Crime

Hackers Forcing ATMs To Spit Money Using Malware

Published

6 years ago

January 29, 2018

(Via Zerohedge)

Hackers using sophisticated malware and an endoscope have been cracking into U.S. ATM machines, making them spit out cash like slot machines, according to security expert Brian Krebs – who reports that the U.S. Secret Service has been quietly warning financial institutions of the new wave of attacks in a confidential memo.

The practice known as “jackpotting” or “logical attacks,” first reported by ZeroHedge in 2014, has been widespread in Europe and Asia. Thieves typically target stand-alone ATMs such as those found in pharmacies, retail stores and gas stations, accessing the machine’s internals with an endoscope – a tiny camera on a flexible tube with which the hackers use to locate an internal port in the ATMs circuitry in order to connect a laptop and download malware. Another method used by hackers is to completely replace the ATMs hard drive with an identical one loaded with the malware.

Machines running Windows XP are particularly vulnerable, reads the Secret Service report, which recommends updating to Windows 7.

The malware, known as “Ploutus.D” then allows the hackers to remotely instruct the ATM to spit out cash. At present the hackers appear to be targeting Diebold Nixdorf machines – the #1 global ATM provider at around 35% of machines worldwide.

“Once this is complete, the ATM is controlled by the fraudsters and the ATM will appear Out of Service to potential customers,” reads the confidential Secret Service alert, as reported by Krebsonsecurity.com.
Barnaby Jack loading up an ATM for 2010 demonstration. Jack died in 2013
before he was to give a presentation on remotely hacking pacemakers and insulin pumps.

“In previous Ploutus.D attacks, the ATM continuously dispensed at a rate of 40 bills every 23 seconds,” the alert continues. Once the dispense cycle starts, the only way to stop it is to press cancel on the keypad. Otherwise, the machine is completely emptied of cash, according to the alert.

At a hacker conference in 2010, Wired reported, a researcher brought two infected ATMs to the stage and gave a demonstration.

In the first example, a volunteer from the audience swiped a card through the ATM, and the researcher instantly brought up his credit card number and personal information on a computer spreadsheet.

In the second, the researcher gave the machine a command. “Jackpot!!” flashed on the ATM’s screen, and it began spitting bills onto the floor as the crowd cheered. -WaPo

Democrats

Joe Biden “The Lemon Lot”!

Published

4 years ago

May 21, 2020

michaelam

Is the deeply flawed and dementia impaired Joe Biden the best the Democrats have to offer?

The Democratic establishment has wholeheartedly gotten behind the former vice president of the United States Joseph Robinette Biden, as the Democratic nominee for President of The United States in 2020. Did they give it a test drive, kick the tires, check the engine or even look up the blue book value? The answer is a resounding NO! Joe Biden was the best of a bad socialist lot. There was a plethora of manufactured cookie cutter candidates. Bernie Sanders seemed the logical choice…..but! Bernie was an Independent who caucused with the Democrats. Bernie openly and proudly professed his affinity for socialism, at least coherently. The painful truth for the Bernie Bros was the Democrat establishment would never let an Independent/ Socialist drive the party off of the electoral cliff of a 2020 national election.

The party turned to Joe Biden to save the day. The best of a bad lot. The former VP with a solid connection to the first Black President of the United States and the all important Black vote. This may be death by a thousand cuts. We already know Joe is a walking, talking, stuttering gaffe machine. His son, brother, son-in-law and others have all profited handsomely from his position and name in big time national politics. He has the Tara Reade debacle. There is the firing of the Ukraine prosecutor who was investigating the corrupt Ukrainian gas company his son Hunter was working for. His team seems to be wisely trying to let Joe out in public view only when absolutely necessary. He has more skeletons in his closet than a thriller video! They say when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Cheers to the left.

By Michael Ameer

Crime

FISA Warrant For Carter Page Exposes Weak Basis

Published

6 years ago

July 22, 2018

Populist Wire Editorial Board

(Via Zerohedge)

The Saturday release of the FBI’s heavily redacted FISA warrant application for Carter Page reveals that the Obama administration, eager to make a case to spy on a US citizen (and arguably the Trump campaign) cobbled together a combination of facts and innuendo from Page’s business dealings in Russia, several press reports of varying reliability, and of course, the infamous Clinton-funded “Steele Dossier,” which the FBI went to great lengths to justify despite being largely unable to verify its claims.

Perhaps the most concerning takeaway, however, is the stark disconnect between the FBI’s multiple allegations against Page versus the fact that he hasn’t been charged with a single crime after nearly two years of DOJ/FBI investigations.

Once issued, the FISA warrant and its subsequent renewals allowed the Obama administration to better spy on the Trump campaign using a wide investigatory net. As such, the October, 2016 application painted Page in the most criminal light possible, as intended, in order to convince the FISA judge to grant the warrant. It flat out accuses Page of being a Russian spy who was recruited by the Kremlin, which sought to “undermine and influence the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election in violation of U.S. criminal law,” the application reads.

In order to reinforce their argument, the FBI presented various claims from the dossier as facts, such as “The FBI learned that Page met with at least two Russian officials” – when in fact that was simply another unverified claim from the dossier.

(Read More)

Crime

‘Pirate Attacks’ More Common In Caribbean

Published

6 years ago

May 26, 2018

Populist Wire Editorial Board

(Via Zerohedge)

Modern-day pirate attacks in the Caribbean and Latin America are out of control, according to a Wednesday report which found a 163% spike in pirate activity that led to the loss of $948,690 in stolen goods. The report, produced by nonprofit group Oceans Beyond Piracy, found that 59% of the attacks involved robberies on yachts.

“We have observed a significant increase in violent incidents and anchorage crime, particularly in the anchorages of Venezuela and the recent violent incidents off Suriname in the first part of this year,” says Maise Pigeon, the report’s lead author. “Pirate activity in 2017 clearly demonstrates that pirate groups retain their ability to organize and implement attacks against ships transiting the region.”

Pirates have hit waters off the coast of Suriname hard.

In April, at least a dozen fishermen from Guyana went missing or were feared dead following a pirate attack in the area.

Guyana President David Granger called the attack a “massacre.”

And a fishing boat captain was shot dead after his ship was attacked in May. The rest of his crew survived.

The buccaneers also attacked anchorages in Venezuela, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Colombia and St. Lucia. -Marketwatch

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