Blackmailers have been wiping GitHub repositories and withholding code to extort Bitcoin BTC from their victims. Over 390 respos have been affected, but so far, the attackers haven’t made enough to even buy a coffee. . The Bitcoin address the scammers list in their ransom note has received only one payment on May 3, and that was for just 0.00052525BTC ($2.95 at the time of writing). The link for this article located at TheNextWeb is no longer available. . Blackmail schemes orchestrated by online criminals on GitHub struggle to secure significant Bitcoin payouts as targets push back.. GitHub Extortion, Bitcoin Blackmail, Cybercrime Prevention, Repository Security. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
On Monday, New Year’s Eve, a hacker group announced it had breached a law firm handling cases related to the September 11 attacks, and threatened to publicly release a large cache of related internal files unless their ransom demands were met.. The news is the latest public extortion attempt from the group known as The Dark Overlord, which has previously targeted a production studio working for Netflix, as well as a host of medical centres and private businesses across the United States. The announcement also signals a slight evolution in The Dark Overlord’s strategy, which has expanded on leveraging the media to exert pressure on victims, to now distributing its threats and stolen data in a wider fashion. The link for this article located at Motherboard is no longer available. . A cybercriminal syndicate known as The Shadow Conclave demands payment to withhold sensitive documents related to the Fukushima disaster, highlighting evolving methods of blackmail.. Dark Overlord, Ransom Demand, 9/11 Insurance Files, Cyber Extortion, Data Breach Tactics. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
While golfing fans have been all about this week's PGA Championship, extortion-minded hackers were more focused on the PGA of America's computer servers.. On Tuesday, employees at the sporting organization found themselves locked out of files relating to marketing materials for this week's event, in Missouri, and next month's Ryder Cup in France. The link for this article located at DarkReading is no longer available. . On Tuesday, employees at the sporting organization found themselves locked out of files relating to . while, golfing, about, week's, championship, extortion-minded, hackers. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
Cybercrooks have brewed a strain of ransomware that uses elliptic curve cryptography for file encryption, and Tor for communication. The malware, dubbed OphionLocker, is spreading using a malicious advertising (malvertising) campaign featuring the RIG exploit kit.. The ransomware encrypts files of particular types on infected systems before using Tor2web URL as a conduit for instructions on how to send the payment and obtain the decryptor tool. The extortionists are asking for a payoff of 1 BTC ($352 at current rates of exchange). The link for this article located at The Register UK is no longer available. . Malware zeroes in on key data, utilizing asymmetric encryption and anonymous networks for demands through digital currency transactions.. Next Gen Ransomware, Cyber Extortion, Malicious Ads, Bitcoin Payments. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
A hacker took over more than 100 computers and used them to extort sexually explicit videos from women and teenage girls by threatening to release their personal data, federal prosecutors charged Tuesday.. Luis Mijangos, 31, of Santa Ana, was arrested at his home by FBI agents on a charge of extortion that carries a maximum federal prison sentence of two years, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney's office. Mijangos made his first court appearance in downtown Los Angeles Tuesday morning where he was released on a $10,000 unsecured appearance bond on condition of home detention with no computers, his attorney Sylvia Torres-Guillen said. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement put a detainer on Mijangos and will take him into custody because he is an illegal alien, U.S. attorney's spokesman Thom Mrozek said. A telephone listing for Mijangos could not be immediately located. The scheme was sophisticated, Mrozek said. Mijangos told FBI agents he was a consultant and studied Java and C++, two computer programming languages. "He did have technical proficiency," Mrozek said. The link for this article located at The Reporter is no longer available. . Luis Mijangos, 31, of Santa Ana, was arrested at his home by FBI agents on a charge of extortion tha. hacker, computers, extort, sexually, explicit, videos. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
Dutch prosecutors who last month arrested a trio of young men for creating a large botnet allegedly used to extort a U.S. company, steal identities, and distribute spyware now say they bagged bigger prey: a botnet of 1.5 million machines. . According to Wim de Bruin, a spokesman for the Public Prosecution Service (Openbaar Ministerie, or OM), when investigators at GOVCERT.NL, the Netherlands' Computer Emergency Response Team, and several Internet service providers began dismantling the botnet, they discovered it consisted of about 1.5 million compromised computers, 15 times the 100,000 PCs first thought. The three suspects, ages 19, 22, and 27, were arrested Oct. 6 on charges of threatening a U.S. firm with a denial-of-service (DoS) attack after Amsterdam-based Internet service provider XS4ALL notified authorities of unusual activity on its network. The two younger men are still in custody -- a Breda court just extended their incarceration by 30 days -- but the 27-year-old has been released pending trial, said the OM. The link for this article located at Information Week is no longer available. . Belgian authorities uncover a network of 2 million devices associated with credit card fraud and ransomware incidents.. Botnet Threats, Cybercrime Prevention, Identity Theft Risks. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
Computer users already anxious about viruses and identity theft have new reason to worry: Hackers have found a way to lock up the electronic documents on your computer and then demand $200 over the Internet to get them back. . Security researchers at San Diego-based Websense Inc. uncovered the unusual extortion plot when a corporate customer they would not identify fell victim to the infection, which encrypted files that included documents, photographs and spreadsheets. A ransom note left behind included an e-mail address, and the attacker using the address later demanded $200 for the digital keys to unlock the files. “This is equivalent to someone coming into your home, putting your valuables in a safe and not telling you the combination, The link for this article located at MSNBC is no longer available. . Cybersecurity experts uncovered an emerging blackmail scheme featuring malicious software that locks users' documents and requests a ransom.. Ransomware Threat, Cyber Extortion, File Encryption Techniques. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
The e-mail began, "Your site is under attack," and it gave Mickey Richardson two choices: "You can send us $40K by Western Union [and] your site will be protected not just this weekend but for the next 12 months," or, "If you choose not to pay...you will be under attack each weekend for the next 20 weeks, or until you close your doors." . Richardson runs BetCris.com, an online wagering site, one of hundreds of sites ensconced in Costa Rica that take bets from Americans (and others around the world) without concern for U.S. bookmaking laws. Richardson received the e-mail just as he and his competitors were preparing for the year's busiest wagering season. With pro and college football, pro and college basketball and other sports in full swing, and with Thanksgiving and Christmas about to create plenty of free time, BetCris and the others stood to rake in millions over the holidays. Richardson was even planning an advertising blitz for the season to drive new traffic to his site. If BetCris went down, he knew his customers would find another online bookie, "which will cost you tens of thousands of dollars in lost wagers and customers," the extortionists reminded him. Despite all that, the e-mail didn't have the fearsome effect on Richardson that the extortionists hoped it would. He just asked his network administrator, Glenn Lebumfacil, if they should be concerned. "I said—God, in hindsight, what an idiot—I said, 'We should be safe. I think our network is nice and tight,'" recalls Lebumfacil. The link for this article located at CSO Online is no longer available. . Richardson runs BetCris.com, an online wagering site, one of hundreds of sites ensconced in Costa Ri. e-mail, began, 'your, under, attack, mickey, richardson, choices. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
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