A prisoner was sentenced to death by hanging, but a group of scientists wanted to test the limits of human belief and the power of the mind. They told him that instead of a hanging, he would be killed by a venomous snakebite. To make it more convincing, they showed him a large, terrifying cobra. The prisoner, filled with fear, was then blindfolded.

In September 2023, KrebsOnSecurity published findings from security researchers who concluded that a series of six-figure cyberheists across dozens of victims resulted from thieves cracking master passwords stolen from the password manager service LastPass in 2022. In a court filing this week, U.S. federal agents investigating a spectacular $150 million cryptocurrency heist said they had reached the same conclusion. On March 6, federal prosecutors in northern California said they seized approximately $24 million worth of cryptocurrencies that were clawed back following a $150 million cyberheist on Jan. 30, 2024. The complaint refers to the person robbed only as “Victim-1,” but according to blockchain security research ZachXBT the theft was perpetrated against Chris Larsen, the co-founder of the cryptocurrency platform Ripple. ZachXBT was the first to report on the heist, of which approximately $24 million was frozen by the feds before it could be withdrawn. This week’s action by the government merely allows investigators to officially seize the frozen funds. But there is an important conclusion in this seizure document: It basically says the U.S. Secret Service and the FBI agree with the findings of the LastPass breach story published here in September 2023. That piece quoted security researchers who said they were witnessing six-figure crypto heists several times each month that they believed all appeared to be the result of crooks cracking master passwords for the password vaults stolen from LastPass in 2022. “The Federal Bureau of Investigation has been investigating these data breaches, and law enforcement agents investigating the instant case have spoken with FBI agents about their investigation,” reads the seizure complaint, which was written by a U.S. Secret Service agent. “From those conversations, law enforcement agents in this case learned that the stolen data and passwords that were stored in several victims’ online password manager accounts were used to illegally, and without authorization, access the victims’ electronic accounts and steal information, cryptocurrency, and other data.” The document continues: “Based on this investigation, law enforcement had probable cause to believe the same attackers behind the above-described commercial online password manager attack used a stolen password held in Victim 1’s online password manager account and, without authorization, accessed his cryptocurrency wallet/account.” Working with dozens of victims, security researchers Nick Bax and Taylor Monahan found that none of the six-figure cyberheist victims appeared to have suffered the sorts of attacks that typically preface a high-dollar crypto theft, such as the compromise of one’s email and/or mobile phone accounts, or SIM-swapping attacks. They discovered the victims all had something else in common: Each had at one point stored their cryptocurrency seed phrase — the secret code that lets anyone gain access to your cryptocurrency holdings — in the “Secure Notes” area of their LastPass account prior to the 2022 breaches at the company. Bax and Monahan found another common theme with these robberies: They all followed a similar pattern of cashing out, rapidly moving stolen funds to a dizzying number of drop accounts scattered across various cryptocurrency exchanges. According to the government, a similar level of complexity was present in the $150 million heist against the Ripple co-founder last year. “The scale of a theft and rapid dissipation of funds would have required the efforts of multiple malicious actors, and was consistent with the online password manager breaches and attack on other victims whose cryptocurrency was stolen,” the government wrote. “For these reasons, law enforcement agents believe the cryptocurrency stolen from Victim 1 was committed by the same attackers who conducted the attack on the online password manager, and cryptocurrency thefts from other similarly situated victims.” Reached for comment, LastPass said it has seen no definitive proof — from federal investigators or others — that the cyberheists in question were linked to the LastPass breaches. “Since we initially disclosed this incident back in 2022, LastPass has worked in close cooperation with multiple representatives from law enforcement,” LastPass said in a written statement. “To date, our law enforcement partners have not made us aware of any conclusive evidence that connects any crypto thefts to our incident. In the meantime, we have been investing heavily in enhancing our security measures and will continue to do so.” On August 25, 2022, LastPass CEO Karim Toubba told users the company had detected unusual activity in its software development environment, and that the intruders stole some source code and proprietary LastPass technical information. On Sept. 15, 2022, LastPass said an investigation into the August breach determined the attacker did not access any customer data or password vaults. But on Nov. 30, 2022, LastPass notified customers about another, far more serious security incident that the company said leveraged data stolen in the August breach. LastPass disclosed that criminal hackers had compromised encrypted copies of some password vaults, as well as other personal information. Experts say the breach would have given thieves “offline” access to encrypted password vaults, theoretically allowing them all the time in the world to try to crack some of the weaker master passwords using powerful systems that can attempt millions of password guesses per second. Researchers found that many of the cyberheist victims had chosen master passwords with relatively low complexity, and were among LastPass’s oldest customers. That’s because legacy LastPass users were more likely to have master passwords that were protected with far fewer “iterations,” which refers to the number of times your password is run through the company’s encryption routines. In general, the more iterations, the longer it takes an offline attacker to crack your master password. Over the years, LastPass forced new users to pick longer and more complex master passwords, and they increased the number of iterations on multiple occasions by several orders of magnitude. But researchers found strong indications that LastPass never succeeded in upgrading many of its older customers to the newer password requirements and protections. Asked about LastPass’s continuing denials, Bax said that after the initial warning in our 2023 story, he naively hoped people would migrate their funds to new cryptocurrency wallets. “While some did, the continued thefts underscore how much more needs to be done,” Bax told KrebsOnSecurity. “It’s validating to see the Secret Service and FBI corroborate our findings, but I’d much rather see fewer of these hacks in the first place. ZachXBT and SEAL 911 reported yet another wave of thefts as recently as December, showing the threat is still very real.” Monahan said LastPass still hasn’t alerted their customers that their secrets—especially those stored in “Secure Notes”—may be at risk. “Its been two and a half years since LastPass was first breached [and] hundreds of millions of dollars has been stolen from individuals and companies around the globe,” Monahan said. “They could have encouraged users to rotate their credentials. They could’ve prevented millions and millions of dollars from being stolen by these threat actors. But  instead they chose to deny that their customers were are risk and blame the victims instead.”

Threat hunters have shed light on a "sophisticated and evolving malware toolkit" called Ragnar Loader that's used by various cybercrime and ransomware groups like Ragnar Locker (aka Monstrous Mantis), FIN7, FIN8, and Ruthless Mantis (ex-REvil). "Ragnar Loader plays a key role in keeping access to compromised systems, helping attackers stay in networks for long-term operations," Swiss

Microsoft has disclosed details of a large-scale malvertising campaign that's estimated to have impacted over one million devices globally as part of what it said is an opportunistic attack designed to steal sensitive information. The tech giant, which detected the activity in early December 2024, is tracking it under the broader umbrella Storm-0408, a moniker used for a set of threat actors

Are you tired of dealing with outdated security tools that never seem to give you the full picture? You’re not alone. Many organizations struggle with piecing together scattered information, leaving your apps vulnerable to modern threats. That’s why we’re excited to introduce a smarter, unified approach: Application Security Posture Management (ASPM). ASPM brings together the best of both

Access on-demand webinar here Avoid a $100,000/month Compliance Disaster March 31, 2025: The Clock is Ticking. What if a single overlooked script could cost your business $100,000 per month in non-compliance fines? PCI DSS v4 is coming, and businesses handling payment card data must be prepared. Beyond fines, non-compliance exposes businesses to web skimming, third-party script attacks, and

A coalition of international law enforcement agencies has seized the website associated with the cryptocurrency exchange Garantex ("garantex[.]org"), nearly three years after the service was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in April 2022. "The domain for Garantex has been seized by the United States Secret Service pursuant to a seizure warrant obtained by the United States Attorney's

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a malicious Python package on the Python Package Index (PyPI) repository that's equipped to steal a victim's Ethereum private keys by impersonating popular libraries. The package in question is set-utils, which has received 1,077 downloads to date. It's no longer available for download from the official registry. "Disguised as a simple utility for Python

Safe{Wallet} has revealed that the cybersecurity incident that led to the Bybit $1.5 billion crypto heist is a "highly sophisticated, state-sponsored attack," stating the North Korean threat actors behind the hack took steps to erase traces of the malicious activity in an effort to hamper investigation efforts. The multi-signature (multisig) platform, which has roped in Google Cloud Mandiant to

Threat actors of unknown provenance have been attributed to a malicious campaign predominantly targeting organizations in Japan since January 2025. "The attacker has exploited the vulnerability CVE-2024-4577, a remote code execution (RCE) flaw in the PHP-CGI implementation of PHP on Windows, to gain initial access to victim machines," Cisco Talos researcher Chetan Raghuprasad said in a technical

At 49, Branden Spikes isn’t just one of the oldest technologists who has been involved in Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). As the current director of information technology at X/Twitter and an early hire at PayPal, Zip2, Tesla and SpaceX, Spikes is also among Musk’s most loyal employees. Here’s a closer look at this trusted Musk lieutenant, whose Russian ex-wife was once married to Elon’s cousin. The profile of Branden Spikes on X. When President Trump took office again in January, he put the world’s richest man — Elon Musk — in charge of the U.S. Digital Service, and renamed the organization as DOGE. The group is reportedly staffed by at least 50 technologists, many of whom have ties to Musk’s companies. DOGE has been enabling the president’s ongoing mass layoffs and firings of federal workers, largely by seizing control over computer systems and government data for a multitude of federal agencies, including the Social Security Administration, the Department of Homeland Security, the Office of Personnel Management, and the Treasury Department. It is difficult to find another person connected to DOGE who has stronger ties to Musk than Branden Spikes. A native of California, Spikes initially teamed up with Musk in 1997 as a lead systems engineer for the software company Zip2, the first major venture for Musk. In 1999, Spikes was hired as director of IT at PayPal, and in 2002 he became just the fourth person hired at SpaceX. In 2012, Spikes launched Spikes Security, a software product that sought to create a compartmentalized or “sandboxed” web browser that could insulate the user from malware attacks. A review of spikes.com in the Wayback Machine shows that as far back as 1998, Musk could be seen joining Spikes for team matches in the online games Quake and Quake II. In 2016, Spikes Security was merged with another security suite called Aurionpro, with the combined company renamed Cyberinc. A snapshot of spikes.com from 1998 shows Elon Musk’s profile in Spike’s clan for the games Quake and Quake II. Spikes’s LinkedIn profile says he was appointed head of IT at X in February 2025. And although his name shows up on none of the lists of DOGE employees circulated by various media outlets, multiple sources told KrebsOnSecurity that Spikes was working with DOGE and operates within Musk’s inner circle of trust. In a conversation with KrebsOnSecurity, Spikes said he is dedicated to his country and to saving it from what he sees as certain ruin. “Myself, I was raised by a southern conservative family in California and I strongly believe in America and her future,” Spikes said. “This is why I volunteered for two months in DC recently to help DOGE save us from certain bankruptcy.” Spikes told KrebsOnSecurity that he recently decided to head back home and focus on his job as director of IT at X. “I loved it, but ultimately I did not want to leave my hometown and family back in California,” Spikes said of his tenure at DOGE. “After a couple of months it became clear that to continue helping I would need to move to DC and commit a lot more time, so I politely bowed out.” Prior to founding Spikes Security, Branden Spikes was married to a native Russian woman named Natalia whom he’d met at a destination wedding in South America in 2003. Branden and Natalia’s names are both on the registration records for the domain name orangetearoom[.]com. This domain, which DomainTools.com says was originally registered by Branden in 2009, is the home of a tax-exempt charity in Los Angeles called the California Russian Association. Here is a photo from a 2011 event organized by the California Russian Association, showing Branden and Natalia at one of its “White Nights” charity fundraisers: Branden and Natalia Spikes, on left, in 2011. The man on the far right is Ivan Y. Podvalov, a board member of the Kremlin-aligned Congress of Russian Americans (CRA). The man in the center is Feodor Yakimoff, director of operations at the Transib Global Sourcing Group, and chairman of the Russian Imperial Charity Balls, which works in concert with the Russian Heritage Foundation. In 2011, the Spikes couple got divorced, and Natalia changed her last name to Haldeman. That is not her maiden name, which appears to be “Libina.” Rather, Natalia acquired the surname Haldeman in 1998, when she married Elon Musk’s cousin. Reeve Haldeman is the son of Scott Haldeman, who is the brother of Elon Musk’s mother, Maye Musk. Divorce records show Reeve and Natalia officially terminated their marriage in 2007. Reeve Haldeman did not respond to a request for comment. A review of other domain names connected to Natalia Haldeman’s email address show she has registered more than a dozen domains over the years that are tied to the California Russian Association, and an apparently related entity called the Russian Heritage Foundation, Inc.: russianamericans.org russianamericanstoday.com russianamericanstoday.org russiancalifornia.org russianheritagefoundation.com russianheritagefoundation.org russianwhitenights.com russianwhitenights.org theforafoundation.org thegoldentearoom.com therussianheritagefoundation.org tsarinahome.com Ms. Haldeman did not respond to requests for comment. Her name and contact information appears in the registration records for these domains dating back to 2010, and a document published by ProPublica show that by 2016 Natalia Haldeman was appointed CEO of the California Russian Foundation. A photo from Natalia Haldeman’s Facebook page shows her mother (left) pictured with Maye Musk, Elon Musk’s mother, in 2022. The domain name that bears both Branden’s and Natalia’s names — orangeteamroom.com — features photos of Ms. Haldeman at fundraising events for the Russian foundation through 2014. Additional photos of her and many of the same people can be seen through 2023 at another domain she registered in 2010 — russianheritagefoundation.com. The photo of Branden and Natalia above is from one such event in 2011 (tied to russianwhitenights.org, another Haldeman domain). The person on the right in that image — Ivan Y. Podvalov — appears in many fundraising event photos published by the foundation over the past decade. Podvalov is a board member of the Congress of Russian Americans (CRA), a nonprofit group that is known for vehemently opposing U.S. financial and legal sanctions against Russia. Writing for The Insider in 2022, journalist Diana Fishman described how the CRA has engaged in outright political lobbying, noting that the organization in June 2014 sent a letter to President Obama and the secretary of the United Nations, calling for an end to the “large-scale US intervention in Ukraine and the campaign to isolate Russia.” “The US military contingents must be withdrawn immediately from the Eastern European region, and NATO’s enlargement efforts and provocative actions against Russia must cease,” the message read. The Insider said the CRA director sent another two letters, this time to President Donald Trump, in 2017 and 2018. “One was a request not to sign a law expanding sanctions against Russia,” Fishman wrote. “The other regretted the expulsion of 60 Russian diplomats from the United States and urged not to jump to conclusions on Moscow’s involvement in the poisoning of Sergei Skripal.” The nonprofit tracking website CauseIQ.com reports that The Russian Heritage Foundation, Inc. is now known as Constellation of Humanity. The Russian Heritage Foundation and the California Russian Association both promote the interests of the Russian Orthodox Church. This page indexed by Archive.org from russiancalifornia.org shows The California Russian Foundation organized a community effort to establish an Orthodox church in Orange County, Calif. A press release from the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) shows that in 2021 the Russian Heritage Foundation donated money to organize a conference for the Russian Orthodox Church in Serbia. A review of the “Partners” listed on the Spikes’ jointly registered domain — orangetearoom.com — shows the organization worked with a marketing company called Russian American Media. Reporting by KrebsOnSecurity last year showed that Russian American Media also partners with the problematic people-search service Radaris, which was formed by two native Russian brothers in Massachusetts who have built a fleet of consumer data brokers and Russian affiliate programs. When asked about his ex-wife’s history, Spikes said she has a good heart and bears no ill-will toward anyone. “I attended several of Natalia’s social events over the years we were together and can assure you that she’s got the best intentions with those,” Spikes told KrebsOnSecurity. “There’s no funny business going on. It is just a way for those friendly immigrants to find resources amongst each other to help get settled in and chase the American dream. I mean, they’re not unlike the immigrants from other countries who come to America and try to find each other and help each other find others who speak the language and share in the building of their businesses here in America.” Spikes said his own family roots go back deeply into American history, sharing that his 6th great grandfather was Alexander Hamilton on his mom’s side, and Jessie James on his dad’s side. “My family roots are about as American as you can get,” he said. “I’ve also been entrusted with building and safeguarding Elon’s companies since 1999 and have a keen eye (as you do) for bad actors, so have enough perspective to tell you that Natalia has no bad blood and that she loves America.” Of course, this perspective comes from someone who has the utmost regard for the interests of the “special government employee” Mr. Musk, who has been bragging about tossing entire federal agencies into the “wood chipper,” and who recently wielded an actual chainsaw on stage while referring to it as the “chainsaw for bureaucracy.” “Elon’s intentions are good and you can trust him,” Spikes assured. A special note of thanks for research assistance goes to Jacqueline Sweet, an independent investigative journalist whose work has been published in The Guardian, Rolling Stone, POLITICO and The Intercept.

The financially motivated threat actor known as EncryptHub has been observed orchestrating sophisticated phishing campaigns to deploy information stealers and ransomware, while also working on a new product called EncryptRAT. "EncryptHub has been observed targeting users of popular applications, by distributing trojanized versions," Outpost24 KrakenLabs said in a new report shared with The

The threat actors behind the Medusa ransomware have claimed nearly 400 victims since it first emerged in January 2023, with the financially motivated attacks witnessing a 42% increase between 2023 and 2024. In the first two months of 2025 alone, the group has claimed over 40 attacks, according to data from the Symantec Threat Hunter Team said in a report shared with The Hacker News. The

Cyber threats are growing more sophisticated, and traditional security approaches struggle to keep up. Organizations can no longer rely on periodic assessments or static vulnerability lists to stay secure. Instead, they need a dynamic approach that provides real-time insights into how attackers move through their environment. This is where attack graphs come in. By mapping potential attack paths

Over 1,000 websites powered by WordPress have been infected with a third-party JavaScript code that injects four separate backdoors. "Creating four backdoors facilitates the attackers having multiple points of re-entry should one be detected and removed," c/side researcher Himanshu Anand said in a Wednesday analysis. The malicious JavaScript code has been found to be served via cdn.csyndication[

How NCSC guidance can help organisations detect and protect themselves from credential abuse.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has announced charges against 12 Chinese nationals for their alleged participation in a wide-ranging scheme designed to steal data and suppress free speech and dissent globally. The individuals include two officers of the People's Republic of China's (PRC) Ministry of Public Security (MPS), eight employees of an ostensibly private PRC company, Anxun

We publish the results of our ACD 2.0 external attack surface management (EASM) trials

The China-lined threat actor behind the zero-day exploitation of security flaws in Microsoft Exchange servers in January 2021 has shifted its tactics to target the information technology (IT) supply chain as a means to obtain initial access to corporate networks. That's according to new findings from the Microsoft Threat Intelligence team, which said the Silk Typhoon (formerly Hafnium) hacking

The threat actor known as Dark Caracal has been attributed to a campaign that deployed a remote access trojan called Poco RAT in attacks targeting Spanish-speaking targets in Latin America in 2024. The findings come from Russian cybersecurity company Positive Technologies, which described the malware as loaded with a "full suite of espionage features." "It could upload files, capture screenshots

The threat actor known as Lotus Panda has been observed targeting government, manufacturing, telecommunications, and media sectors in the Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Taiwan with updated versions of a known backdoor called Sagerunex. "Lotus Blossom has been using the Sagerunex backdoor since at least 2016 and is increasingly employing long-term persistence command shells and developing

The rapid adoption of cloud services, SaaS applications, and the shift to remote work have fundamentally reshaped how enterprises operate. These technological advances have created a world of opportunity but also brought about complexities that pose significant security threats. At the core of these vulnerabilities lies Identity—the gateway to enterprise security and the number one attack vector

Non-email sending (parked) domains can be used to generate spam email, but they're easy to protect.

Raising a cheer for SaaS vendors who respond to our cloud security principles.

...or 'Why do people leave sensitive data in unprotected AWS S3 buckets?'