Crypto

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…

Buzzfeed Set to Report on 36 SARs Linked to Rogue Russian Crypto Exchange BTC-e, Hopefully Doesn’t Steele-Job it

Buzzfeed and Czech media outlet Investigace.cz are planning to report on 36 suspicious activity reports linked to a key payment processor for rogue Russian crypto-exchange BTC-e as early as this Sunday. This scoop marks the most geopolitically significant crypto thread in the financial-intelligence fiasco destined to be enshrined in history as ‘FinCENgate.’ According to Sergey Mayzus, a 45-year-old Russian national who is the majority owner of Mayzus Financial Services, which…

Key Witness in BTC-e Case Leaks Cyprus Court Docs that Reveal the Intelligent Design of the Illicit Offshore Economy

Following the extradition of alleged Russian crypto-launderer Alexander Vinnik to France on January 23, a key witness in the BTC-e probe has provided Shadow Banker with never-before-seen court documents in a civil case he won, and which reveal millions in illicit funds flowing from Vinnik’s exchange to various offshore entities under opaque ownership.

BTC-e Suspect Alexander Vinnik Extradited to France, but how Hard did Trump’s DoJ Really Try?

After 2.5 years of endless legal wrangling, relentless narratives of dubious origin pushed by Kremlin-linked media agents, and insinuations of revived Cold War intrigues, Greece has finally rendered a decision on the extradition of accused Russian crypto-launderer Alexander Vinnik.