Tag: federal bureau of investigation

Twitter Says Bitcoin Hack Originated From Phone Phishing Attack

On Thursday, Twitter provided an update addressing the massive Bitcoin hack that overtook its platform earlier this month. 

Did Hackers Funnel BTC Funds Via Phone?

The social networking company said that “the hackers behind the high-profile online break-in at Twitter Inc. talked their way onto the company’s network using the telephone.” Though they cared to disclose this new update, further details on how the digital heist was conducted were not provided.  

The company had previously said that that the Bitcoin (BTC) scam artists were able to seize control of so many high-profile verified accounts on their network because of insider information that leaked out. Twitter had previously issued a report, that read:  

“We detected what we believe to be a coordinated social engineering attack by people who successfully targeted some of our employees with access to internal systems and tools. We know they used this access to take control of many highly-visible (including verified) accounts and Tweet on their behalf.” 

Twitter Gets An Earful From Law Enforcement

Because of this huge security breach, which consequently led to at least 130 Twitter accounts being compromised, Twitter has received backlash by the US Securities Exchange and Commission (SEC), and the incident is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 

Senator of Missouri Josh Hawley also addressed the Twitter security breach, writing to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and demanding more information about the hack. He asked whether the company had had stricter access control measures implemented in the past, and if so, why these regulations had not been carried out.  

Twitter spoke up on Thursday regarding the digital Bitcoin and said: 

“We’re accelerating several of our pre-existing security workstreams and improvements to our tools. We are also improving our methods for detecting and preventing inappropriate access to our internal systems and prioritizing security work across many of our teams.”  

Because of the Twitter hack, the verified accounts of high-profile figures ranging from tech moguls such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates to political figures Barack Obama and Joe Biden, to name a few, were compromised. The hack was driven by Bitcoin artists looking to funnel digital funds to their digital wallet. Bitcoin hackers took to the social media profile of the seized verified accounts and generated repetitive tweets from celebrities, high-profile tech moguls and coin exchanges that promised platform users a doubling of their BTC profits if the latter sent $1000 in Bitcoin. 

The cryptocurrency stunt was successful, as the Bitcoin scam generated more than $100,000 worth of BTC. 

Twitter Stocks Drop

Since the massive hack attack, Twitter’s market value has taken a colossal hit.  The shares of the social media company dropped by more than 4%, plummeting with a wipe-out of $1.3 billion in market value.  

Since the incident, CEO of Twitter Jack Dorsey has come forward and apologized for the security breach, as concerns worldwide have escalated and his and his firm’s reputation has been at stake. On Thursday, his company took to its social Twitter account and said: 

“This attack relied on a significant and concerted attempt to mislead certain employees and exploit human vulnerabilities to gain access to our internal systems.” 

FBI Arrests 2 Hackers for Ransomware and “Crypto-Jacking” Scams, 5 Chinese Suspects Still at Large

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) and the FBI have seized two criminals connected to a cybercrime spree that has targeted over 100 companies in the United States and abroad with malware, ransomware, “crypto-jacking” and more.
 

 
Two Suspects Connected to Global Computer Hack Arrested

The two culprits were reported to have been working in cahoots with five Chinese nationals. They were arrested in Malaysia and charged for their computer hacking crimes in connection with a Chinese hacking ring. The two Malaysian nationals are currently facing charges that translate to more than 77 years in prison.

On top of conducting computer hacking campaigns, the two defendants are alleged to have also conspired for “crypto-jacking” schemes, illegally mining cryptocurrency, launching ransomware, stealing private customer data, and more.

Operating on the business front, the Malaysian pair was indicted by the US Department of Justice in August for conspiring with two of the Chinese hackers’ that are part of the cybercriminal operation and profiting from hacks directed at the video gaming industry.

According to the official announcement released by the DoJ, a total of seven international cyber defendants are charged for computer hacking intrusions targeting “software development companies, universities, video game companies, foreign governments, pro-democracy politicians, and activists in Hong Kong,” and more.

DoJ on China and State-Sponsored Hackers

Of the cyber hacking ring, there is even one cyber hacker that is alleged to be connected with the Chinese Ministry of State Security; others have been reported to be “APT41” actors, which are hackers that originate from a state-sponsored group.  

Addressing the fact that five Chinese hackers are still remain at large, Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen said:

“The Department of Justice has used every tool available to disrupt the illegal computer intrusions and cyberattacks by these Chinese citizens. Regrettably, the Chinese communist party has chosen a different path of making China safe for cybercriminals so long as they attack computers outside China and steal intellectual property helpful to China.”

Department of Justice to The Rescue

The FBI and the Us Department of Justice explicitly stipulated that justice will be served to all those who perpetuate “malicious cyber tactics.”

In the US Department of Justice’s announcement, US law enforcers stipulated that the hacking group was charged for conspiracy, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, money laundering, racketeering conspiracy, and more.

Is China Hacking Australia?

The US appears to not be the only one that thinks that China has been hosting state-sponsored hackers. Australia also seems to share that sentiment, with the Australian cyber security publishing a report highlighting vulnerabilities that were exploited by hackers using cryptojacking malware.

In July, Australian Federal Government agencies advocated that they believed that China was behind ongoing cyber-attacks targeting Australian institutions.

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