cybercrime
Europol-led crackdown on The Com hackers leads to 30 arrests
A yearlong Europol-coordinated operation dubbed “Project Compass” has led to 30 arrests and 179 suspects being tied to “The Com,” an online cybercrime collective that targets children and teenagers. In a press release issued on Thursday, Europol said that investigators identified 62 victims and directly safeguarded four of them from the group’s attacks. Launched in […]
1Campaign platform helps malicious Google ads evade detection
A newly identified cybercrime service known as 1Campaign is enabling threat actors to run malicious Google Ads that remain online for extended periods while evading scrutiny from security researchers. 1Campaign is a cloaking service that passes Google’s screening process and shows malicious content only to real potential victims. Security researchers and automated scanners are served […]
Police arrests 651 suspects in African cybercrime crackdown
African law enforcement agencies arrested 651 suspects and recovered over $4.3 million in a joint operation targeting investment fraud, mobile money scams, and fake loan applications. As INTERPOL revealed on Wednesday, Operation Red Card 2.0 identified 1,247 victims between December 8 and January 30 while targeting cybercrime operations linked to over $45 million in financial […]
Crypto wallets received a record $158 billion in illicit funds last year
Illegal cryptocurrency flows reached a record $158 billion in 2025, reversing a three-year trend of declining amounts from $86B in 2021 to $64B in 2024. This sharp 145% increase is being reported by blockchain intelligence experts at TRM Labs, who noted that it comes despite the illicit activity share of the total on-chain volume actually falling […]
Google disrupts IPIDEA residential proxy networks fueled by malware
IPIDEA, one of the largest residential proxy networks used by threat actors, was disrupted earlier this week by Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) in collaboration with industry partners. The action included taking down domains associated with IPIDEA services, infected device management, proxy traffic routing. Additionally, intelligence has been shared on the IPIDEA software development kits (SDK) […]
FBI seizes RAMP cybercrime forum used by ransomware gangs
The FBI has seized the notorious RAMP cybercrime forum, a platform used to advertise a wide range of malware and hacking services, and one of the few remaining forums that openly allowed the promotion of ransomware operations. Both the forum’s Tor site and its clearnet domain, ramp4u[.]io, now display a seizure notice stating, “The Federal […]
Empire cybercrime market owner pleads guilty to drug conspiracy
A Virginia man who co-created Empire Market, one of the largest dark web marketplaces at the time, pleaded guilty to federal drug conspiracy charges for facilitating $430 million in illegal transactions from 2018 to 2020. The marketplace operated as a hidden service accessible only via TOR browsers and was advertised as an AlphaBay “clone,” modeled […]
Jordanian pleads guilty to selling access to 50 corporate networks
A Jordanian man has pleaded guilty to operating as an “access broker” who sold access to the computer networks of at least 50 companies. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs secured Albashiti’s extradition from Georgia (where he lived and was arrested) in July 2024. 40-year-old Feras Khalil Ahmad Albashiti (also known online as “r1z,” […]
StealC hackers hacked as researchers hijack malware control panels
A cross-site scripting (XSS) flaw in the web-based control panel used by operators of the StealC info-stealing malware allowed researchers to observe active sessions and gather intelligence on the attackers’ hardware. StealC emerged in early 2023 with aggressive promotion on dark web cybercrime channels. It grew in popularity due to its evasion and extensive data theft capabilities. […]
Microsoft disrupts massive RedVDS cybercrime virtual desktop service
Microsoft announced on Wednesday that it disrupted RedVDS, a massive cybercrime platform linked to at least $40 million in reported losses in the United States alone since March 2025. Microsoft filed civil lawsuits in the United States and the United Kingdom, seizing malicious infrastructure and taking RedVDS’s marketplace and customer portal offline as part of […]