Plus: Russian Cybercriminals Strike Heart of US Federal Agencies in Brazen Global Cyberattack...
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6/16/23

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Happy Friday! It’s June 16, and we’re tracking today’s top stories: Brazen migrant smugglers offer services through TikTok, Applied Materials accuses China rival of shameless IP theft, France targets Binance in money laundering investigation, U.S. government agencies hit in massive cyberattack, and more.

 

Plus, check out our new section featuring policy insights and alerts from top law firms…

Featured Story

 

🎯Brazen migrant smugglers offer services through TikTok, with videos promoting $13B industry. The cartel-linked human smugglers, known as coyotes, post high-quality promo videos showing them escorting migrants across rivers and customers smiling inside secret “stash houses” once purportedly over the border. NY Post 

 

Top Stories

 

🔸Top US Chip Gear Maker Accuses China Rival of 14-Month Spy Spree. Applied Materials Inc. is suing a Chinese-owned rival over efforts to steal some of its most valuable secrets, including an orchestrated employee-poaching spree and surreptitious transfers of semiconductor equipment designs. Bloomberg

 

🔸Binance Under Investigation in France for 'Aggravated' Money Laundering. Binance is suspected of illegally providing digital asset services to local customers, and implementing poor money laundering checks. CoinDesk

 

🔸US government agencies hit in global cyberattack. Clop, the ransomware gang allegedly responsible, is known to demand multimillion-dollar ransoms. But no ransom demands have been made of federal agencies. CNN

 

🔸Treasury Sanctions Mexico-based Transnational Human Smuggling Organization. “In close coordination with our law enforcement colleagues and Mexican partners, today’s designation of Ofelia Hernandez Salas and her criminal enterprise aims to disrupt the group’s global operations.” U.S. Treasury Department

 

🔸Russia Pays Sakhalin Dividends In Yuan. Last year, Russia announced it will no longer accept the American currency as payment for its energy commodities but will instead switch to Chinese and Emirati currencies. Oil Price

 

🔸US sanctions North Korean couple accused of helping to procure equipment for ballistic missiles. Treasury says Choe Chol Min worked with North Korean weapons trading officials to buy equipment for Iranian customers. AP

 

🔸‘Lottery lawyer’ who stole $107M from winners for yachts, vacations gets 13 years for mobbed-up scheme. Kurland — a lawyer earning roughly $500,000 annually — targeted jackpot-winning clients starting in 2018, clinching a $1.5 billion Mega Millions winner, a $245 million Powerball winner and a $150 million jackpot winner. NY Post

 

🔸Chinese spies breached hundreds of public, private networks. Word of the breach arrived with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken departing for China this weekend as part of the Biden administration’s push to repair deteriorating ties between Washington and Beijing. AP

 

🔸Arrests made in thefts of Yogi Berra World Series rings, Roger Maris MVP trophy. Federal authorities announced charges against a ring of nine people for thefts of millions of dollars’ worth of paintings, sports memorabilia and other valuables including World Series rings belonging to baseball legend Yogi Berra. ESPN

 

🔸Mining Pools Are the New Mixers For Cybercriminals. Although funds always came to the exchange via intermediary wallets, Chainalysis found instances in which the wallet receiving ransomware proceeds sent funds directly to the mining pool wallet, which then sent the coins to the exchange. CoinDesk

IN THE NEWS

China

 

🌎 How a Chip Guru Left South Korea and Wound Up Accused of Leaking Tech to China WSJ

 

🌎  Top EU official urges more countries to ban China’s Huawei, ZTE from 5G networks CNBC

 

🌎  China’s R&F property tycoon Zhang Li agrees to US extradition in California bribery case Bloomberg

 

🌎  Countries push back against US’s anti-China tech policy Politico

Russia

 

🌎 Orbán still vetoing EU's Russia sanctions over bank insult EU Observer

 

🌎 20-Year-Old Russian LockBit Ransomware Affiliate Arrested in Arizona Hacker News

 

🌎 Inside ex-Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich's secret new life in Istanbul Daily Mail

Cyber & Crypto

 

🌎 Bitcoin in Cuba: Why some Cubans are adopting BTC to escape ‘The Matrix’ Cointelegraph

 

🌎 CISA Order Highlights Persistent Risk at Network Edge Krebs on Security

 

🌎 US State Department identifies ‘rapidly growing and troubling trend’ of forced labor linked to cyber scams CNN

 

🌎 Abra Accused in Texas of Securities Fraud, Misleading Investors Bloomberg

Corruption & Financial Crime

 

🌎 How did Europe help Syria become a bigger drug dealer than Mexico’s cartels? Euro News

 

🌎 Top Energy Committee Republican calls for ethics investigation of Energy secretary The Hill

 

🌎 Mexican politician Denisse Ahumada arrested in Texas after 93 pounds of cocaine found in her car CBS News

Policy Insights & Alerts

 

📕 A Guide to US, UK and EU Sanctions and Export Controls on Russia and Belarus Debevoise & Plimpton

 

📕 U.S. House of Representatives Presses FinCEN on Status of CTA Roll-Out Ballard Spahr

 

📕 Bank-Fintech Partnerships Update: Banking Agencies Finalize Key Risk Management Guidance Jenner & Block

 

📕 Enhanced Global Russian Sanctions and Export Controls to Counter Circumvention Wilmer Hale

"If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of payments." --Earl Wilson

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