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Germany

'Cyber Heist' Using Malware To Siphon Up To Two Billion From Banks

Worldcrunch

THE VERGE (USA), GLOBAL SECURITY MAG (France), PC WELT, ZDNET (Germany)

A new generation of bank heist has arrived -- no balaclava or bags of banknotes necessary.

Security firms McAfee and Guardian Analytics have released a 20-page analysis on a global financial fraud ring entitled "Operation High Roller," a series of highly-organised cyber bank attacks, whose aim was to systematically siphon money from high-balance accounts.

According to the American technology news website The Verge, "criminals have been able to successfully bypass physical ‘chip and pin" authentication and use server-based fraudulent transactions to steal money from a number of accounts in Europe."

The fraud has apparently targeted transfers from at least 60 banks mainly in Italy, Germany and the Netherlands –although McAfee warns that it has found evidence of attacks against Latin American and North American financial institutions too.

The attackers used malicious softwares (aka "malwares') that automatically transfered money to so-called "mule accounts," which required not only experience in dealing with such programs, but also in-depth knowledge of banking transactions, says PC Welt (PC World German-language edition).

The German version of the business technology news website ZDNet reports that about 60 servers have been processing countless frauds over the past few months, resulting in attempts to steal between 60 million and two billion euros.

"Operation High Roller" targeted thousands of financial institutions of all sizes, ranging from small credit unions to regional and international banks, and involved small --and thus less detectable-- automated transactions, the French-language website Global Security Mag reports.

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Green

Environmental Degradation, The  Dirty Secret Ahead Of Turkey’s Election

Election day is approaching in Turkey. Unemployment, runaway inflation and eroding rule of law are top of mind for many. But one subject isn't getting the attention it deserves: the environment.

Photo of a man in a burnt forest in Turkey.

Post-fire rehabilitation of the forests in the Icmeler region of Marmaris, Mugla in Turkey, which burned down in the big wildfire in 2021.

Tolga Ildun/Zuma
İrfan Donat

ISTANBUL — A recent report from the Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion (TEMA) paints a grim picture of the country's environmental situation, which is getting worse across the board.

Soil is extremely fragile in Turkey, with 78.7% of the country at risk of severe to moderate desertification, mostly due to erosion, which costs Turkey 642 million tons of fertile soil annually. Erosion effects 39% of agricultural land and 54% of pasture land. Erosion of the most fertile top layers pushes farmers to use more fertilizer, TEMA says, which can in turn threaten food safety.

Nearly all of Turkey's food is grown in the country, but agricultural areas have shrunk to 23.1 million hectares in 2022, down from 27.5 in 1992 — a loss of almost 20%.

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