Tag Archive for: crack

Van Nuys man indicted for allegedly selling ‘trojan’ malware to help others crack computers – Daily News

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Federal authorities on Thursday announced the arrest of a Van Nuys man who allegedly schemed to market and sell malware that gave purchasers control over computers and enabled them to access victims’ private communications, their login credentials and other personal information.

Edmond Chakhmakhchyan, 24, allegedly used the screen name “Corruption.” He was arrested Wednesday by special agents with the FBI. During his arraignment in federal court, he pleaded not guilty to charges contained in a two-count indictment and was ordered back to court on June 4. His bond was set at $70,000.

The indictment charges Chakhmakhchyan with one count of conspiracy to advertise a device as an interception device, to transmit a code to intentionally cause damage to a protected computer and to intentionally access a computer to obtain information, as well as one count of advertising a device as an interception device. Each count carries a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.

The indictment alleges an agreement between the malware’s creator and Chakhmakhchyan in which the defendant allegedly would post ads for the Hive remote access trojan, or RAT, on the Hack Forums website, accept Bitcoin payments for licenses to use the Hive RAT and provide customer service to those who purchased the licenses.

Customers purchasing the malware would transmit Hive RAT to protected computers and gain unauthorized control over and access to those devices, allowing the RAT purchaser to close or disable programs, browse files, record keystrokes, access incoming and outgoing communications and steal victim passwords and other credentials for bank accounts and cryptocurrency wallets, all without the victims’ knowledge or permission, according to the indictment.

Chakhmakhchyan allegedly began working with the creator of the Hive RAT, previously known as “Firebird,” about four years ago and advertised online the RAT’s many features.

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BlackCat, LockBit Ransomware Gangs In Disarray as Global Authorities Crack Down

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Two of the most notorious ransomware gangs in the world are imploding, leaving high-profile victims in their wake and creating chaos in the cybercriminal underworld.

In the last several years, the BlackCat and LockBit groups have thrived by embracing a ransomware-as-a-service model, leasing their malware to affiliate hackers to target thousands of victims and reap millions in extortion payments. The future of both groups is uncertain after US and authorities elsewhere seized LockBit and BlackCat websites, arrested alleged hackers and taunted the leader of one gang.

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FBI Boston helps crack Russian cyber hackers

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The FBI in Boston has helped crack a Russian-backed “Moobot” malware hack intended to steal government and corporate secrets.

The FBI reported Thursday that a tip from Ukrainian allies, among others, helped unravel the Russian ruse.

The Russian GRU Military Unit 26165 — who pose as government and international organizations — travel and enter computer systems via routers where they “conceal and otherwise enable a variety of crimes,” the FBI said.

The hackers hunt for credentials while seeking intelligence the Russian covet. The Moobot malware was installed on Ubiquiti Edge OS routers, the agency added, turning the computer networks into a “global cyber espionage platform.”

Firewalls were updated to block the malware to limit the damage, the FBI said.

“Operation Dying Ember was an international effort led by FBI Boston to remediate over a thousand compromised routers belonging to unsuspecting victims here in the United States and around the world that were targeted by malicious, nation state actors in Russia to facilitate their strategic intelligence collection,” said Special Agent in Charge Jodi Cohen of the FBI Boston Division.

This all comes as Russia has obtained a “troubling” emerging anti-satellite weapon, the White House announced Thursday.

“We’re not talking about a weapon that can be used to attack human beings or cause physical destruction here on Earth,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said, according to the Associated Press.

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Hackers crack Tesla’s software to get free features

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Hackers claim to have figured out how to unlock self-driving updates and other premium features on Tesla vehicles without paying for them.

The group of researchers from TU Berlin who discovered the “jailbreak” claim that it is unpatchable, meaning the electric car maker will not be able to prevent people from exploiting the hack without replacing the actual hardware of the vehicles.

“Tesla has been known for their advanced and well-integrated car computers, from serving mundane entertainment purposes to fully autonomous driving capabilities,” the researchers wrote in a briefing that detailed their discovery.

“More recently, Tesla has started using this well-established platform to enable in-car purchases, not only for additional connectivity features but even for analogue features like faster acceleration of rear heated seats.

“As a result, hacking the embedded car computer could allow users to unlock these features without paying.”

The cyber attack targets Tesla’s Media Control Unit (MCU) infotainment system found on all recent models, using a technique known as voltage glitching to take advantage of a known flaw with the AMD processor in the MCU.

The attack exposes personal information, such as contacts and appointments, however it requires physical access to the car in order to work.

Premium features that Tesla blocks behind a paywall include Acceleration Boost, costing $2,000, and Full Self-Driving, which costs $15,000. Not all software upgrades were tested by the researchers, and it is not clear if the hack would unblock all of them.

The exploit will be presented at the Black Hat cyber security conference in Las Vegas on Wednesday, 9 August, in a presentation titled ‘Jailbreaking an electric vehicle in 2023 or what it means to hotwire Tesla’s x86-based seat heater’.

Tesla did not respond to a request for comment from The Independent.

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