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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – On this Memorial Day, Better Call 4 is making sure Ohio veterans are prepared when it comes to scams out to target them. Criminals try to get control of veterans’ accounts, steal their identities, or even create a fake online persona to deceive veterans. Veterans are an attractive target for criminals: [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- To commemorate Memorial Day, the National Veterans Memorial and Museum honored the lives of our nation's veterans.   The remembrance ceremony celebrates all veterans, elevates their stories, and amplifies the power of service.    Retired colonel and President of NVMM Bill Butler shared that this day is important because he can honor [...]

Authorities in the Netherlands have arrested the co-owners of two related Internet hosting companies for operating IT infrastructure used by Russia to carry out cyberattacks, influence operations and disinformation campaigns inside the European Union. The two men were the focus of a 2025 KrebsOnSecurity story about how their hosting companies had assumed control over the technical infrastructure of Stark Industries Solutions, an Internet service provider sanctioned last year by the EU as a frequent staging ground for cyber mischief from Russia’s intelligence agencies.

An investigator with the Tax Intelligence and Investigation Service (FIOD), the Dutch financial crimes agency, during the raid. Image: FIOD.

The Dutch daily news outlet de Volkskrant reports that the Dutch financial crime agency FIOD on May 18 arrested a 57-year-old from Amsterdam and a 39-year-old from The Hague, charging them with violating sanctions law by directly or indirectly making economic resources available to EU-sanctioned entities.

The Dutch investigation focuses on Stark Industries, a sprawling hosting provider that materialized just two weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine. As detailed in this May 2024 deep-dive, Stark quickly became the source of massive distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against European targets, and emerged as a top supplier of proxy and anonymity services that showed up time and again in cyberattacks linked to Russia-backed hacking groups.

That report identified two Moldovan brothers — Ivan and Yuri Neculiti and their company PQHosting — who were providing one of Stark’s two main conduits to the larger Internet. In May 2025, the EU sanctioned PQHosting and the Neculiti brothers for aiding Russia’s hybrid warfare efforts. But as KrebsOnSecurity observed in September 2025, those sanctions failed to target Stark’s remaining connection to the Internet — an Internet service provider based in the Netherlands called MIRhosting.

MIRhosting is operated by Andrey Nesterenko, a 39-year-old Russian native who runs the business out of the Netherlands.  News that PQHosting and the Neculiti brothers were about to be sanctioned by the EU leaked in the media nearly two weeks before the sanctions were announced last year. During that time, the Stark network assets were transferred from PQHosting to a new entity called the[.]hosting, under the control of the Dutch entity WorkTitans BV.

And as our September 2025 report showed, WorkTitans was controlled by Nesterenko and a 57-year-old from Amsterdam named Youssef Zinad. On top of that, WorkTitans was getting connectivity to the larger Internet solely through MIRhosting, where Zinad had worked previously.

On May 18, Dutch financial crime investigators arrested Nesterenko and Zinad, and searched three businesses in Enschede and Almere and two data centers in Dronten and Schiphol-Rijk. A statement from the Dutch authorities said they also seized laptops, telephones and more than 800 servers.

A message to the-hosting customers immediately after 800 of its servers were seized by Dutch authorities. The message says that unfortunately data stored on the server has been lost and cannot be recovered.

De Volkskrant said it reviewed data showing WorkTitans and MIRhosting were the most-used networks in pro-Russian attacks on Danish government bodies between November 13 and 19, 2025, the week of Denmark’s municipal elections.

The publication wrote that prior to Nesterenko’s arrest, the MIRhosting founder denied that he knew his servers had been misused by pro-Russian cybercriminals. “He said he had ended all services with the Neculiti brothers when the EU sanctions came into force in May 2025,” and the he “reserved all rights to take action against ‘harmful and incorrect publications,” de Volkskrant wrote.

MIRhosting released a statement saying it has initiated an internal investigation into the alleged facts concerning the elections in Denmark, and that it has temporarily paused services to WorkTitans as a precautionary measure while the matter is being reviewed further.

“Based on our preliminary findings, there are no indications that the services over which we exercise control were actually used to influence the Danish elections,” the statement reads. “No anomalies or spikes were observed in our network traffic during the period mentioned in the publication; had large-scale DDoS attacks occurred, such activity would have been evident. Furthermore, prior to the media publication, we had not received any complaints, abuse reports, or official requests regarding suspicious activities or misuse of our network. Meanwhile, our regular operational activities continue, and our service to our other clients remains fully intact.”

Born in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, Mr. Nesterenko grew up as a piano prodigy who performed publicly at a young age. In 2004, Nesterenko founded MIRhosting’s parent Innovation IT Solutions Corp., which has the notable distinction of being the company responsible for hosting stopgeorgia[.]ru, a hacktivist website for organizing cyberattacks against Georgia that appeared at the same time Russian forces invaded the former Soviet nation in 2008. That conflict was thought to be the first war ever fought in which a notable cyberattack and an actual military engagement happened simultaneously.

Responding to questions shared via email, Nesterenko said MIRhosting does not support cybercrime, sanctions evasion, or illegal activity, and that the allegations and arrest by Dutch authorities have been extremely harmful to him and his company.

“The transition to the.hosting was not intended to evade sanctions,” Nesterenko wrote. “The hardware and customer portfolio had already been transferred to WorkTitans before the sanctions appeared. Closing or damaging a legitimate Dutch infrastructure company will not stop cybercrime, but it will harm many people who have done nothing wrong.”

Far less is public about the 57-year-old Zinad, who reportedly has been keeping a low profile since our story last year. De Volkskrant reported that Zinad blocked access to his LinkedIn account, had gone months without responding to emails, WhatsApp messages and phone calls, and told a colleague that illness was forcing him to lead a somewhat more reclusive life.

Mr. Zinad’s now-defunct LinkedIn profile. It was full of posts for MIRhosting’s services.

Mr. Nesterenko claims Zinad was never an employee of MIRhosting.

“He helped me and MIRhosting with certain business tasks under a normal business-to-business arrangement between companies,” Nesterenko explained.

However, in previous emails to KrebsOnSecurity, Nesterenko carbon copied Mr. Zinad (who had a @mirhosting.com email), explaining that he was part of the company’s legal team. Also, the Dutch website stagemarkt[.]nl lists Youssef Zinad as an official contact for MIRhosting’s offices in Almere.

Mr. Zinad has never responded to requests for comment. Nor did de Volkskrant have any luck tracking him down. The publication said it repeatedly asked Mr. Zinad (referred to here as simply “Z”), but he reportedly avoided every form of contact.

“‘I am unavailable but will respond to your message as soon as possible,’ reads an automated reply on WhatsApp on 2 October 2025,” de Volkskrant reported. “It is the only response de Volkskrant would receive in months. He did not pick up his phone and did not call back. When an acquaintance asked him via LinkedIn to contact the reporter, he blocked access to his LinkedIn page. At an address in Almere where Z.’s personal limited company is registered, no one was present in April. The corner house’s blinds were drawn, and a pile of rubbish bags lay outside next to a container, as if someone had recently left. A neighbour said he knew the man but did not know where he was staying. Z. was later arrested at a residence in Amsterdam.”

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Two southwest Ohio suspects will appear in court Tuesday after they allegedly were in possession of nearly $6 million of suspected narcotics. According to federal prosecutors, investigators seized over 700 pounds of suspected cocaine -- including a recent search and seizure of 244 kilograms in the Columbus area -- from an uncle [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Italian Village restaurant Mezcla is reopening next month after temporarily closing earlier this year when a car crashed into the building and caused significant damage. The restaurant announced on social media last week that it will officially reopen on June 5 and begin welcoming customers back after several months of repairs [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) - Two people are dead after two separate shootings were reported in Columbus on Monday morning. According to Columbus police, one person was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital after a shooting occurred near the intersection of S. 22nd St. and E. Fulton St. in the Olde Towne East neighborhood around 2:00 [...]

Memorial Day is observed on May 25, 2026, with some services unavailable, certain workers and students having the day off, and some businesses having modified hours or being closed.

Google is rewriting the rules of search, CBS News Radio just died after 99 years, and billionaires now own the newsrooms. This episode dives into what happens when technology giants tighten their grip on how we get information.

• Google's new Universal Cart wants to follow your entire shopping journey across the internet
• Hands-On With All of Google's New Upcoming Android XR Smart Glasses
• New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is launching a Twitch show
• U.S. Invests $2 Billion and Takes Stake in Quantum Firms
• Elon Musk lost his case against Sam Altman
• GM Driver Data Privacy Lawsuit: California Fines GM $12.75 Million
• A Bipartisan Amendment Would End Police License Plate Tracking Nationwide
• 'Creepy' Listening Tool for Targeted Ads Didn't Actually Work, FTC Says

Host: Leo Laporte

Guests: Larry Magid, Marshall Kirkpatrick, and Jacob Ward

Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech

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Senator Ted Cruz, in a strong pre-Memorial Day message, publicly highlighted the critical role that Amateur Radio Service volunteers play during disasters, praising and thanking ham radio operators who provide essential communications when storms and emergencies knock out power and cellular networks and communities are cut off. Sen. Cruz observed that in these emergencies it is ham radio operat...

BEXLEY, Ohio (WCMH) -- The 2026 graduating class of Bexley High School donned their caps and gowns for commencement on Sunday, but there was something special about the ceremony, all due to one senior.  Graduating seniors had the option to rent their gowns instead of purchasing them. The idea came from Prudence Kiener, who was looking to focus on [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- One person is dead and a 17-year-old boy is in custody after a stabbing in the Glen Echo section of Columbus Sunday morning. Columbus police said that officers responded to a call of a stabbing on the 2600 block of Glen Echo Drive at approximately 6:57 a.m. Sunday. At the scene, [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- The truck driver charged with killing a family of three last month in Delaware County is now facing a civil lawsuit. The estate of the Soposki family is suing Modou Fall Ngom in Delaware County Common Pleas Court for wrongful death, according to court documents filed on May 21. In the [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – This week’s Sunday Briefing: “We said over a year ago this problem was going to get worse before it gets better and we are kind of at that apex,” International Association of Firefighters local president Steve Stein said. Hear about the struggles they are facing to keep up with the rising [...]

GAHANNA, Ohio (WCMH) — A 2021 case in which a victim was fatally shot while sitting in his vehicle parked at a Gahanna shopping center remains unsolved. According to Central Ohio Crime Stoppers, Gahanna police were called to the parking lot of the Cinemark Movies 16 theater at the Stoneridge Plaza shopping center on Feb. 26, [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A Columbus man with a prior criminal record will spend nearly five years in prison after pleading guilty to dogfighting and drug distribution charges. According to federal prosecutors, Joel Brown admitted to keeping 11 pit bull-type dogs for fighting purposes in Franklin County, as well as possessing at least 50 grams of [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A proposal submitted to the city of Columbus calls for turning two historic brick buildings near Clintonville into a food hall with vendors, indoor and outdoor seating areas, a bar and rooftop patio space. Planning documents filed show XL Design Office and property owner 21 East LLC are seeking approval to [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- One person is in critical condition after being shot Saturday evening in west Columbus. A police dispatcher told NBC4 that officers were called to the 2900 block of La Vista Drive just after 10:30 p.m. on reports of a shooting. One person was taken to a hospital in critical condition. According [...]

DELAWARE, Ohio (WCMH) -- The rainy weather this Memorial Day week has caused flooding in areas across central Ohio. A Delaware County family is trying to get their farm out of water. Krista Smith said Friday was a sleepless night as water poured across their property and flooded their home. “We were up all night long just refilling our trash [...]

GRANDVIEW HEIGHTS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Grandview Heights police say that a large sinkhole will keep roads closed at least until Tuesday. A sinkhole on Fairview Avenue and Merrick Road opened up Saturday afternoon. The sinkhole is approximately 10 feet deep and roughly four feet by 5 feet at its opening. There were no injuries. According [...]