Waze has just announced a new collaboration with American pop rock band Jonas Brothers. The music group is about to release its sixth studio album on May 12, so the new partnership is meant to advertise The Album and offer fans a way to celebrate the launch in an original way.
Starting today, Kevin, Joe and Nick will guide Waze users while they’re commuting. Each has witty lines like “Exit Right. And if you happen to be on New Jersey Route 3, don’t miss the Tick Tock Diner in Clifton” or “Accident reported ahead. Let’s send positive vibes to everyone involved.”
Many of these lines are related to the brothers’ favorite sports from around the world, as well as memories together while on a tour bus. Speaking of which, the new Jonas Brother experience also includes a custom “Tour Bus” vehicle along with a custom Mood (how drivers appear on the map). Called Limitless, the new mood has been specifically designed to let you fully embrace the free-spirited road trip vibe. “Growing up on the road, our tour bus became our home away from home, so we know the importance of getting places safely and on time. We are excited to partner with Waze for an exclusive driving experience and have our fans around the world join us on their drives and share some of our favorite memories and spots we’ve discovered while touring. See you on the road!”
The newly launched Jonas Brothers driving experience is now available globally with navigation in English (the only language available) on Android and iOS devices. Just make sure to enable it from your Waze app before it goes away.
The FBI has reportedly shut down 9 Virtual Currency Exchange services belonging to organizations to prevent cyber criminals from laundering their money.
These exchange services were used by threat actors who received ransom payments through criminal activities.
These organizations were knowingly supporting cybercrime activities and were supporting all kinds of threat actors. The domain names that were seized by authorities are as follows,
24xbtc.com
100btc.pro
pridechange.com
101crypta.com
uxbtc.com
trust-exchange.org
bitcoin24.exchange
paybtc.pro
owl.gold
Virtual Exchanges are non-compliant if they have a lax anti-money laundering program or do not collect users’ enough KYC (Know Your Customer) information.
As stated by the FBI, These kinds of services operating in the cybercrime ecosystem are in violation of Title 18 United States Code, Sections 1960 and 1956.
In addition, these kinds of illegal currency exchanges are advertised online to get more and more cybercriminals to use their platform, resulting in an enormous revenue generation.
Most of these platforms were a playground for threat actors responsible for ransomware, scamming, and phishing campaigns. These services were offered in both Russian and English Speaking Countries.
The FBI has been investigating this issue further and will put up a seizure banner for these websites to inform visitors about their actions.
Running a money service business without an operating license and helping with money laundering is a federal crime.
We take a look at Google’s efforts to shut down a particularly nasty set of modified Chrome installs playing host to CryptBot malware.
Google is in the midst of a legal campaign designed to take down the creators of a very persistent piece of malware called CryptBot. This malware, which Google claims compromised roughly 670k computers, set about infecting users of the Chrome browser. Unfortunately for the malware campaign operators, Google’s not impressed.
This legal campaign focuses on shutting down domains associated with the stealer. The lawsuit unsealed this week reveals Google’s line of approach for tackling CryptBot’s alleged primary distributors, located in Pakistan.
It’s easy to see what piqued Google’s interest in this infection campaign. A big part of the CryptBot tactics on display involved offering up cracked or modified versions of popular Google products. The products were secretly infected with CryptBot, which would then go on to try and plunder credentials from the infected systems. From the complaint document:
(The) defendants’ criminal scheme is perpetrated via a pay-per-install (“PPI”) network known as “360installer,” which fosters the creation of websites that offer illegally modified software (“Cracked Software Sites”).
These websites offer software infected with CryptBot malware, such as maliciously modified versions of Google Chrome and Google Earth Pro, and also cracked third party software. The Malware Distribution Enterprise operated by Defendants in this case is one of the primary means of spreading the CryptBot malware to new victims.
Google highlights that CryptoBot targets users of Chrome. When it notices Chrome is installed on a PC, it attempts to “locate, collect, and extract user credentials saved to Chrome”. This can be logins, authentication methods, private data, and several types of payment information, such as card details and cryptocurrencies.
This attempt at a takedown by Google isn’t just focused on the code side of things. There’s also a trademark component, and the search giant is none too happy about their familiar product icons being used for malware-related purposes. From the blogpost:
The legal complaint is based on a variety of claims, including computer fraud and abuse and trademark infringement. To hamper the spread of CryptBot, the court has granted a temporary restraining order to bolster our ongoing technical disruption efforts against the distributors and their infrastructure. The court order allows us to take down current and future domains that are tied to the distribution of CryptBot. This will slow new infections from occurring and decelerate the growth of CryptBot.
As The Register notes, this goes beyond the usual restraining order approach where URL registries falling under the court’s jurisdiction must shut down rogue domains. Hardware and virtual machines can be turned off, network providers can kill server connections powering CryptoBot, and steps can be taken to keep the infrastructure offline permanently.
In other words, the CryptoBot folks are in a lot of trouble. The complaint states that this action is being brought under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations (RICO) act, Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), Lanham Act, and New York state common law. RICO alone, intended to deal with the dismantling of organised crime, should be enough to give the ringleaders pause for thought. Everything else is just a bonus.
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Samsung has released the May 2023 Android security patch for one more Galaxy device. The Galaxy A23 is the latest model to pick up the new security update. The company previously updated the Galaxy S23 series and the Galaxy A10e to the May SMR (Security Maintenance Release).
Samsung usually updates flagship devices to the latest security patch before covering eligible mid-range and budget models. However, it began with an entry-level device this month. The Galaxy A10e surprisingly topped every other Android device in the race to the May security update. The Korean behemoth released the new SMR for this phone in its homeland in the last week of April, several days before we stepped into May.
After a few days of no action, Samsung updated the latest flagship lineup to the May SMR. The Galaxy S23 series started picking up the new security patch yesterday in Europe and Asia. As the company expands the rollout to other markets, it has released the latest security update for a mid-range device as well. The Galaxy A23 is currently receiving the May update in a handful of European countries.
According to SamMobile, which first spotted this update, the new firmware build number for this phone is A235FXXS2CWD1. The publication confirms the rollout in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Germany, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine. Samsung should soon bring it to other markets. The May SMR may not reach the Galaxy A23 everywhere, though. It recently picked up the April update in Latin America, along with One UI 5.1. European units have already received the One UI 5.1 update.
Samsung also sold a 5G version of the Galaxy A23. It was also released in the US, where the company pushed the April update a few days back. Those users may now miss out on the May release. That’s how things work for Galaxy devices that aren’t eligible for monthly security updates. The Galaxy A23 and Galaxy A23 5G only get quarterly updates and may miss out on a few security patches in between.
The May update for Galaxy devices contains over 70 vulnerability fixes
Samsung’s May security update for Galaxy devices is pretty big. It contains fixes for more than 70 vulnerabilities. Of course, these vulnerabilities don’t exist on every Galaxy model, but most of Samsung’s recent devices are affected by one or more security issues. The company says around 20 vulnerabilities patched this month are Galaxy-specific, while the remaining 50-odd patches affect the entire Android ecosystem. At least six patches were labeled “critical” by Samsung and Google.
An easy to exploit vulnerability in Oracle WebLogic Server has been added to the CISA list of things you really, really need to patch.
On May 1, 2023 the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) added three new vulnerabilities to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog, based on evidence of active exploitation.
This means that Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) agencies are obliged to remediate the vulnerabilities by May 22, 2023. For the rest of us it means “pay attention,” everyone else with a vulnerable entity should do this as fast as possible too.
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) database lists publicly disclosed computer security flaws. The CVEs added by CISA were:
CVE-2023-1389 is a vulnerability in TP-Link Archer AX21 (AX1800) firmware versions before 1.1.4 Build 20230219. Affected versions contain a command injection vulnerability in the country form of the /cgi-bin/luci;stok=/locale endpoint on the web management interface. Specifically, the country parameter of the write operation was not sanitized before being used in a call to popen(), allowing an unauthenticated attacker to inject commands, which would be run as root, with a simple POST request.
CVE-2021-45046 is a very old Apache Log4j2 deserialization of untrusted data vulnerability that still works on enough unpatched servers to be listed.
CVE-2023-21839 affects Oracle WebLogic Server. It can lead to an unauthenticated attacker with network access gaining unauthorized access to “critical data or complete access to all Oracle WebLogic Server accessible data.”
We would like to zoom in on that last vulnerability for a few reasons.
First of all because Oracle WebLogic is a very wide-spread java application server and has always been a popular entrance to networks for cybercriminals.
The vulnerability is easily exploitable. Even for copycats, since there are proof-of-concepts (PoCs) available and exploits are incorporated in pen-testing tools.
The scope of the vulnerability. There is a real risk that a remote, unauthenticated attacker can fully compromise the server in order to steal confidential information, install ransomware, and turn to the rest of the internal network.
Oracle WebLogic Suite is an application server for building and deploying enterprise Java EE applications which is fully supported on Kubernetes. That makes it easy to use on-premises or in the cloud. The companies using Oracle WebLogic are most often found in United States and in the Information Technology and Services industry.
In Oracle’s January security advisory you will notice that five researchers are credited with finding and reporting CVE-2023-21839. This may be due to the fact that Oracle issues patches in a quarterly cycle, where many others publish updates monthly. This means that researchers have more time to find new vulnerabilities, but they also have to keep quiet about them for longer. Nevertheless, five separate instances could indicate that this vulnerability was not hard to find.
What’s even worse is that it is easy to exploit the vulnerability. The published exploits target the Listen Port for the Administration Server. The protocol used with this port is T3—Oracle’s proprietary Remote Method Invocation (RMI) protocol, which transfers information between WebLogic servers and other Java programs. An unauthorized attacker with remote access can send a crafted request to a vulnerable WebLogic server and upload a file via an LDAP server. Basically allowing the attacker to execute reverse shells on the target. A reverse shell or “connect-back” shell opens communications with the attacker and allows them to execute commands, which enables them to take control of the system.
Update now
Affected versions of Oracle WebLogic Server are 12.2.1.3.0, 12.2.1.4.0, and 14.1.1.0.0. A patch for this vulnerability is available on the Oracle support site for those that have an Oracle account.
Oracle always strongly recommends that you do not expose non-HTTPS traffic (T3/T3s/LDAP/IIOP/IIOPs) outside of the external firewall. You can control this access using a combination of network channels and firewalls.
We don’t just report on vulnerabilities—we identify them, and prioritize action.
Honor’s CEO Zhao Ming has laid out visions for an operating system that can do better than Apple’s iOS, GSMArena reports.
The Honor was initially formed as a sub-brand of Chinese tech giant Huawei. The brand, however, parted ways with its parent company in 2020 due to the US sanctions, and now it is a part of Shenzhen Zhixin New Information Technology. The company now has ambitious plans to compete with Apple in the software market.
Speaking at the Honor R&D center in Shenzhen, Ming confirmed they’re working on an operating system that aims to overtake Apple’s iOS. He also said 10% of the company’s total revenue is allocated to R&D. Maybe it’s because of this strong R&D center that Ming speaks confidently about competing with Apple.
Honor to launch an OS to take on Apple’s iOS
Ming also put Apple iPhones on blast. Claiming that iPhones have inferior hardware, outdated design, bad reception, and poor battery life compared to Android smartphones. Honor’s CEO said people choose Apple because of iOS and its ecosystem.
Honor has a variety of benefits that could help the firm flourish, even though it is unclear whether its new operating system will be able to compete with iOS. For starters, Honor has a solid consumer base and is already a well-known brand in China.
Naturally, creating a new operating system from scratch is no small task. The iOS operating system from Apple has improved over more than a decade, and it has a sizable developer community that has contributed to its status as one of the most widely used mobile operating systems worldwide.
The move by Honor to create its own OS comes at a time when a lot of animosity exists between China and the US. Under the guise of protecting national security, the Trump administration has been exerting pressure on Chinese tech firms to cut connections with the Chinese government. As a result, firms like Huawei and ZTE are no longer permitted to conduct business in the US.
However, if Honor successfully delivers on its promise of a more open and creative ecosystem, it may draw a sizable user base looking for an iOS substitute. Also, the market for Chinese-made smartphones and operating systems may expand in the coming years. Given that tensions between China and the US are not showing any signs of diminishing.
OpenAI has introduced a feature that lets you opt your conversations out of ChatGPT’s training data, but you have to switch it on.
Last week, OpenAI announced it had given ChatGPT users the option to turn off their chat history. ChatGPT is a “generative AI”, a machine learning algorithm that can understand language and generate written responses. Users can interact with it by asking questions, and the conversations users have with it are in turn stored by OpenAI so they can be used to train its machine learning models. This new control feature allows users to choose which conversations to use to train OpenAI models.
“Conversations that are started when chat history is disabled won’t be used to train and improve our models, and won’t appear in the history sidebar,” the company said in the announcement. “When chat history is disabled, we will retain new conversations for 30 days and review them only when needed to monitor for abuse, before permanently deleting.”
Prior incidents involving ChatGPT may have prompted these changes. Early this month, reports revealed Samsung employees had erroneously shared confidential company information with ChatGPT. Before this, OpenAI took ChatGPT offline after it exposed some chat histories to others using the tool at the same time. This incident earned the attention of a data protection agency in Italy, which then ordered a temporary ban for the AI, pending an investigation.
Along with its announcement, OpenAI also revealed a ChatGPT Business subscription that will keep users’ input out of its training data. “ChatGPT Business will follow our API’s data usage policies, which means that end users’ data won’t be used to train our models by default,” the company said.
How to opt out of OpenAI’s trianing data
Log in to ChatGPT and click the three dots next to your name to open a menu.
Choose Settings from the menu.
The Settings menu will appear in the middle of the screen. Click Show next to Data Controls to expand the window, and then toggle the switch next to Chat History & Training to the off position to stop your data being used to train ChatGPT.
Users can also export their chat history for local storage by clicking the Export data text in the expanded Settings window. Users will receive an email with a button link to the file containing all of their conversations.
Note that disabling Chat History & Training also turns off ChatGPT’s conversation history feature. Chats created after disabling the option won’t appear in the history sidebar, but cached conversations found in the sidebar of the page remain.
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This time around, we’re comparing the Xiaomi 13 Ultra vs OPPO Find X6 Pro. These two smartphones are amongst the most powerful devices on the market at the moment. Both of them come from well-known China-based smartphone manufacturers, and both are heavily focused on the camera experience. They have another thing in common, they’ve both been released in China only, for now. The Xiaomi 13 Ultra is coming to global markets for sure, but the Find X6 Pro may not launch outside of its homeland. We’ll see.
Having said that, both are perfectly usable outside of China, even with China-based software. I’ve reviewed them after quickly sideloading Google services, and it turns out they are true powerhouses. You can check out their specs below, and following that, we’ll compare the two devices across a number of other categories, including design, display, performance, battery life, cameras, and audio performance.
Both of these smartphones have curved displays, and huge camera oreos on the back. They’re both large, and utilize vegan leather on the back (more on that later). The implementations are different, and they’re not that similar design-wise. Well, they are if you look at them from the front, but the moment you flip them over, or start handling them, you’ll notice plenty of differences. Both smartphones have a centered display camera hole at the top of their displays, and both include thin bezels.
The Xiaomi 13 Ultra is a bit heavier at 227 grams, compared to 216/218 grams of the OPPO Find X6 Pro. The Find X6 Pro comes in two different build variants, one has a glass backplate, and the other combines vegan leather with glass. They’re very similar when it comes to height, while the Xiaomi 13 Ultra is a bit narrower. They’re equally thick, well, at least at the thinnest point.
The Xiaomi 13 Ultra is thinner in the lower portion of its body, as the thickness gradually increases towards the camera oreo. Xiaomi did this to hide the camera bump a bit, as it would be truly gigantic otherwise. That hill also serves as a good anchor point for your finger when you’re holding the device. The vegan leather backplate does not curve into the sides of the phone, it transfers to metal on the back itself. This is a rather interesting implementation. The vast majority of the Find X6 Pro’s backplate is covered by vegan leather, while the top portion is covered by glass. The glass model has glass only on the back, though, of course.
Both of these phones are quite large, and are not exactly easy to use with one hand. Their weight doesn’t help things. The vegan leather on the back does add some grip to the equation, so that’s good if you plan on using them without a case. That’s not something we’d recommend, however, mainly because of those huge camera oreos on the back. Both phones feel sturdy in the hand, and well-built.
Xiaomi 13 Ultra vs OPPO Find X6 Pro: Display
The Xiaomi 13 Ultra features a 6.73-inch QHD+ (3200 x 1440) LTPO AMOLED display. That panel can project up to 1 billion colors, and supports a 120Hz refresh rate (adaptive). Dolby Vision is also supported, as is HDR10+ content. This display gets immensely bright, as its brightness goes up to 2,600 nits at its peak. We’re looking at a 20:9 display aspect ratio here, and this panel is curved. It is protected by the Gorilla Glass Victus.
Xiaomi 13 Ultra display
The OPPO Find X6 Pro, on the flip side, has a 6.82-inch QHD+ (3168 x 1440) LTPO3 AMOLED display. This display is also curved, and it has a 120Hz refresh rate (adaptive). Dolby Vision is supported, as is HDR10+ content. This panel also gets immensely bright, up to 2,500 nits. These are actually two of the brightest displays on the market now. This display is protected by the Gorilla Glass Victus 2.
Both of these displays are outstanding in every way. They’re not only immensely bright, and easily usable outdoors, but are also extremely sharp and vivid. They offer great viewing angles, and the blacks are deep. Touch response is excellent on both smartphones too. I enjoyed using both panels, and quite frankly, don’t have any complaints here. They can also be tuned to your preference in the settings.
Xiaomi 13 Ultra vs OPPO Find X6 Pro: Performance
You will find the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC inside both of these smartphones. That is Qualcomm’s most powerful processor to date. In both smartphones, that SoC is backed by LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 flash storage. Both phones offer up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM. The specs are there, but what’s the performance like? Well, outstanding, as far as general operational smoothness is concerned.
Both of these phones are buttery smooth. It doesn’t really matter what you’re doing at the moment, they can do easier tasks without a problem, and the same goes for more demanding operations. Opening apps is a breeze, as is browsing, image and video processing, media consumption, and so on. Even if you love gaming, both of these phones can deliver. Even when it comes to the most demanding games out there, it’s not a problem. These are some of the most powerful devices you’ll find in the market at the moment. Do note that both are running software made for China at the moment.
Xiaomi 13 Ultra vs OPPO Find X6 Pro: Battery
A 5,000mAh battery sits inside each of these two smartphones. The battery life is not the same, but it is comparable. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is great when it comes to power consumption, and having the latest RAM and storage units definitely helps too. Both smartphones can cross the 8-hour screen-on-time mark, at least they did for us. They won’t offer the same level of battery life as the Galaxy S23 Ultra or OnePlus 11, but they’re outstanding in that regard regardless.
Even power users should be happy with the battery life here. Do note that gaming could affect the battery life negatively, I didn’t really play any games outside of specific game testing. I am a power user, though, so take that into account. Your apps, usage, and signal strength will be different, though, so your mileage will vary, the question is by how much. One thing is for sure, though, they both offer great battery life.
As far as charging is concerned, they’re both well-equipped. The Xiaomi 13 Ultra supports 90W wired, 50W wireless, and 10W reverse wireless charging. The OPPO Find X6 Pro supports 100W wired, 50W wireless, and 10W reverse wireless charging. Do note that both smartphones ship with proper charging bricks, so that you can take advantage of the fastest charging available.
Xiaomi 13 Ultra vs OPPO Find X6 Pro: Cameras
When it comes to cameras, both smartphones have outstanding hardware. The Xiaomi 13 Ultra has four 50-megapixel cameras. A 50-megapixel main camera (1-inch sensor, variable aperture) is backed by a 50-megapixel ultrawide camera (122-degree FoV), and a 50-megapixel telephoto camera (3.2x optical zoom). A 50-megapixel periscope telephoto camera (5x optical zoom, 120x digital zoom) is also included. Leica lenses are included.
OPPO Find X6 Pro cameras
The OPPO Find X6 Pro, on the other hand, offers three 50-megapixel cameras on the back. A 50-megapixel main camera (1-inch sensor) is included, alongside a 50-megapixel ultrawide camera (110-degree FoV), and a 50-megapixel periscope telephoto unit (2.8x optical zoom, 120x digital zoom). These cameras are backed by Hasselblad, who also handles color tuning.
Both of these smartphones are outstanding when it comes to camera performance. The images they provide during the day, with that 1-inch camera are outstanding. The colors are spot on, and the vignetting effect is noticeable on the Xiaomi 13 Ultra. You can counter that via a different Leica shooting mode, though. The natural bokeh looks great on both phones, while the images are extremely well-balanced. In low light, those sensors can pull in a lot of light, and without a ton of processing or sharpening, provide truly detailed photos. The OPPO Find X6 Pro images do tend to be slightly brighter, but the details are on par with them.
Ultrawide cameras are great on both devices. The Xiaomi 13 Ultra’s has a wider field of view, but the OPPO Find X6 Pro’s does a slightly better job in low light. The telephoto camera on the phone also handles low light slightly better, while both of those telephoto cameras are great for portraits, actually. The periscope telephoto units are truly useful in good lighting, but even if there’s not a ton of light around, they’re still perfectly usable. The OPPO Find X6 Pro’s periscope telephoto unit does handle low light situations a bit better, actually, perhaps even better than any other implementation out there. The selfie camera is not the Xiaomi 13 Ultra’s strong suit, the one on the Find X6 Pro does a better job.
Audio
You will find a set of stereo speakers on each of these two smartphones. Those speakers are actually really good in both cases, though they do sound a bit different. The soundstage is wide enough, and the sound is detailed, with even some bass thrown into the mix.
If you want to plug in your wired headphones, you’ll have to use a dongle, as neither phone has an audio jack. If you prefer to handle things wirelessly, the good news is that both devices do support Bluetooth 5.3.
Google is reportedly considering switching to TSMC for manufacturing its next-gen Tensor processor, the Tensor G4. However, the latter’s high prices may force it to stick with Samsung, which manufactured the first three generations of Tensor chips. The Pixel maker appears undecided at the moment.
Google started using custom Tesor processors in its Pixel smartphones in 2021. The Pixel 6 series was the first to feature a custom chipset. Last year’s Pixel 7 series used the second-gen Tensor G2, while the upcoming Pixel 8 series is all set to ship with the third-gen Tensor G3. The company also uses Tensor chips in mid-range Pixel phones.
All three Tensor processors, including the upcoming Tensor G3, are manufactured by Samsung. The Korean firm also helped Google in development (more on that later). However, Google now plans to switch to TSMC for manufacturing its future Tensor chips, starting with next year’s Tensor G4. The idea is to use TSMC’s 4nm process node for Tensor G4 and 3nm node for Tensor G5 in 2025.
By the looks of it, Google wants to move away from Samsung because of the latter’s recent troubles with yield rates and power efficiency. TSMC has been doing a better job than the Korean giant in these areas. It’s no wonder the Taiwanese firm captures almost 60 percent of the semiconductor foundry market, while Samsung comes a distant second with just about a 15 percent share of the market.
However, better things usually cost more, and that’s true in this case too. TSMC’s prices are reportedly “too high” compared to Samsung’s. As such, Google isn’t entirely sure whether to make the switch or stick with the Korean firm. Increased manufacturing cost of Tensor chips would hit its profit margin, or make Pixel phones more expensive. Samsung has also significantly improved its chip fabrication nodes in recent months. So that may also be tempting Google to stay. Time will tell what it decides.
Google may design Tensor G4 on its own, moving on from Samsung’s Exynos chips
While Google may be undecided about whether to have the Tensor G4 manufactured by Samsung or TSMC, it plans to design the new chip on its own. The company currently uses Samsung’s Exynos chips as the base for its custom processors. The unreleased Exynos 2300 reportedly serves as the base for the Tensor G3. Likewise, the first-gen Tensor chip was a modified version of the Exynos 2100, while last year’s Tensor G2 used the Exynos 2200 as its base.
However, Google no longer wants to rely on Samsung chips for its custom processors. Starting with the Tensor G4 next year, it will reportedly design chips on its own. It remains to be seen if Google completely cuts ties with Samsung’s semiconductor division next year or if TSMC’s prices are too high for it to switch from Samsung Foundry. We may get a confirmation in the coming months.
The US Department of Justice has confirmed that the US and Ukrainian law enforcement authorities have jointly seized nine websites that offer cryptocurrency laundering services to cybercriminals and ransomware gangs.
This takedown is a result of a coordinated effort launched by US and Ukraine law enforcement to bust underground digital infrastructure that facilitates cybercriminals in making their illegal money clean.
The operation took place last week and was made possible by the FBI’s Detroit Branch, its Virtual Currency Response Team, Ukraine’s National Police, and Ukraine’s Prosecutor General.
The FBI took down the nine domains that were engaged in the conversion of cryptocurrencies and assisting cybercriminals/ransomware groups. According to authorities, the related servers of these websites, including those in the USA, were also shut down. The websites reportedly offered services in English and Russian languages.
The names of the domains shared by Ukrainian authorities included the following:
Anyone who visits these domains now will see a banner stating that the website has been seized by federal authorities suspected to be offering illegal money laundering and cryptocurrency exchange services.
In its press release, the Department of Justice stated that these were “non-compliant virtual currency exchanges,” boasting a “lax anti-money laundering program” and which do not collect or minimally collect know-your-customer information serve as a haven for cybercriminals. These services violate Title 18 United States Code’s Sections 1956 and 1960.
The banner that is currently appearing on the 100 BTC website
“Many of these services are advertised on online forums dedicated to discussing criminal activity by providing these services, the virtual currency exchanges knowingly support the criminal activities of their clients and become co-conspirators in criminal schemes,” the DoJ noted.
It is worth noting that Ukraine police arrested a 32-year-old suspect on 28 April for their alleged involvement in using the SIM cards of Ukrainian soldiers and siphoning money from their accounts.
The scammer allegedly stole 2.5 million hryvnia/$65,000 from 2 dozen accounts belonging to soldiers who were either captured, killed, or missing in action. The police seized laptops, bank cards, and mobile phones from the suspect.
