Millions of dollars in Bitcoin ransom seized from Colonial Pipeline hackers

Published

3 years ago

June 7, 2021

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Millions of dollars in Bitcoin paid to hackers after the Colonial Pipeline cyber attack have been recovered by the US government.

The attack prompted the shutdown of the east coast fuel pipeline last month and a $4.4m (£3.1m) payment was made to Russia-based DarkSide attackers.

Officials confirmed on Monday that 63.7 bitcoins, valued at approximately $2.3m (£1.62m), had now been recovered.

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said: “DarkSide and its affiliates have been digitally stalking US companies for the better part of last year and indiscriminately attacking victims that include key players in this nation’s infrastructure.

“Today we turned the tables on DarkSide by going after the entire eco-system that fuels ransomware and digital extortion including criminal proceeds in the form of digital currency.

“We will continue to use all of our tools and resources to increase the costs and consequences of ransomware attacks.”

Ms Monaco said it was the first operation by the recently created ransomware and digital extortion task force.

According to an affidavit on Monday, the FBI had obtained a private key to unlock the hackers’ Bitcoin wallet

Cyber criminals targeted the Colonial Pipeline – the most important in the US – on 7 May, and the temporary shutdown caused prices to spike to their highest level in nearly seven years.

North Carolina entered a state of emergency and some petrol stations in Virginia ran out of fuel.

People were urged not to panic buy but one video showed two drivers fighting while waiting to fill up.

The pipeline runs from Texas to New York, providing fuel for large parts of the US east coast.

US

Garth Brooks: Country music star accused of rape by former hair and make-up artist in lawsuit

Published

9 mins ago

October 4, 2024

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Garth Brooks: Country music star accused of rape by former hair and make-up artist in lawsuit

Country music star Garth Brooks has been accused of rape and sexual assault in a lawsuit filed by his former hair and make-up artist.

The woman, who does not use her name in the lawsuit and goes by Jane Roe, claims the assault occurred when she travelled from Nashville to Los Angeles with the singer, who was performing at the 2019 Grammy Awards.

The lawsuit – filed on Thursday in the Los Angeles Superior Court – alleges that despite Brooks normally travelling with an entourage, she and Brooks flew alone to the event on his private jet, and that he had booked just one hotel suite for both of them.

The woman claims that in the suite, he appeared naked in the doorway to the bedroom and raped her.

Representatives for Brooks have so far refused to comment.

The suit goes on to say Books proceeded as though nothing had happened and expected her to do his hair and make-up immediately after.

The woman further alleges that earlier in that same year, when she was at Brooks’ home, he had appeared naked in front of her, grabbed her hands, and put them on his genitals.

Pre-empting the allegations, Brooks allegedly filed a separate lawsuit in federal court in Mississippi last month in which both him and the woman were anonymous, Thursday’s lawsuit claims.

In court filings in that case, the plaintiff, named as John Doe, said the allegations were “wholly untrue”, and he first learned of them in July when she threatened to publicly sue him unless he gave her millions of dollars.

He asked a judge to stop the woman from “intentional infliction of emotional distress, defamation and false light invasion of privacy”.

The lawsuit by Jane Roe claims that on top of the two described incidents, Brooks exposed himself to her on many other occasions, talked about sexual fantasies with her and sent her explicit text messages.

She says she was forced to keep working for him because of financial hardship, which he knew about and took advantage of.

The unnamed claimant is believed to have also worked for Brooks’ wife, fellow country singer Trisha Yearwood, since 1999.

Oklahoma-born Brooks, 62, was the biggest star in country music of the 1990s, with hits including Friends In Low Places and The Thunder Rolls.

He remains the number one-selling individual artist in US history with 20 Billboard no 1 singles and 157 million record sales, according to his official website.

In March this year, he finished a residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas.

He married fellow country star Yearwood in 2005.

US

How does Donald Trump keep his support so strong?

Published

9 mins ago

October 4, 2024

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How does Donald Trump keep his support so strong?

Donald Trump has remade the American political landscape.

His is a remarkable if often controversial story from a real estate mogul to the White House.

But through it all, he has retained a strong base of support and transformed the Republican party into a vehicle for his brand of ‘America first’ politics.

What’s the secret to his success?

Personality

Trump is larger than life, and politics.

Sky News presenter Mark Austin, who has spent years following Trump, says he tries to “paint a picture” of a Washington elite that’s abandoned ordinary voters, and in contrast, he, the billionaire, is in touch with ordinary people and knows how to solve their problems.

“Whether it’s war, crime, immigration – he promises to sort it out quicker than anyone else,” Austin adds.

A self-identifying “strongman” his background outside of politics helps him sell himself as an outsider, unlike the likes of Joe Biden or the Clintons.

Economic insecurity

The number one issue in November’s election is the economy.

Inflation under the Biden administration was worse than under Trump, something he’s keen to point out regardless of the reasons behind it – COVID and the war in the Ukraine.

He promises to be the champion for ordinary Americans and trumpets the likes of his tariff war with China as proof of this.

Cultural anxieties

“You’re being overrun by criminals,” Trump said earlier this year, speaking about migrant crime.

While he is often fact-checked on such topics, he speaks directly to the fears people hold nonetheless.

One of the few policies Trump has consistently held throughout his political career is his famous border wall.

People trust him on the topic, trust he understands their fears, and trust he intends to do something about it.

America on the world stage

Make America Great Again – the phrase that is intrinsically linked to Trump’s identity.

But this slogan reveals a real fear for many Americans who vote for him, that the US is no longer top dog.

“It taps into a deep sense of humiliation,” Professor David Smith from the United States Study Centre says.

The US is still a political, economic, and cultural heavyweight but Americans don’t always perceive it that way.

US

Tyre Nichols death: Memphis police officers guilty of lesser federal charges – but still face state murder case

Published

2 hours ago

October 4, 2024

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Tyre Nichols death: Memphis police officers guilty of lesser federal charges - but still face state murder case

Three police officers have been convicted of witness tampering in the case of Tyre Nichols, who died after a prolonged beating during a traffic stop in Memphis.

However, they were cleared of civil rights charges that could have seen them locked up for life.

Mr Nichols, a father of one, died three days after officers punched, kicked and hit him with a baton in January 2023 as he was just yards from his home.

The 29-year-old’s death and a video of the incident – in which he cried out for his mother – sparked outrage in the US and led to police reform.

One of the officers, Demetrius Haley, was found guilty on two counts of “deprivation of rights resulting in bodily injury” – each of which carries a maximum 10-year sentence.

But the federal jury decided that offence did not result in Mr Nichols’ death, ruling out a possible life sentence.

Haley was also found guilty of two counts of witness tampering; while the other two officers, Tadarrius Bean and Justin Smith, were convicted on one witness tampering count but cleared of the civil rights charges.

Two other officers had already pleaded guilty and testified against their colleagues, saying Mr Nichols had posed no threat.

All five of the men – who are all black – have been fired, and are also charged with second-degree murder in a state case, where they have pleaded not guilty. That trial has not yet begun.

Prosecutor Kathryn Gilbert told the court on Wednesday the officers tried to cover up what they did and never gave Mr Nichols any medical help.

“This wasn’t one punch. It was over and over and over and over and over again, and not one of these defendants tried to stop it,” Ms Gilbert said.

The court heard the officers had lied about the force they used – to medics treating Mr Nichols, their superviser and in written reports.

Jurors also heard they had claimed they pulled over Mr Nichols for driving dangerously, saying he had sped up to beat a red light.

Video showed them beating him for three minutes after he broke free and ran off when he was initially stopped.

A post-mortem showed he died from being hit in the head and sustained brain injuries, cuts and bruises, with haemorrhages throughout his body.

Case fuelled America’s challenges with policing

This verdict was in the federal case against three of the officers. All five officers have been charged with second-degree murder in a separate state-level case which is yet to go to trial.

The jury was asked to consider four counts. Two of the four carried a lesser count as an option for the jury.

Count 1 – Deprivation of Rights under Colour of the Law: Excessive Force & Failure to Intervene. (Lesser involving bodily injury).

Count 2 – Deprivation of Rights under Colour of the Law: Deliberate Indifference. (Lesser involving bodily injury).

Count 3 – Conspiracy to Witness Tamper.

Count 4 – Obstruction of Justice: Witness Tampering.

Lawyers for the three former policemen built separate cases to defend their clients. They sought to sow doubt about the quality of the officers’ training and the varying degrees of culpability for their actions.

They also sought to divert blame to the other two of the five officers involved – Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills Jr – who both pleaded guilty to the same charges.

None of the three were found guilty of the first two counts but Demetrius Haley was convicted of the lesser counts for each.

The case fuelled America’s challenges with policing and institutional racism but the fact that the officers and victim were all black added a different dimension.

While some suggested it undermined the accusation of racism, others argued that it furthered the evidence of racism being deeply ingrained within American policing.

Diversity is often cited as the key solution to reduce racial bias within policing.

But according to research by the Harvard Law Review, it is the ingrained culture of a department and the race of the people being policed which are far more consequential in how events play out.

The Harvard research, conducted in 2018, concluded: “Whether or not police officers are policing their own, if the broader structural forces… remain the same, the racial dimensions of policing with which the nation continues to grapple are likely to persist”.

The defence tried to paint Mr Nichols as the main aggressor but one of the officers who agreed a plea deal, Emmitt Martin, testified he was not a threat and was “helpless” as they beat him.

He said the officers had understood afterwards “they weren’t going to tell on me, and I wasn’t going to tell on them”.

Desmond Mills, the other officer who took a plea deal, gave a tearful testimony saying he was sorry.

He said he participated in a cover-up hoping Mr Nichols would survive and the case would “blow over”.

The US Justice Department is conducting several reviews into Memphis police, including examining its use of force, how it conducts arrests, and whether it carries out racially discriminatory policing.

Mr Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells, is also suing the city and its police chief for $550m (£419m).

After Thursday’s verdict, she told reporters: “This has been a long journey for our family.

“I’m actually in shock right now because I still can’t believe all the stuff that’s going on. But we’re happy that they all have been convicted and they have been arrested.”