Payment apps are watching what you say (Lock and Code S07E11)

This week on the Lock and Code podcast … In the United States today, you can have your bank account closed, your credit cards cancelled, and your online payments revoked for any number of crimes, like funding terrorism, engaging in money laundering, or violating sanctions. Sensible, right? Well,...

Netherlands Seizes 800 Servers, Arrests 2 for Aiding Cyberattacks

Authorities in the Netherlands have arrested the co-owners of two related Internet hosting companies for operating IT infrastructure used by Russia to carry out cyberattacks, influence operations and disinformation campaigns inside the European Union. The two men were the focus of a 2025...

Netherlands Busts Bulletproof Hosting Network Linked to Disinformation and Cybercrime

Dutch authorities arrested two suspects after dismantling a bulletproof hosting network linked to cybercrime, disinfo, and Russian sanctions evasion...

Taking a Bite out of the Forbidden Fruit: Characterizing Third-Party Iranian IOS App Stores

Due to U.S. sanctions and strict internet censorship, Iranian iOS users are barred from accessing the Apple App Store and developer services. In response, despite violating Apple's developer terms, a thriving underground ecosystem of third-party iOS app stores has emerged to serve Iranian users...

Grinex crypto exchange shuts down, blames Western agencies for $13.7M breach

Grinex exchange collapses after $13.7M breach, blames Western spies as Chainalysis flags possible exit scam and sanctions evasion network links claims...

$13.74M Hack Shuts Down Sanctioned Grinex Exchange After Intelligence Claims

Grinex, a Kyrgyzstan-incorporated cryptocurrency exchange sanctioned by the U.K. and the U.S. last year, said it's suspending operations after it blamed Western intelligence agencies for a $13.74 million hack. The exchange said it fell victim to what it described as a large-scale cyber attack tha...

A $20 Billion Crypto Scam Market Faces a New Government Crackdown

The Telegram-based Xinbi Guarantee black market sells services that help prop up scam operations. British officials just hit the highly lucrative marketplace with sweeping sanctions...

OFAC Sanctions DPRK IT Worker Network Funding WMD Programs Through Fake Remote Jobs

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control OFAC has sanctioned six individuals and two entities for their involvement in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea DPRK information technology IT worker scheme with an aim to defraud U.S. businesses and generate illicit...

US Sanctions Russian Exploit Broker Over Stolen US Cyber Tools

The US Treasury targets Sergey Zelenyuk and his firm Operation Zero for the illegal trade of stolen government cyber tools following the sentencing of Peter Williams...

U.S. Treasury Lifts Sanctions on Three Individuals Linked to Intellexa and Predator Spyware

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control OFAC on Tuesday removed three individuals linked to the Intellexa Consortium, the holding company behind a commercial spyware known as Predator, from the specially designated nationals list. The names of the individuals are as...

Happy 16th Birthday, KrebsOnSecurity.com!

KrebsOnSecurity.com celebrates its 16th anniversary today! A huge "thank you" to all of our readers -- newcomers, long-timers and drive-by critics alike. Your engagement this past year here has been tremendous and truly a salve on a handful of dark days. Happily, comeuppance was a strong theme...

Weak Enforcement and Low Compliance in PCI~DSS: A Comparative Security Study

Although credit and debit card data continue to be a prime target for attackers, organizational adherence to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard PCI DSS remains surprisingly low. Despite prior work showing that PCI DSS can reduce card fraud, only 32.4% of organizations were fully...

The US Won't Sanction China for Salt Typhoon Hacking

Plus: Officials warn of a disturbingly stealthy Chinese malware specimen, a CISA nomination stalls, and more...

Five Plead Guilty in U.S. for Helping North Korean IT Workers Infiltrate 136 Companies

The U.S. Department of Justice DoJ on Friday announced that five individuals have pleaded guilty to assisting North Korea's illicit revenue generation schemes by enabling information technology IT worker fraud in violation of international sanctions. The five individuals are listed below - Audric...

U.S. Sanctions 10 North Korean Entities for Laundering $12.7M in Crypto and IT Fraud

The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday imposed sanctions against eight individuals and two entities within North Korea's global financial network for laundering money for various illicit schemes, including cybercrime and information technology IT worker fraud. "North Korean state-sponsored hacke...

Canada Fines Cybercrime Friendly Cryptomus $176M

Financial regulators in Canada this week levied $176 million in fines against Cryptomus , a digital payments platform that supports dozens of Russian cryptocurrency exchanges and websites hawking cybercrime services. The penalties for violating Canada's anti money-laundering laws come ten months...

U.S. Treasury Sanctions DPRK IT-Worker Scheme, Exposing $600K Crypto Transfers and $1M+ Profits

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control OFAC announced a fresh round of sanctions against two individuals and two entities for their role in the North Korean remote information technology IT worker scheme to generate illicit revenue for the regime's weapons of mass...

U.S. Sanctions Garantex and Grinex Over $100M in Ransomware-Linked Illicit Crypto Transactions

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control OFAC on Thursday renewed sanctions against Russian cryptocurrency exchange platform Garantex for facilitating ransomware actors and other cybercriminals by processing more than $100 million in transactions linked to illicit...

U.S. Sanctions Firm Behind N. Korean IT Scheme; Arizona Woman Jailed for Running Laptop Farm

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control OFAC sanctioned a North Korean front company and three associated individuals for their involvement in the fraudulent remote information technology IT worker scheme designed to generate illicit revenues for Pyongyang. The...

Evasion under Blockchain Sanctions

Sanctioning blockchain addresses has become a common regulatory response to malicious activities. However, enforcement on permissionless blockchains remains challenging due to complex transaction flows and sophisticated fund-obfuscation techniques. Using cryptocurrency mixing tool Tornado Cash as...