• Socks5Systemz, identified last year during large-scale distribution campaigns involving Privateloader, Smokeloader, and Amadey, has actually been active since 2013.
• This malware was sold as a standalone product or integrated into other malware as a SOCKS5 proxy module. Such malware included, at least, Andromeda, Smokeloader and Trickbot.
• In recent months, Bitsight TRACE investigated a Socks5Systemz botnet with 250,000 compromised systems at its peak, geographically dispersed across almost every country in the world.
• The proxy service PROXY.AM, active since 2016, exploits the botnet to provide its users with proxy exit nodes and enable them to pursue broader criminal objectives.

Smartphone apps downloaded from Apple and Google can allow parents and other abusers to connect with pedophiles who pay to watch — and direct — criminal behavior.

Four victims of Pegasus spyware in the UK have this week filed a criminal complaint with the Metropolitan Police.

A notorious cybercriminal involved in breaches has released a database containing 70 million US criminal records.

Aleksanteri Kivimäki was a hacker wunderkind with a mean streak. Now he’s on trial for the largest crime in Finland’s history.

A cyberattack hit the International Criminal Court (ICC) disclosed a cyberattack this week, its systems were compromised last week.

FOR YEARS, SOME cybersecurity defenders and advocates have called for a kind of Geneva Convention for cyberwar, new international laws that would create clear consequences for anyone hacking civilian critical infrastructure, like power grids, banks, and hospitals. Now the lead prosecutor of the International Criminal Court at the Hague has made it clear that he intends to enforce those consequences—no new Geneva Convention required. Instead, he has explicitly stated for the first time that the Hague will investigate and prosecute any hacking crimes that violate existing international law, just as it does for war crimes committed in the physical world.

In response to the growing public attention given to ChatGPT, the Europol Innovation Lab organised a number of workshops with subject matter experts from across Europol to explore how criminals can abuse large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, as well as how it may assist investigators in their daily work.

It is not common for analysts to have the opportunity to study the social circles of criminal organizations, but occasionally a group emerges that is more transparent than others. Examining a criminal organization’s social presence can give analysts valuable insights into the structure and operations of the organization, as well as the relationships and connections between its members and the community around them.

Almost half of all Bitzlato transactions linked to criminal activities Targeting crucial crime facilitators such as crypto exchanges is becoming a key priority in the battle against cybercrime. Bitzlato allowed the rapid conversion of various crypto-assets such as bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin, bitcoin cash, dash, dogecoin and USDT into Russian roubles. It is estimated that the crypto exchange platform has received...

Editor’s Note: Last April, a ransomware group threatened to expose police informants and other sensitive information if the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department did not pay a demand.

The brazen attack was the work of a gang known as Babuk, which in early 2021 gained a reputation for posting stolen databases on its website from victims that refused to pay a ransom. Just days after it tried to extort the Metropolitan Police Department, Babuk announced it was closing its ransomware affiliate program, and would focus on data theft and extortion instead.

Google has an automated tool to detect abusive images of children. But the system can get it wrong, and the consequences are serious.