Technology
US accuses five Russian military hackers of attacking Ukraine government with malware
The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday charged five members of Russian military intelligence with hacking into several Ukrainian government agencies, an unnamed U.S. government agency in Maryland and computers belonging to 26 NATO countries, amongst other victims.
Department of Justice announced the indictment five members of Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate, also often called the GRU, and specifically its hacking unit 29155. The indictment names Russian GRU Colonel and cyber operations commander Yuri Denisov; lieutenants Vladislav Borovkov, Denis Denisenko, Dmitry Goloshubov, and Nikolai Korchagin; and civilian co-conspirator Amin Sitgal, who had previously been charged with some of the identical crimes.
Prosecutors say the six defendants were behind the WhisperGate cyberattack, an operation that was designed to appear like a ransomware attack on the Ukrainian government but was in truth a destructive attack that was designed to render targeted computers unusable. The Russian government he was accused launching WhisperGate to support a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
According to the indictmentDenisov, Deniskno, Korchagin, Goloshubov, Borovkov, and other anonymous individuals planned to satisfy at Cafe Shokoladnitsa within the Sofia shopping center in Moscow. The indictment doesn’t explain how the U.S. government was in a position to obtain details about these meetings or photos of the suspects, but it surely suggests that authorities gained significant access to the hackers’ infrastructure.
“The message is clear. To the GRU and the Russians: We’re on your trail, we’ve hacked into your systems. The FBI, the Justice Department will be after you relentlessly, so you better pay attention to the fact that we’ve gotten to you and we’re in your systems,” Matt Olsen, assistant attorney general for national security, said at a news conference announcing the indictments.
The indictment included details of six Russian cyber operations, in addition to a bunch photo of 4 lieutenants and General Denisov.
Six Russians are accused of breaking into several government and civilian facilities in Ukraine over the past few years, including the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the State Treasury, the Judiciary Administration, several other government departments and the state-owned Ukrainian Railways.
Around October 2022, the six allegedly hacked into what the indictment describes only because the transportation infrastructure of a “Central European country.” As previously reported, the timing of the attack suggests it was cyberattack on Denmarkwhich caused delays and disruptions to rail traffic across the country, in keeping with the indictment.
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Do you’ve gotten more details about these attacks on Ukraine and other targets? Or details about GRU Unit 29155 and its cyberattacks? From a non-working device, you’ll be able to securely contact Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai on Signal at +1 917 257 1382 or via Telegram and Keybase @lorenzofb or email. You also can contact TechCrunch via SecureDrop.
During a press conference, U.S. government officials declined to offer details about which Maryland-based U.S. agency was targeted by Russian hackers.
Also on Thursday, the FBI, the U.S. cybersecurity agency CISA, the U.K.’s National Cybersecurity Center, and European, Canadian and Australian government agencies, a joint guide on cybersecurity was issued with technical details of the operation of Unit 29155.
The FBI, which has dubbed the international crackdown on six alleged Russian hackers Operation Toy Soldier, a poster with photos of hackers was published asking for suggestions that may lead to their arrest and offering a $10 million reward for every alleged hacker.
In the post on the official X account As part of its Rewards for Justice bug bounty program, the U.S. government labeled the hackers “babyfaces” after the indictment.
Technology
Columbus says ransomware gang stole personal information of 500,000 Ohioans
The city of Columbus, the capital of Ohio, confirmed that hackers stole the personal information of 500,000 residents during a July ransomware attack.
In filing In an interview with Maine’s attorney general, Columbus confirmed that a “foreign threat actor” breached its network to access information including residents’ names, dates of birth, addresses, identification documents, social security numbers and checking account information .
Ohio’s most populous city, with about 900,000 people, said about half 1,000,000 people were affected, even though it didn’t confirm the precise number of victims.
The regulatory filing comes after Columbus was the goal of a ransomware attack on July 18 this 12 months by city officials he claimed “thwart” it by disconnecting your network from the Internet.
Rhysida, the ransomware gang accountable for last 12 months’s cyber attack on the British Library, claimed responsibility for the August attack on Columbus. At the time, the gang said it had stolen 6.5 terabytes of data from the Ohio city, including “databases, internal employee logins and passwords, a full server dump of city emergency services applications, and … access from city video cameras,” in response to local news reports.
Rhysida demanded 30 bitcoins, or roughly $1.9 million on the time of the cyberattack, as payment for the stolen data.
Two weeks after the cyberattack, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther told the general public that the stolen data was likely “corrupted” and “unusable.”
The accuracy of Ginther’s statement was called into query the day after David Leroy Ross, a cybersecurity researcher also often called Connor Goodwolf, revealed that the personal information of a whole lot of 1000’s of Columbus residents had been placed on the dark web.
In September, Columbus sued Ross, alleging that it “threatened to make stolen city data available to third parties who otherwise would not have readily available means to obtain stolen city data.” A judge issued a brief restraining order against Ross, stopping him from accessing the stolen data.
In a listing published Monday by TechCrunch on the leak site, Rhysida claims to have transferred 3.1 terabytes of “unsold” data stolen from Columbus, amounting to greater than 250,000 files.
Technology
Threads now has 275 million monthly active users
Meta’s social network, Threads, now has 275 million monthly active users (MAUs), the corporate said on Sunday.
“Yesterday we passed 275 million monthly active users on @Threads. We would like to thank everyone who helped us get this far. There is a lot more to do and a lot to fix, but there is something exciting about this place.” he said Adam Mosseri, the director of Meta who runs Threads and Instagram.
Launched in July 2023 to capitalize on the tens of millions of users leaving X after Elon Musk purchased the platform, Threads quickly gained users and has turn out to be one in all the most important text-first social networks today. The platform reached 150 million MAU in April and 200 million MAU in August, which suggests it has gained 75 million active users in only 3 months.
Last week, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in the course of the company’s conference call following its third-quarter 2024 earnings that one million people were signing up for Threads daily.
While user acquisition on the platform is trending upwards, Threads has been battling plenty of issues moderation issues that frustrated users.
Technology
Affirm is launching the product in the UK as the buy now, pay later market faces regulatory changes
Buy now, pay later (BNPL) giant Confirm launches in the UK, its first market outside North America.
Its long-awaited arrival comes as UK lawmakers consider latest rules to align BNPL corporations with other traditional consumer credit services, although such rules are usually not expected to return into force until at the least 2026 — long enough for Affirm to achieve traction and gain favor with consumers and regulators alike.
Founded in 2012, Affirm emerged from a startup incubator called HVF, founded by the co-founder of PayPal Max Levchin (pictured above), who eventually took the reins of Affirm in 2014 to fuel its industrial growth. The company has expanded beyond the US and Canada in 2022and has forged lucrative partnerships with major e-commerce corporations over the years — Affirm has been Shopify’s premier financial partner for nearly a decade, not to say Walmart and Amazon, which last yr chosen Affirm as its first Amazon Pay BNPL partner in the U.S. . Recently, Affirm also acquired the mighty Apple as a client.
“Debt normalization”
The BNPL model is easy: customers are encouraged to buy goods on credit, repaying the debt in several interest-free installments, and the BNPL provider makes money from merchant fees. Or, if the customer may require an extended repayment period, the loan may include interest.
The BNPL market has long been on the radar of UK regulators, with existing operators such as Klarna and Clearpay often criticized for encouraging impulse purchases and debt normalization. So far, this has been done by the British Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). certain powers to manage BNPL providersbut there are key exceptions, such as interest-free credit services, where fixed-amount contracts provide for debt repayment inside 12 months.
However, latest rules which are in the pipeline could bring BNPL corporations fully into line with other consumer credit corporations. The Labor government last month announced a brand new BNPL consultation with plans to introduce regulations to “ensure people using BNPL products have clear information, avoid overpriced loans and have strong rights when problems arise”.
It’s clear that Affirm is already attempting to position itself favorably with each customers and authorities. Indeed, for the UK launch, the company notes that its interest-bearing payment options won’t include compound interest – as a substitute, the interest shall be fixed and calculated in full on the original amount borrowed.
It’s also value noting that Klarna began charging late fees last yr in the UK, and this is one area where Affirm goals to distinguish itself – it says it won’t charge late fees or another “hidden fees”.
Directly
It’s been a difficult few years for the BNPL sector. Klarna was valued at over $45 billion in 2021, a figure that quickly dropped by 85% to $6.5 billion following the great post-pandemic “correction” that many corporations have experienced. However, last week news broke that Klarna was being priced rose again to $14.6 billion. It’s been a similarly tumultuous time for Affirm, whose ups and downs have followed a trajectory harking back to its European rival.
After its 2021 IPO, Affirm’s market capitalization reached a staggering $47 billion, but the company’s stock has taken an enormous hit, with its market capitalization dipping below $3 billion in the past yr. However, Affirm’s stock has soared to over $13 billion in 2024, and the company is listed on NASDAQ the company recently reported fourth quarter year-over-year revenue growth of 48% and losses decreased from $206 million to $45 million. Levchin also projected profitability in 2025.
We’ve known for a while that Affirm’s next port of call outside the US and Canada can be the UK, and the company’s chief revenue officer Wayne Pommen is the record holder say it will deal with markets where a few of its largest existing partners are already present.
For a UK launch, it doesn’t have any of the big name brands it has in the domestic market, but the proven fact that it counts the likes of Amazon, Shopify and Apple amongst its US customers means it would not be an enormous deal. For now, nonetheless, Affirm intends to operate in the market through flight booking site Alternative Airlines and payment processor Fexco, and “additional UK and international brands are expected to follow.”
In preparation for today’s launch, Affirm told TechCrunch it has already hired roughly 30 employees, including Ruth Spratt who manages the local branch and at the same time plans to extend employment by the end of the yr. And much like your individual “remote first” ethos elsewhereemployees are usually not tied to a selected physical hub.
The company didn’t confirm its next expansion plans in Europe or elsewhere, but said it will “take the same disciplined approach” it has all the time taken to future expansion.
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