2021 – Shadow Banker

Shadow Banker

Interview with the ‘Vampire’: Is Eurasian Hacker Rap a New Front in Cyber-Threat SIGINT Collection?

While cyber-threat intelligence organizations like Intel471 and “dark web ninjas” like Gemini Advisory actively scan underground hacker forums for cybercriminal SIGINT like data breaches, new attack vectors, and money-laundering plugs, an unconventional, new front for analyst collection may have emerged: Eurasian rap music. Really. Just as heavy metal tempested the cultural “winds of change” that demolished the Berlin Wall and propelled pro-kleptocracy Western ideals throughout the former Soviet Union over…

Intel471 Releases Crucial Report on Crypto Cyber-Threat-Intelligence, Eludes Coverage in Crypto Media

In a three-weeks-old report authored by threat-intelligence firm Intel471’s chief cybercrime reporter Greg Otto, the author revealed that Russian cybercrime forums are crowdsourcing new crypto attack vectors in the same way that security conferences create programming for their speaker panels: Requesting white paper submissions that document new exploits. In an announcement made “on one of the top Russian-language cybercrime forums” on April 20, wrote Otto, “the forum’s administrator called for…

Hydra Admins Doxed Maybe, Spotlighting Billions Minted from Bath Salts Trade

A scorned cyber-extortionist claims to have doxed personally-identifying information for two alleged operators of Hydra, Russia’s largest darknet market (DNM), according to Russian media reports. Founded in 2015, Hydra is also the longest-operating DNM in existence. Since inception, Hydra has processed some $3.4 billion in illicit DNM transactions denominated in cryptocurrency. These black-market crypto transactions span everything from drugs, counterfeit banknotes, hacking services, counterfeit documents, and other contraband, according to…