Germany
Berlin confirms data theft after Rhysida ransomware attack claims
Berlin’s city administration has confirmed that cybercriminals are attempting to extort the city after the Rhysida ransomware gang listed it on their data leak site. The attack was discovered in mid-August, and the threat actor claimed it publicly last Friday, on August 28. Kai Wergner, the Mayor of Berlin, stated that the city will not […]
Hackers arrested over €30M bank fraud exploiting service provider flaw
Four cybercriminals were arrested in Brazil, and three others were charged in Europe over allegations that they exploited a vulnerability at a service provider, allowing them to withdraw funds from Commerzbank customers’ bank accounts. The theft, investigated by the Brazilian and German federal police agencies, occurred over four days in November 2023 and caused losses […]
Police shut down reboot of Crimenetwork marketplace, arrest admin
German authorities have shut down a relaunch version of the criminal marketplace ‘Crimenetwork’ that generated more than 3.6 million euros, and arrested its operator. Crimenetwork was the largest online cybercrime marketplace in Germany, operating since 2012 and with 100,000 registered users. The platform enabled the sale of illegal services, substances, and stolen data. In late […]
German authorities identify REvil and GandCrab ransomware bosses
The Federal Police in Germany (BKA) has identified two Russian nationals as the leaders of GandCrab and REvil ransomware operations between 2019 and 2021. According to BKA’s disclosure, 31-year-old Daniil Maksimovich Shchukin and 43-year-old Anatoly Sergeevitsch Kravchuk acted as the heads of the two ransomware groups “from at least the beginning of 2019 until at least July 2021.” Shchukin hid behind the […]
Die Linke German political party confirms data stolen by Qilin ransomware
The Qilin ransomware group has stolen data from Die Linke, a German democratic socialist political party, and is threatening to leak it. On March 27, a day after the threat actor compromised its network, the party disclosed a cyber incident but stopped short of confirming a data breach. Founded in 2007, the Die Linke (Left […]
PTC warns of imminent threat from critical Windchill, FlexPLM RCE bug
PTC Inc. is warning of a critical vulnerability in Windchill and FlexPLM, widely used product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions, that could allow remote code execution. The security issue, identified as CVE-2026-4681, could be leveraged through the deserialization of trusted data. Its severity has prompted emergency action from German authorities, with the federal police (BKA) reportedly […]
Police take down 373,000 fake CSAM sites in Operation Alice
An international law enforcement action called Operation Alice has shut down over 373,000 dark web sites that offered fake CSAM packages. The investigation, led by Germany and supported by Europol, began in mid-2021 and focused on a platform called “Alice with Violence CP,” operated by a 35-year-old suspect based in China. These sites advertised child sexual […]
Germany warns of Signal account hijacking targeting senior figures
Germany’s domestic intelligence agency is warning of suspected state-sponsored threat actors targeting high-ranking individuals in phishing attacks via messaging apps like Signal. The attacks combine social engineering with legitimate features to steal data from politicians, military officers, diplomats, and investigative journalists in Germany and across Europe. The security advisory is based on intelligence collected by the Federal […]
Police busts credit card fraud rings with 4.3 million victims
International authorities have dismantled three massive credit card fraud and money laundering networks, linked to losses exceeding €300 million ($344 million) and affecting over 4.3 million cardholders across 193 countries. The November 4th joint action, dubbed “Operation Chargeback,” included investigators from Germany, the USA, Canada, Singapore, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands. The operation […]
Mozilla warns Germany could soon declare ad blockers illegal
A recent ruling from Germany’s Federal Supreme Court (BGH) has revived a legal battle over whether browser-based ad blockers infringe copyright, raising fears about a potential ban of the tools in the country. The case stems from online media company Axel Springer’s lawsuit against Eyeo – the maker of the popular Adblock Plus browser extension. Axel Springer […]