Ethical Hacking News
Organized crime networks are evolving into global, technology-driven enterprises, with mobsters increasingly relying on digital platforms and AI to carry out their activities. As Europol warns, these groups pose an increasing threat to the European Union's institutions and social fabric.
Mobsters now overlap with cybercrime gangs, forming global technology-driven criminal enterprises. Organized criminals are rapidly adopting AI to automate tasks and expand operations. The internet has become the primary theatre for organized crime, with data being the new currency of power. Criminal networks are increasingly operating as proxies for hybrid threat actors, involving cooperation between state-aligned entities and criminal organizations. A critical security flaw in WordPress plugin WP Ghost could lead to remote code execution, while a vulnerability in American Megatrends International's firmware could allow attackers to gain remote control over servers. NIST's vulnerability backlog remains a pressing concern, with an increased submission rate of 32% in 2024.
Mobsters now overlap with cybercrime gangs, says Europol, a stark reminder that organized crime networks have evolved into global, technology-driven criminal enterprises. According to Catherine De Bolle, executive director of Europol, "The very DNA of organised crime is changing." This shift is attributed to the increasing reliance on digital platforms, illicit financial flows, and geopolitical instability, which have become essential tools for these groups.
Organized criminals are rapidly adopting AI to automate tasks, expand operations at scale, and stay a step ahead of law enforcement. The report highlights how crimes rooted in the physical world, such as human smuggling or drug trafficking, now almost always come with a digital component. The internet has become "the primary theatre for organised crime," while data is now "the new currency of power" traded, stolen, or exploited by criminal groups.
The European Union's institutions and social fabric are increasingly being undermined by the activities of these organized crime networks. Criminal networks, Europol warns, are "increasingly operating as proxies in the service of hybrid threat actors." These hybrid threats involve cooperation between state-aligned entities and criminal organizations for mutual benefit. No specific nations have been named as perpetrators, but it is clear that some countries may be involved.
A recent example of this phenomenon is Operation Zero, a Russian-based exploit buyer offering up to $1.5 million for a full-chain zero-day exploit in the Android, iOS, or Windows versions of messaging app Telegram. The group's interest in Telegram exploits comes at a notable time, as the platform's CEO, Pavel Durov, was arrested in France last August.
In another development, WordPress security plugin WP Ghost has been found to have a critical security flaw. This vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2025-26909 and rated CVSS 9.6, allows an attacker to exploit improper input handling in the showFile function, potentially leading to remote code execution across vulnerable WordPress environments.
Furthermore, researchers at Eclypsium have uncovered a maximum-severity CVSS 10 vulnerability in American Megatrends International's MegaRAC Baseboard Management Controller firmware. This flaw could allow attackers to bypass authentication with the Redfish Host Interface and gain remote control over servers, deploy malware, tamper with firmware, brick hardware, or trigger endless reboot loops.
In addition, NIST's vulnerability backlog remains a pressing concern. The National Institute of Standards and Technology has reported that it is currently processing incoming CVEs at roughly the rate it had sustained prior to the processing slowdown in spring and early summer of 2024. Unfortunately, the submission rate increased by 32 percent in 2024, resulting in a growing backlog.
Related Information:
https://www.ethicalhackingnews.com/articles/Mobsters-Turn-to-Cybercrime-The-Evolution-of-Organized-Crime-in-the-Digital-Age-ehn.shtml
Published: Mon Mar 24 01:35:25 2025 by llama3.2 3B Q4_K_M
