Change in the money-laundering game

It is next to impossible to locate the exact amount of money that's been laundered globally, conservative estimates suggest anywhere between $800 million to $2 trillion. This is just the tip of the iceberg. It's a crime that fuels some of the world's most dangerous criminal operations. 

It's also a tactic threat actors use to cover up their tracks and the profits they make from campaigns like large-scale ransomware attacks. The increase of cryptocurrency has also allowed cybercriminals to avoid getting caught. 

Financial enterprises, cryptocurrency companies, and other institutions have to pay fines for not being able to root out money laundering as regulators and government agencies worldwide try to crack down on this major challenge. 

The bad news is that as we move toward 2023, automation is going to make the situation only worse. We can expect a rise in money laundering as-a-service. The good news is that there are ways to fight this problem and collectively mitigate cyber criminals' ability to operationalize. 

The Crypto money laundering case

A go-to tactic by threat actors looking to advance in ranks is using 'money mules.' Money mules are individuals that help launder money- sometimes, unknowingly. They're often baited under promises of legitimate jobs and false pretenses, only to find later that the job is to help launder profits from cybercrime. 

Traditionally, money laundering was done through anonymous wire transfer services. These transfers can be tracked easily by law enforcement agencies and regulators. Nowadays, cybercriminals have shifted to using cryptocurrency. 

A lack of regulatory supervision along with anonymous transactions, make it the ideal platform for money laundering. A Chainalysis report discovered that cybercriminals laundered $8.6 billion in cryptocurrency in 2021. It's a 30% increase since that year. 

Rise in money-laundering recruitment campaigns

Making recruitment campaigns for money mules takes a lot of time and resources. To hide their true purpose, threat actors will sometimes go to great extents and build genuine-looking websites for fake companies and also post fake job openings to make the business look authentic. 

But machine learning (ML) and automation will make the process much easier and quicker. ML can effectively target potential recruits in less time. We can also expect a few manual campaigns replaced with automatic services that will allow cybercriminals to launder money through layers of crypto exchanges- it's going to make the process fast and difficult to track. It also means that it will be hard to recover stolen money. 

Together, these tactics make 'money-laundering-as-a-service' (MLaaS), and it's going to be another weapon in the cybercrime inventory. 

Combatting new money-laundering challenge

While threat actors will look for any means possible to launch an attack and launder money easily, it doesn't mean that we have to accept the situation as it is. 

The biggest factor in fighting the MLaaS is going to include public-private collaboration on a massive scale. Companies across the globe can share threat intelligence with each other, helping to build a secure defense. 

Dark Reading says, "it must be reiterated that cyber hygiene and education must be prioritized as well. No matter the type of organization you're in or the role you're in, this is essential for everyone. Everyone can play a key role in helping keep organizations safe from bad actors. This includes things like more digital literacy — and how to recognize a too-good-to-be-true job ad for the scam it really is. And of course, there's the concept of fighting fire with fire — as bad actors adopt more automation and ML-based approaches, so, too, must defenders."

The investigations for bankruptcy commenced last week when FTX experienced an $8 billion shortfall due to a run-on deposit. Consequently, this led to the company which was once regarded as one of the safest and most reliable institutions of the freewheeling crypto industry crumbling overnight. 

The exchange’s founder Sam Bankman-Fried reportedly transferred $10 billion of customer funds from FTX to his trading company ‘Alameda Research.’ A large amount of that total fund has since disappeared. The total amount is said to be between $1-2 billion. 

The financial hole later came to light in records shared by Bankman-Fried with other senior executives last Sunday. The records provided a real-time account of the situation, some sources said. 

The company’s sudden downfall due to the run-on deposits last week left FTX unable to fulfill its customers' demands. Consequently, Bankman-Fried struck a rescue deal to sell his firm to its largest rival exchange, Binance. 

After a lengthy online skirmish between Bankman-Fried and Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance, a review stating FTX’s finances revealed various problems, posing as a deal breaker and Binance pulled out of the deal. Bankman-Fried attempted to secure new financing but was unable to, and later declared bankruptcy. The Justice Department and SEC are currently looking into his management of FTX. They are apparently focusing on whether FTX inappropriately transferred customer funds to Alameda Research.  

In regards to the case, Associate Professor in Finance Technology at the University of Liverpool, Gavin Brown referred to a recent report that suggested “42% of the exchanges which failed simply disappeared without traces.” 

According to Prof Brown “In the event of exchange failure, or even bankruptcy, it is the investors who are on the hook for losses” He, along with other industry experts warned that often smaller investors often end up back of the queue, after the remains of a crypto business are divided among themselves. They doubt much money will be coming back. 

"The unfortunate news is that the money's all gone. It's just not there anymore. Investors should expect pennies on the dollar," says crypto blogger and author David Gerard.   

The Crypto Environment After Conference