Cybersecurity Updates: Russian VPN Restrictions, US Visa Bans, and More

We have compiled the most important cybersecurity news of the week.

Russia to Block VPN Service Advertising Websites

From March 1, Russia will enforce a ban on promoting services that bypass restrictions.

Roskomnadzor will block resources if they:

• inform about methods to bypass blocks;
• explain how to access prohibited resources and networks;
• encourage the use of these methods, for example, by listing their advantages;
• offer to purchase access to a VPN service or download such a program.

Bypassing tools have been banned in Russia since February 2020.

“VPN services are considered such tools if they do not restrict access to prohibited resources,” Roskomnadzor representatives told TASS.

Earlier this week, media circulated a statement by Ekaterina Mizulina, head of the Safe Internet League, about banning major VPN services in Russia.

They referred to her speech to schoolchildren in Yekaterinburg.

“VPN, especially free ones, are a portal to hell. Your data is endlessly extracted from your device. From a personal and device security standpoint, these apps should not be used,” Mizulina stated.

US Imposes Visa Bans on Individuals Linked to Spyware

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a new visa restriction policy to ban entry to those involved in the misuse of commercial spyware.

.@SecBlinken is announcing a new visa restriction policy to address the misuse of commercial spyware. This action will promote accountability for individuals who target or enable the targeting of journalists, activists, dissidents, and marginalized communities.

— Matthew Miller (@StateDeptSpox) February 5, 2024

According to Blinken, victims of espionage faced “arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings.” Additionally, the misuse of such tools “threatens security and poses a counterintelligence risk to the US.”

In March 2023, the Biden administration issued an order banning the government from using commercial spyware, as it contradicts the country’s foreign policy interests and national security.

Blogger Hacks Windows 11 by Manually Setting System Date

A video blogger from China, known as Love Comparison, discovered a method that causes a complete freeze of a computer running Windows 11, as reported by local media.

Using the BCDEdit boot configuration data editor, he set the system date and time to 23:59 on December 31, 9999, and waited a minute for the year 10,000 to arrive on the PC.

After this, various failures began to occur in the system: the cursor moved slowly, responses to keystrokes and mouse clicks were significantly delayed, and all Windows 11 settings reset to factory defaults. Within minutes, the OS completely froze.

Rebooting the PC did not resolve the issue. The only way to revert the system date to the current time is a complete reinstallation of Windows 11.

US Offers Up to $15 Million for Information on Hive Ransomware Operators

The US State Department has announced a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or arrest of key members of the Hive ransomware gang.

An additional $5 million is offered for information on the hackers’ accomplices.

Hive’s infrastructure was dismantled in January 2023 by the FBI in collaboration with law enforcement in Germany and the Netherlands. In December, a suspected ransomware operator was arrested in France.

From June 2021 to November 2022, the group extorted approximately $100 million from over 1,300 companies in 80 countries.

Mozilla Launches Paid Service for Monitoring Data Breaches

Mozilla has introduced a privacy monitoring service, Mozilla Monitor Plus, with a paid subscription. The solution allows tracking leaks on over 190 darknet sites and attempts to remove this data.

For $8.99 per month with an annual subscription, such scanning will be performed automatically. If the service cannot remove the found confidential information, users will receive instructions on how to do it themselves.

Mozilla Monitor Plus is based on the free Mozilla Monitor scanner, launched in 2018.

Experts Reveal Bitcoin Ransomware Negotiation Tactics

Experts from IT company Nubes analyzed real conversations with ransomware operators over the past two years.

The main feature is that large ransomware groups in dialogues do not resemble criminals. Communication follows scripts, in a polite and restrained manner.

Hackers have their own analytics departments, demo versions of decryption programs, and even use a service approach.

If necessary, they resort to blackmail, threatening to publish confidential data or sell it to other criminals.

If the victim agrees to a deal, the extortionists may share how they gained access to the corporate network. Usually, the entry point is phishing or software vulnerabilities. Hackers often provide cybersecurity recommendations.

Also on ForkLog:

• The community questioned the security of ERC-404 tokens.
• The “Red Admin” of WEX requested leniency from the court and the return of assets.
• Montenegro postponed Do Kwon’s extradition to the US, while TFL’s former CFO was handed over to South Korea.
• The head of the Bitsonic bitcoin exchange was sentenced to seven years for fraud.
• A service for bypassing KYC checks on popular crypto exchanges appeared online.
• Haru Invest’s management was arrested for embezzling $826 million.
• A call with fake colleagues cost a major company employee $25 million.
• Access to Binance and Coinbase data was put up for sale on the darknet.
• The creators of “fake” BAYC NFTs will pay Yuga Labs $9 million.
• The SEC accused the founder of the “Bitcoin Academy” of $1.2 million fraud.

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