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NEW: Watch this apparent North Korean fake IT worker refuse to say "Kim Jong-un is a fat ugly pig."
We know this trick works sometimes, but it's very funny to see it work in a real life scenario, on camera.
I wrote some words for TechCrunch about how North Korean hackers took weeks to hack the top developer of one of the web's most popular open-source projects, Axios. Increasingly difficult to defend against well-resourced and persistent hackers when you're a small team or lone developer.
RE: https://mastodon.social/@zackwhittaker/116357924981342417
Another spyware manufacturer avoiding jail time.
New, by me: An elusive hacker who went by the handle “UNKN” and ran the early Russian ransomware groups GandCrab and REvil now has a name and a face. Authorities in Germany say 31-year-old Russian Daniil Maksimovich Shchukin headed both cybercrime gangs and helped carry out at least 130 acts of computer sabotage and extortion against victims across the country between 2019 and 2021. From the story:
UNKNOWN also gave an interview to Dmitry Smilyanets, a former malicious hacker hired by Recorded Future, wherein UNKNOWN described a rags-to-riches tale unencumbered by ethics and morals.
“As a child, I scrounged through the trash heaps and smoked cigarette butts,” UNKNOWN told Recorded Future. “I walked 10 km one way to the school. I wore the same clothes for six months. In my youth, in a communal apartment, I didn’t eat for two or even three days. Now I am a millionaire.”
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2026/04/germany-doxes-unkn-head-of-ru-ransomware-gangs-revil-gandcrab/
NEW, by me: pcTattletale founder Bryan Fleming has avoided a jail term after earlier pleading guilty to making, selling, and advertising spyware for unlawful purposes. pcTattletale was used to stealthily spy on thousands of people's devices without their knowledge, and shut down after a data breach in 2024 exposed the stolen personal data of countless victims.
Fleming is the first spyware maker convicted in the U.S. in over a decade.
https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/06/convicted-spyware-maker-bryan-fleming-avoids-jail-at-sentencing/
NEW: I spoke to cybersecurity legend Mikko Hyppönen about his decades-long fight against computers viruses first, and then malware — and how computers have gotten safer over time.
Mikko also told me why he has decided to now turn his focus to fight another enemy: killer drones. And, as it turns out, some of the technical challenges are very similar.
Mikko Hyppönen is one of the most recognizable faces of the cybersecurity industry. After fighting computer viruses, worms, and malware, for more than 35 years, he tells TechCrunch why he is now working on systems to stop killer drones.
this week in security — april 5 2026 edition
North Korea breaches Axios project, ICE now using spyware, Iran targeting U.S. tech firms, DarkSword fixes for iOS 18 holdouts, a bunch of data breaches, and more.https://this.weekinsecurity.com/this-week-in-security-april-5-2026-edition/
UPDATE: A member of ShinyHunters told us that they took the stolen European Commission's data directly from TeamPCP. In other words, the hackers are hacking each other now.
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai
DrWhax
BrianKrebs
DJ Sundog from the *new* toot-lab
~this week in security~
TechCrunch