Tag Archive for: mastermind

Ransomware Mastermind Uncovered After Oversharing on Dark Web


When researchers responded to an ad to join up with a ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) operation, they wound up in a cybercriminal job interview with one of the most active threat actors in the affiliate business, who turns out to be behind at least five different strains of ransomware.

Meet “farnetwork,” who was unmasked after giving over too many specifics to a Group-IB threat researcher pretending to be a potential affiliate for the Nokoyawa ransomware group. The cybercriminal is also known by aliases including jingo, jsworm, razvrat, piparuka, and farnetworkit, the team learned.

After the undercover researcher was able to demonstrate they could execute privilege escalation, use ransomware to encrypt files, and ultimately demand cash for an encryption key, farnetwork was ready to talk details.

During the course of their correspondence, the Group-IB researcher learned farnetwork already had a foothold into various enterprise networks, and just needed someone to take the next step — i.e., to deploy the ransomware, and collect money. The deal would work like this, Group IB’s team learned: the Nokoyawa affiliate would get 65% of the extortion money, the botnet owner gets 20%, and the ransomware owner gets 15%.

But Nokayawa was just the latest ransomware operation farnetwork was running, Group-IB explained in its latest report. The threat actor ultimately gave over enough details for the team to trace farnetwork’s ransomware activities as far back as 2019.

Farnetwork bragged to the researchers about past operations with Nefilim and Karma ransomware, as well as being on the receiving end of ransomware payments as high as $1 million. The crook also mentioned past work with Hive and Nemty.

A ransom note
Source: Group-IB

That was enough information for the Group-IB team to piece together a prolific ransomware resume in farnetwork’s past.

From 2019 to 2021, Group-IB said farnetwork was behind ransomware strains JSWORM, Karma, Nemty, and Nefilim. Nefilim’s RaaS program alone accounted for more than 40 victims, the report added.

By 2022, farnetwork found a home with the Nokoyawa operation, and by last February, was actively recruiting affiliates to the program.

“Based on the timeline of their operations,…

Source…

Florida teen charged as “mastermind” in Twitter hack hitting Biden, Bezos, and others

Extreme close-up image of the Twitter logo on the screen of a smartphone.

Enlarge (credit: Tom Raftery / Flickr)

Authorities on Friday charged three people with orchestrating this month’s epic hack of Twitter and using it to generate more than $ 100,000 in a bitcoin scam promoted by hijacked accounts of politicians, executives, and celebrities.

Federal prosecutors in San Francisco charged Mason Sheppard, 19, Nima Fazeli, 22, and an unnamed juvenile in the July 15 breach. Prosecutors in Florida, where the juvenile defendant lives, identified him as 17-year-old Graham Ivan Clark and charged him with 30 felony charges. Federal prosecutors said that Sheppard used the hacking names “Chaewon” and “ever so
anxious#001” and resides in the UK town of Bognor Regis. Fazeli, who allegedly called himself “Rolex,” “Rolex#0373,” “Rolex#373,” and “Nim F,” is from Orlando, Florida.

The three suspects stand accused of using social engineering and other techniques to gain access to internal Twitter systems. They then allegedly used their control to take over what Twitter has said were 130 accounts. A small sampling of the account holders included former Vice President Joe Biden, Tesla founder Elon Musk, pop star Kanye West, and philanthropist and Microsoft founder, former CEO, and Chairman Bill Gates.

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Biz & IT – Ars Technica

CGI Mastermind Beeple Takes on China—US Cyber Warfare – The Creators Project (blog)

CGI Mastermind Beeple Takes on China—US Cyber Warfare
The Creators Project (blog)
Beeple, or Mike Winkelmann, has mesmerized online viewers for the last several years with an array of 3D visuals, from music videos to 2,555 CGI sketches. Near-instantly identifiable, Beeple's video art often contains day-glo illumination, objects in

cyber warfare – read more