Read also: Denmark gives out first unconditional prison sentences for digital piracy, one of world’s largest CSAM platforms Kidflix dismantled, and more.

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Alleged 'Anonymous' Founding Member Arrested

Alleged 'Anonymous' founding member arrested for 2021 hack of Texas Republican Party

Aubrey Cottle, a 37-year-old Canadian national, was arrested in connection with a 2021 cyber-attack on the Texas Republican Party. Cottle, also known by the aliases Kirtaner and @realoganonymous, is suspected to be one of the founding members of the hacktivist collective ‘Anonymous.’

Cottle was apprehended in Oshawa, Ontario, following the unsealing of charges related to his alleged role in compromising sensitive data belonging to the Texas Republican Party. Cottle, whose involvement in major political cyber-attacks dates back to the early 2000s, was previously linked to attacks on prominent targets such as conservative radio personality Hal Turner and the Church of Scientology.

According to federal court documents, Cottle allegedly gained unauthorized access to the hosting company's systems, from which he extracted a backup of the Texas Republican Party's web server. The stolen data, which reportedly contained personal identifying information, was put online. Cottle also allegedly defaced the party's website in the process.

The charges filed against Cottle include unlawfully transferring, possessing, or using means of identification with the intent to commit unlawful activities under both state and federal law. If convicted, he could face a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

Denmark gives out first unconditional prison sentences for digital piracy

Two men have been convicted in Denmark for their involvement in the illegal distribution of copyrighted content. The first case involved a 46-year-old man sentenced to nine months in prison for uploading vast amounts of pirated content to popular Danish torrent trackers SuperBits and DanishBytes.

The man, who had shared 74 terabytes of movies and TV shows, will serve at least three months before becoming eligible for parole. In addition to his prison sentence, the court ordered the man to complete 120 hours of community service.

In the second case, a 48-year-old man, a member of the notorious piracy group 'The Scene,' was sentenced to 12 months in prison, with a mandatory minimum of four months. The individual was found guilty of hosting two servers and distributing content. Investigators discovered 134 terabytes of copyrighted material on his hardware. The man was arrested in November 2023, and his arrest led to the dismantling of several other piracy groups operating in Denmark.

This marks the first time when those found guilty of illegal distribution of the copyrighted content received real prison time, while in the past convicted pirates often avoided jail time by receiving conditional sentences.

Police shut down CSAM platform Kidflix

Kidflix, one of the largest and most notorious Dark Web platforms for the sharing, hosting, and streaming of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), was shut down as a result of a coordinated international law enforcement operation known as Operation Stream led by the State Criminal Police of Bavaria (Bayerisches Landeskriminalamt) and the Bavarian Central Office for the Prosecution of Cybercrime (ZCB), with support from Europol's European Cybercrime Centre (EC3).

The investigation into Kidflix began in 2022 and resulted in the arrest of 79 individuals, the identification of 1,393 suspects, and the seizure of over 3,000 electronic devices. Kidflix operated primarily on the Dark Web and at the time of its shutdown, boasted 1.8 million users worldwide and over 91,000 videos, many of which were previously unknown to authorities.

The platform operated on a unique economic model. Users were required to purchase access to videos using cryptocurrency, which was then converted into platform-specific tokens. The tokens granted users the ability to access videos, upload new content, and verify other users' uploads.

In return, users could earn additional tokens for these activities. Furthermore, Kidflix offered an upgraded payment system where users could pay extra fees to unlock higher-quality versions of videos.

Suspected Mamont malware devs arrested in Russia

Russian authorities arrested three individuals suspected of developing the Mamont malware, a banking trojan that targets Android devices. The suspects, whose identities have not been disclosed, were apprehended in the Saratov region of Russia.

The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) reported that the trio is linked to over 300 cybercrime incidents. During the arrests, authorities seized multiple devices, including computers, storage media, communication tools, and bank cards.

Mamont malware is primarily distributed via Telegram channels, where it is disguised as seemingly harmless mobile applications or video files. Once a victim installs the malware on their Android device, it allows cybercriminals to hijack the victim’s banking activities, specifically by facilitating unauthorized fund transfers via SMS banking services.

Mamont also has capabilities to gather sensitive information from the infected device. This includes exfiltrating messages related to financial transactions and sending them back to the attackers via their controlled Telegram channel. The malware can spread to the victim’s contacts through their messaging apps. In addition, Mamont operators have been known to create fake online stores offering inexpensive products as a means to deliver malicious files onto victims’ devices.

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Nigerian police bust cybercrime academy, arrest 10 suspects

The Lagos State Police Command has raided an illegal cybercrime training center, arresting 10 individuals involved in internet fraud, including four suspected masterminds and six trainees. The operation uncovered a notorious “Yahoo School,” where cybercriminals, colloquially known as “Yahoo Boys,” were allegedly trained in fraudulent online activities.

Among the arrested were four cybercrime ring leaders, who are believed to have been recruiting and training individuals in various forms of internet fraud. Additionally, six trainees were detained, including a 12-year-old boy, who was reportedly subjected to physical abuse. The suspects reportedly forced the trainees to engage in cybercrime, confiscating any earnings they made through fraudulent activities.

In the United States, a Nigerian national, Olumide Olorunfunmi, has pleaded guilty to a money laundering conspiracy charge for laundering millions of dollars linked to romance scams and business email compromise (BEC) schemes that affected over 125 victims, causing more than $4.5 million in losses.

Olorunfunmi worked with co-conspirators to launder the illegal proceeds by directing victims to transfer funds into bank accounts they controlled, both in the US and internationally. The group profited by keeping portions of the funds and using a black-market exchange rate between US dollars and Nigerian Naira. The money laundering conspiracy charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, though sentencing has not yet been scheduled.