Tag Archive for: bulletproof

‘Bulletproof’ Lolekhosted ransomware hacker indicted

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FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before a House Judiciary Committee hearing on “oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation” and alleged politicization of law enforcement, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., July 12, 2023.

Jonathan Ernst | Reuters

The mastermind behind a ransomware hosting service that allegedly helped criminals collect more than 5,000 bitcoin in ransom from hundreds of victims was indicted in federal court this week, prosecutors announced Thursday. At current prices, that bitcoin would be worth more than $146 million.

Artur Grabowski’s LolekHosted service operated for about a decade and advertised itself as a haven for “everything but child porn,” according to Florida prosecutors. Clients allegedly used the hosting service to deploy ransomware viruses that infected around 400 networks around the world. Ransomware attacks typically lock and encrypt the data on an organization’s computers so they’re unusable until the victim pays a fee.

Grabowski and his co-conspirators allegedly refused to cooperate with law enforcement requests, protected allegedly criminal actors from takedowns, and profited immensely from the service.

Grabowski was charged with computer fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit international money laundering.

Grabowski himself is also the subject of a $21.5 million seizure order.

The indictment against the Grabowski was unsealed in Florida court Wednesday. Grabowski remains at large.

Three other unindicted and unnamed co-conspirators were also involved in the alleged scheme, prosecutors said in the charging document.

His “100% privacy hosting” service was seized Tuesday by the IRS’ Criminal Investigation unit and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Grabowski, a Polish national, faces a maximum sentence of 45 years, if he is ever detained and convicted.

Federal prosecutors have stepped up their efforts to curtail ransomware attacks. Earlier this year, the Justice Department launched a dedicated unit focused on combating cyber national security threats.

A string of ransomware prosecutions have also been unsealed in U.S. courts, although with perpetrators scattered around the world, it’s unclear how many will face time behind bars.

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Bulletproof hosting service operator behind Gozi malware … – SC Media

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Bulletproof hosting service operator behind Gozi malware …  SC Media

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Armormax Reveals Bulletproof Jaguar I-Pace

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South African firm Armormax has unveiled its latest offering, a bulletproof Jaguar I-Pace. The mobile security specialists used high-grade ballistic glass and light armor to ensure performance would not be sacrificed for strength. 

In total, only 200 kilograms (440 lbs) of weight was added from the armor conversion. Armormax’s I-Pace has a B4 ballistic protection rating, which means it can withstand attacks from handguns and shotguns up to a .44 caliber.

Interestingly, Armormax’s work does not void the I-Pace’s Jaguar warranty. Both companies worked together on the project, with Jaguar providing plenty of technical support. Armormax’s Managing Director, Grant Anderson, stated the following (via Carmag):

“This project presented a great opportunity to challenge ourselves and expand our capabilities. We immediately involved the technical team at Jaguar Land Rover South Africa to assist and they were fantastic in helping us understand the intricacies of this electric vehicle. We are proud to say we built this car to our high standard despite the challenges and left the base vehicle very much unchanged”.

It’s currently not clear if the Armormax I-Pace will be available outside South Africa, although the answer is probably yes if you are wealthy enough.

Armormax did not provide pricing for its I-Pace as it varies significantly depending on the amount of armor and gadgets you want (yes, that’s right – Armormax also does smoke screens and electric-shock door handles). However, the company’s website suggests most builds cost in the region of $30-90k plus the donor car.

As for the Jaguar I-Pace in general, it’s currently in its fifth year of production with US sales continuing to slow. The I-Pace lineup currently starts at $71,300 with only one battery available, a 90 kWh unit capable of 246 miles of EPA range.

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Men Sentenced for Providing ‘Bulletproof Hosting’ Services to Cybercriminals

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Two Eastern European men have been sentenced for providing “bulletproof hosting” services, which were used by cybercriminals between 2009 to 2015 to distribute malware and attack financial institutions and victims throughout the United States.

On June 28 and Oct. 20, Chief Judge Denise Page Hood of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan sentenced Pavel Stassi, 30, of Estonia, to 24 months in prison; and Aleksandr Skorodumov, 33, of Lithuania, to 48 months in prison, for their roles in the scheme.

According to court documents, Stassi and Skorodumov were members of a bulletproof hosting organization founded and led by two co-defendants, Aleksandr Grichishkin and Andrei Skvortsov, both 34 and of Russia. The group rented IP addresses, servers, and domains to cybercriminal clients who employed this technical infrastructure to disseminate malware used to gain access to victims’ computers, form botnets, and steal banking credentials for use in frauds. Malware hosted by the organization included Zeus, SpyEye, Citadel, and the Blackhole Exploit Kit, which attacked U.S. companies and financial institutions between 2009 and 2015 and caused or attempted to cause millions of dollars in losses to U.S. victims. The defendants also helped their clients evade detection by law enforcement and continue their crimes uninterrupted by monitoring sites used to blocklist technical infrastructure used for crime, moving “flagged” content to new infrastructure, and registering all such infrastructure under false or stolen identities.

“Over the course of many years, the defendants facilitated the transnational criminal activity of a vast network of cybercriminals throughout the world by providing them a safe-haven to anonymize their criminal activity,” said Special Agent in Charge Timothy Waters of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office. “This resulted in millions of dollars of losses to U.S. victims. Cybercriminals may believe they are beyond the reach of the FBI and our international partners, but today’s proceeding proves that anyone who facilitates or profits from criminal cyber activity will be brought to justice.”

According to court filings and statements made in…

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