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Party’s Over for Crypto Scammers Who Went on a Spending Spree After a $240 Million Bitcoin Theft

Malone Lam's plea hearing approaches in the $240 million bitcoin social engineering theft; the case highlights surging crypto fraud and limited enforcement.

Malone Lam, accused of organizing a social engineering attack that stole over $240 million in bitcoin (4,100+ BTC) from a Washington, D.C. resident in August 2024, has a plea agreement hearing set. Callers impersonating Google and Gemini staff tricked the victim into revealing security codes. Lam and 17 co-defendants spent lavishly before FBI arrests; crypto investment fraud complaints to the FBI rose nearly 50% in 2025 while DOJ disbanded its crypto crimes unit.

SecurityWeek · 8d agoPolicy & legal

US Indicts 17 Iranians Over Years

US unsealed superseding indictment charging 17 Mabna Institute Iranians for IRGC-linked espionage stealing 31TB from universities, companies, and government agencies.

The Justice Department unsealed a superseding indictment charging 17 members of the Iran-based Mabna Institute, which conducted hacking campaigns since at least 2013 on behalf of the IRGC and other Iranian clients. The group compromised 144 US and 178 foreign universities, at least 42 US companies, and multiple government agencies, stealing over 31 terabytes of academic data and IP plus employee email inboxes. Hackers breached roughly 8,000 of 100,000 targeted professor accounts across 24 countries, selling stolen research through Megapaper.ir and Gigapaper.ir. Behzad Mesri, tied to the HBO breach and $6 million Bitcoin extortion, is among eight new defendants, and five defendants carry State Department Rewards for Justice bounties up to $10 million.

Security Affairs · 27d agoThreat actor in the wild

Russian State-Sponsored Hackers Use Claude to Rebuild Malware After Detection

Anthropic disrupted APT29-linked GTG-20006, which used Claude to autonomously rebuild malware, hijack hotel Wi-Fi DNS, and target 20-plus Ukrainian, European, and US-linked organizations.

Anthropic attributed the campaign to GTG-20006, aligned with Midnight Blizzard (APT29/Cozy Bear), which developed an AI-driven process that monitors its implants against security products and autonomously rebuilds and redeploys detected malware. Targets included military intelligence, diplomatic, and defense organizations in Ukraine and Europe, plus Middle East and Asian maritime agencies; the actor compromised at least three hotel Wi-Fi vendors via DNS hijacking and served ClickFix lures delivering Windows, Android, and iOS malware such as PowerChrome, GiftDrop, and DarkSword. Operations also included a North African breach exfiltrating over 300,000 national identity records and 500,000-plus company registry entries, an Embassy Kit device-code phishing campaign stealing Microsoft 365 tokens from at least eight organizations, and WhatsApp account takeover using headless browsers. The campaign overlaps with CaptiveCrunch reporting from ReliaQuest, Microsoft, Google, and Lumen Black Lotus Labs.

The Hacker Newsupdated · 13h agofirst · 5d agoThreat actor in the wild 20 sources2

Novel Blue Moon kit targeting Chrome and Windows reflects new reality of AI-driven exploits

Proofpoint reports the BlueMoon exploit kit, chaining two Chrome V8 zero-days and a Windows ALPC bug, being shared across China-linked espionage groups.

Proofpoint identified a new exploit kit, BlueMoon, first observed on August 28 and used by TA412 (APT31/Violet Typhoon) against US NGOs, mining firms, and commodity trading companies. The kit chains a V8 type confusion RCE (CVE-2026-85046), a V8 sandbox escape, and a Windows Advanced Local Procedure Call privilege escalation (CVE-2026-85880), both patched flaws having been exploited in the wild. At least four espionage groups, most with suspected China nexus including UNK_LateNight, adopted the kit within days, targeting US aerospace firms with defense-sector lures. Fewer than 20 organizations were observed targeted, and researchers believe AI-assisted exploit development against upstream Chromium patches enabled the kit's rapid creation and sharing.

$245 million in stolen crypto funded racketeering crew’s lavish lifestyle

Malone Lam pleaded guilty in D.C. federal court to a racketeering conspiracy that stole and laundered over $245 million in cryptocurrency via social engineering.

Malone Lam, a 22-year-old Singapore citizen, pleaded guilty in Washington D.C. federal court to running a racketeering conspiracy that stole and laundered more than $245 million in cryptocurrency. The operation ran from at least October 2023 through May 2025, grew out of online gaming platforms, and relied on social engineering to trick victims into surrendering wallet access, sometimes including break-ins to victims' homes. Lam was arrested on September 18, 2025 in Miami; prosecutors said members spent lavishly on nightclubs, private jets, and exotic cars priced from $100,000 to $3.8 million.

Help Net Security · 7d agoPhishing & fraud

Risky Bulletin: BEC campaign steals €35 million from French notaries

Hackers stole over €35 million from 500+ French notary offices in a four-year BEC campaign; ANSSI spent two years helping evict the attackers.

A business email compromise campaign breached more than 500 French notary offices — about 7% of all French notaries per the Conseil Supérieur du Notariat — over four years, stealing more than €35 million by phishing initial access and silently modifying wire transfer details. France's cybersecurity agency ANSSI worked for two years behind the scenes to help notaries remove the persistent attackers, who had deep access; officials also feared hackers could issue fake notarized acts such as marriage certificates or forged real estate deals. No forged documents have been found so far, but notaries have added two-factor authentication and in-person requirements for banking details, and banks added extra checks in 2024. The newsletter also notes other incidents, including a $320 million Bitcoin extraction from Blockstream's Liquid Network and a JetBrains Cadence breach via TeamCity servers.

Risky Business News · 10d agoPhishing & fraud in the wild1

Berlin refuses to be blackmailed after network breach

Rhysida extorts Berlin's state government after stealing 5.79 TB across 1.44 million files, demanding roughly 2 million euros in bitcoin.

Berlin's state government confirmed an extortion attempt after data theft from its administrative network between August 7 and 12, with affected departments disconnected only on August 14. The Rhysida ransomware gang lists 5.79 TB across 1.44 million files on its leak site, including HR files, contracts, 148 IBANs, personal data on 12,076 individuals, and plaintext credentials from internal systems including Berlin's leadership. Der Spiegel reports a 30 bitcoin demand of about 2 million euros; officials say the city will not pay and investigators include the State Criminal Police Office and federal agencies. Forensics revealed additional leaks in the Senate Department for Mobility, Transport, Climate Protection and the Environment, while the Berlin House of Representatives election environment is reported secure.

Help Net Security · 16d agoRansomware in the wild

Berlin Refuses to Pay Hackers Who Stole Data From the City's State Network

Berlin refuses ransom demands after Rhysida claimed stealing 5.79 TB from the city-state network, including mobility department data on 12,076 individuals.

Berlin's state government confirmed an extortion attempt following the August compromise of its state administrative network and said it will not pay. Forensics found data exfiltrated from the Senate Department for Mobility, Transport, Climate Protection and Environment between August 7 and 12, 2026; Rhysida's leak site claims 5.79 TB, 1.44 million files, and personal data on 12,076 individuals. State criminal police, prosecutors, and federal authorities are investigating, and officials say the September 20 Abgeordnetenhaus election environment remains unaffected. Separately, Manchester Airports Group confirmed theft of customer data including emails, phone numbers, and vehicle registrations across three airports.

The Hacker News · 19d agoRansomware in the wildCVE-2020-1472

Risky Bulletin: Slovakia finds Russian backdoor in traffic speed cameras

Slovakia's NBU found an SMS-triggered backdoor in Russian-made NERO R-ONE traffic cameras, pausing a 279-unit deployment.

Slovakia's national security service NBU issued an alert against NERO R-ONE high-speed traffic cameras after finding a backdoor that grants shell and network access via SMS from hardcoded Russian phone numbers. The cameras are a rebranded version of the Russian CORDON PRO.M model by St. Petersburg firm Semicon, purchased via a Cyprus shell company under a €30 million EU-funded project. The report also found SecureBoot disabled, vulnerable web management, and unauthenticated live streams; the Interior Ministry paused deployment of 279 cameras pending independent assessment.

Risky Business News · 29d agoThreat actor in the wild1

Sophisticated Cyberattack Exposes Data of 678,000 French Taxpayers

Hackers stole personal and tax data of 678,000 individuals and businesses from France's tax agency DGFiP, prompting a Paris criminal investigation.

France's Directorate-General for Public Finances (DGFiP) confirmed a sophisticated cyberattack exposed data on 678,000 users of the tax system, including income figures, tax rates and family circumstances for individuals and SIREN registration data for businesses. The Paris prosecutor's cybercrime unit opened a probe and referred it to the French anti-fraud office OFAC after a threat actor claimed the breach in late June. Officials stressed the stolen data does not grant access to secure accounts on impots.gouv.fr, and taxpayer notification begins Monday with warnings about identity theft and fraudulent follow-up requests. The incident follows recent breaches at the ANTS documents agency and the INSEE statistics authority.

Security Affairs · Aug 16, 2026Data breach