Ethical Hacking News
Cybercrime has become a lucrative business for organized crime groups, with estimated losses exceeding billions of dollars worldwide. In this article, we explore the ongoing battle against cybercrime with Silent Push CEO Ken Bagnall. Learn how one firm is working to disrupt these sophisticated scams and the cat-and-mouse game that ensues between law enforcement and scammers.
Cybercrime has become a lucrative business for organized crime groups, with estimated losses exceeding billions of dollars worldwide. Silent Push uses its expertise to map out criminal networks, track digital footprints, and monitor technical connections to help law enforcement build cases against organizations. The company discovered a Philippines-based company, Funnull, providing computer infrastructure for hundreds of financial scams and collaborated with international law enforcement agencies on takedowns. Funnull was sanctioned by the US Treasury in May and linked to hundreds of thousands of domains by the FBI, resulting in an estimated $200 million in losses for US victims alone. The cat-and-mouse game between law enforcement and sophisticated scammers continues, with organized crime groups receiving tacit approval from governments in certain countries.
Cybercrime has become a lucrative business for organized crime groups, with estimated losses exceeding billions of dollars worldwide. The problem is complex, involving not only sophisticated scams but also tacit approval from governments in countries such as China, North Korea, and Russia. In this context, Silent Push CEO Ken Bagnall shares his insights on the ongoing battle against cybercrime.
According to Bagnall, Silent Push's mission is to disrupt and dismantle these organized crime groups that operate globally. The company uses its expertise to map out criminal networks, track their digital footprints, and monitor technical connections between IP addresses and domains. This allows law enforcement agencies to build cases against the organizations, eventually leading to seizures of servers or shutdowns.
The process began when a US financial services company approached Silent Push with a small problem: spoofing attacks on its trading app were allowing thieves to drain customer accounts. Initially, Silent Push focused on this specific threat, but soon realized that it was part of a much larger and more complex issue.
"We discovered many, many more branches of crime and money laundering," Bagnall explained. "It turned out to be Funnull, a Philippines-based company providing computer infrastructure for hundreds of financial scams." The firm began tracking Funnull in 2021, eventually collaborating with international law enforcement agencies on takedowns.
In May, the US Treasury sanctioned Funnull and its administrator, Liu Lizhi, a Chinese national. At the same time, the FBI issued an alert listing hundreds of thousands of domains linked to Funnull's infrastructure. The bureau said that Funnull was linked to the majority of virtual currency investment scam websites reported to the FBI.
The data stolen by these groups is staggering, with estimated losses exceeding $200 million for US victims alone. On average, each individual victim loses around $150,000. According to Bagnall, it's crucial that countries take a collective stance against this issue, as the scale of the crime infrastructure is enormous.
"This is like an unseen hole in the bucket of your GDP," he noted. "It has to be dealt with on a national level, because it is a national issue." Bagnall added that Silent Push works closely with international partners and governments to tackle these issues head-on.
However, there's another side to this story: the cat-and-mouse game between law enforcement and sophisticated scammers. Once takedowns occur, or even if the gang simply realizes that Silent Push analysts are watching, the threat hunters no longer have a way in.
"The crime groups become very aware of us," Bagnall explained. "They're watching what we're doing in terms of exposing infrastructure, and then they're constantly adjusting for us, rather than whatever they used to adjust for, so that leads to the ongoing cat-and-mouse game."
The challenge is exacerbated by the fact that these organizations often receive tacit approval from governments in countries such as China, North Korea, and Russia. "I would equate it to the period of history where you had people like Francis Drake who were privateers," Bagnall said. "We have a very similar situation generally with cybercrime globally."
In this cat-and-mouse game, cybersecurity firms like Silent Push play a crucial role in disrupting organized crime groups that exploit vulnerabilities worldwide. The stakes are high, and the outcome is uncertain.
Related Information:
https://www.ethicalhackingnews.com/articles/Silent-Push-CEO-Reveals-the-Ongoing-Battle-Against-Cybercrime-A-Cat-and-Mouse-Game-Between-Law-Enforcement-and-Sophisticated-Scammers-ehn.shtml
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2025/08/03/silent_push_ceo_talks_cybercrime/
https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/03/silent_push_ceo_talks_cybercrime/
https://www.silentpush.com/company/team/
Published: Sun Aug 3 06:41:28 2025 by llama3.2 3B Q4_K_M
