Legal
France fines Free Mobile €42 million over 2024 data breach incident
The French data protection authority (CNIL) has imposed cumulative fines of €42 million on Free Mobile and its parent company, Free, for inadequate protection of customer data against cyber threats. The company is the second-largest internet service provider in France and suffered a data breach in October 2024, exposing information of nearly 23 million mobile and […]
Hacker gets seven years for breaching Rotterdam and Antwerp ports
The Amsterdam Court of Appeal sentenced a 44-year-old Dutch national to seven years in prison for multiple crimes, including computer hacking and attempted extortion. The man was arrested in 2021 and convicted in 2022 by the Amsterdam District Court, but he appealed the sentence because authorities had unlawfully intercepted his communications, deriving incriminating evidence. These communications […]
Texas court blocks Samsung from tracking TV viewing, then vacates order
The State of Texas obtained a short-lived, temporary restraining order (TRO) against Samsung that prohibited the South Korean company from collecting audio and visual data about what Texas consumers are watching on their TVs. Like other major TV manufacturers, Samsung employs Automated Content Recognition (ACR) technology to capture periodic screenshots, analyze viewing activity, and identify users’ […]
FBI seizes domain storing bank credentials stolen from U.S. victims
The U.S. government has seized the ‘web3adspanels.org’ domain and the associated database used by cybercriminals to host bank login credentials stolen in account takeover attacks. Cybercriminals collected the credentials in phishing campaigns targeting American citizens through fraudulent ads on Google and Bing search services that led to fake banking portals. The confirmed financial loss from […]
Interpol-led action decrypts 6 ransomware strains, arrests hundreds
An Interpol-coordinated initiative called Operation Sentinel led to the arrest of 574 individuals and the recovery of $3 million linked to business email compromise, extortion, and ransomware incidents. Between October 27 and November 27, the investigation, which involved law enforcement in 19 countries, took down more than 6,000 malicious links and decrypted six distinct ransomware […]
Nigeria arrests dev of Microsoft 365 ‘Raccoon0365’ phishing platform
The Nigerian police arrested three individuals linked to targeted Microsoft 365 cyberattacks via Raccoon0365 phishing platform. The attacks led to business email compromise, data breaches, and financial losses affecting organizations worldwide. The law enforcement operation was possible thanks to intelligence from Microsoft, shared with the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF–NCCC) via the FBI. The […]
US seizes E-Note crypto exchange for laundering ransomware payments
Law enforcement has seized the servers and domains of the E-Note cryptocurrency exchange, allegedly used by cybercriminal groups to launder more than $70 million. It is believed that the funds originated from ransomware and account takeover attacks, and were subsequently funneled through an international network of “money mules.” “Since 2017, the FBI identified more than […]
Portugal updates cybercrime law to exempt security researchers
Portugal has modified its cybercrime law to establish a legal safe harbor for good-faith security research and to make hacking non-punishable under certain strict conditions. First spotted by Daniel Cuthbert, a new provision in Article 8.o-A, titled “Acts not punishable due to public interest in cybersecurity,” provides a legal exemption for actions that previously were classified as illegal system […]
Korea arrests suspects selling intimate videos from hacked IP cameras
The Korean National Police have arrested four individuals suspected of hacking over 120,000 IP cameras across the country and then selling stolen footage to a foreign adult site. Although the suspects or the websites haven’t been named, the police are already taking action against viewers of the illicitly gained content, as well as the operators […]
FTC settlement requires Illuminate to delete unnecessary student data
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is proposing that education technology provider Illuminate Education to delete unnecessary student data and improve its security to settle allegations related to an incident in 2021 that exposed info of 10 million students. The agency’s decision comes shortly after the states of California, Connecticut, and New York agreed to settle their legal […]