At Infosecurity Europe 2024, Veracity Trust Network CEO Nigel Bridges warned that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will likely increase the threat of malicious bots to online businesses. Veracity found that bots made up almost 50 percent of web traffic in 2022, with over 30 percent being malicious. Bots targeting financial services perform account takeover, card cracking, and content scraping. Bridges added that cybercriminals and nation-states have used AI to scale bot automation. This article continues to discuss insights regarding malicious bots.

The US Justice Department recently announced that it has filed a civil forfeiture action in an attempt to recover more than $5.3 million lost by a Massachusetts workers union in a business email compromise (BEC) scam. The union was not named but is located in Dorchester and lost the money in January 2023, when cybercriminals sent it an email that appeared to come from a trusted investment consulting firm. The scammers used a spoofed email address to trick the workers union into believing that the investment consulting firm was requesting the transfer of $6.4 million to a different

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has over 7,000 decryption keys to help "LockBit" ransomware victims. A disruptive international law enforcement operation against LockBit earlier this year resulted in the recovery of these decryption keys. The LockBit group provides Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) to a global network of affiliates, enabling criminals to launch their own cyberattacks. The operation took down LockBit's data leak website and uncovered information about the gang.

A new Linux variant of "TargetCompany" ransomware targets VMware ESXi environments with a custom shell script to deliver and execute payloads. The TargetCompany ransomware operation, also known as "Mallox," "FARGO," and "Tohnichi," emerged in June 2021, targeting organizations in Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand, and India with MySQL, Oracle, and SQL Server database attacks. Avast made a free decryption tool available for variants released up to February 2022. The gang resumed targeting vulnerable Microsoft SQL servers in September and threatened victims with data leaks.

Interpol and the FBI recently cracked down on attempts in Moldova to sabotage one of the international police agency’s key tools, the Red Notice system.  The joint sting, which also involved cooperation with French and British authorities, uncovered an international criminal organization with ties to individuals in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus suspected of cybercrime.  Interpol noted that the suspected individuals paid intermediaries and public figures in Moldova to inform wanted criminals of their Red Notice status.

Security researchers at Symantec have started analyzing the relatively new RansomHub ransomware-as-a-service and believe it has evolved from the currently defunct Knight ransomware project.  Knight ransomware launched in late July 2023 as a re-brand of the Cyclops operation and started breaching Windows, macOS, and Linux/ESXi machines to steal data and demand a ransom.

A trio of Chinese state-aligned threat clusters under the name "Operation Crimson Palace" stole military and political secrets from a government organization in Southeast Asia. Sophos reported on Operation Crimson Palace's sophistication and coordination, involving new malware tools, over 15 Dynamic Link Library (DLL) sideloading methods, and novel evasion methods. This article continues to discuss findings regarding Operation Crimson Palace.

Audio deepfakes are becoming more dangerous, which prompted the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to launch its Voice Cloning Challenge. Academics and industry contestants had to develop ideas to prevent, monitor, and evaluate malicious voice cloning. Three teams approached the problem differently, showing that audio deepfakes pose complex and evolving harms that require a multipronged, multidisciplinary approach. Artificial Intelligence (AI)-generated synthetic voices for speech-impaired people are a benefit of voice cloning.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has warned about increased work-from-home scams. The advisory states that scammers call or message potential victims posing as reputable businesses or recruiting agencies. Scammers often require victims to pay cryptocurrency to supposed employers to access additional earnings or unlock their work. Despite a fake interface showing income, victims cannot withdraw. Scammers may demand cryptocurrency payments, use simple job descriptions, and not require references during the hiring process.

Northern Minerals, an Australian rare-earth metals producer, reported a data breach after a ransomware group released data stolen from the company. The announcement followed the BianLian ransomware gang's release of Northern Minerals' operational, human resources, management, project, and email data on its Tor-based leak site. The cybergang claims to have stolen project and mining research data, financial data, shareholder and investor data, employee personal data, and corporate email archives.