The Crime Report (https://thecrimereport.org/category/cybercrime/)
A federal subcontractor for U.S. Customs and Border Protection suffered a cyberattack that likely compromised tens of thousands of photos of travelers’ faces and their vehicles’ license plates. The attack prompted fresh criticism of how the government protects personal data it collects.
“Ransomware is a pandemic,” said an FBI agent. Hackers are going after larger targets, compared with five years ago, when most ransomware attacks hit home computers. Municipalities have limited resources and difficulty competing for cybersecurity talent.
Using a tool called EternalBlue that was developed at the National Security Agency, extortionists have targeted city government computer systems in Baltimore, San Antonio, and Allentown, Pa.
An international cybercrime network that used malware to steal $100 million from victims in the U.S. and Europe has been dismantled by the cooperation of the U.S. and several European countries, the Department of Justice announced.
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s report disclosed a previously unknown breach: Russian intelligence agents in November 2016 tried to introduce corrupted files into election offices in several Florida counties. The hackers succeeded in at least one county.
The website, where like-minded users with various interests interact with each other, particularly appeals to people who feel pushed off mainstream social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
The Mueller probe’s exposure of Russian cyber-sabotage of the 2016 elections was only the tip of the iceberg of a vast, expanding network of organized crime in cyberspace. A UK criminologist warns that a new ‘online mafia’ is threatening the global economy.
British police removed Assange from the Ecuadorean embassy in the UK after the South American nation decided to revoke the political asylum that had given him sanctuary for almost seven years.
Jackson Cosko, who was fired by Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH), pleaded guilty to posting private information about Republican senators on the Wikipedia website.
Law enforcement agencies are dealing with so much data from smartphones and other digital devices that their investigation backlogs now average three months, according to a new survey.