Cybercrime

On October 25, US and Ukrainian intelligence agencies wrapped up a joint operation to uncover a gang of money launderers who used cryptocurrency to legalize money for hackers on the darknet.

The cybercrime department of the Turkish police has arrested four people following the loss of $2 Billion from a cryptocurrency exchange. The arrested people included the head of Vebitcoin, one of the sites that became inaccessible leading to loss of funds. The culprits were rounded up in the province of Mugla southwestern Turkey.

The authorities of Ukraine have recently rolled out a new bill combating cybercrime that also describes the procedure for the confiscation of cryptocurrencies obtained illegally.

Belarus cybercrime authorities want to confiscate cryptocurrency involved in criminal activity, including money-laundering, terrorism financing and other fraudulent operations. All they need is an official permission from the government and the President.

Steven Seagal will pay $314,000 to settle allegations of unlawful cryptocurrency advertising, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said. In 2018, the actor on social networks urged people not to miss the opportunity to participate in the initial public offering of cryptocurrency (ICO) Bitcoiin2Gen (B2G).

Several academic papers in Italy discuss the risks associated with cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple and others, and warn that there are a number of vulnerabilities created by dependence on blockchain and distributed ledger technology, including cybercrime.

Cybercrime, such as online fraud, industrial undercover activities, and the use of cryptocurrency for money laundering, etc. in Italy, is the rapidly increasing malevolent business with the highest margins of diffusion in the future, according to the Global Risk Report 2019 by the World Economic Forum. The country incurred a loss of around €10 billion in 2018.

A new deadly virus known as Dharma is seriously infecting computers (PCs) and servers by encrypting and locking files, which can only be successfully unlocked via a Bitcoin payment, responsible authorities warned on October 16, 2018.

A cybercrime gang leader, involved in stealing upward of $1.2 bln, has been arrested in Alicante, Spain. The gang ,consisting of Russian and Ukrainian nationals, robbed around 100 financial institutions worldwide and covered its tracks with the help of crypto coins.