US sanctioned Iranian firm Shelbit, a fake crypto exchange that TRM Labs says handled $6bn, likely for laundering.
The US has sanctioned Shelbit, an Iranian entity presented as a cryptocurrency exchange. TRM Labs analysis indicates Shelbit was a fake exchange, with roughly $6bn in flows. Sanctions aim to disrupt Iranian illicit crypto finance channels.
Fusion center bulletins reveal US law enforcement monitoring anti-Flock social media accounts and warning police ahead of the DeFlock Week of Action against license plate readers.
Public records requests by 404 Media and journalist Dan Boguslaw exposed intelligence bulletins from fusion centers in Colorado, Wisconsin, and Florida tracking anti-Flock sentiment, camera vandalism videos, and the DeFlock National Week of Action against automated license plate readers scheduled for August 16-22. The bulletins highlight Instagram accounts like Nomark.Project posting daily camera takedowns, and a device found during a June 25 traffic stop that could locate Flock cameras. Police are advised to increase patrols around ALPR locations and warned about upcoming DeFlock events, including 11 Florida cities signed up. DeFlock creator Will Freeman said the project never called for vandalism and that over 100 surveillance contracts have been canceled through civic engagement.
A White House memo directs DHS to create a program letting vetted private companies conduct US-government-directed offensive cyber operations against cybercrime.
A presidential memo tasks the DHS National Coordination Center with building a program, under DOJ and DHS oversight, through which private-sector companies can conduct offensive cyber operations against large-scale cybercrime organizations. Requirements include secure facilities, vetted personnel, a $1 million escrow for damages, and written approvals co-signed by DHS and DOJ executive directors. The program must launch within 60 days, around October 11, expanding a March executive order targeting scam compounds, ransomware, and other large-scale cybercrime.
US DOJ and Treasury disrupt Xinbi Guarantee Telegram scam marketplace, sanctioning it and freezing $52.8M in USDT across 52 wallets.
The DOJ seized Xinbi Guarantee's Telegram channels and cryptocurrency wallets while OFAC sanctioned the marketplace, freezing $52.8 million in USDT from 52 wallets and bringing the Scam Center Strike Force's total restrained funds to roughly $938 million. Elliptic, which worked with the Secret Service, estimates Xinbi has processed $30 billion in transactions since around 2022, serving pig-butchering scam operators and links to North Korean hackers, Jin Bei Group, and Prince Group TCO. The strike force dismantled 13 scam compounds in Madagascar, seizing over 3,200 devices and interviewing roughly 400 arrestees, with about 30 Chinese compound leaders repatriated to China. After Tether froze funds, Xinbi began converting remaining USDT into the USDD stablecoin.
A Trump presidential memo directs DHS to authorize vetted private-sector hackers to conduct cyber operations against foreign cybercriminal groups (CE-TCOs).
A presidential memorandum directs the Department of Homeland Security to establish a program authorizing private companies to conduct cyber surveillance and cyber effects operations against Cyber-Enabled Transnational Crime Organisations (CE-TCOs). Participating companies must pass vetting, obtain government approval before operations, and post a USD $1 million bond. The accompanying fact sheet cites more than USD $20.8 billion in US losses to cyber-enabled crime in 2025. Critics worry about accidental escalation if operations touch foreign government systems.
Ukraine's parliament passed legislation criminalizing fraudulent call centers with 7-12 year prison terms after a bribery scandal implicating prosecutors.
Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada passed legislation making electronic-communications fraud and organizing or working for fraudulent call centers separate crimes punishable by 7-12 years, awaiting President Zelensky's signature. The bill advanced after NABU alleged prosecutors took bribes since mid-2025 to shield scam call centers; five suspects were named and Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, who denies wrongdoing, was dismissed by parliament and presidential decree. Ukrainian authorities previously reported 411 searches and 94 suspected call centers shut down in one week, including a Kyiv operation that stole over $500,000 from dozens of Americans.
US Treasury's OFAC sanctioned Chinese scam-platform Xinbi Guarantee, which processed $24bn+, and froze $52.8m in linked cryptoassets.
OFAC sanctioned Xinbi Guarantee, a Chinese-language marketplace connecting Southeast Asian scam centers and transnational crime syndicates to merchants offering financial services, technology and crypto exchange. Treasury estimates over $24bn processed since 2022, while TRM Labs estimates over $36bn, with daily inflows nearly doubling between May and December 2025. Two supporting entities were also sanctioned: SafeW Technology (Singapore) and Anwen Technology (Cambodia, maker of XinbiPay). The US Secret Service and Elliptic froze $52.8m in linked cryptoassets, and the marketplace now appears offline with its Telegram channels deleted.
Grindr will pay $35.2 million to settle a UK privacy lawsuit alleging it shared users' HIV status with advertisers.
Grindr agreed to pay 26 million pounds ($35.2 million) in two lump sums to resolve a UK class action alleging it provided advertisers with sensitive user data including HIV status. The suit was filed in April 2024 over conduct before early 2020, when the app was under Chinese ownership, and involved roughly 12,000 class members. Per an SEC filing, the settlement includes no findings or admission of liability, and the company says data was shared in encrypted form with two service providers.
404 Media reveals DHS Border Patrol's secretive Predictive Intelligence Targeting Teams (PITT) analyzing Americans' financial activity and feeding intelligence to local police for traffic stops.
404 Media identified Predictive Intelligence Targeting Teams (PITT) in the Spokane Sector (Washington) and Laredo Sector (Texas), which review law enforcement-sensitive databases including Americans' financial activity and pass intelligence to local police. In one case, a PITT analyst flagged financial patterns associated with narcotics activity, leading Montana Highway Patrol to stop a driver for an obstructed license plate and charge him with DUI and possession with intent to distribute. CBP declined to say what financial data is monitored or whether warrants are obtained; the program extends AP's earlier reporting on ALPR-based predictive policing.
Grindr will pay £26m ($35.2m) to settle UK group claims alleging unlawful sharing of sensitive data, including HIV status, before 2020, without admitting liability.
The settlement, reached on September 2 and disclosed to the US SEC, covers roughly 12,000 claimants represented by Austen Hays over the free app's 2016–2020 data practices when Grindr was owned by Chinese conglomerate Kunlun. Grindr will pay £13m by December 31, 2026 and £13m by March 31, 2027, and continues to dispute the allegations; the agreement contains no admission of liability. The claims concerned sharing HIV status, PrEP use, ethnicity, and sexual orientation data with analytics providers Apptimize and Localytics without adequate consent. Norway's data protection authority fined Grindr €6.5m in 2021, and the UK ICO reprimanded the company in July 2022.
Grindr will pay £26 million ($35.1M) to settle U.K. claims from 10,000+ users over pre-2020 sharing of HIV status and other sensitive data.
Grindr agreed to pay £26 million ($35.1 million) to settle a U.K. lawsuit brought on behalf of more than 10,000 claimants over sharing users' HIV status, last tested date, and other personal data with third parties for advertising before 2020, when the app was owned by China's Kunlun. The settlement, disclosed in a September 2 SEC filing, includes no findings or admission of liability, with £13 million due by December 31, 2026 and the rest by March 31, 2027. Norway's data protection authority previously fined Grindr £8.6 million (reduced to £5.5 million) under GDPR, a decision upheld on appeal last October.
Senator Ron Wyden asked the NSA to update public guidance on commercial VPN security risks and answer questions about foreign surveillance threats against single-hop VPNs.
Sen. Ron Wyden sent a letter to NSA Director Gen. Joshua Rudd urging the agency to revise public guidance on commercial VPNs, following earlier letters to federal agencies in March and July. He argues single-hop VPNs offer little protection against sophisticated adversaries able to compel or compromise the single provider, citing a Congressional Research Service paper favoring multi-hop and mixnet architectures. The letter references a September NSA advisory on a China-sponsored campaign against telecom, government and military networks and asks unclassified questions about multi-hop systems such as Apple Private Relay, Tor and Nym versus mixnets.
U.S. Treasury sanctioned nearly 60 Iran-linked entities, including MOIS-affiliated Mabna Institute hackers behind breaches of U.S. critical infrastructure and millions in crypto theft.
The U.S. Treasury launched Operation Economic Outcast, designating nearly 60 Iran-linked entities, individuals, and vessels across nuclear, missile, oil, cyber, and digital asset networks. Five sanctioned individuals are members of the Tehran-based Mabna Institute indicted last week; three allegedly breached and exfiltrated data from U.S. energy, defense, healthcare, IT, and financial organizations since late 2023. TRM Labs traced roughly $16.8 million across 30 wallets tied to the members, and the State Department announced a reward of up to $10 million. The action follows Iranian hacking of FBI Director Kash Patel's email and attacks on over 30 U.S. water and wastewater utilities.
Axiad survey finds 46% of enterprises lack a single leader for post-quantum cryptography migration despite most maintaining cryptographic inventories.
Axiad research on post-quantum cryptography (PQC) readiness found 75% of respondents maintain continuously updated inventories of certificates, keys, and algorithms, but 46% have no single person owning the migration. About half have never formally assessed whether public-facing infrastructure supports post-quantum key exchange. 67% said the harvest-now-decrypt-later threat is an active priority, with competing priorities, budget constraints, and lack of regulatory guidance cited as top obstacles; executives were more confident than PKI practitioners.
Shasta County, California plans to hire Tina Peters, convicted of stealing voting system software, as assistant registrar of voters.
Shasta County registrar of voters Clint Curtis said he plans to hire former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters as assistant registrar after Colorado Governor Jared Polis commuted her nine-year sentence for seven felonies, including identity theft, breaking into an election office, and stealing voting system software. Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff asked California Secretary of State Shirley Weber to provide maximum oversight to prevent Peters from improperly accessing ballots, voting systems, or data of over 100,000 registered voters. The county board of supervisors recently censured Curtis after investigations found he was verbally abusive or physically threatening toward staff.