News
Short, sourced readings of developments in cybercrime, the Dark Web, OSINT and cyber-geopolitical risk, and news from Intellidark and its founder.
Cybercrime
FBI and CISA warn election officials of phishing and smishing
A public service announcement of 16 October 2026 warns that phishing and smishing campaigns target election officials, candidates and campaigns before the 2026 US midterms.
Source: FBI IC3
Cybercrime
Leaked chats show an extortion crew posing as IT staff at law firms
GuidePoint Security analyzed 5,692 leaked messages it attributes to Silent Ransom Group, a crew that phones staff as their own IT department and sends people on site.
Source: GuidePoint Security
Dark Web
UK sanctions Cryptomus, a payment hub for Russian cybercrime
Krebs on Security reports that the UK sanctioned the crypto payment platform Cryptomus on 8 October 2026, along with VexPay, TokenSpot and Tsunami Payments.
Source: Krebs on Security
Europe
Eurojust trains Western Balkan prosecutors on cross-border e-evidence
Two Eurojust projects, WBCJ and SIRIUS, held a workshop in Montenegro on 8 and 9 October 2026 on obtaining electronic evidence held by service providers abroad.
Source: Eurojust
Dark Web
FBI: FortiBleed access brokers now lock victims out of their firewalls
A joint FBI and US Secret Service advisory says the credential-harvesting campaign against Fortinet appliances has moved from selling access to deleting the owners' accounts.
Sources: FBI IC3 · SecurityWeek
Cybercrime
Ransomware: record 2,760 victims in Q3 2026 as payment rates fall
GuidePoint's GRIT team counts 112 active groups and a 75% year-on-year rise in claimed victims, while fewer organisations pay and those who do pay more.
Sources: GuidePoint Security · Business Wire via FinancialContent
Cybercrime
Europol: KillSec ransomware group disrupted, suspected leader is 16
Europol reported on 1 October 2026 three arrests and the seizure of KillSec's leak site, in an investigation into some 1,000 attacks attributed to the group.
Source: Europol
Europe
ENISA 2026: public administration absorbs a third of EU incidents
The EU agency's yearly assessment, covering 2025, finds ideologically driven DDoS behind most attacks on public bodies and names ransomware the most damaging threat in the short term.
Source: ENISA
Europe
EU Cyber Resilience Act: vulnerability reporting is now mandatory
From 11 September 2026, manufacturers of products with digital elements must report actively exploited vulnerabilities and severe incidents through ENISA's new Single Reporting Platform.
Sources: ENISA · European Commission
Counter-terrorism
Europol flags 4,340 URLs tied to 'The Com' extremist network
Referral action days in June and July 2026 targeted the online ecosystem of a loosely knit network of young offenders that Europol now treats as a global threat.
Sources: Europol · BankInfoSecurity
Counter-terrorism
TE-SAT 2026: fewer attacks in the EU, more arrests, younger suspects
Europol's terrorism report for 2025 counts 45 attacks and 486 arrests, and places online radicalisation, including of minors, at the centre of the threat.
Sources: Europol · eucrim
Cyber-geopolitics
Israel's cyber chief counts 4,800 hostile incidents in one month
Yossi Karadi, head of the Israel National Cyber Directorate, told Die Welt that Iranian-linked activity tripled year on year and that critical infrastructure has held so far.
Source: The Times of Israel (Reuters)
Contact