks access to a computer or darknet market lists network until a ransom is paid. Despite the evolving efforts of governments to and , the attacks keep coming.
Cryptocurrency ransomware payments totaled roughly $350 million in 2020, — an annual increase of over 300% from 2019. And because US companies are legally required to report cyberattacks only if customers’ is compromised, that estimate may be far too conservative.
Read more:
Below, we tally up the damage of some of the highest-profile episodes.
Kaseya (2021)
On July 2, 2021, Kaseya announced its systems had been . Kaseya provides IT solutions for other companies — an ideal target which, in a domino effect, ended up impacting approximately in multiple countries. REvil, a cybercriminal outfit, claimed responsibility for the attack and demanded ransoms ranging from a few thousand dollars to multiple millions, .
It’s unclear how many individual businesses paid up, darkmarket list but REvil demanded from Kaseya. Kaseya declined to pay, opting to cooperate with the FBI and the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency. On July 21, 2021, Kaseya a universal decryptor key and distributed it to organizations impacted by the attack.
JBS (2021)
On May 31, 2021, JBS USA, one of the largest meat suppliers in the US, a hack that caused it to temporarily halt operations at its five largest US-based plants. The ransomware attack also disrupted the company’s Australia and UK operations. JBS paid the hackers an in Bitcoin to prevent further disruption and limit the impact on grocery stores and restaurants. The the hack to REvil, a sophisticated criminal ring well-known in ransomware attacks.
Colonial Pipeline (2021)
On May 7, 2021, America’s largest “refined products” pipeline after a hacking group called Darkside infiltrated it with ransomware. Colonial Pipeline covers over 5,500 miles and transports more than 100 million gallons of fuel daily. The impact of the attack was significant: In the days that followed, the average price of a gallon of gas in the US increased to more than $3 for as drivers rushed to the pumps.
The pipeline operator said it paid the hackers $4.4 million in cryptocurrency. On June 7, 2021, the DOJ announced it had part of the ransom. US law enforcement officials were able to track the payment and take back $2.3 million using a private key for a cryptocurrency wallet.
Brenntag (2021)
On April 28, 2021, German chemical distributor learned it was the target of a cyberattack by Darkside, which stole 150GB of data that it threatened to leak if ransom demands weren’t met. After negotiating with the criminals, Brenntag ended up negotiating the original ransom of $7.5 million down to , which it paid on May 11.
CNA Financial (2021)
On March 23, 2021, CNA Financial, the commercial insurer in the US, it had “sustained a sophisticated cybersecurity attack.” The attack was by a group called Phoenix, which used ransomware known as Phoenix Locker. CNA Financial eventually paid in May to get the data back. While CNA has been tight-lipped on the details of the negotiation and transaction, but says all of its systems have since been fully restored.
CWT (2020)
On July 31, 2020, US business travel management firm CWT disclosed it had been impacted by a that infected its systems — and that it had paid the ransom. Using ransomware called Ragnar Locker, the assailants claimed to have stolen sensitive corporate files and knocked 30,000 company computers offline.
As a service provider to of S&P 500 companies, the data release could have been disastrous for CWT’s business. As such, the company paid the hackers about $4.5 million on July 28, a few days before Reuters the incident.
University of California at San Francisco (2020)
On June 3, 2020, the University of California at San Francisco that the UCSF School of Medicine’s IT systems had been compromised by a hacking collective called Netwalker on June 1. The medical research institution had been working on a cure for COVID.
Apparently, Netwalker had researched UCFS, darknet market websites hoping to gain insights into its finances. Citing the billions of dollars UCFS reports in annual revenue, Netwalker demanded a $3 million ransom payment. After negotiations, Netwalker the bitcoin equivalent of $1,140,895 to resolve the cyberattack. According to the BBC, Netwalker was also identified as the culprit in at least two other 2020 ransomware attacks targeting universities.
Travelex (2019)
On New Year’s Eve 2019, London-based foreign currency exchange Travelex was by a ransomware group called Sodinokibi (aka REvil). The attackers made off with 5GB of customer data, including dates of birth, credit card information, and insurance details. Travelex took down its website in 30 countries in an attempt to contain the virus.
In the wake of the ransomware attack, Travelex struggled with customer services. Sodinokibi initially demanded a payment of $6 million (£4.6 million). After negotiations, Travelex paid the cybercriminals (285 BTC at the time, roughly £1.6 million) to get its data back.
WannaCry (2017)
In May 2017, a ransomware called infected computers across the globe by exploiting a vulnerability in Windows PCs. The WannaCry vulnerability was revealed during a massive leak of NSA documents and hacking tools engineered by a group called Shadow Brokers in .
Though the exact number of WannaCry victims remains unknown, around the world were infected. Victims included Spanish telecommunications company Telefónica and thousands of hospitals in the UK. Computer systems in 150 countries were affected by the attack, with a total estimated loss of around $4 billion globally.
The attackers initially demanded to unlock infected computer systems. The demand was later increased to $600 in bitcoin. However, some researchers claim that no one got their data back, even if they met the demands.
WannaCry attacks to this day. In February 2021, the DOJ three North Korean computer programmers for their alleged role in the WannaCry outbreak.
Locky (2016)
Discovered in February 2016, Locky is notable due to the incredibly high number of infection attempts it’s made on computer networks. Attacks typically come in the form of an email with an invoice attached from someone claiming to be a company employee. On February 16, 2016 identified more than 50,000 Locky attacks in one day.
Locky has , but the goal is largely the same: Lock computer files to entice owners to pay a ransom in cryptocurrency in exchange for a decryption tool, darknet markets onion which would allow users to regain access to their locked files. The majority of Locky victims have been in the US, and , but Canada and France experienced significant infection rates as well.
TeslaCrypt (2015)
an earlier program called CryptoLocker, the earliest TeslaCrypt samples were circulated in November 2014 but the ransomware was not widely distributed until March of the following year.
TeslaCrypt initially targeted gamers. After infecting a computer, a pop-up would direct a user to pay a for a decryption key to unlock the infected system. report the requested ransoms ranged from $250 to $1000 in Bitcoin. In May 2016, the developers of TeslaCrypt a master decryption key for affected users to unlock their computers.
CryptoWall (2014)
Widespread reports of computer systems infected from the CryptoWall ransomware emerged in 2014. Infected computers were unable to access files — unless the owner paid for access to a decryption program. impacted systems across the globe. The attackers demanded payment in the form of prepaid cards or bitcoin. CryptoWall caused roughly $18 million in damages, . Multiple versions of CryptoWall were released, with each version making the ransomware more difficult to trace and combat.
CryptoLocker (2013)
The first time much of the world heard the term “ransomware” was during 2013’s outbreak. Discovered early in September 2013, CryptoLocker would cripple more than 250,000 computer systems during the following four months. Victims were instructed to send payments in cryptocurrency or money cards to regain access. The ransomware delivered at least to its perpetrators.
A in 2014 succeeded in taking down the Gameover ZeuS botnet, which was a primary distribution method for CryptoLocker. The DOJ indicted Russian hacker Evgeniy Mikhailovich Bogachev, as the botnet’s ringleader. Bogachev is still at large — and the FBI is currently of up to $3 million for information leading to his arrest and/or conviction.
AIDS Trojan/PC Cyborg (1989)
Widely considered the template for darknet markets onion address all subsequent attacks, the AIDS Trojan (aka PC Cyborg) is the of a ransomware attack. In 1989, more than a decade before the creation of bitcoin, a biologist named Joseph Popp distributed 20,000 floppy disks at the World Health Organization AIDS conference in Stockholm. The floppy disks were labeled “AIDS Information – Introductory Diskettes” and contained a trojan virus that installed itself on MS-DOS systems.
Once the virus was on a computer, it counted the times the computer booted up. Once the computer booted up 90 times, hid all directories and encrypted filenames. An image on the screen from the ‘PC Cyborg Corporation’ directed users to mail $189 to a PO address in Panama. The decryption process was relatively simple, however, and security researchers released a free tool to help victims.
A married couple has been arrested and charged with laundering billions in stolen during the 2016 Bitfinex hack, as the Justice Department announced its largest financial seizure ever.
Ilya ‘Dutch’ Lichtenstein, 34, and his wife, Heather Rhiannon Morgan, 31, who raps under the name Razzlekhan, darkmarket link were arrested on Tuesday in Manhattan on federal charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
Federal law enforcement officials said they recovered roughly $3.6 billon in cryptocurrency linked to the hack of Bitfinex, a virtual currency exchange whose systems were breached nearly six years ago.
Lichtenstein and Morgan live on Wall Street in lower Manhattan. He is a citizen of both and darkmarket url the United States and the co-founder of an online marketing firm.
Morgan, a rapper and former Forbes contributor, describes herself as ‘an expert in persuasion, dark web darknet market list social engineering, and game theory’ and in one of her songs, declared herself the ‘Crocodile of Wall Street.’
Ilya ‘Dutch’ Lichtenstein, 34, and his wife, Heather Rhiannon Morgan, 31, who raps under the name Razzlekhan, were arrested on Tuesday in Manhattan on money laundering charges
Morgan (seen in front of Federal Hall on Wall Street in a music video) declared herself the ‘Crocodile of Wall Street’ in one of her rap songs
In this courtroom sketch, attorney Sam Enzer, center, sits between Heather Morgan, left, and her husband, Ilya ‘Dutch’ Lichtenstein, in federal court on Tuesday
‘I’m many things, a rapper, an economist, a journalist, a writer, a CEO, and a dirty, dirty, dirty dirty h*,’ she raps in her 2019 single, Versace Bedouin.
‘When she’s not reverse-engineering black markets to think of better ways to combat fraud and cybercrime, she enjoys rapping and designing streetwear fashion,’ her reads.
The August 2016 Bitfinex hack itself was one of the largest crypto heists ever recorded – so massive that news of the theft knocked 20 percent off Bitcoin’s value at the time.
Lichtenstein and Morgan are thus far not charged directly with perpetrating the hack, but rather with receiving and laundering the stolen funds. The case was filed in a federal court in Washington, D.C.
It was unclear who will be representing the couple in the criminal case and whether they had an attorney to speak on their behalf.
They were due to appear in federal court in Manhattan at 3 p.m. on Tuesday.
The couple is accused of conspiring to launder 119,754 bitcoin that was stolen, after a hacker attacked Bitfinex and initiated more than 2,000 unauthorized transactions.
Morgan, a rapper and former Forbes contributor, describes herself as ‘an expert in persuasion, social engineering, and game theory’
The couple is accused of conspiring to launder 119,754 bitcoin that was stolen, after a hacker attacked Bitfinex and initiated more than 2,000 unauthorized transactions
Justice Department officials said the transactions at the time were valued at $71 million in Bitcoin, but with the rise in the currency’s value, it is now valued at over $4.5 billion.
‘As the complaint alleges, the FBI and federal prosecutors were able to trace the movement of Bitcoin from this hack,’ said Matthew Graves, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.
He added that the money moved through a major darknet market exchange tied to a host of crimes, as well as cryptocurrency addresses tied to child sexual abuse materials.
Lichtenstein and Morgan are facing charges of conspiring to commit money laundering, as well as to defraud the United States.
Prosecutors said on Tuesday the illegal proceeds were spent on a variety of things, from gold and non-fungible tokens to ‘absolutely mundane things such as purchasing a Walmart gift card for $500.’
Bitfinex said in a statement that it was to working with the Department of Justice to ‘establish our rights to a return of the stolen bitcoin.’
‘We have been cooperating extensively with the DOJ since its investigation began and will continue to do so,’ the company said.
Bitfinex said it intends to provide further updates on its efforts to obtain a return of the stolen bitcoin as and when those updates are available.
Tuesday’s criminal complaint came more than four months after Monaco announced the department was launching a new National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, which is comprised of a mix of anti-money laundering and cybersecurity experts.
The August 2016 Bitfinex hack itself was one of the largest crypto heists ever recorded – so massive that news of the theft knocked 20 percent off Bitcoin’s value
Lichtenstein and Morgan are facing charges of conspiring to commit money laundering, as well as to defraud the United States
Morgan is seen rapping with the New York Stock Exchange behind her to the right
Cyber criminals who attack companies, municipalities and individuals with ransomware often demand payment in the form of cryptocurrency.
In one high-profile example last year, hackers caused a widespread gas shortage on the U.S. East Coast when by using encryption software called DarkSide to launch a cyber attack on the Colonial Pipeline.
The Justice Department later recovered some $2.3 million in cryptocurrency ransom that Colonial paid to the hackers.
Cases like these demonstrate that the Justice Department ‘can follow money across the blockchain, just as we have always followed it within the traditional financial system,’ said Kenneth Polite, assistant attorney general of the department’s Criminal Division.
Justice Department officials say that though the proliferation of cryptocurrency and virtual currency exchanges represent innovation, the trend has also been accompanied by money laundering, ransomware and other crimes
‘Today´s arrests, and the Department´s largest financial seizure ever, show that cryptocurrency is not a safe haven for criminals,’ Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement.
‘In a futile effort to maintain digital anonymity, the defendants laundered stolen funds through a labyrinth of cryptocurrency transactions. Thanks to the meticulous work of law enforcement, the department once again showed how it can and will follow the money, no matter the form it takes.’
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US guns make up as much as 60 percent of the weapons on sale on the dark web, new research has found.
Weapons, onion dark website drugs and stolen identities are readily available on the dark web, a . To investigate where guns, darknet magazine ammunition and guides to their use come from, the UK’s University of Manchester and darknet market links think tank Rand Europe — or cryptomarkets — and found 811 listings relevant to the study, published Wednesday.
Most weapons were from the USA, where , and most sales were destined for darknet market markets onion address Europe. A gun bought from the dark web was used in a .
“The dark web is both an enabler for the trade of illegal weapons already on the black darknet market and a potential source of diversion for weapons legally owned”, said Giacomo Persi Paoli, the report’s lead author. “The ability for criminals and terrorists, as well as vulnerable or fixated individuals, to make virtually anonymous purchases is perhaps the most dangerous aspect.”
On Thursday, US and European law enforcement agencies the , two of the three largest dark web darknet markets onion address.
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What do Dunkin’ Donuts, Fortnite, Sprint and onion dark website the Dow Jones company all have in common? They’ve all suffered from massive hacks in 2019 alone.
After every data breach, victim data often surfaces on the encrypted “hidden” internet known as the , a network of sites that can only be accessed with . Dark web markets operate like the ecommerce websites we shop on every day, but often trade in illicit goods like drugs, weapons and stolen data.
LONDON, Feb 11 (Reuters) – Criminals are using a small group of cryptocurrency brokers and services to launder hundreds of millions of dollars of dirty virtual money, research shared with Reuters showed on Thursday.
Just 270 cryptocurrency addresses, best darknet market markets many connected to over-the-counter brokers, received $1.3 billion in illicit digital coins last year – some 55% of all criminal crypto flows identified by U.S.blockchain researcher Chainalysis.
A cryptocurrency address is a set of random letters and numbers that represents a location on a virtual network. Bitcoin, for Dark Websites instance, can be sent from a particular address to others on its network.
The illegal use of cryptocurrencies has long worried regulators and law enforcement, with U.S.Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and dark web link European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde both calling for tighter oversight last month.
The calls for stricter rules have come as bigger investors, especially from the United States, darknet market magazine have stepped up their embrace of bitcoin, turbo-charging a 1,000% rally for the world’s biggest cryptocurrency since March last year.
Bitcoin hit an all-time high of over $48,200 on Tuesday after Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc revealed a $1.5 billion bet on the coin, leading some investors to claim cryptocurrencies were set to become a mainstream asset class.
Yet virtual money is subject to patchy regulation across the world, and remains popular with criminals.On Wednesday, for instance, European police agency Europol said it assisted in the arrest of hackers suspected of stealing crypto assets worth $100 million.
The Chainalysis study website only covered crime that originates on the blockchain ledger that underpins most cryptocurrencies, including scams, cyberheists, dark web market list ransomware and darknet market marketplaces used to buy contraband.
Also linked to the digital addresses were services connected to cryptocurrency exchanges.Some may have received illicit funds inadvertently due to lax compliance checks, the study said.
The true scale of money laundering and other crime using cryptocurrencies – for example where criminals use bitcoin to launder traditional cash – is not known.
The United States, Russia and China received the highest volume of digital currency from illicit addresses, reflecting their high shares of crypto trading volumes, Chainalysis said.(Reporting by Tom Wilson. Editing by Mark Potter)
La entrada Just 270 crypto addresses laundered $1.3 bln in dirty funds last… se publicó primero en JugoTerapia.]]>
US authorities have said they were able to access the ‘private key’ to the hackers’ bitcoin account of ransomware hackers Darkside
Regulators have repeatedly criticised the growth of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin because of their popularity with criminals but the technology’s transparent transactions can also work against law breakers.
The lesson is one that has been learnt by cybercriminal hackers Darkside the hard way after the organisation extracted a $4.4 million ransom from oil company Colonial Pipeline in bitcoin.
Following the ransomware extortion, which forced the shutdown of a major fuel network in the eastern United States last month, the US Justice Department said it has clawed back $2.3 million of the funds by tracing financial transactions.
“Following the money remains one of the most basic, yet powerful, tools we have,” US Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said on Monday.
The financial forensics to track crypto transactions are more complex on the decentralised and anonymous networks.
For a traditional bank payment, police can turn to the bank that sent or received the money but for bitcoin, the registry that records these transactions — the blockchain — does not ask users to reveal their identity.
But the blockchain is also public and available to everyone to download and piece together who might own the anonymous addresses where the bitcoin arrives.
While some users keep their bitcoin safe in an offline wallet, for example on a USB stick or hard drive, Darkside’s bitcoins were always linked to an online account.
Without specifying how they came by it — whether by hacking or through an informant — US authorities have said they were able to access the “private key” to the hackers’ online account.
In 2019, analysis of the blockchain enabled British and American authorities to dismantle a child pornography ring and arrest more than 300 people in 38 countries.
The complex tracking of transactions has become an industry in its own right.Firms specialising in blockchain analysis have developed, such as Chainalysis in the United States and darknet market list Elliptic in Britain.
– Russian Hydra –
According to a Chainalysis report released in February, cryptocurrency transactions for illegal purposes reached $10 billion in 2020, one percent of total cryptocurrency activity for the year.In 2019 criminal activity using the online currencies reached a record $21.4 billion.
The total cost of ransomware payments alone made in cryptocurrencies soared to nearly $350 million in 2020.
“Cryptocurrency remains appealing for criminals, primarily due to its pseudonymous nature and the ease with which it allows users to instantly send funds anywhere in the world, ” Chainalysis said.
The US Justice Department said it has clawed back $2.3 million of the funds Darkside received from Colonial Pipelines by tracing financial transactions
Elliptic analysts believe they have identified the bitcoin wallet that received the ransom payment from Colonial Pipeline to Darkside, and found that at least one other payment of $4.4 million.
More importantly, best darknet market dark markets analysis of the transactions can identify the bitcoin sales platforms that received the wallet’s ill-gotten funds.
“This information will provide law enforcement with critical leads to identify the perpetrators of these attacks,” Elliptic researcher Tom Robinson wrote.
darknet market regulators have put pressure on cryptocurrency exchange platforms.Many, dark web market links such as Coinbase, now require users to disclose their identity before making transactions. But other platforms are not following the same rules.
Both Elliptic and Chainalysis point to the growing role of Hydra, a sales site for Russian-speaking customers, which is accessible via the darknet market, a version of the dark web sites not listed on search engines and where users can remain anonymous.
“Hydra offers cash-out services alongside narcotics, hacking tools and fake IDs,” Robinson explained.
Using sites like Hydra in conjunction with cryptocurrencies, Darkside’s hackers have reportedly already resold some of the ransomed bitcoins.
As the price of bitcoin has soared in recent months regulators are adapting their strategies.
The Bank of England said on Monday that payments in stablecoins, fixed-price cryptocurrencies, should be regulated to the same standards as bank payments.
La entrada Bitcoin proves double-edged sword for criminals se publicó primero en JugoTerapia.]]>
The history of technology is riddled with unintended consequences. As William Gibson wrote in Burning Chrome, “…the street finds its own uses for things.” Though Bitcoin may not have been originally conceived as a medium for ransom payments, it’s quickly become a central tool for online criminals.
Ransomware, a category of “,” blocks access to a computer or network until a ransom is paid. Despite the evolving efforts of governments to and , the attacks keep coming.
Cryptocurrency ransomware payments totaled roughly $350 million in 2020, — an annual increase of over 300% from 2019. And darkmarket url because US companies are legally required to report cyberattacks only if customers’ is compromised, that estimate may be far too conservative.
Read more:
Below, we tally up the damage of some of the highest-profile episodes.
Kaseya (2021)
On July 2, 2021, Kaseya announced its systems had been . Kaseya provides IT solutions for other companies — an ideal target which, in a domino effect, ended up impacting approximately in multiple countries. REvil, a cybercriminal outfit, claimed responsibility for the attack and demanded ransoms ranging from a few thousand dollars to multiple millions, .
It’s unclear how many individual businesses paid up, but REvil demanded from Kaseya. Kaseya declined to pay, opting to cooperate with the FBI and the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency. On July 21, 2021, Kaseya a universal decryptor key and distributed it to organizations impacted by the attack.
JBS (2021)
On May 31, 2021, JBS USA, one of the largest meat suppliers in the US, a hack that caused it to temporarily halt operations at its five largest US-based plants. The ransomware attack also disrupted the company’s Australia and UK operations. JBS paid the hackers an in Bitcoin to prevent further disruption and limit the impact on grocery stores and restaurants. The the hack to REvil, a sophisticated criminal ring well-known in ransomware attacks.
Colonial Pipeline (2021)
On May 7, 2021, America’s largest “refined products” pipeline after a hacking group called Darkside infiltrated it with ransomware. Colonial Pipeline covers over 5,500 miles and transports more than 100 million gallons of fuel daily. The impact of the attack was significant: In the days that followed, the average price of a gallon of gas in the US increased to more than $3 for as drivers rushed to the pumps.
The pipeline operator said it paid the hackers $4.4 million in cryptocurrency. On June 7, 2021, the DOJ announced it had part of the ransom. US law enforcement officials were able to track the payment and take back $2.3 million using a private key for a cryptocurrency wallet.
Brenntag (2021)
On April 28, 2021, German chemical distributor learned it was the target of a cyberattack by Darkside, dark web sites which stole 150GB of data that it threatened to leak if ransom demands weren’t met. After negotiating with the criminals, Brenntag ended up negotiating the original ransom of $7.5 million down to , dark market url which it paid on May 11.
CNA Financial (2021)
On March 23, 2021, CNA Financial, the commercial insurer in the US, it had “sustained a sophisticated cybersecurity attack.” The attack was by a group called Phoenix, which used ransomware known as Phoenix Locker. CNA Financial eventually paid in May to get the data back. While CNA has been tight-lipped on the details of the negotiation and transaction, but says all of its systems have since been fully restored.
CWT (2020)
On July 31, 2020, US business travel management firm CWT disclosed it had been impacted by a that infected its systems — and darknet market darknet markets url onion dark website address that it had paid the ransom. Using ransomware called Ragnar Locker, the assailants claimed to have stolen sensitive corporate files and knocked 30,000 company computers offline.
As a service provider to of S&P 500 companies, the data release could have been disastrous for CWT’s business. As such, the company paid the hackers about $4.5 million on July 28, a few days before Reuters the incident.
University of California at San Francisco (2020)
On June 3, 2020, the University of California at San Francisco that the UCSF School of Medicine’s IT systems had been compromised by a hacking collective called Netwalker on June 1. The medical research institution had been working on a cure for COVID.
Apparently, Netwalker had researched UCFS, hoping to gain insights into its finances. Citing the billions of dollars UCFS reports in annual revenue, Netwalker demanded a $3 million ransom payment. After negotiations, Netwalker the bitcoin equivalent of $1,140,895 to resolve the cyberattack. According to the BBC, Netwalker was also identified as the culprit in at least two other 2020 ransomware attacks targeting universities.
Travelex (2019)
On New Year’s Eve 2019, London-based foreign currency exchange Travelex was by a ransomware group called Sodinokibi (aka REvil). The attackers made off with 5GB of customer data, including dates of birth, credit card information, and insurance details. Travelex took down its website in 30 countries in an attempt to contain the virus.
In the wake of the ransomware attack, Travelex struggled with customer services. Sodinokibi initially demanded a payment of $6 million (£4.6 million). After negotiations, Travelex paid the cybercriminals (285 BTC at the time, roughly £1.6 million) to get its data back.
WannaCry (2017)
In May 2017, a ransomware called infected computers across the globe by exploiting a vulnerability in Windows PCs. The WannaCry vulnerability was revealed during a massive leak of NSA documents and hacking tools engineered by a group called Shadow Brokers in .
Though the exact number of WannaCry victims remains unknown, around the world were infected. Victims included Spanish telecommunications company Telefónica and thousands of hospitals in the UK. Computer systems in 150 countries were affected by the attack, with a total estimated loss of around $4 billion globally.
The attackers initially demanded to unlock infected computer systems. The demand was later increased to $600 in bitcoin. However, some researchers claim that no one got their data back, even if they met the demands.
WannaCry attacks to this day. In February 2021, the DOJ three North Korean computer programmers for their alleged role in the WannaCry outbreak.
Locky (2016)
Discovered in February 2016, Locky is notable due to the incredibly high number of infection attempts it’s made on computer networks. Attacks typically come in the form of an email with an invoice attached from someone claiming to be a company employee. On February 16, 2016 identified more than 50,000 Locky attacks in one day.
Locky has , but the goal is largely the same: Lock computer files to entice owners to pay a ransom in cryptocurrency in exchange for a decryption tool, which would allow users to regain access to their locked files. The majority of Locky victims have been in the US, and , but Canada and France experienced significant infection rates as well.
TeslaCrypt (2015)
an earlier program called CryptoLocker, the earliest TeslaCrypt samples were circulated in November 2014 but the ransomware was not widely distributed until March of the following year.
TeslaCrypt initially targeted gamers. After infecting a computer, a pop-up would direct a user to pay a for a decryption key to unlock the infected system. report the requested ransoms ranged from $250 to $1000 in Bitcoin. In May 2016, the developers of TeslaCrypt a master decryption key for affected users to unlock their computers.
CryptoWall (2014)
Widespread reports of computer systems infected from the CryptoWall ransomware emerged in 2014. Infected computers were unable to access files — unless the owner paid for access to a decryption program. impacted systems across the globe. The attackers demanded payment in the form of prepaid cards or bitcoin. CryptoWall caused roughly $18 million in damages, . Multiple versions of CryptoWall were released, with each version making the ransomware more difficult to trace and combat.
CryptoLocker (2013)
The first time much of the world heard the term “ransomware” was during 2013’s outbreak. Discovered early in September 2013, CryptoLocker would cripple more than 250,000 computer systems during the following four months. Victims were instructed to send payments in cryptocurrency or money cards to regain access. The ransomware delivered at least to its perpetrators.
A in 2014 succeeded in taking down the Gameover ZeuS botnet, which was a primary distribution method for CryptoLocker. The DOJ indicted Russian hacker Evgeniy Mikhailovich Bogachev, as the botnet’s ringleader. Bogachev is still at large — and the FBI is currently of up to $3 million for information leading to his arrest and/or conviction.
AIDS Trojan/PC Cyborg (1989)
Widely considered the template for all subsequent attacks, the AIDS Trojan (aka PC Cyborg) is the of a ransomware attack. In 1989, more than a decade before the creation of bitcoin, darknet market markets links a biologist named Joseph Popp distributed 20,000 floppy disks at the World Health Organization AIDS conference in Stockholm. The floppy disks were labeled “AIDS Information – Introductory Diskettes” and contained a trojan virus that installed itself on MS-DOS systems.
Once the virus was on a computer, it counted the times the computer booted up. Once the computer booted up 90 times, hid all directories and encrypted filenames. An image on the screen from the ‘PC Cyborg Corporation’ directed users to mail $189 to a PO address in Panama. The decryption process was relatively simple, however, and security researchers released a free tool to help victims.
