FBI Seizes Online Criminal Marketplace RAMP
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) seized the dark web and clear web sites of RAMP, a predominantly Russian-language online bazaar that billed itself as the only place ransomware was allowed, on Wednesday. According to Ars Technica, the agency took control of the RAMP domains in an effort to combat the growing threat of ransomware targeting critical infrastructure and organizations worldwide.
RAMP had been among the dwindling number of online crime forums operating with impunity, following the takedown of other forums such as XSS, whose leader was arrested last year by Europol, Ars Technica reported. The vacuum left by those takedowns made RAMP one of the leading places for online criminals to operate. Visits to both sites on Wednesday displayed pages indicating the FBI had taken control of the RAMP domains, which mirrored each other.
In other news, authorities in Asia were taking precautions against the spread of the Nipah virus after two cases were detected in India in late December, according to Sky News. Temperature screening has been set up by authorities in Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia. The Indian health ministry said in a statement on January 27 that the cases were in the eastern state of West.
Meanwhile, in Sicily, a landslide triggered by heavy rain caused the edge of the town of Niscemi to collapse, forcing the evacuation of more than 1,500 people. Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni visited the town on Wednesday, where dozens of houses were left teetering on the edge of a cliff after the ground beneath them collapsed, Sky News reported. Some structures were rendered "uninhabitable."
In Sweden, an amusement park was fined nearly €588,000 ($491,000) on Wednesday in connection with a 2023 rollercoaster derailment that left one passenger dead and nine others injured, Euronews reported. The tragedy occurred on June 25, 2023, on the Jetline ride at the Gröna Lund park. Witnesses described a chaotic scene as the front of the train appeared to jump off the tracks before coming to a stop, with one car tilted toward the ground. Three people were thrown off the rollercoaster.
Finally, according to a report from NPR, the Trump administration has quietly changed how the Department of Energy oversees the safety and security of nuclear power plants built on its properties. About a third of the rulebook has been axed, and several sections have been heavily revised, TechCrunch reported. Previous requirements, including those aimed at limiting groundwater and environmental contamination, are now suggestions, and worker protections have been weakened.
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