Life takes us in many strange directions and wonderful discoveries. It never turns out the way we thought it would.
Monday, June 30, 2025
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Thursday, June 26, 2025
Wednesday, June 25, 2025
The Attack On Iran's Nuclear Facilities Was A Success
What has caught my attention is a CNN report based on an allegedly leaked Defense Intelligence Agency report, which claims that the attack was not effective. The News Nation Network was skeptical of this report. So am I.
I went in-depth. I brought in a highly accomplished civil engineer named Casey Jones. His specialty is using satellite data to look at the ground levels before and after certain events. He is often used to determine whether some nation has carried out an underground nuclear test. He looked at satellite analysis of the three Iranian nuclear sites before and after the attack. He found depressions in the ground after the attack. This indicates that cavities within the nuclear facilities had collapsed. Here is a link for those curious:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfnJY2ydvc0
One other important fact comes to bear. The centrifuges used to enrich uranium are very delicate and sensitive. Here is an expert report for you to consider:
Are the centrifuges used to enrich uranium delicate instruments?
Yes, centrifuges used to enrich uranium are highly delicate and precise instruments. They operate at extremely high speeds—often exceeding 100,000 RPM—to separate uranium isotopes (U-235 and U-238) based on their slight mass differences. This process, known as gas centrifugation, involves spinning uranium hexafluoride (UF6) gas in a vacuum to concentrate the lighter U-235 isotope.
The delicacy of these centrifuges stems from several factors:
Precision Engineering: Centrifuges are constructed with exacting tolerances to maintain balance at high speeds. Even minor imbalances or vibrations can cause catastrophic failure, as the rotors spin at supersonic velocities. Material Strength: They are made from specialized materials like maraging steel or carbon fiber composites to withstand immense centrifugal forces while resisting corrosion from UF6 gas. Vacuum Environment: The rotors operate in a near-vacuum to minimize friction and heat, requiring precise seals and bearings that are sensitive to disruptions. Sensitivity to Disturbances: Any external shock, misalignment, or manufacturing defect can damage the rotor or bearings, leading to breakdowns. For example, the Stuxnet malware (circa 2010) reportedly targeted Iranian centrifuges by subtly altering their speeds, causing mechanical stress and failures. Complexity and Maintenance: Enrichment facilities house thousands of centrifuges in cascades, and each unit must be meticulously maintained. A single failure can disrupt an entire cascade, as the gas flow is interconnected. In short, uranium enrichment centrifuges are sophisticated, finely tuned machines that require extreme care in design, operation, and maintenance due to their high-speed operation and the critical nature of their function.
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My common sense tells me that a direct hit with a warhead would not be required to knock out these instruments. The concussion from the explosion of 30,000-pound warheads could have rendered these centrifuges useless and requiring their replacement. Iran will have a challenge replacing these centrifuges. Russia and China have these instruments. I do not see them selling these to Iran. Iran could go to North Korea and Pakistan to get these instruments. As I have stated previously that both countries are under a strong Chinese influence. I doubt that China would allow them to sell these instruments to Iran. Iran also had its centrifuge manufacturing plant that was destroyed by the Israel Defense Forces.
News Nation also talked about the whereabouts of Iran's enriched uranium. They focused on all the trucks lined up outside Iranian nuclear facilities before the US attack. Leland Vittert asked one simple and obvious question as follows:
"Were they taking enriched uranium out of the facilities or putting it in the facilities?"
Until we have "boots on the ground inspections," we will not be sure.
Tuesday, June 24, 2025
Monday, June 23, 2025
Sunday, June 22, 2025
Saturday, June 21, 2025
Friday, June 20, 2025
Thursday, June 19, 2025
Seymour Hersh Predicts What Will Happen In Iran Tis Weekend
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WHAT I HAVE BEEN TOLD IS COMING IN IRAN
The initial battle plan for a new war
Seymour Hersh
Jun 19
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Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei attends a ceremony on the thirty-sixth anniversary of the death of Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Iranian revolution, at the Khomeini Mausoleum in Tehran on June 4. / Photo by Iranian Leader Press Office/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images.
This is a report on what is most likely to happen in Iran, as early as this weekend, according to Israeli insiders and American officials I’ve relied upon for decades. It will entail heavy American bombing. I have vetted this report with a longtime US official in Washington, who told me that all will be “under control” if Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei “departs.” Just how that might happen, short of his assassination, is not known. There has been a great deal of talk about American firepower and targets inside Iran, but little practical thinking, as far I can tell, about how to remove a revered religious leader with an enormous following.
I have reported from afar on the nuclear and foreign policy of Israel for decades. My 1991 book The Samson Option told the story of the making of the Israeli nuclear bomb and America’s willingness to keep the project secret. The most important unanswered question about the current situation will be the response of the world, including that of Vladimir Putin, the Russian president who has been an ally of Iran’s leaders.
The United States remains Israel’s most important ally, although many here and around the world abhor Israel’s continuing murderous war in Gaza. The Trump administration is in full support of Israel’s current plan to rid Iran of any trace of a nuclear weapons program while hoping the ayatollah-led government in Tehran will be overthrown.
I have been told that the White House has signed off on an all-out bombing campaign in Iran, but the ultimate targets, the centrifuges buried at least eighty meters below the surface at Fordow, will, as of this writing, not be struck until the weekend. The delay has come at Trump’s insistence because the president wants the shock of the bombing to be diminished as much as possible by the opening of Wall Street trading on Monday. (Trump took issue on social media this morning with a Wall Street Journal report that said he had decided on the attack on Iran, writing that he had yet to decide on a path forward.)
Fordow is home to the remaining majority of Iran’s most advanced centrifuges that have produced, according to recent reports of the International Atomic Energy Agency, to which Iran is a signatory, nine hundred pounds of uranium enriched to 60 percent, a short step from weapons-grade levels.
The most recent Israeli bombing attacks on Iran have made no attempts to destroy the centrifuges at Fordow, which are stored at least eighty meters underground. It has been agreed, as of Wednesday, that US bombers carrying bunker bombs capable of penetrating to that depth, will begin attacking the Fordow facility this weekend.
The delay will give US military assets throughout the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean—there are more than two dozen US Air Force bases and Navy ports in the region—a chance to prepare for possible Iranian retaliation. The assumption is that Iran still has some missile and air force capability that will be on US bombing lists. “This is a chance to do away with this regime once and for all,” an informed official told me today, “and so we might as well go big.” He said, however, “that it will not be carpet bombing.”
The planned weekend bombing will also have new targets: the bases of the Republican Guards, which have countered those campaigning against the revolutionary leadership since the violent overthrow of the shah of Iran in early 1979.
The Israeli leadership under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hopes that the bombings will provide “the means of creating an uprising” against Iran’s current regime, which has shown little tolerance for those who defy the religious leadership and its edicts. Iranian police stations will be struck. Government offices that house files on suspected dissenters in Iran will also be attacked.
The Israelis apparently also hope, so I gather, that Khamenei will flee the country and not make a stand until the end. I was told that his personal plane left Tehran airport headed for Oman early Wednesday morning, accompanied by two fighter planes, but it is not known whether he was aboard.
Only two thirds of Iran’s population of 90 million are Persians. The largest minority groups include Azeris, many of whom have long-standing covert ties to the Central Intelligence Agency, Kurds, Arabs, and Baluchis. Jews make up a small minority group there, too. (Azerbaijan is the site of a large secret CIA base for operations in Iran.)
Bringing back the shah’s son, now living in exile in near Washington, has never been considered by the American and Israeli planners, I was told. But there has been talk among the White House planning group that includes Vice President J.D. Vance, of installing a moderate religious leader to run the country if Khamenei is deposed. The Israelis bitterly objected to the idea. “They don’t give a shit on the religious issue, but demand a political puppet to control,” the longtime US official said. “We are split with the Izzies on this. Result would be permanent hostility and future conflict in perpetuity, Bibi desperately trying to draw US in as their ally against all things Muslim, using the plight of the citizens as propaganda bait.”
There is the hope in the American and Israeli intelligence communities, I was told, that elements of the Azeri community will join in a popular revolt against the ruling regime, should one develop during the continued Israeli bombing. There also is the thought that some members of the Revolutionary Guard would join in what I was told might be “a democratic uprising against the ayatollahs”—a long-held aspiration of the US government. The sudden and successful overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in Syria was cited as a potential model, although Assad’s demise came after a long civil war.
It is possible that the result of the massive Israeli and US bombing attack could leave Iran in a state of permanent failure, as happened after the Western intervention in Libya in 2011. That revolt resulted in the brutal murder of Muammar Gaddafi, who had kept the disparate tribes there under control. The futures of Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon, all victims of repeated outside attacks, are far from settled.
Donald Trump clearly wants an international win he can market. To accomplish that, he and Netanyahu are taking America to places it has never been.
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Wednesday, June 18, 2025
Tuesday, June 17, 2025
Monday, June 16, 2025
Upward Mobility Is Still Possible In The US
Elena has a fatalistic theory based on the concept of "family background" that is prevalent in Latin America and southern states like Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, South Carolina, etc. (My mother subscribed to this theory.) To make a long story short, it is a theory that a child who is not born into an affluent family will face a life of mediocrity with little hope of advancing.
I am different. Despite the current problems the US is facing, I still believe that upward mobility is possible. Let me introduce you to an incredible young man named Edwin Pua. Here is his story:
Celebrating Edwin Pua’s Graduation from Stanford University with a Master of Science in Computer Science on June 15, 2025
Edwin Antonio Pua at Stanford University, Palo Alto, California. Courtesy Photo.
(PRESS RELEASE—Palo Alto, California) On June 15, 2025, Edwin Antonio Pua will walk across the stage at Stanford University and receive his Master’s degree in Computer Science. He completed the program in just six months, but if you ask him, the diploma isn’t what matters most. What matters is who helped him get there.
Raised in the small border town of Eagle Pass, Texas, Edwin grew up in a home where love was unconditional, faith was unshakable, and humility was the foundation of everything. His immigrant parents never asked for recognition. They simply gave—sacrificing in silence so their children could dream out loud. And dream, Edwin did.
Edwin never sought attention. Never asked to be praised. He just worked—with quiet grit, gentle strength, and a steady faith that anything is possible when you walk with God.
At Stanford, Edwin dedicated himself to work that mattered. His research in artificial intelligence (AI) and healthcare wasn’t about accolades—it was about helping people. He and his team were invited to present their work at a prestigious symposium in Hawaii. Everything was paid for. But to Edwin, the greatest reward wasn’t the recognition—it was the opportunity to make a difference.
Then came the 2024 Hackathon. Edwin and his teammates—The Neural Network Ninjas—competed against some of the most brilliant minds across the United States. They didn’t just win. They stood out. Their innovation earned them a $30,000 prize, a trip to Japan, and national recognition. But Edwin? He simply smiled and said, “It’s all because of God.”
He never made it about himself. He never does.
Today, Edwin continues his research at Stanford, but his heart has never left Eagle Pass. He’s still that same thoughtful, humble soul—the one who listens more than he speaks, who prays before he acts, and who always remembers where he came from.
“To my Mom and Dad,” Edwin says, “thank you for everything—for the love that never wavered, the strength you passed on, and the faith you planted in me. This is not just my degree—it’s yours too.”
He also thanks every teacher, coach, counselor, and classmate who walked with him. Every friend who stood by him. Even those who doubted him. ‘Thank you,” he says softly. “From the bottom of my heart. And to the one I forgot—you know who you are.”
And to Mr. Ricardo Calderon—a kind and dedicated lawyer and publisher who kept sharing Edwin’s story in the local newspaper long before the world took notice—“Thank you for believing in me, even when I didn’t see myself as special. You reminded me that even ordinary kids can do extraordinary things. Your words made a difference.”
Edwin never sought the spotlight. But today, it finds him—not because he chased it, but because he quietly earned it.
To the people of Eagle Pass, to every dreamer standing in the shadows, to every parent sacrificing in silence, and to every teacher wondering if their belief in a student makes a difference—Edwin is your answer.
He is your reminder that greatness doesn’t need to shout. It whispers. And it walks humbly.
Congratulations, Edwin. You make us proud beyond words. You carry our hopes, our prayers, and our hearts.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Edwin Antonio Pua graduated as Valedictorian of Eagle Pass High School Class of 2020 and earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Stanford University in June 2024. He is the son of Edwin and Haydeelyn Pua of Eagle Pass and the younger brother of Kevin.
Edwin had to overcome some incredible obstacles to achieve what he did. Only 3.68% of the students who apply to Stanford get accepted into the undergraduate program. This is 2,099 students accepted out of 53,733 applicants.
Then Edwin applied for the MSCS program in computer science. Only 10% of the applicants are accepted. He had to go through a rigorous process, including writing a thesis to earn his postgraduate degree.
Edwin is devoting his professional career to artificial intelligence.
My personal experience is that I went from being homeless to having economic success. My domestic partner in the 1980s was a wonderful woman named Antonieta. She was born in a slum in the town of Esquipulos, Guatemala, to an unwed mother. She came to the US legally at age 20. She has thrived. The high point of her career was in the late 1990s when she was hired as executive assistant to the famous movie actor Tom Cruise. She went on to marry a well-respected aerospace engineer. She has two beautiful daughters. She lives in a house in Burbank, California, larger and more expensive than the house where Elena and I live.
Sunday, June 15, 2025
A mentally Unstable Man Carries Out An Awful Political Assasination
Accused Minnesota assassin Vance Boelter has ties to Middle East and Africa, runs security company
By Georgia Worrell, Shane Galvin,
9 hours ago
The Minnesota man being sought in connection with the Saturday morning assassination of a state lawmaker and the shooting of another runs a security company and has ties to the Middle East and Africa, online biographies showed.
Vance Luther Boelter lists himself on LinkedIn as the CEO of the Red Lion Group, which is based in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
He also worked with Minnesota Africans United, a statewide organization working with African immigrants in the state, according to a now deleted biography on the group’s web site.
Vance Luther Boelter owns a security company and has ties to the Middle East and Africa, online biographies show. Minnesota Department of Public Safety
In 2022, Boelter participated as a keynote speaker in his capacity as CEO of Red Lion Group for a seminar held jointly by the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Minnesota Africans United and Global Minnesota, video showed.
Boetler conducted the call from Moanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo and spoke of the Red Lion Group’s ventures in the African nation.
“This all started back in 2019, when my partner, McNay Nkashama, brought in the ambassador from the DRC to Minnesota, and we had meetings, the bulk of them in Minneapolis but the bulk of them that I was at was in Worthington, Minnesota where we made those connections,” Boetler said.
The suspected assassin spoke about plans for several agricultural pilot projects in the DRC that he believed would “create a lot of jobs fast” and “serve as a model” for future investors into the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Minnesota State Patrol reveals ‘No Kings’ flyers in car of suspect who shot two lawmakers
Boelbert is being sought in connection with the Saturday morning assassination of a Minnesota state lawmaker and the shooting of another. Obtained by NY Post
He claimed to have business ventures in fishing, farming, media, security, and motorcycle-taxis all within the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“We’re partnering with 400 farmers who are ready to go on a farming project… we’re doing a fishing project that works with like 500 fishermans…that’s off the coast of Rwanda,” Boelter claimed in a quintessential Minnesota accent.
“Another one that we’re looking at doing is a totally women led motorcycle-taxi business, where all the operators are women, and the leadership is women, so we’re excited to get that off the ground,” Boelter stated, according to the video.
“I would like to get 1,000 female motorcycle-taxis running in the near future but we need some sponsors to invest in that,” the suspected assassin said.
Minnesota Africans United told The Post they never hired, paid, or contracted Boetler and he never served in any official or unofficial capacity in the organization.
In a Nov. 5, 2018, post on his profile, Boetler encouraged others to vote in the upcoming presidential election — and expressed his fears for the outcome. FEVRIER DEVANT TA FACE
Jarring images shared by the Federal Bureau of Investigation allegedly showed Boetler wearing a creepy, Halloween-style latex mask of a bald, wrinkly man.
The home security camera snapshot showed the masked individual dressed in the garb of a police officer and authoritatively holding a flashlight near his head at the front door of what may be the home of one of the targeted lawmakers.
Former appointee of Tim Walz sought in ‘politically motivated assassination’ of lawmaker and husband in creepy mask
Boelter, 57, who is believed to have posed as a police officer during the shootings, and his wife, Jenny, appear to head Praetorian Guard Security Services, a Minnesota-based company “here to set up security options and provide security services right to your doorstep and property to keep what you own safe and secure,” according to its website.
Boelter has “been involved in security situations” in Eastern Europe, Africa, North America and the Middle East, “including the West Bank, Southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip,” according to the Praetorian web site.
Stack of papers with “No Kings” written on some that were found in Vance Boelter’s car. AP
Last month, Boelter said he was open to work.
Boelter listed food service more than security in his work history.
His LinkedIn profile includes jobs at 7-Eleven, where he was a general manager from 2016 to 2021.
He also worked at various times as a manager at Del Monte, Johnsonville Sausage and at a company called Greencore, which manufactures convenience foods in the United Kingdom.
He was twice appointed to Minnesota government by different Democratic governors. In 2016 then-Gov Mark Dayton named Boelter to the Workforce Development Council, and in 2019 Walz to serve a four-year stint on the Workforce Development Board, documents show.
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Boetler last registered to vote in 2022 as a Republican.
In a Nov. 5, 2018 post on his profile, Boetler encouraged others to vote in the upcoming presidential election — and expressed his fears for the outcome.
“I am very big on just telling people to be a part of the process and vote your values and be part of this adventure we are all a part of living in the United States of America,” he wrote.
Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman addresses the house floor after being re-elected for her third term during the first day of the 2023 legislative session, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023, in St. Paul, Minnesota. AP
Minnesota Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette from 2023. John Hoffman/Facebook
Minnesota Rep. Melissa Hortman at the White House Christmas party 2024. Melissa Hortman/Facebook
“I think the election is going to have more of an impact on the direction of our country than probably any election we have been apart of, or will be apart of for years to come.”
Boetler earned his undergraduate degree in international relations at St. Cloud State University, according to his LinkedIn, and later obtained a Masters of Science and Management and Doctorate in Leadership degrees, both from Cardinal Stritch University.
Messages for Jenny Boelter, Praetorian and Minnesota Africans United were not immediately returned.
Authorities are searching for Boetler, who remains on the loose after cops say he shot Sen. John Hoffman and his wife in their Champlin home early Saturday, leaving them seriously injured before moving on to former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortmon’s house, where he is believed to have slaughtered her and her husband, police sources previously told The Post.
The suspect allegedly exchanged gunfire with the cops who responded to Hortman’s home and briefly cornered him inside — but he got away, and left behind a “manifesto” listing the names of 70 politicians, including Walz, and a stack of papers stating “No Kings” in reference to the nationwide anti-Trump protests Saturday, according to cops.
For top headlines, breaking news and more, visit nypost.com.
Saturday, June 14, 2025
Friday, June 13, 2025
Wednesday, June 11, 2025
Cyberspace Just Got More Dangerous! Learn To Be A Survivor When You Go Online
Ross Ulbrecht keeps resurfacing to warn us about the dangers we face in cyberspace. He was the man who created the Amazon of crime with everything a criminal could want for sale. When he was apprehended and found guilty, a US District Court judge in New York City tried to "put the fear of God" into others who might try to pen up such an enterprise. She sentenced Ross to two consecutive life sentences plus 40 years to be served after the life sentences. (If a serial killer avoided the death penalty, this is the kind of sentence the murderer would receive.)
It failed to deter others from such activities. A second Amazon of crime appeared. Authorities took it down in 2017. The man who runs the messaging platform Telegram is now under arrest and awaiting trial in France for "turning a blind eye" while criminals used his platform to conduct all the criminal activities that were conducted on the Silk Road website run by Ross.
The Economist magazine has an excellent article that I want to share with you about the frightening evolution of criminals using cyberspace to do their bad deeds. Before I give you the article, I want to give you a quick survival course on how to protect yourself when you're online as follows:
1) Never click on a link unless you are very sure of the person sending you the link.
2) Be alert to phishing. You might get an email that looks very official from a company like Amazon, American Express, Visa, A.T. and T, United Airlines, etc, or a government agency like the US IRS or the Social Security Administration, etc. You will be asked to click on a link or reveal personal information.
3) Have a security service like Identity Guard, American Express, a service from a credit bureau, etc. You will be warned if there is any sort of suspicious activity.
4) Do not trust anyone whom you meet online. Even if you have Zoom meetings with this person, be wary until you meet this person face-to-face and spend time with them.
5) Do not have all your financial activities concentrated at one financial institution. Spread out your money among several different financial institutions. In that way, if one financial institution is shut down with a ransomware attack, you will not be caught without money.
Here is the article:
The Uber of the underworld
Amateur crooks are using plug-and-play hacking kits
Illustration: Ben Jones
May 29th 2025|SINGAPORE
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EVERYTHING’S POSSIBLE at Harrods, proclaims the website of Britain’s glitziest department store. Alas, on May 1st, this universe of possibilities included an attempted cyber-attack that forced the company to restrict internet access at its sites, it said. The attempted intrusion came just days after hackers took down computer systems at Marks & Spencer (M&S), a supermarket and clothing retailer which says the disruptions will cost it some £300m ($405m). These breaches, which also hit the Co-op supermarket chain, were more than just costly cyberattacks. They are worrying examples of how crime is evolving beyond simple street thuggery, or even the work of small groups of clever hackers, into a global service economy where anyone with cryptocurrency can buy the tools to paralyse a multinational corporation.
One of the chief suspects in the attacks on Britain’s high street is the hacker collective Scattered Spider, according to Britain’s National Crime Agency, which investigates serious and organised crime. Scattered Spider is not a traditional, hierarchical mafia. Instead, it is a fluid network of young hackers who may never meet in person, yet can co-ordinate devastating attacks across continents. They are thought to have used DragonForce, a ransomware-as-a-service platform that gives criminals the software to carry out attacks in which they encrypt the victim’s data or otherwise block their access to computer systems until a ransom is paid.
Just as Uber upended the taxi industry and Airbnb reshaped the hotel business, the criminal underworld is undergoing its own digital revolution. Criminals who might once have committed crimes themselves are now becoming service providers in a vast underground marketplace. This new service model “is evolving at a rate that we’ve never previously seen”, says John Wojcik of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The exact cost of cybercrime cannot be known, since much of it happens in the shadows, and victims of ransomware attacks may be reluctant to report the crimes. Sometimes this is out of fear that doing so will harm their reputation among customers or that it could result in them being fined under data-protection laws.
Nevertheless, the scale is staggering, with billions, possibly trillions, of dollars in economic costs each year. The low end of the range comes from tallies of reported crimes by law enforcement agencies. The FBI said it received reports of direct losses of $16.6bn in 2024, a 33% increase over 2023. Adding in unreported losses and wider economic costs leads to bigger numbers. Britain puts its current annual losses at more than £27bn (based on old data). The European Commission reckons that the worldwide costs of cybercrime were €5.5trn ($6.5trn) in 2021.
Though estimates of the full cost differ, almost all studies suggest that cybercrime is booming. One reason is the emergence of DragonForce and other similar providers of plug-and-play hacking kits, which give even unskilled criminals the ability to launch ransomware attacks. This dramatically lowers the barriers for newcomers, who no longer have to write their own malicious malware. Moreover, a wider ecosystem of criminal services is developing. This allows hackers to buy, rather than steal, the personal data they need to identify potential victims or to work out how to launder ransom payments. Many of these services are accessed through online forums or messaging apps, such as Telegram, and are often paid for with cryptocurrency.
Hackers who develop ransomware use a variety of business models, from selling the basic code, which sometimes costs as little as $2,000, to ransomware-as-a-service. Under the service model, a client (or affiliate) gets access to a web portal that lets them customise the ransomware. Some groups also provide a communications portal, through which their clients can negotiate anonymously with their victims. In exchange for these services, they take a share of the profits. Market forces and competition have pushed these down to around 10-20% from around 30-40% a few years ago.
Keeping secrets
This new modular model is not easily thwarted by law enforcement officials. When cybercrime operates through countless providers, shutting down one node barely dents the system. In 2023, Scattered Spider attacked Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts International, two American casino operators, yet the FBI struggled to dismantle the network.
Criminal business models are also evolving. DragonForce uses a double extortion method. The service both steals a copy of its victim’s data and also encrypts it on the victim’s computer system. Thus, it can demand two separate ransoms: one to unscramble the data and another to delete the stolen copy. Firms that refuse to pay face the threat that their data will be leaked to other cyber-criminals.
The targeting of large retailers such as M&S, Co-op, and Harrods is not random: these sorts of firms house troves of customer data. After Scattered Spider attacked the British retailers, Google warned on May 21st that the group is turning its attention to American retailers.
The sorts of personal information big retailers hold—names, email addresses, credit-card details, shopping habits, even browsing histories that reveal personal interests—are the backbone of modern retailing. These data are among cybercrime’s most valuable commodities. With this information, criminals can craft more convincing phishing attacks (emails that impersonate legitimate companies in order to trick people into divulging passwords or financial information), launch targeted malware attacks, and commit fraud. Underground markets, hosted on messaging apps or on the dark web, now serve as trading hubs where vendors sell stolen credit-card details, bank records, and other confidential data. Beyond hacking large retailers, criminals who specialise in stealing and selling data also target banks, investment firms, and other financial companies for information about wealthy clients and other profitable targets.
Increasingly, criminals use information-stealing malware, often distributed through phishing emails or malicious ads, that infects computers and smartphones. This malware harvests browsing history, saved passwords (including from internet banking), chat logs, cryptocurrency-wallet details and other personal content. Among these password-stealers are RedLine Infostealer, which has been used to infiltrate major corporations, and META Infostealer (not to be confused with the company that runs Facebook). They are distributed through a decentralised malware-as-a-service model in which cybercriminals either buy a lifetime licence for $900 or subscribe to use it for $150 a month, according to a criminal complaint filed by America’s Department of Justice before a court in Texas in 2022. One cybersecurity expert now reckons that the cost of a lifetime licence has increased to $10,000.
Illustration: Ben Jones
Adding fuel to the fire is artificial intelligence (AI), which has already transformed two common types of cybercrime: producing malware and conducting phishing attacks. In the past, gangs would have needed experts with advanced coding skills to write malware or to tailor it to specific targets, tasks that are easily done by generative AI. “What might have previously taken an advanced criminal group weeks to figure out is now available to any criminal in minutes,” says Jeff Sims of Infoblox, a security firm.
AI also allows criminals to produce convincing, well-written phishing messages (often in languages that are not their own). These are more likely to succeed in deceiving victims, especially when combined with stolen data. Crime syndicates, for example, Chinese groups operating out of South-East Asia, are using AI to translate scripts for romance scams, fake job offers or fraudulent investments, letting them target victims around the world.
Paying the bounty
Law-enforcement agencies have tended to focus on trying to shut down or disrupt the providers of ransomware. In late May, an operation by European and North American agencies dismantled an extensive network and issued arrest warrants for 20 people. Yet the continued growth in this sort of crime suggests that enforcement is failing, leading to more draconian proposals. Britain plans to outlaw payment of ransoms by public-sector bodies and operators of critical infrastructure, hoping this will make them less attractive as targets. Those not subject to this ban would still have to report ransomware attacks to the authorities, which would allow law enforcement officials to block ransom payments. Yet legal experts fret this will not stop cyberattacks (since hackers may still get customer data that they can sell) nor protect companies, which could collapse if they cannot regain control of their data.
If nothing else, the dilemma over how to deter the new breed of cybercriminals highlights how one of the world’s fastest-growing criminal threats comes not from armed gangsters, but from geeks writing and selling code in the burgeoning underworld of the criminal gig economy. ■
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Tuesday, June 10, 2025
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Tuesday, June 3, 2025
The Attack On Russia's Nuclear Deterrent By Ukraine Was Worse Than We Thought
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10dnhFUBgH0
Sunday, June 1, 2025
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