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identity theft | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

Category — identity theft
Session Hijacking 2.0 — The Latest Way That Attackers are Bypassing MFA

Session Hijacking 2.0 — The Latest Way That Attackers are Bypassing MFA

Sep 30, 2024 Identity Theft / Phishing Attack
Attackers are increasingly turning to session hijacking to get around widespread MFA adoption. The data supports this , as: 147,000 token replay attacks were detected by Microsoft in 2023, a 111% increase year-over-year (Microsoft).  Attacks on session cookies now happen in the same order of magnitude as password-based attacks (Google). But session hijacking isn't a new technique – so what's changed? Session hijacking has a new look When we think of the classic example of session hijacking, we think of old-school Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attacks that involved snooping on unsecured local network traffic to capture credentials or, more commonly, financial details like credit card data. Or, by conducting client-side attacks compromising a webpage, running malicious JavaScript and using cross-site scripting (XSS) to steal the victim's session ID.  Session hijacking looks quite different these days. No longer network-based, modern session hijacking is an identity-based attack perfo
Russian Hacker Jailed 3+ Years for Selling Stolen Credentials on Dark Web

Russian Hacker Jailed 3+ Years for Selling Stolen Credentials on Dark Web

Aug 16, 2024 Dark Web / Data Breach
A 27-year-old Russian national has been sentenced to over three years in prison in the U.S. for peddling financial information, login credentials, and other personally identifying information (PII) on a now-defunct dark web marketplace called Slilpp . Georgy Kavzharadze, 27, of Moscow, Russia, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud earlier this February. In addition to a 40-month jail term, Kavzharadze has been ordered to pay $1,233,521.47 in restitution. The defendant, who went by the online monikers TeRorPP, Torqovec, and PlutuSS, is believed to have listed over 626,100 stolen login credentials for sale on Slilpp and sold more than 297,300 of them on the illicit marketplace between July 2016 and May 2021. "Those credentials were subsequently linked to $1.2 million in fraudulent transactions," the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) said . "On May 27, 2021, Kavzharadze's account on Slilpp listed 240,495 login credentials fo
The Secret Weakness Execs Are Overlooking: Non-Human Identities

The Secret Weakness Execs Are Overlooking: Non-Human Identities

Oct 03, 2024Enterprise Security / Cloud Security
For years, securing a company's systems was synonymous with securing its "perimeter." There was what was safe "inside" and the unsafe outside world. We built sturdy firewalls and deployed sophisticated detection systems, confident that keeping the barbarians outside the walls kept our data and systems safe. The problem is that we no longer operate within the confines of physical on-prem installations and controlled networks. Data and applications now reside in distributed cloud environments and data centers, accessed by users and devices connecting from anywhere on the planet. The walls have crumbled, and the perimeter has dissolved, opening the door to a new battlefield: identity . Identity is at the center of what the industry has praised as the new gold standard of enterprise security: "zero trust." In this paradigm, explicit trust becomes mandatory for any interactions between systems, and no implicit trust shall subsist. Every access request, regardless of its origin,
DOJ Charges Nashville Man for Helping North Koreans Get U.S. Tech Jobs

DOJ Charges Nashville Man for Helping North Koreans Get U.S. Tech Jobs

Aug 09, 2024 National Security / Identity Theft
The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) on Thursday charged a 38-year-old individual from Nashville, Tennessee, for allegedly running a "laptop farm" to help get North Koreans remote jobs with American and British companies. Matthew Isaac Knoot is charged with conspiracy to cause damage to protected computers, conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, intentional damage to protected computers, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to cause the unlawful employment of aliens. If convicted, Knoot faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, counting a mandatory minimum of two years in prison on the aggravated identity theft count. Court documents allege that Knoot participated in a worker fraud scheme by letting North Korean actors get employment at information technology (IT) companies in the U.K. and the U.S. It's believed that the revenue generation efforts are a way to fund North Korea's illicit weapons program. "Knoot
cyber security

The State of SaaS Security 2024 Report

websiteAppOmniSaaS Security / Data Security
Learn the latest SaaS security trends and discover how to boost your cyber resilience. Get your free…
Cybercriminals Deploy 100K+ Malware Android Apps to Steal OTP Codes

Cybercriminals Deploy 100K+ Malware Android Apps to Steal OTP Codes

Jul 31, 2024 Mobile Security / Malware
A new malicious campaign has been observed making use of malicious Android apps to steal users' SMS messages since at least February 2022 as part of a large-scale campaign. The malicious apps, spanning over 107,000 unique samples, are designed to intercept one-time passwords (OTPs) used for online account verification to commit identity fraud. "Of those 107,000 malware samples, over 99,000 of these applications are/were unknown and unavailable in generally available repositories," mobile security firm Zimperium said in a report shared with The Hacker News. "This malware was monitoring one-time password messages across over 600 global brands, with some brands having user counts in the hundreds of millions of users." Victims of the campaign have been detected in 113 countries, with India and Russia topping the list, followed by Brazil, Mexico, the U.S., Ukraine, Spain, and Turkey. The starting point of the attack is the installation of a malicious app that
4 FIN9-linked Vietnamese Hackers Indicted in $71M U.S. Cybercrime Spree

4 FIN9-linked Vietnamese Hackers Indicted in $71M U.S. Cybercrime Spree

Jun 25, 2024 Cyber Crime / Financial Fraud
Four Vietnamese nationals with ties to the FIN9 cybercrime group have been indicted in the U.S. for their involvement in a series of computer intrusions that caused over $71 million in losses to companies. The defendants, Ta Van Tai (aka Quynh Hoa and Bich Thuy), Nguyen Viet Quoc (aka Tien Nguyen), Nguyen Trang Xuyen, and Nguyen Van Truong (aka Chung Nguyen), have been accused of conducting phishing campaigns and supply chain compromises to orchestrate cyber attacks and steal millions of dollars. "From at least May 2018 through October 2021, the defendants hacked the computer networks of victim companies throughout the United States and used their access to steal or attempt to steal non-public information, employee benefits, and funds," the U.S. Department of Justice said in an unsealed indictment last week. According to court documents, the individuals – after successfully gaining initial access to target networks – stole gift card data, personally identifiable informat
Prevent Account Takeover with Better Password Security

Prevent Account Takeover with Better Password Security

Jun 06, 2024 Password Security / Dark Web
Tom works for a reputable financial institution. He has a long, complex password that would be near-impossible to guess. He's memorized it by heart, so he started using it for his social media accounts and on his personal devices too. Unbeknownst to Tom, one of these sites has had its password database compromised by hackers and put it up for sale on the dark web. Now threat actors are working hard to link these leaked credentials back to real-life individuals and their places of work. Before long, a threat actor will use Tom's legitimate email account to send a spear-phishing link to his CEO. This is a common account takeover scenario where malicious attackers gain unauthorized access to the organization's systems, putting critical information and operations at risk. It usually starts with compromised credentials. We'll run through why account takeover is so hard to stop once it starts and why strong password security is the best prevention.  Why are account takeover attacks so
Russian Operator of BTC-e Crypto Exchange Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering

Russian Operator of BTC-e Crypto Exchange Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering

May 07, 2024 Cryptocurrency / Cybercrime
A Russian operator of a now-dismantled BTC-e cryptocurrency exchange has  pleaded guilty  to money laundering charges from 2011 to 2017. Alexander Vinnik, 44, was charged in January 2017 and taken into custody in Greece in July 2017. He was subsequently  extradited  to the U.S. in August 2022. Vinnik and his co-conspirators have been accused of owning and managing BTC-e, which allowed its criminal customers to trade in Bitcoin with high levels of anonymity. BTC-e is said to have facilitated transactions for cybercriminals worldwide, receiving illicit proceeds from numerous computer intrusions and hacking incidents, ransomware scams, identity theft schemes, corrupt public officials, and narcotics distribution rings. The crypto exchange received more than $4 billion worth of bitcoin over the course of its operation, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ). It also processed over $9 billion-worth of transactions and served over one million users worldwide, several of them i
New Guide Explains How to Eliminate the Risk of Shadow SaaS and Protect Corporate Data

New Guide Explains How to Eliminate the Risk of Shadow SaaS and Protect Corporate Data

May 03, 2024 SaaS Security / Browser Security
SaaS applications are dominating the corporate landscape. Their increased use enables organizations to push the boundaries of technology and business. At the same time, these applications also pose a new security risk that security leaders need to address, since the existing security stack does not enable complete control or comprehensive monitoring of their usage. LayerX has recently released a new guide, " Let There Be Light: Eliminating the Risk of Shadow SaaS " for security and IT teams, which addresses this gap. The guide explains the challenges of shadow SaaS, i.e., the use of unauthorized SaaS apps for work purposes, and suggests practices and controls that can mitigate them. The guide also compares various security controls that attempt to address this risk (CASB, SASE, Secure Browser Extension) and explains how each one operates and its efficacy. Consequently, the guide is a must-read for all security leaders at modern organizations. Here are the main highlights:
Google Announces Passkeys Adopted by Over 400 Million Accounts

Google Announces Passkeys Adopted by Over 400 Million Accounts

May 03, 2024 Passwordless / Encryption
Google on Thursday announced that passkeys are being used by over 400 million Google accounts, authenticating users more than 1 billion times  over the past two years . "Passkeys are easy to use and phishing resistant, only relying on a fingerprint, face scan or a pin making them 50% faster than passwords," Heather Adkins, vice president of security engineering at Google,  said . The search giant notes that passkeys are already used for authentication on Google Accounts more often than legacy forms of two-factor authentication, such as SMS one-time passwords (OTPs) and app based OTPs combined. In addition, the company said it's expanding  Cross-Account Protection , which alerts of suspicious events with third-party apps and services connected to a user's Google Account, to include more apps and services. Google is also expected to support the use of passkeys for high-risk users as part of its Advanced Protection Program (APP), which aims to safeguard people from
Google Sues App Developers Over Fake Crypto Investment App Scam

Google Sues App Developers Over Fake Crypto Investment App Scam

Apr 08, 2024 Investment Scam / Mobile Security
Google has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. against two app developers for allegedly engaging in an "international online consumer investment fraud scheme" that tricked users into downloading bogus Android apps from the Google Play Store and other sources and stealing their funds under the guise of promising higher returns. The individuals in question are Yunfeng Sun (aka Alphonse Sun) and Hongnam Cheung (aka Zhang Hongnim or Stanford Fischer), who are believed to be based in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, respectively. The defendants are said to have uploaded about 87 crypto apps to the Play Store to pull off the social engineering scam since at least 2019, with over 100,000 users downloading them and leading to substantial financial losses. "The gains conveyed by the apps were illusory," the tech giant said in its complaint. "And the scheme did not end there." "Instead, when individual victims attempted to withdraw their balances, defendants and their co
Ukraine Arrests Trio for Hijacking Over 100 Million Email and Instagram Accounts

Ukraine Arrests Trio for Hijacking Over 100 Million Email and Instagram Accounts

Mar 20, 2024 Cybercrime / Dark Web
The Cyber Police of Ukraine has  arrested  three individuals on suspicion of hijacking more than 100 million emails and Instagram accounts from users across the world. The suspects, aged between 20 and 40, are said to be part of an organized criminal group living in different parts of the country. If convicted, they face up to 15 years in prison. The accounts, authorities said, were taken over by carrying out brute-force attacks, which employ trial-and-error methods to guess login credentials. The group operated under the direction of a leader, who distributed the hacking tasks to other members. The cybercrime group subsequently monetized their ill-gotten credentials by putting them up for sale on dark web forums. Other threat actors who purchased the information used the compromised accounts to conduct a variety of  fraudulent schemes , including those in which scammers reach out to the victim's friends to urgently transfer money to their bank account. "You can protect
E-Root Marketplace Admin Sentenced to 42 Months for Selling 350K Stolen Credentials

E-Root Marketplace Admin Sentenced to 42 Months for Selling 350K Stolen Credentials

Mar 19, 2024 Threat Intel / Cybercrime
A 31-year-old Moldovan national has been sentenced to 42 months in prison in the U.S. for operating an illicit marketplace called E-Root Marketplace that offered for sale hundreds of thousands of compromised credentials, the Department of Justice (DoJ) announced. Sandu Boris Diaconu was charged with conspiracy to commit access device and computer fraud and possession of 15 or more unauthorized access devices. He pleaded guilty on December 1, 2023. "The E-Root Marketplace operated across a widely distributed network and took steps to hide the identities of its administrators, buyers, and sellers," the DoJ  said  last week. "Buyers could search for compromised computer credentials on E-Root, such as usernames and passwords that would allow buyers to access remote computers for purposes of stealing private information or manipulating the contents of the remote computer." Prospective customers could also search for RDP and SSH credentials based on various filter c
Over 225,000 Compromised ChatGPT Credentials Up for Sale on Dark Web Markets

Over 225,000 Compromised ChatGPT Credentials Up for Sale on Dark Web Markets

Mar 05, 2024 Malware / Artificial Intelligence
More than 225,000 logs containing compromised OpenAI ChatGPT credentials were made available for sale on underground markets between January and October 2023, new findings from Group-IB show. These credentials were found within  information stealer logs  associated with LummaC2, Raccoon, and RedLine stealer malware. "The number of infected devices decreased slightly in mid- and late summer but grew significantly between August and September," the Singapore-headquartered cybersecurity company  said  in its Hi-Tech Crime Trends 2023/2024 report published last week. Between June and October 2023, more than 130,000 unique hosts with access to OpenAI ChatGPT were infiltrated, a 36% increase over what was observed during the first five months of 2023. The breakdown by the top three stealer families is below - LummaC2 - 70,484 hosts Raccoon - 22,468 hosts RedLine - 15,970 hosts "The sharp increase in the number of ChatGPT credentials for sale is due to the overall rise in the numbe
How Businesses Can Safeguard Their Communication Channels Against Hackers

How Businesses Can Safeguard Their Communication Channels Against Hackers

Feb 17, 2024 Cybersecurity / Risk Mitigation
Efficient communication is a cornerstone of business success. Internally, making sure your team communicates seamlessly helps you avoid friction losses, misunderstandings, delays, and overlaps. Externally, frustration-free customer communication is directly correlated to a positive customer experience and higher satisfaction.  However, business communication channels are also a major target for cybercriminals. In recent years, especially since the pandemic, the number of cyberattacks has skyrocketed.  Statistics show  that last year alone, the number of hacks shot up by 38%. Worse, it still takes a business 277 days on average to identify a breach, causing a loss of $4.35 on average. So, how can businesses safeguard their communication channels against hackers, while still providing the best possible experience for customers and maintaining team productivity? Here's everything you need to know – and which  mistakes you need to avoid . Use Secure Platforms  To begin with, there is
Chinese Hackers Using Deepfakes in Advanced Mobile Banking Malware Attacks

Chinese Hackers Using Deepfakes in Advanced Mobile Banking Malware Attacks

Feb 15, 2024 Banking Trojan / Cybercrime
A Chinese-speaking threat actor codenamed  GoldFactory  has been attributed to the development of highly sophisticated banking trojans, including a previously undocumented iOS malware called GoldPickaxe that's capable of harvesting identity documents, facial recognition data, and intercepting SMS. "The GoldPickaxe family is available for both iOS and Android platforms," Singapore-headquartered Group-IB  said  in an extensive report shared with The Hacker News. "GoldFactory is believed to be a well-organized Chinese-speaking cybercrime group with close connections to  Gigabud ." Active since at least mid-2023, GoldFactory is also responsible for another Android-based banking malware called  GoldDigger  and its enhanced variant GoldDiggerPlus as well as GoldKefu, an embedded trojan inside GoldDiggerPlus. Social engineering campaigns distributing the malware have been found to target the Asia-Pacific region, specifically Thailand and Vietnam, by masquerading as
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