Sanctions
US targets North Korean IT worker army with new sanctions
The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned two individuals and two companies associated with North Korean IT worker schemes that operate at the expense of American organizations. These schemes involve placing in U.S. firms skilled tech workers with stolen or fabricated identities and using so-called “laptop farms” to hide the true location of the […]
US sanctions Grinex crypto-exchange, successor to Garantex
The U.S. Department of the Treasury has announced sanctions against Grinex, the successor to Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex, which was previously sanctioned for helping ransomware gangs launder their money. A TRM Labs report, released in April, revealed that Grinex has strong ties to Garantex’s previous operations, but stopped short of providing evidence that it was being used […]
US sanctions North Korean firm, nationals behind IT worker schemes
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned three North Korean nationals and a company for supporting fraudulent IT worker schemes that generated illicit revenue for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) government. The sanctioned company is named Korea Sobaeksu Trading Company, and the three North Korean individuals […]
UK ties GRU to stealthy Microsoft 365 credential-stealing malware
The UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has formally attributed ‘Authentic Antics’ espionage malware attacks to APT28 (Fancy Bear), a threat actor already linked to Russia’s military intelligence service (GRU). The NCSC revealed in a detailed technical analysis of the Authentic Antics malware dated May 6th that it is stealing credentials and OAuth 2.0 tokens that […]
Treasury sanctions North Korean over IT worker malware scheme
The U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned cyber actor Song Kum Hyok for his association with North Korea’s hacking group Andariel and for facilitating IT worker schemes that generated revenue for the Pyongyang regime. Considered a sub-cluster of the Lazarus group linked to North Korea’s Reconnaissance General Bureau, the Andariel state actor is focused mostly on financially-motivated […]
Aeza Group sanctioned for hosting ransomware, infostealer servers
The U.S. Department of the Treasury has sanctioned Russian hosting company Aeza Group and four operators for allegedly acting as a bulletproof hosting company for ransomware gangs, infostealer operations, darknet drug markets, and Russian disinformation campaigns. The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) claims that Aeza’s services were utilized by the BianLian ransomware gang, […]
US sanctions firm linked to cyber scams behind $200 million in losses
The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned Funnull Technology, a Philippines-based company that supports hundreds of thousands of malicious websites behind cyber scams linked to over $200 million in losses for Americans. Funnull facilitated virtual currency investment scams (also known as romance baiting and pig butchering) by buying IP addresses in bulk from various cloud service providers. The company […]
European Union sanctions Stark Industries for enabling cyberattacks
The European Union has imposed strict sanctions against web-hosting provider Stark Industries and the two individuals running it, CEO Iurie Neculiti and owner Ivan Neculiti, for enabling “destabilising activities” against the Union. The action is part of the European Council’s effort to protect against Russian hybrid threats. It affects 21 individuals and six entities behind activities […]
Grinex exchange suspected rebrand of sanctioned Garantex crypto firm
A new cryptocurrency exchange named Grinex is believed to be a rebrand of Garantex, a Russian cryptocurrency exchange whose domains were seized by the U.S. authorities and an admin arrested. According to a new report by blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs, Grinex shows strong ties to Garantex’s previous operations but has not determined if it’s […]
US charges Chinese hackers linked to critical infrastructure breaches
The US Justice Department has charged Chinese state security officers along with APT27 and i-Soon hackers for network breaches and cyberattacks that have targeted victims globally since 2011. Their victim list includes US federal and state government agencies, foreign ministries of multiple governments in Asia, U.S.-based dissidents, as well as a prominent religious organization in […]