UNVEILING THE SCAM: HOW FRAUDSTERS ABUSE LEGITIMATE BLOCKCHAIN PROTOCOLS TO STEAL YOUR CRYPTOCURRENCY WALLET
Check Point’s Threat Intel blockchain system identified and alerted that in recent times, fraudsters have evolved to become increasingly sophisticated, exploiting legitimate blockchain protocols to conduct their scams. The Uniswap Protocol, launched in 2018, is the largest and most popular decentralized exchange for swapping cryptocurrency tokens on Ethereum and other popular blockchains, locking over $1.8 trillion in trading volume and 350 million swaps. As the fifth largest application on Ethereum, Uniswap holds over $4 billion in total value locked (TVL) and consistently achieves billions in weekly trading volume, maintaining its position as the leading decentralized exchange by volume on Ethereum mainnet, Polygon, Arbitrum, and Optimism. Safe.global meanwhile is like a smart contract wallet and claimed to have a total of 69million transactions, with 9.5million accounts deployed totalling $100 billion in total assets stored.
CrowdStrike blames a test software bug for that giant global mess it made
CrowdStrike has blamed a bug in its own test software for the mass-crash-event it caused last week. A Wednesday update to its remediation guide added a preliminary post incident review (PIR) that offers the antivirus maker’s view of how it brought down 8.5 million Windows boxes.
The explanation opens by detailing that CrowdStrike’s Falcon Sensor ships with “sensor content” that steers and defines its threat-detection engine’s capabilities. The software is also updated with “rapid response content” that allows it to detect and handle emerging malware and other unwanted system activity. This rapid response content is delivered to users in those channel files you’ve been hearing about.
Data pilfered from Pentagon IT supplier Leidos
Internal documents stolen from Leidos Holdings, an IT services provider contracted with the Department of Defense and other US government agencies, have been leaked on the dark web. The Leidos files that have made their way into the wild are claimed not to hold any “sensitive customer data,” but the incident highlights the need for greater security awareness. The documents are believed to have been stolen in a previously disclosed attack and data theft at Diligent Corporation, a provider of governance software. Leidos, which is a Diligent customer, is said to have only recently learned that the documents were currently being circulated, although the original attack happened in 2022, according to a Bloomberg report citing an anonymous source.
The US Senate unanimously passes a bill to empower victims of intimate deepfakes
The US Senate unanimously passed a bill on Tuesday designed to hold accountable those who make or share deepfake porn. The Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits Act (DEFIANCE Act) would allow victims to sue those who create, share or possess AI-generated sexual images or videos using their likeness. The issue took root in the public consciousness after the infamous Taylor Swift deepfake that circulated among online lowlifes early this year. The bill would let victims sue for up to $150,000 in damages. That number grows to $250,000 if it’s related to attempted sexual assault, stalking or harassment.
Russia Shifts Cyber Focus to Battlefield Intelligence in Ukraine
Russia’s cyber activities in Ukraine have shifted away from strategic civilian targets towards pursuing tactical military objectives, according to a report published by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). Multiple Russian cyber units are targeting frontline Ukrainian military computers and mobiles ahead of the Kremlin’s anticipated Summer offensive, which will aim to take territory regained by Ukraine in its 2023 counter-offensive. These “significant and underappreciated” changes highlights how Russia’s intelligence services have adapted their cybersecurity strategy to the demands of a long war in Ukraine, according to the report author Dan Black, Manager of Cyber Espionage Analysis at Google Cloud’s Mandiant.
North Korean hacking group targeted weapons blueprints, nuclear facilities in cyber campaigns
A notorious North Korean hacking group has been accused of stealing sensitive information and blueprints about guns, torpedoes and other weapon systems. Cybersecurity firm Mandiant published on Thursday the results of a two-year investigation into Andariel — a well-known group of hackers U.S. officials believe is tied to North Korea’s intelligence office, the Reconnaissance General Bureau. Researchers said Andariel has launched several large, impactful cyber operations that targeted critical infrastructure — expanding beyond government espionage campaigns into ransomware attacks on hospitals, banks and South Korean defense firms.
