ChainCatcher news, according to CBC, Dean Skurka, the CEO of Canadian crypto company WonderFi, was kidnapped and released after paying a ransom of $1 million.The incident occurred in downtown Toronto, where Skurka was forcibly taken into a vehicle and held captive, and was released only after the ransom was paid electronically. Skurka stated that he is currently safe and that the funds and data of the company's clients were not affected.The police have launched an investigation but have not disclosed further details. In recent years, executives in the crypto industry have frequently become targets of crime; in July of this year, a Bitcoin holder was kidnapped and subsequently killed, losing three Bitcoins. WonderFi claimed last year to own nearly half of Canada's regulated cryptocurrency exchanges.

ChainCatcher news, according to Decrypt, French multinational company Schneider Electric has suffered a ransomware attack, with the hacker group "Hellcat" demanding $125,000 worth of baguettes or the cryptocurrency Monero as ransom, or they will publicly release 40GB of sensitive data stolen from the company.It is reported that the group published the ransom note through anonymous social media accounts, claiming to have obtained key information about the company's customers and operations. This attack marks the third cyber attack on Schneider Electric in two years.The company has confirmed that it is investigating the incident, stating that the attacked platform is in a quarantined environment and that the company's products and services have not been affected. Analysts point out that the hackers' choice of baguettes as a demand is for "marketing" purposes, to increase their visibility in the ransomware market.

ChainCatcher news, according to Protos, a 25-year-old Japanese man has been sentenced to three years in prison for using generative AI to create ransomware.The man bypassed the AI's security parameters by continuously adjusting the prompts, writing code that could lock encrypted device data and demand cryptocurrency ransom. He admitted upon arrest, "I wanted to make money through ransomware."This ruling is Japan's first case of imprisonment for the abuse of generative AI, with the judge ultimately suspending the sentence for four years, as the man expressed remorse and did not use the ransomware code.

ChainCatcher news, according to on-chain detective ZachXBT disclosed on his personal channel, the crypto payment service provider Transak has recently suffered a ransomware attack.Transak stated in a blog post earlier today that the incident is limited to the names and basic identity information of a small number of users, while the ransomware group claims it also includes personal identifiable information (PII) and more user data.According to Transak's website, it has been integrated with Metamask, Trust Wallet, Coinbase, Ledger, and others for fiat and cryptocurrency on-ramps and off-ramps.

ChainCatcher News, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Cybersecurity Coordination Center (HC3) recently released an overview of the Trinity ransomware targeting sensitive data. Attackers use phishing emails, malicious websites, and software vulnerabilities to trick victims into installing the ransomware on their computers. It then searches for and collects sensitive information on the computer and sends it to the hackers. The ransomware also encrypts the victim's files using algorithms, rendering them unusable.After encrypting the files, the ransomware generates a notification informing the victim that it has extracted and encrypted their data and demands a ransom in exchange for the decryption key. The notification also tells the victim that they have 24 hours to pay in cryptocurrency, or their data will be leaked.HC3 stated that the Trinity ransomware targets critical infrastructure, such as healthcare providers. The government agency reported that seven organizations have already fallen victim to this ransomware. "According to HC3, at least one healthcare facility in the U.S. has recently become a victim of the Trinity ransomware," HC3 reported.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, the Cyber Crime Division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has stated that since 2021, they have thwarted over 500 ransomware attacks and seized billions of dollars in cryptocurrency. The Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is currently taking measures to prevent attacks before they occur.Between October 2023 and September 30 of this year, HSI has thwarted 150 ransomware schemes, bringing the total to 537 incidents since the operation began in 2021. Additionally, HSI has seized cryptocurrency worth $4.3 billion since 2021.

ChainCatcher news, an official at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport said on Wednesday that hackers demanded $6 million in Bitcoin from the airport operator in exchange for files stolen during a cyberattack last month, which were released on the dark web this week. The official stated that the Port of Seattle, which owns and operates the airport, has decided not to pay.The airport's aviation director, Lance Lyttle, said the airport previously linked the attack to a ransomware group called Rhysida, and the FBI is now conducting a criminal investigation. "On Monday, the hackers posted a copy of eight files stolen from the Port system on the dark web and sought 100 Bitcoins to purchase this data."Lyttle told a U.S. Senate committee that the airport appeared to have thwarted the attack, but the hackers were able to encrypt some data.

According to ChainCatcher, hackers who carried out a cyberattack on the pharmaceutical distributor Cencora received a ransom payment of $75 million in three installments in Bitcoin this March, as reported by Bloomberg citing informed sources. This is the largest known cyber ransom payment to date. The company reported costs related to the cybersecurity incident in its quarterly report in July, stating that $31.4 million of other expenses were primarily due to cybersecurity incidents related to data breaches. It remains unclear what this amount covers in relation to the cyberattack.Two months after the incident was disclosed, Cencora began notifying individuals and national authorities that personal data, including names, addresses, birth dates, diagnoses, prescriptions, and medications, had been stolen.Previously in July, cybersecurity company Zscaler and blockchain analysis firm Chainanalysis stated that the hacker group Dark Angels received a substantial ransom but did not disclose the identity of the victims.It is reported that the highest known amount of cyber ransom prior to the Cencora incident was $40 million, paid by insurance company CNA Financial Corp. in 2021.

ChainCatcher news, according to Caixin, Malaysian police recently cracked a kidnapping case involving Chinese citizens.The victims, a Chinese man and a local woman, were kidnapped after arriving in Malaysia in July. After their family paid a ransom of 1.2 million USD (approximately 8.62 million RMB) via virtual currency, the two victims were released. Police recovered about 373,000 USD (approximately 2.68 million RMB) in cash, as well as items worth about 700,000 USD (approximately 5.02 million RMB) including vehicles, watches, and jewelry.It is understood that the mastermind behind the case was the victims' private driver.

ChainCatcher message, on-chain detective ZachXBT tweeted that one of the WBTC holders is a suspicious entity related to ransomware/pig butchering. The holding data is as follows:1253 WBTC ($73 million) 0xed805ac246f441ea0d057b81d910ef1e39eb5995185 WBTC ($10.8 million) 0x9a5c7630d327885ae849217702824e5835d3c5e0

ChainCatcher news, Celsius Network Limited has filed a lawsuit against Tether Limited and some of its affiliates in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York through Blockchain Recovery Investment Consortium, LLC, seeking the return of approximately $2.4 billion worth of Bitcoin from Tether.Tether states that the allegations in the lawsuit stem from an agreement made in 2022, under which Tether provided USDT to Celsius at its request. Celsius provided Bitcoin (BTC) as collateral to Tether. When the price of Bitcoin began to decline in June 2022, the agreement required Celsius to provide additional collateral to avoid liquidation of its Bitcoin. When Celsius chose not to provide additional Bitcoin, it instructed Tether to liquidate its held Bitcoin collateral to close its approximately $815 million USDT position held by Tether.Tether stated that it will respond to this "manufactured, baseless" extortion lawsuit in court, and will actively defend itself against the unfounded allegations made against it, expecting to prevail in this lawsuit.

ChainCatcher news, according to Decrypt, the venues for the Paris 2024 Olympics and dozens of museum shops in France have suffered a cyber attack, with hackers demanding payment in cryptocurrency. The hackers exploited the data processing systems of about 40 tourist attractions to collect sensitive financial data, with the targeted venues including the Grand Palais museum. The French Cybercrime Unit (BL2C) is investigating the attack.According to Paris authorities, this attack has not affected the scheduling of the Olympics.

ChainCatcher news, according to Forbes, a new report reveals that Russian ransomware gangs earned up to $500 million in 2023 through attacks on cryptocurrency. These Russian-speaking cybercriminals are deeply involved in activities such as ransomware, dark web markets, and illegal cryptocurrency trading, and their influence is shocking.Analysis shows that many of these criminals operate within Russia, some of whom are linked to Russian military intelligence organizations and the Kremlin, while others actively use cryptocurrency to procure foreign equipment for Russia's war efforts.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, a report released by TRM Labs on Thursday states that in 2023, Russia has been rampant in using cryptocurrency for ransomware, drug trafficking, and evading sanctions. In 2023, Russian-speaking ransomware gangs accounted for at least 69% of all ransomware crypto revenues, exceeding $500 million.Additionally, the two largest ransomware operators in 2023 are Lockbit and ALPHV/Black Cat, both of which operate in Russian.

ChainCatcher news, according to News.bitcoin, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed that two foreign nationals have pleaded guilty in Newark federal court for their involvement in the Lockbit ransomware organization. Russian citizen Ruslan Magomedovich Astamirov and dual Canadian-Russian national Mikhail Vasiliev have been identified as members of the Lockbit organization.The group has been active since January 2020, targeting over 2,500 victims across 120 countries and extorting approximately $500 million in ransom. Their victims include hospitals, educational institutions, and commercial enterprises. Astamirov and Vasiliev used Lockbit ransomware to encrypt and steal data, demanding ransom and threatening to publish information if their demands were not met. They were arrested in 2023 and 2022, respectively, and could face up to 25 years and 45 years in prison.

ChainCatcher news, according to Beincrypto, on-chain detective ZachXBT revealed that the ransomware gang involved in the June cyberattack on CDK Global (a major provider of software for U.S. car dealerships) received over $25 million in Bitcoin. Last month, CDK Global suffered an attack that disrupted its software, affecting approximately 15,000 car dealerships in the U.S.According to ZachXBT, an address linked to BlackSuit received a payment of 387 BTC on June 21. Subsequently, these funds were transferred to several centralized exchanges. BlackSuit emerged in 2023 and has become a notorious ransomware gang targeting U.S. companies. This payment aligns with a previous report by Bloomberg, which stated that CDK Global planned to pay a ransom to prevent its data from being exposed. The company has agreed to pay tens of millions of dollars to expedite its system recovery. However, CDK has not confirmed whether it paid the ransom. Instead, it announced last week that nearly all of its approximately 15,000 car dealership customers have almost fully restored online.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Paper, recently, two Chinese nationals were kidnapped and murdered in the Philippines, with police from three countries involved in the investigation. The families are still waiting for the autopsy results and updates on the investigation. The media learned from multiple sources that the two victims were engaged in the medical device industry and belonged to different companies. One was a Chinese citizen and the other was a Chinese American, who were kidnapped after arriving in the Philippines and were found dead on June 24.The family of the Chinese American, Ms. Yang, stated that the kidnappers demanded 15 million RMB to be converted into USDT cryptocurrency and sent to a designated account. Her family did not pay the ransom, while the family of Mr. Xia also received similar ransom demands and paid 3 million RMB.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, Singapore's regulatory agencies, including the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore, have issued a joint warning, alerting local businesses to the increasing threat posed by the Akira ransomware variant.The warning states that the Akira ransomware has stolen $42 million from over 250 organizations in North America, Europe, and Australia within a year, and it is now actively targeting businesses in Singapore.