Latest news with #AngusKing
NBC News
2 days ago
- Business
- NBC News
Pro-Israel hackers attack Iran's largest crypto exchange, destroying $90 million
An anti-Iranian hacking group with possible ties to Israel announced an attack on one of Iran's largest cryptocurrency exchanges on Wednesday, destroying nearly $90 million and threatening to expose the platform's source code. A group known as Gonjeshke Darande, or 'Predatory Sparrow,' claimed the attack, making it the group's second operation in two days. On Tuesday the group claimed to have destroyed data at Iran's state-owned Bank Sepah amid the increasing hostilities and missile attacks between Israel and Iran. Wednesday's attack targeted Nobitex, one of Iran's largest cryptocurrency exchanges. The platform allegedly helps the Iranian government avoid sanctions and finance illicit operations around the world, the hackers claimed in a message posted to its social media channels early Wednesday. Nobitex's website was unavailable Wednesday. Messages sent to the company's support channel on Telegram were not returned. Gonjeshke Darande did not respond to requests for comment. Nobitex said in a post on X that it had pulled its website and app offline as it reviewed 'unauthorized access' to its systems. Gonjeshke Darande is an established hacking group with a history of sophisticated cyberattacks targeting Iran. A 2021 operation claimed by the group caused widespread gas station outages, while a 2022 attack targeting an Iranian steel mill caused a large fire and tangible, offline damage. Israel has never formally acknowledged that it is behind the group, although Israeli media has widely reported Gonjeshke Darande as 'Israel-linked.' Wednesday's attack started in the early hours of the morning when funds were moved to hacker-controlled wallets denouncing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to blockchain analysis firm TRM Labs, which pegged the total theft at about $90 million across multiple types of cryptocurrencies. The way the hacker-controlled wallets were created suggests the hackers would not be able to access the stolen money, meaning that the hackers 'effectively burned the funds in order to send Nobitex a political message,' blockchain analysis firm Elliptic said in a blog post. Elliptic's post shared evidence that Nobitex had sent and received funds to cryptocurrency wallets controlled by groups hostile to Israel, including Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hamas and Yemen's Houthis. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Angus King had raised concerns about Nobitex's role in enabling Iranian sanctions evasion in a May 2024 letter to top Biden administration officials, citing Reuters reporting from 2022. Andrew Fierman, head of national security intelligence with Chainalysis, confirmed in an email to Reuters that the value of the attack was roughly $90 million and that it was most likely geopolitically motivated, given that the money was burned. Chainalysis has 'previously seen IRGC-affiliated ransomware actors leveraging Nobitex to cash out proceeds, and other IRGC proxy groups leveraging the platform,' Fierman said.
NDTV
2 days ago
- Business
- NDTV
Iran Crypto Exchange Hit By Hackers, $90 Million Destroyed
An anti-Iranian hacking group with possible ties to Israel announced an attack on one of Iran's largest cryptocurrency exchanges on Wednesday, destroying nearly $90 million and threatening to expose the platform's source code. A group known as Gonjeshke Darande, or "Predatory Sparrow," claimed the attack, making it the group's second operation in two days. On Tuesday the group claimed to have destroyed data at Iran's state-owned Bank Sepah amid the increasing hostilities and missile attacks between Israel and Iran. Wednesday's attack targeted Nobitex, one of Iran's largest cryptocurrency exchanges. The platform allegedly helps the Iranian government avoid sanctions and finance illicit operations around the world, the hackers claimed in a message posted to its social media channels early Wednesday. Nobitex's website was unavailable Wednesday. Messages sent to the company's support channel on Telegram were not returned. Gonjeshke Darande did not respond to requests for comment. Nobitex said in a post on X that it had pulled its website and app offline as it reviewed "unauthorized access" to its systems. Gonjeshke Darande is an established hacking group with a history of sophisticated cyberattacks targeting Iran. A 2021 operation claimed by the group caused widespread gas station outages, while a 2022 attack targeting an Iranian steel mill caused a large fire and tangible, offline damage. Israel has never formally acknowledged that it is behind the group, although Israeli media has widely reported Gonjeshke Darande as "Israel-linked." Wednesday's attack started in the early hours of the morning when funds were moved to hacker-controlled wallets denouncing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to blockchain analysis firm TRM Labs, which pegged the total theft at about $90 million across multiple types of cryptocurrencies. The way the hacker-controlled wallets were created suggests the hackers would not be able to access the stolen money, meaning that the hackers "effectively burned the funds in order to send Nobitex a political message," blockchain analysis firm Elliptic said in a blog post. Elliptic's post shared evidence that Nobitex had sent and received funds to cryptocurrency wallets controlled by groups hostile to Israel, including Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hamas and Yemen's Houthis. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Angus King had raised concerns about Nobitex's role in enabling Iranian sanctions evasion in a May 2024 letter to top Biden administration officials, citing Reuters' reporting from 2022. Andrew Fierman, head of national security intelligence with Chainalysis, confirmed in an email to Reuters that the value of the attack was roughly $90 million and that it was likely geopolitically motivated, given that the money was burned. Chainalysis has "previously seen IRGC-affiliated ransomware actors leveraging Nobitex to cash out proceeds, and other IRGC proxy groups leveraging the platform," Fierman said.
Straits Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Iran crypto exchange hit by hackers, over $100m destroyed
TEHRAN - An anti-Iranian hacking group with possible ties to Israel announced an attack on one of Iran's largest cryptocurrency exchanges on June 18, destroying nearly US$90 million (S$115 million) and threatening to expose the platform's source code. A group known as Gonjeshke Darande, or 'Predatory Sparrow,' claimed the attack, making it the group's second operation in two days. On June 17, the group claimed to have destroyed data at Iran's state-owned Bank Sepah, amid the increasing hostilities and missile attacks between Israel and Iran. The June 18 attack targeted Nobitex, one of Iran's largest cryptocurrency exchanges. The platform allegedly helps the Iranian government avoid sanctions and finance illicit operations around the world, the hackers claimed in a message posted to its social media channels early on June 18. Nobitex's website was unavailable on June 18. Messages sent to the company's support channel on Telegram were not returned. The Gonjeshke Darande group did not respond to requests for comment. Nobitex said in a post on X that it had pulled its website and app offline as it reviewed 'unauthorised access' to its systems. Gonjeshke Darande is an established hacking group with a history of sophisticated cyberattacks targeting Iran. A 2021 operation claimed by the group caused widespread gas station outages, while a 2022 attack targeting an Iranian steel mill caused a large fire and tangible, offline damage. Israel has never formally acknowledged that it is behind the group, although Israeli media has widely reported Gonjeshke Darande as 'Israel-linked'. The June 18 attack started in the early hours of the morning when funds were moved to hacker-controlled wallets denouncing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to blockchain analysis firm TRM Labs, which pegged the total theft at about US$90 million across multiple types of cryptocurrencies. The way the hacker-controlled wallets were created suggests the hackers would not be able to access the stolen money, meaning that the hackers 'effectively burned the funds in order to send Nobitex a political message,' blockchain analysis firm Elliptic said in a blog post. Elliptic's post shared evidence that Nobitex had sent and received funds to cryptocurrency wallets controlled by groups hostile to Israel, including Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hamas and Yemen's Houthis. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Angus King had raised concerns about Nobitex's role in enabling Iranian sanctions evasion in a May 2024 letter to top Biden administration officials, citing Reuters' reporting from 2022. Mr Andrew Fierman, head of national security intelligence with Chainalysis, confirmed in an email to Reuters that the value of the attack was roughly US$90 million and that it was likely geopolitically motivated, given that the money was burned. Chainalysis has 'previously seen IRGC-affiliated ransomware actors leveraging Nobitex to cash out proceeds, and other IRGC proxy groups leveraging the platform,' Mr Fierman said. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Gulf Insider
3 days ago
- Business
- Gulf Insider
TV Networks Face Advertising Apocalypse After Trump Admin Mulls Pharma Restrictions
Last week independent Senators Bernie Sanders (VT) and Angus King (ME) introduced legislation that would ban pharmaceutical companies from promoting prescription drugs directly to consumers – including through television, radio, print, digital platforms, and social media. Today, Bloomberg reports that the Trump administration is now 'discussing policies that would make it harder and more expensive for pharmaceutical companies to advertise directly to patients.' Although the US is the only place, besides New Zealand, where pharma companies can directly advertise, banning pharma ads outright could make the administration vulnerable to lawsuits, so it's instead focusing on cutting down on the practice by adding legal and financial hurdles, according to people familiar with the plans who weren't authorized to speak publicly on the matter. The two policies the administration has focused in on would be to require greater disclosures of side effects of a drug within each ad — likely making broadcast ads much longer and prohibitively expensive — or removing the industry's ability to deduct direct-to-consumer advertising as a business expense for tax purposes, these people said. If this happens, it would mark a major victory for Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr., who says he believes Americans consume more drugs than people in other countries due to the ability of US drug companies to directly advertise to consumers. While running for president, Mr. Kennedy said he would issue an executive order removing pharmaceutical ads from television, citing overmedication and industry influence on news coverage. As we noted last week, the move would mark a sweeping shift in the U.S. advertising landscape, where pharmaceutical companies are among the largest spenders. Prescription drug brands accounted for roughly 13 percent of all ad spending on linear television in 2025, totaling approximately $2.18 billion so far this year, according to iSpotdata. In 2024, the industry spent $3.4 billion on traditional TV ads between January and August alone, according to ad-tracking data. Since 1997, when the Food and Drug Administration relaxed disclosure requirements for DTC ads, pharmaceutical companies have increasingly leaned on consumer advertising to drive demand. Under current rules, companies need only disclose a drug's 'most important' risks during commercials. The result has been a media environment saturated with pharmaceutical messaging. Drug ads made up 24.4 percent of all advertising minutes on evening news broadcasts across major networks — including ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, and NBC — through May of this year, according iSpot. On CBS Evening News , pharmaceutical companies appeared in more than 70 percent of commercial breaks, per Kantar Media.
The Independent
13-06-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Bernie Sanders and RFK Jr. find rare common ground over pharmaceutical ads on TV: ‘Sick and tired'
Wegovy, Farxiga, Vraylar ... the stream of drug ads on TV has gotten so pervasive that they're bringing together an unlikely pair of politicians to take them on. Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who caucuses with Democrats, is backing an effort pushed by Trump Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to ban pharmaceutical ads on TV. Sanders introduced the End Prescription Drug Ads Now Act alongside fellow independent Senator Angus King of Maine. They both caucus with the Democrats. If passed, the legislation would ban prescription drug ads from TV, radio, print, digital platforms, and social media. Those critical of the ads argue that they push the price of healthcare even higher, even as they don't help to improve the care patients receive. Supporters of the ads say that they can increase patients' understanding of the care available. However, most wealthy nations, apart from the U.S. and New Zealand, ban pharmaceutical ads, Newsweek noted. Kennedy has yet to comment on the legislation, which Sanders and King revealed on Thursday. They noted that the pharmaceutical industry spent more than $5 billion on TV ads last year, adding that many of the drugs advertised cost more in the U.S. than they do in countries where pharmaceutical ads are banned. "The American people are sick and tired of greedy pharmaceutical companies spending billions of dollars on absurd TV commercials pushing their outrageously expensive prescription drugs," said Sanders, calling the U.S. policy of allowing such ads an "international embarrassment." Anna Bahr, Sanders' director of communications, told Newsweek that the senator's office has contacted Republicans about joining the bill. She noted that the pharmaceutical and health insurance industries have lobbied to prevent the banning of such ads. Bahr told Newsweek: "Over the past 25 years, the drug companies have spent $8.5 billion on lobbying. Today, they have some 1,800 well-paid lobbyists in Washington, D.C. – including former leaders of the Republican and Democratic parties.' "Unbelievably, that is more than three lobbyists for every member of Congress. During that same period, they have provided over $700 million in campaign contributions. And they are equal opportunity contributors. They contribute heavily to both Republican and Democratic candidates,' she added. Kennedy and Elon Musk have both openly backed the idea of banning pharmaceutical ads. "Let's get President Trump back in the White House and me to DC so we can ban pharmaceutical advertising," he wrote on X on November 3 last year. As he campaigned for president, Kennedy said he would sign an executive order on his first day in office banning pharmaceutical ads. Also in November 2024, Musk wrote on X: "No advertising for pharma." "The widespread use of direct-to-consumer advertising by pharmaceutical companies drives up costs and doesn't necessarily make patients healthier,' King said in a statement. 'The End Prescription Drug Ads Now Act would prohibit direct-to-consumer advertising of pharmaceutical drugs to protect people. This bill is a great step to ensure that patients are getting the best information possible and from the right source: their providers and not biased advertisements." Several Democratic senators have signed on to co-sponsor the legislation, including Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, Vermont Sen. Peter Welch, Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, and Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, Sanders' office has stated.
