News snippets from around the world.

U.S. recovers $2.3 million in bitcoin paid in the Colonial Pipeline ransom

United States law enforcement officials said Monday they were able to recover $2.3 million in bitcoin paid to a criminal cybergroup involved in the crippling ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline. “Today we turned the tables on DarkSide,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said during a press briefing, adding that the money was seized via a court order. At the briefing, FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate said that agents were able to identify a virtual currency wallet that the DarkSide hackers used to collect payment from Colonial Pipeline.

https://www.cnbc.com/

Sport is the antidote for crime among youth of Khayelitsha

Cape Town — In an effort to keep young people away from crime, the Khayelitsha Community Policing Forum (CPF) held a sports against crime programme. The programme, which is in the form of sporting games, aims to mobilise communities, especially the youth, to claim sport as a developmental activity, thereby avoiding destructive activities such as drugs and crime.

https://www.iol.co.za/

World’s biggest meat producer JBS pays $11m cyber-crime ransom

A cyber-attack earlier this month that hit the supply chains of one of the world’s largest perishables shippers was ended after Brazilian meat producer JBS paid an $11m ransom in bitcoin to cyber criminals. According to The Guardian, the firm has an annual IT capex of around $200m and employs over 850 tech engineers. It was reportedly told by the FBI the hacking group was likely to be from Russia.

https://theloadstar.com/

Equatorial Guinea vicepresident must pay SA businessman R39.8m for illegal detention

A SA businessman has scored a R40m victory in court against the playboy vice-president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodorin Nguema Obiang. Daniel Janse van Rensburg has been embroiled in protracted litigation with Obiang over his detention in the central African country. Obiang is the son of the president. Janse van Rensburg was twice held in Equatorial Guinea’s notorious Black Beach prison despite being cleared of allegations of fraud and theft. His ordeal, which included ‘torture, inhumane and degrading treatment’, spanned 549 days of detention, 423 of which were at Black Beach.

https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/

Hawks hunt for international fugitive allegedly involved in R400m cocaine bust

The Hawks are on the hunt for an international fugitive suspected of smuggling cocaine worth R400 million into the country for global drug cartels. The Hawks and the South African Narcotics Enforcement Bureau (SANEB) have issued a warrant of arrest for Ahmad Isa, for his alleged involvement in the cocaine shipment which was discovered in Gauteng. Hawks spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Philani Nkwalas says that on 2 June, the Hawks – along with the FBI and the Australian Federal Police – nabbed Niel Pieter van Zyl, 39, on the N1 highway in Pretoria where he was found towing a 12-foot ski boat, wherein 800kg of pure compressed cocaine, with an estimated street value of R400 million, was found.

https://www.iol.co.za/

Ramaphosa places health minister Zweli Mkhize on special leave

President Cyril Ramaphosa has placed minister of health Dr Zweli Mkhize on special leave while the Special Investigative Unit (SIU) conducts investigations into allegations of corruption at the health department. Minister of tourism Mmamoloko KubayiNgubane will serve as acting minister of health until further notice. Mkhize has been under scrutiny after the health department awarded a R150 million contract to Digital Vibes, a company controlled by two of Mkhize’s former aides, to help communicate the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

https://businesstech.co.za/

O Kae Molao blitz nets over 700 suspects in Gauteng

More than 700 people were arrested during a weekend operation by the Gauteng Police for crimes including driving under the influence of alcohol and beaching the Disaster Management Act relating to Covid-19 lockdown regulations. Gauteng acting police commissioner Major General Tommy Mthombeni was joined by Gauteng head of community safety Faith Mazibuko, Ekurhuleni acting district commissioner Brigadier Thembeka Gwebushe and senior officers from various law enforcement agencies as he led operation “O Kae Molao” (where is the law) in Ivory Park in the Ekurhuleni municipality.

https://www.iol.co.za/

Treasury warns of municipal governance failures

The National Treasury has raised concern at the financial practices of the country’s municipalities, warning that their information was not credible as a large number did not properly use the set systems for financial reporting to control wasteful expenditure and fraud and corruption. The Treasury said in its local government revenue and expenditure report for the third quarter of the 2020/21 financial year this week that most municipalities were not budgeting, transacting and reporting directly in or from their core financial systems.

https://www.iol.co.za/

Gauteng at the epicentre of South Africa’s third wave of Covid-19 infections

Gauteng is at the epicentre of South Africa’s third wave of Covid-19 infections, with hospitals warning of diminishing bed capacity as active cases escalate. While the provincial health department assures that the situation is under control, private hospitals say that they are running out of space. The country recorded 37,240 new cases over the weekend (Friday to Sunday), almost two thirds of which were in Gauteng. Daily infections in the province have surpassed the numbers seen in the first and second waves. People in the province have been urged to act as if they are in a tighter lockdown than is currently set nationally, to prevent further spread of infection.

https://businesstech.co.za/

Contractors at the mercy of government and conmen

Late payments and demands for protection fees lead to abandoned projects. Delays in the payment of contractors involved in the construction of government housing projects are a major cause of stalling such projects, according to the Black Business Council. Gregory Mofokeng, CEO of the BBC’s Built Environment unit, told the Sowetan that housing construction has less hurdles and is easier than building a mall, a hospital or a 50-storey building...

https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/

New police vehicles a big boost in fight against crime

The new police vehicles handed over to the police for operational duties in the Western Cape on Thursday, were widely welcomed. More than 50 vehicles were handed over by the provincial acting commissioner of police Major-General Thembisile Patekile as part of the province’s visible policing initiative, to increase police presence. He said the vehicles would be spread across the province to help the fight against crime and some would be used in the incoming and outgoing routes to the province.

https://www.iol.co.za/

Midrand police appeal for informers to help combat crime

Midrand Constable Tshwarelo Eliot Mabulane confirmed that there is money to be paid out to individuals who share valuable information with police which could lead to the arrest and conviction of suspects. Mabulane added that informers have been paid up to R50 000 for providing information that led to convictions. For further enquiries, contact SAPS Midrand Corporate Communication Services on 079 877 6484 or 011 347 1600.

https://midrandreporter.co.za/

Police Scotland launches cyber-enabled crime team in north east

Police Scotland has launched a new team in the north east of Scotland to help tackle cyber-enabled crimes. Based in Aberdeen, the ‘cyber-enabled crime team’ will work alongside national units within Police Scotland to help develop specialist knowledge locally, enhance investigations and develop preventative strategies to help keep our communities safe. Last year the force launched its Cyber Strategy 2020: Keeping people safe in the digital world which sets out its plan to tackle the threat, risk and harm from digitally-enabled crimes, particularly online child sexual abuse, fraud and the sharing of indecent images. In recent years Police Scotland has recorded an increase in cyber-dependent and cyberenabled offences. In June 2020, the single force recorded the highest number of online child sexual abuse crimes on record.

https://www.scottishlegal.com/

Without a clear reduction strategy, violent crime is expected to spiral across South Africa

First published by ISS Today

Despite a year of lockdown restrictions, which saw fewer offences being committed, crime and violence levels in South Africa are again rising. Most crime, but mainly that which is violent and organised, looks likely to worsen if there are no fundamental improvements in policing. An analysis of police data shows that in March 2021 – the most recent month for which crime data is available – overall violent crime levels matched those in previous years. For some categories such as murder, they were higher. This is bad news given that between April and June 2020, violent crime dropped by 37% compared to the previous year. This decrease was probably due to the severe restrictions on movement and economic activity under Covid-19 lockdowns. However, as the controls were eased, serious violent crime began to rise. This trend was predicted by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in June 2020 because the factors that drive crime in South Africa weren’t being addressed.

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/

Court dismisses Riah Phiyega’s attempt to overturn findings of Marikana Commission

Almost 10 years after the massacre of 34 striking miners by police at Marikana in 2012, the Pretoria High Court has dismissed, with costs, disgraced former national commissioner of police Riah Phiyega’s attempt to have the damning findings of the Farlam Commission of Inquiry overturned.

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/

Powership company trails corruption claims in its wake

The Turkish company that won a controversial bid to plug the hole in Eskom’s electricity supply has been dogged by corruption accusations abroad.

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/

Once Africa’s promise, Nigeria is heaving under crime, few jobs

Policy missteps, entrenched corruption and an over-reliance on oil have pushed the country’s economy to the brink.

https://www.aljazeera.com/

Hundreds arrested around the world in huge global organized crime sting

The FBI and Australian officials developed an encrypted device company which eventually gave them access to hundreds of criminal networks. A massive international sting involving 16 countries, including the U.S., has netted more than 800 suspects, the seizure of 8 tons of cocaine and more than $48 million, officials said Tuesday. The FBI and Australian law enforcement developed and operated an encrypted device company, called ANOM, which was then used to gain access to organized crime networks in more than 100 countries, according to Europol, the law enforcement agency of the European Union.

https://www.nbcnews.com/

Inside the growing movement to make ecocide an international crime

Lawyers will take a major step this month toward putting environmental destruction on the same level as war crimes and genocide. Over roughly a decade, starting in the early 1960s, the United States military sprayed an estimated 19 million gallons of herbicides, including the notorious Agent Orange, in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. The resulting devastation to the environment was so severe that scientists and activists began to use a new word to describe it: ecocide. More recently the term has gained popularity as a way to describe the most egregious cases of environmental destruction. And now a movement to establish ecocide as an official international crime is also building global momentum. Already the European Parliament and political leaders in numerous countries, including France, Belgium, Finland, Spain and Canada, have expressed varying levels of support for the idea.

https://www.audubon.org/

Fake Darkside group threatens companies, Darkside affiliate group hits security camera maker, help from Google for software developers and more

Is there no honour among thieves? I ask that because some person or group is emailing organisations claiming to be the Darkside ransomware group and have copied their data. That’s according to Trend Micro, which says that energy and food industries in several countries, including Canada and the US, have recently received these threatening emails. The threat actor claims that they have successfully hacked the victim’s computer network and copied sensitive information. Those documents will be publicly released unless a ransom of 100 bitcoins – which works out to about $4 million – is paid. Trend Micro doubts this is the real gang because Darkside usually shows proof of stolen data by publishing a few documents. Whoever is sending these email messages isn’t offering evidence that they have got the goods. Secondly, no victim’s data has been encrypted, which is another Darkside tactic. So this group is bluffing, so far. No one seems to have been fooled yet. The report notes that, as of 18 June, no one had paid any bitcoin into the attacker’s digital wallet. The lesson is: investigate before giving into a threat.

https://www.itworldcanada.com/

Cars, fries and data breaches; hackers get McDonalds and VW

McDonald’s in Asia and VW in North America have become the latest corporate victims of significant data breaches, an event that is becoming increasingly common across the global business landscape. McDonald’s suffered a data breach on its network, which exposed the personal information of some customers in South Korea, including names, contact details and addresses in South Korea. At the same time, hackers also stole some employee information in Taiwan. On the same day, Volkswagen also announced a similar data breach from one of its suppliers, which targeted data collected by a seller from 2014-2019, which wasn’t secured.