The Register: Mobsters now overlap with cybercrime gangs and use AI for evil, Europol warns

Mar 24, 2025

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Source URL: https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/24/modern_mafiosos_wield_ai/
Source: The Register
Title: Mobsters now overlap with cybercrime gangs and use AI for evil, Europol warns

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Infosec In Brief Organized crime networks are now reliant on digital tech for most of their activities according to Europol, the European agency that fights international crime on the continent and beyond.…

AI Summary and Description: Yes

Summary: The text discusses the evolving landscape of organized crime, emphasizing the increasing dependence of criminal networks on technology and particularly AI. This shift presents new challenges for security and law enforcement, and the report highlights various vulnerabilities in popular software and hardware systems, illustrating the ongoing threats and the need for enhanced security measures.

Detailed Description:
The content provides valuable insights into the intersection of organized crime and technology, specifically highlighting how criminal elements are adapting to digital platforms and AI tools. Here are the major points of interest:

– **Impact of Technology on Organized Crime**:
– Europol’s report suggests that organized crime networks have evolved into sophisticated technology-driven enterprises.
– Criminals are using AI to automate operations, thus enhancing their scale and making detection by law enforcement more challenging.
– The internet is characterized as the primary battleground for organized crime, with data being the new ‘currency of power’.

– **Collaborations with Hybrid Threat Actors**:
– Criminal networks are reportedly cooperating with hybrid threats (state-aligned entities) to leverage mutual resources and expertise.
– This partnership allows criminals access to advanced tools that can be used to enhance their operations.

– **Security Vulnerabilities**:
– The report transitions into details about recent critical vulnerabilities across various software and hardware with implications for security. Highlights include:
– **Google Chrome**: A serious flaw (CVE-2025-2476) in its image search tool that could lead to remote hijacking by attackers.
– **MegaRAC BMC Firmware**: A maximum-severity vulnerability (CVE-2024-54085) that could grant an attacker remote control of servers.
– **WP Ghost Plugin**: A critical flaw (CVE-2025-26909) in WordPress exposes a high number of active installations to potential exploitation unless patched.

– **NIST’s Vulnerability Backlog**:
– The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) faces growing backlogs in processing vulnerabilities for its database, highlighting a systemic issue in vulnerability management.
– NIST’s push to integrate machine learning to automate processing tasks reflects a broader need for innovation in security practices.

The analysis of these points is particularly salient for security professionals in the fields of cyber security, infrastructure, and compliance, as it emphasizes the need for robust security measures, awareness of evolving threat landscapes, and the integration of advanced technologies to counteract criminal uses of same.

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