Saturday, April 2, 2022 // (IG): BB //Weekly Sponsor: Cloakedentryco
Understanding Crypto Bridges and $1 Billion in Thefts
FROM THE MEDIA: There’s a reason bridges are more important than an average stretch of road -- and why holes in them are more dangerous. As the cryptocurrency world has grown more complex, more and more transactions have come to rely on so-called crypto bridges that enable transactions involving a wide range of tokens. A roughly $600 million hack of the Ronin bridge in March brought the total stolen from bridges in a year’s time to more than $1 billion, a stark reminder that just because something is useful, fast and cheap doesn’t mean it’s safe. A platform that allows tokens designed for one blockchain -- the digital ledger that records and verifies transactions conducted using that token -- to be used on another. Bridges weren’t needed in crypto’s early days. Some 13 years ago, there was only the Bitcoin blockchain. Now, there are thousands of blockchains, each with its own advantages -- such as lower transaction fees -- and with its own army of applications, ranging from nonfungible token (NFT) marketplaces to decentralized crypto exchanges. The rising interest in DeFi, in which users often seek to lend or trade a variety of currencies, has increased the need for mechanisms to bridge the gulf between blockchains. More and more investors are seeking to jump from one chain to another to earn yields or to buy art. Someone who has Ether tokens may wish to go onto blockchains that have lower “gas,” or transaction fees than Ethereum, like Solana, to purchase NFTs, or to Polygon to play games, for example.
READ THE STORY: Washington Post
American Gas Can Help Europe Call Putin’s Bluff
FROM THE MEDIA: Europe desperately needs an alternative to Russian gas imports. Fortunately, there’s one right across the Atlantic. Economic sanctions are a form of negative reinforcement, sort of like those shock collars some people (100% not me) use to train dogs not to do bad things like chase cars or bite people or whatever. The trouble is that geopolitical villains such as Vladimir Putin are not dogs. They’ll make their people endure any pain in the name of restoring the motherland or whatever ludicrous goal they have. And they often have plenty of help enduring shocks. In fact, Russia’s direct rival is turning out to be one giant shock absorber. The EU may be sending weapons to Ukraine, but it’s also pumping cash into Russia in exchange for natural gas. So much for shock and awe. Europe really needs to stop buying Russian gas, stat, if we’re to have any hope of modifying Putin’s behavior. If Europe had any doubt about that, Putin threatening to turn off its gas like some kind of slumlord should be proof it’s time to seek alternatives. It would be economically self-destructive for Putin to pull such a stunt, writes Liam Denning. But, again, irrational dictators aren’t always above self-destruction.
READ THE STORY: Bloomberg
American Express users locked out for HOURS: no login, no payments
FROM THE MEDIA: American Express users across the world including US, UK, and Europe, experienced widespread outages lasting hours. And, the payment services giant advises that some users may continue to experience issues online or over the phone. The issues reported by users included being unable to log in to their Amex accounts, make payments, or get to an Amex customer service representative over the phone. BleepingComputer was able to briefly reproduce issues right before Amex confirmed partially restoring services. American Express customers around the world were left without the means to make payments, as hours-long outages prevented users from logging into their accounts. The online systems of the payment card services provider went down on Friday, April 1st, and kept malfunctioning for hours, as also observed by BleepingComputer. Amex put up a banner on its homepage that it was "aware that technical difficulties" were affecting phone lines, online account services, and the Amex mobile app.
READ THE STORY: Bleeping Computer
Can the World Afford Russia-Style Sanctions on China?
FROM THE MEDIA: As the global economic fallout from the current Western-led sanctions against Russia becomes clearer, are we watching a preview of what a trade and financial rupture with China might look like? Perhaps, but many academic studies of globalization’s net benefits suggest that sanctions on China or a break in Sino-American economic ties probably would have a smaller quantitative impact than one might think, at least over the medium to long term. This is true for both the United States and China, which are large and relatively diversified economies. So, while an economic rupture with China may hurt the US and Europe less than one might assume, sanctions on China also might not prove nearly as effective as the measures against Russia have been. To get an idea of the magnitude of the effects involved, consider the current debate in Europe on restricting Russian gas imports. Judging by European policymakers’ hesitancy, one might think that cutting off energy supplies from Russia, which provides about 35% of Europe’s natural gas, would doom the continent to an epic recession. But careful academic studies, including one by UCLA economist David Baqaee and co-authors, estimate that the negative effect of such a step on the German economy, which is particularly vulnerable, would likely be well under 1% of GDP, or 2% in an extreme scenario.
READ THE STORY: Advisor Perspectives
Hackers Distributing Trojanized DeFi Wallet Apps to Steal Crypto
FROM THE MEDIA: The North Korean state-backed hacking crew, known as the Lazarus Group, has been attributed to yet another financially motivated campaign that leverages trojanized decentralized finance (DeFi) wallet apps to distribute a fully-featured backdoor onto compromised Windows systems. The app is designed to trigger the launch of the implant that can take control of the infected host. Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky said it first encountered the rogue application in mid-December 2021. “For the Lazarus threat actor, financial gain is one of the prime motivations, with a particular emphasis on the cryptocurrency business. As the price of cryptocurrency surges, and the popularity of non-fungible token (NFT) and decentralized finance (DeFi) businesses continues to swell, the Lazarus group’s targeting of the financial industry keeps evolving,” Kaspersky GReAT researchers highlighted. The infection scheme initiated by the app also results in the deployment of the installer for a legitimate application, which gets overwritten with a trojanized version in an effort to cover its tracks. The spawned malware launches a wallet app built for the DeFiChain, while also establishing connections to a remote attacker-controlled domain and awaiting further instructions from the server.
READ THE STORY: Phoneworld
Two teenagers, aged 16 and 17, are charged with multiple hacking offences in connection with investigation into Lapsus$ cyber-crime gang who breached major firms including Microsoft
FROM THE MEDIA: Two teenagers have been charged with multiple hacking offences in connection with an investigation into notorious cyber-crime gang Lapsus$. Two boys, aged 16, from London, and 17, from Oxfordshire, appeared at Highbury Corner Magistrates Court today, accused of hacking major technology companies. They were allegedly working for a cyber-crime gang in operations worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. Lapsus$ is a cyber gang that has hacked information from major firs including Microsoft and Okta. The gang often attempts to extort organizations they hack and threaten to leak data unless they receive large sums of money. Both teenagers are charged with three counts of unauthorized access with intent to impair operation of or hinder access to a computer, and two counts of fraud by false representation. The 16-year-old, from London, has also been charged with one count of causing a computer to perform a function to secure unauthorized access to a programme. The boys are in some cases said to have carried out 'sim swaps' with mobile phone users, gaining access to bank accounts and Bitcoin. They sat next to family members in separate hearings in court and spoke only to confirm their details. Prosecutor Valerie Benjamin said the case should be sent to crown court due to its complex nature and the sums allegedly involved.
READ THE STORY: Dailymail
Postal Inspectors Have Been Illegally Spying on Americans
FROM THE MEDIA: The U.S. Postal Service has a "U.S. Postal Inspection Service's Analytics and Cybercrime Program"—of course it does! Its tasks, according to a report issued last week from the Postal Service's Office of Inspector General (IG), include via its "Internet Covert Operations Program (iCOP)" subprogram, to "proactively gather intelligence using cryptocurrency analysis, open-source intelligence, and social media analysis." In doing so, the IG concluded in that report (which was the result of a House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform request to look into Post Office online snooping), the iCOP program "exceeded the Postal Inspection Service's law enforcement authority." One rub is that iCOP's efforts by law "must have an identified connection to the mail, postal crimes, or the security of Postal Service facilities or personnel prior to commencing"—a "postal nexus" in their lingo. A big "oops" the IG uncovered is that "the keywords used for iCOP in the proactive searches did not include any terms with a postal nexus." The iCOPpers also "did not retain information needed to ensure compliance with the Postal Inspection Service's legal authority."
READ THE STORY: Reason
Sanctions on Russia mean a struggle for Cuban car owners looking for parts
FROM THE MEDIA: Francisco Pérez Rodríguez has a car problem — one that’s starting to be all too common for many Cubans. He’s been rebuilding the engine of his father-in-law’s Moskvich — one of tens of thousands of cars and other vehicles that poured into Cuba from its Cold War allies in the Soviet bloc and later Russia over the past half century. To run, it needs a new timing belt. But Pérez Rodríguez said that’s something only available these days in Russia. And flights there have been disrupted by Western sanctions imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Global restrictions on transport and trade with Russia pose an especially serious problem for Cubans, whose socialist government has lived since the early 1960s under an embargo imposed by the nearby United States. Much of the island’s fleets of trucks, buses, cars and tractors came from distant Russia and are now aging, in need of parts. And much like Russian tourists, those parts are no longer arriving. Transportation in Cuba can be difficult in the best of times. Buses have often been in short supply, cargo trucks are sometimes pressed into service for rural passengers and the streets are filled with Russian-made Ladas, Niva SUVs and Jeep-like Uazs.
READ THE STORY: PBS
The ‘Miske Enterprise’: Trial For The Accused Crime Boss Is Being Postponed Again
FROM THE MEDIA: Defense attorneys say there is too much evidence being turned over by the government to analyze in a short time, including more than 700,000 pages of documents, wiretap recordings numerous telephones and dozens of forensic reports. Defense attorneys say there is too much evidence being turned over by the government to analyze in a short time, including more than 700,000 pages of documents, wiretap recordings numerous telephones and dozens of forensic reports. It will be at least another year before Michael J. Miske Jr., the former Honolulu businessman accused of racketeering, drug trafficking, kidnapping and murder-for-hire, along with seven co-defendants, will face a trial by jury in federal court. Miske is the former owner of Kamaaina Termite and Pest Control, Oahu Termite and Pest Control, M Nightclub and its successor, Encore, and several other local businesses, which federal prosecutors allege were used to conceal the activities of a broad criminal conspiracy he controlled and directed. Last month, Miske co-defendant Delia-Anne Fabro-Miske, through her attorney, John Schum, asked for the trial to be delayed in order to provide sufficient time to assess and evaluate the massive amount of evidence that has been turned over to the defendants and their attorneys in the process of discovery. The trial, which had been set to begin in September, was originally scheduled to be held in September 2020, and had already been delayed delayed four previous times. But following a hearing last week before Magistrate Judge Kenneth Mansfield, the trial has now been pushed back again, and is scheduled to begin with jury selection on April 17, 2023.
READ THE STORY: Civilbeat
Information Warfare in Mexico’s Drug War: The Dámaso López (“El Licenciado”) Case Study
FROM THE MEDIA: Information warfare is a critical component of Mexican cartels’ battle against the state and one another. Some cartels, such as the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), engage in propaganda campaigns portraying their military might focusing upon their armored vehicles and high-caliber weapons. Other times this may express itself as censorship and control over the media, e.g., story suppression and the killing of reporters. An interesting case that showcases how information operations (IO) are a critical component of the Mexican drug war comes from the internal struggle to control the Sinaloa Cartel that intensified when “El Chapo” Guzmán was extradited. The Dámaso López case study epitomizes the importance that information operations have for organized crime in Mexico. The case study exemplifies the diversity and applicability of information operations. Information operations pose a threat to the security environment in Mexico, but at the same time, present an opportunity for security forces to use technology against organized crime. Information operations in Mexico have also jumped into the virtual arena by utilizing social media as a new battleground for their information warfare (IW). It is essential to understand what the concept of information warfare and ‘information operations’ include and how they work in the context of the Mexican war on drugs.
READ THE STORY: Small Wars Journal
Items of interest
Drug Cartel Weaponized Drones(Video)
FROM THE MEDIA: Border patrol facing new hurdles as drug cartels and other nefarious actors use advanced drones to conduct illicit business.
Cybercrime and Mexican drug cartels (Video)
FROM THE MEDIA: The link between cybercrime and Mexican Drug Cartels is becoming more clear. In this episode, I'll talk about what the cartels are doing in the world of cybercrime and how it can affect your investigations.
About this Product
These open source products are reviewed from analysts at InfoDom Securities and provide possible context about current media trends in regard to the realm of cyber security. The stories selected cover a broad array of cyber threats and are intended to aid readers in framing key publicly discussed threats and overall situational awareness. InfoDom Securities does not specifically endorse any third-party claims made in their original material or related links on their sites, and the opinions expressed by third parties are theirs alone. Contact InfoDom Securities at dominanceinformation@gmail.com