Nationalist Candidate Backs Crypto in Tight Polish Presidential Race
Poland's nationalist candidate Karol Nawrocki has pledged to support the cryptocurrency industry if he wins a tightly-contested presidential election on Sunday.
Speaking in a short video posted on X, Nawrocki said that he will reject any regulations aimed at curbing the 'freedom of investing.' The candidate, backed by the opposition Law & Justice party, admitted that he doesn't invest in digital currencies.
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News24
an hour ago
- News24
SA shares enjoy best May since 2013
• For more financial news, go to the News24 Business front page. South Africa's benchmark stock index is heading for its best month in almost a year, with a helping hand from China's most valuable company. The FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index is up more than 7% in dollar terms in May, on track for its biggest monthly gain since June last year and its best May performance since 2013. It has outperformed emerging-market peers as well as the S&P 500 and the Stoxx Europe 600. The largest contributor to the rally has been tech investor Naspers, which soared after China's Tencent in which it owns a stake, reported a faster-than-anticipated 13% rise in sales. Naspers, which accounts for more than 12% of the index, contributed one fifth of the monthly gain in index points, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That's almost three times as much as any of the next three stocks, which include two platinum miners and Prosus - which holds Naspers' stake in Tencent. Stars align Whether the rally continues will depend on the South African coalition government's commitment to push through economic reforms, metal prices and the 'sell America' trade that is driving investment to developing nations, said Peter Takaendesa, head of equities at Mergence Investment Managers. 'If a few stars align such as continued fund flows toward emerging markets, and structural reforms in South Africa pick up some pace at the same time with a continued broader recovery in global commodity prices, then our market could continue to push higher,' Takaendesa said. Naspers has climbed more than 5% this month on investor optimism that Tencent will weather the challenging economic outlook in the coming months. The WeChat operator's sales rose to 180.02 billion yuan (R450 billion) in the March quarter, as it benefited from the Chinese tech comeback triggered by DeepSeek. Platinum producers Sibanye Stillwater, Northam Platinum and Impala Platinum, were also among the top performers as the metal rose to a two-year high. Domestic-facing sectors such as retailers and banks, however, underperformed as political uncertainty damped consumer confidence and the outlook for the economy soured, Takaendesa said. South Africa's central bank resumed its easing cycle on Thursday to offer support to the stuttering economy as inflation remains benign. The monetary policy committee cut the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 7.25%, the lowest in more than two years, while downgrading its forecasts for economic growth. The cut will provide support for some sectors such as retailers, Unum Capital analyst Lester Davids said. The All Share Index declined 0.4% in Johannesburg around 15:00 local time.
WIRED
an hour ago
- WIRED
Cops in Germany Claim They've ID'd the Mysterious Trickbot Ransomware Kingpin
Matt Burgess Lily Hay Newman May 30, 2025 9:22 AM The elusive boss of the Trickbot and Conti cybercriminal groups has been known only as 'Stern.' Now, German law enforcement has published his alleged identity—and it's a familiar face. Photograph:For years, members of the Russian cybercrime cartel Trickbot unleashed a relentless hacking spree on the world. The group attacked thousands of victims, including businesses, schools, and hospitals. 'Fuck clinics in the usa this week,' one member wrote in internal Trickbot messages in 2020 about a list of 428 hospitals to target. Orchestrated by an enigmatic leader using the online moniker 'Stern,' the group of around 100 cybercriminals stole hundreds of millions of dollars over the course of roughly six years. Despite a wave of law enforcement disruptions and a damaging leak of more than 60,000 internal chat messages from Trickbot and the closely associated counterpart group Conti, the identity of Stern has remained a mystery. Last week, though, Germany's federal police agency, the Bundeskriminalamt or BKA, and local prosecutors alleged that Stern's real-world name is Vitaly Nikolaevich Kovalev, a 36-year-old, 5'11' Russian man who cops believe is in his home country and thus shielded from potential extradition. A recently issued Interpol red notice says that Kovalev is wanted by Germany for allegedly being the 'ringleader' of a 'criminal organisation.' 'Stern's naming is a significant event that bridges gaps in our understanding of Trickbot—one of the most notorious transnational cybercriminal groups to ever exist,' says Alexander Leslie, a threat intelligence analyst at the security firm Recorded Future. 'As Trickbot's 'big boss' and one of the most noteworthy figures in the Russian cybercriminal underground, Stern remained an elusive character, and his real name was taboo for years.' Stern has notably seemed to be absent from multiple rounds of Western sanctions and indictments in recent years calling out alleged Trickbot and Conti members. Leslie and other researchers have long speculated to WIRED that global law enforcement may have strategically withheld Stern's alleged identity as part of ongoing investigations. Kovalev is suspected of being the 'founder' of Trickbot and allegedly used the Stern moniker, the BKA said in an online announcement. 'It has long been assumed, based on numerous indications, that 'stern' is in fact 'Kovalev',' a BKA spokesperson says in written responses to questions from WIRED. They add that, 'The investigating authorities involved in Operation Endgame were only able to identify the actor stern as 'Kovalev' during their investigation this year,' referring to a multi-year international effort to identify and disrupt cybercriminal infrastructure, known as Operation Endgame. The BKA spokesperson also notes in written statements to WIRED that information obtained through a 2023 investigation into the Qakbot malware as well as analysis of the leaked Trickbot and Conti chats from 2022 were 'helpful' in making the attribution. They added, too, that the 'assessment is also shared by international partners.' The German announcement is the first time that officials from any government have publicly alleged an identity for a suspect behind the Stern moniker. As part of Operation Endgame, BKA's Stern attribution inherently comes in the context of a multinational law enforcement collaboration. But unlike in other Trickbot and Conti-related attributions, other countries have not publicly concurred with BKA's Stern identification thus far. Europol, the US Department of Justice, the US Treasury, and the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office did not immediately respond to WIRED's requests for comment. Several cybersecurity researchers who have tracked Trickbot extensively tell WIRED they were unaware of the announcement. An anonymous account on the social media platform X recently claimed that Kovalev used the Stern handle and published alleged details about him. WIRED messaged multiple accounts that supposedly belong to Kovalev, according to the X account and a database of hacked and leaked records compiled by District 4 Labs but received no response. Meanwhile, Kovalev's name and face may already be surprisingly familiar to those who have been following recent Trickbot revelations. This is because Kovalev was jointly sanctioned by the United States and United Kingdom in early 2023 for his alleged involvement as a senior member in Trickbot. He was also charged in the US at the time with hacking linked to bank fraud allegedly committed in 2010. The US added him to its most wanted list. In all of this activity, though, the US and UK linked Kovalev to the online handles 'ben' and 'Bentley.' The 2023 sanctions did not mention a connection to the Stern handle. And, in fact, Kovalev's 2023 indictment was mainly noteworthy because his use of 'Bentley' as a handle was determined to be 'historic' and distinct from that of another key Trickbot member who also went by 'Bentley.' The Trickbot ransomware group first emerged around 2016, after its members moved from the Dyre malware that was disrupted by Russian authorities. Over the course of its lifespan, the Trickbot group—which used its namesake malware, alongside other ransomware variants such as Ryuk, IcedID, and Diavol—increasingly overlapped in operations and personnel with the Conti gang. In early 2022, Conti published a statement backing Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and a cybersecurity researcher who had infiltrated the groups leaked more than 60,000 messages from Trickbot and Conti members, revealing a huge trove of information about their day-to-day operations and structure. Stern acted like a 'CEO' of the Trickbot and Conti groups and ran them like a legitimate company, leaked chat messages analyzed by WIRED and security researchers show. 'Trickbot set the mold for the modern 'as-a-service' cybercriminal business model that was adopted by countless groups that followed,' Recorded Future's Leslie says. 'While there were certainly organized groups that preceded Trickbot, Stern oversaw a period of Russian cybercrime that was characterized by a high level of professionalization. This trend continues today, is reproduced worldwide, and is visible in most active groups on the dark web.' Stern's eminence within Russian cybercrime has been widely documented. The cryptocurrency tracing firm Chainalysis does not publicly name cybercriminal actors and declined to comment on BKA's identification, but the company emphasized that the Stern persona alone is one of the all-time most profitable ransomware actors it tracks. 'The investigation revealed that stern generated significant revenues from illegal activities, in particular in connection with ransomware,' the BKA spokesperson tells WIRED. Stern 'surrounds himself with very technical people, many of which he claims to have sometimes decades of experience, and he's willing to delegate substantial tasks to these experienced people whom he trusts,' says Keith Jarvis, a senior security researcher at cybersecurity firm Sophos' Counter Threat Unit. 'I think he's always probably lived in that organizational role.' Increasing evidence in recent years has indicated that Stern has at least some loose connections to Russia's intelligence apparatus, including its main security agency, the Federal Security Service (FSB). The Stern handle mentioned setting up an office for 'government topics' in July 2020, while researchers have seen other members of the Trickbot group say that Stern is likely the 'the link between us and the ranks/head of department type at FSB.' Stern's consistent presence was a significant contributor to Trickbot and Conti's effectiveness—as was the entity's ability to maintain strong operational security and remain hidden. As Sophos' Jarvis put it, 'I have no thoughts on the attribution as I've never heard a compelling story about Stern's identity from anyone prior to this announcement.'
The Hill
2 hours ago
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How corporate America is taking a stand against Trump
In President Trump's first 100 days, institutions from big law firms and Ivy League schools to major drug manufacturers and government contractors have been quick to acquiesce to a range of demands from the administration. Unfortunately, Trump's ire does not stop at our borders, and his demands and actions are increasingly isolating America from the rest of the world. The private sector should not be short-sighted about this. U.S. companies still have the responsibility and opportunity to stand up for American ideals that support economic growth and democracy around the world. The winds of our politics may change, but the relationships and trust of our allies may not be so fickle. Damage today could take decades to rebuild. Happily, a few companies still understand this. Founded 50 years ago by high school friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen, there are few companies as American as Microsoft. Most notably, it has been taking bold steps to challenge Trump. Although the company has many faults — from its constant cybersecurity issues to restrictive licensing practices — it has acted in many ways against the Trump administration. Microsoft's pro-Europe stance took off last month when its president, Brad Smith, announced new European digital commitments to shield European data from the long arm of the Trump administration, even promising to pursue litigation against Trump's Justice Department if needed 'to protect the rights of our customers and other stakeholders.' As the relationship between the United States and Europe has otherwise grown more tense, Microsoft's latest actions have shown that U.S. companies can play a substantial role in preserving the decades-long relationships that underpin Western democracy. For this, it is to be commended. Unlike other major tech companies, Microsoft has resisted Trump's vision for America. This started in the first days of the second Trump term, with Microsoft leaders opting to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos rather than Trump's inauguration. Smith and Satya Nadella may have made the obligatory pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago like their peers to meet with Trump and Vance before the inauguration, but when asked about their absence, Smith said the company had 'better places' to be. While the company has continuously supported increasing access to 'American AI' and was optimistic about its AI opportunities once Trump was back in office, Microsoft has struck a delicate balance between being supportive of the administration in some areas and not conceding on American values. Smith said in an interview in March that 'we support this administration in many, many areas' but that he's 'probably more worried right now about the business climate in Washington than at any point over the last 30 years.' This is admirable, considering how much Microsoft stands to lose. The company has an 85 percent share of the U.S. public sector's productivity software market and billions of dollars in federal contracts. It is also reportedly under the microscope of a wide-ranging Federal Trade Commission antitrust investigation scrutinizing its software licensing practices and cloud computing business. Other companies would have turned their backs on Europe to curry favor with Trump in an attempt to make their risks go away, yet Microsoft has not. To be clear, Microsoft is not alone. Other notable American institutions are also starting to stand up to the administration. Harvard, for instance, refused Trump's demands and has continued to challenge the administration's recent actions, including filing a lawsuit to halt the freezing of billions of dollars in government funds to the university. Top law firms Jenner and Block and WilmerHale have opposed Trump while some of their contemporaries are offering pro bono services to the administration worth millions — including one that Microsoft ditched as a result before hiring Jenner and Block. Several big corporations are also maintaining their DEI commitments and programs despite recent 'anti-woke' attacks from the White House, including Costco, Apple and Cisco, as well as Microsoft, which said 'diversity and inclusion work is more important than ever.' And after Trump threatened to take action against companies if they raised prices in response to his tariffs, Microsoft did it anyway by increasing the prices of Xbox consoles, controllers and certain games. Proctor and Gamble raised prices by 1 percent in their most recent quarter and announced their intent to sell new products at higher price points moving forward. When Trump was re-elected, many major American businesses were excited by the potential economic opportunities of a transparently quid-pro-quo administration. While some companies have benefited, others — like Meta and Amazon — have not. But there are higher stakes at hand than profit. Now is the time when we learn which institutions are willing to adhere to the principles that have defined America since its founding, as well as the relationships that defined the past century. Those are the ones that deserve our praise — not the institutions that bend the knee. Paul Rosenzweig served as deputy assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security. He is a professorial lecturer at The George Washington University Law School and senior fellow in the Tech, Law and Security Program at the American University, Washington College of Law. He advises technology companies on cyber and national security issues, including companies that compete with Microsoft.
