- Malicious campaigns target government, military and civilian entities in Ukraine, Poland
July 13, 2023
Cisco Talos has discovered a threat actor conducting several campaigns against government entities, military organizations and civilian users in Ukraine and Poland. Cisco Talos judge that these operations are very likely aimed at stealing information and gaining persistent remote access. The activity Cisco Talos analyzed occurred as early as April 2022 and as recently as earlier ...
- Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo’s emails hacked in Microsoft cyber breach
July 13, 2023
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo’s emails were hacked as part of the Microsoft cyber breach, according to a source familiar with the investigation. Microsoft’s Outlook systems were breached by Chinese hackers, according to the company. The breach was discovered in May. Read more… Source: ABC News
- Storm-0978 attacks reveal financial and espionage motives
July 11, 2023
Microsoft has identified a phishing campaign conducted by the threat actor tracked as Storm-0978 targeting defense and government entities in Europe and North America. The campaign involved the abuse of CVE-2023-36884, which included a remote code execution vulnerability exploited before disclosure to Microsoft via Word documents, using lures related to the Ukrainian World Congress. Read more… Source: Microsoft
- Attackers Exploit Unpatched Windows Zero-Day Vulnerability
July 11, 2023
A zero-day vulnerability (CVE-2023-36884) affecting Microsoft Windows and Office products is being exploited by attackers in the wild. To date, the exploit has been used in highly targeted attacks against organizations in the government and defense sectors in Europe and North America. The vulnerability was disclosed yesterday (July 11) by Microsoft, which said that an attacker ...
- FBI worked with Ukraine intelligence agency to remove social media accounts
July 10, 2023
The FBI colluded with a Ukrainian intelligence agency in an effort to disrupt Russian disinformation campaigns by flagging social media accounts in a failed effort that ensnared a verified Russian-language U.S. State Department account and others, the House Judiciary Committee said in a report released Monday. The report said the FBI partnered with the SBU, one ...
- Telegram has become a window into war
July 7, 2023
Since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Telegram has gained an outsize influence on one of the world’s most watched conflicts. “Telegram is fantastic for many, many reasons and for the fact that we’ve managed to see what is happening at such a crucial point in history,” says Jordan Wildon, digital investigator and founder ...
- EU set to approve the use of spyware to uncover confidential journalist sources
June 23, 2023
The European Union is set to approve new laws that would let governments spy on journalists in the name of national security. The legislation would expand legal ‘loopholes’ that let governments install spyware on journalist’s phones and computers, including British reporters working in the EU, press freedom campaigners warned. The draft legislation, that has now been ...
- Whitehall wide open to cyber-attack, warn campaigners
June 18, 2023
Government departments responsible for running health and social care, and for collecting taxes, are using outdated software that leaves them wide open to cyber-attacks, according to a disturbing new investigation. The use of “legacy” servers and databases has been uncovered through freedom of information (FoI) requests from the low-tax pressure group the TaxPayers’ Alliance. It has ...
- Cyber attack results in data breach of all Louisiana driver licenses, IDs
June 16, 2023
Those with a Louisiana ID, registration or driver’s license could have their personal data exposed as a major cyber attack targeted the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles as well as other Government entities. According to the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, the OMV was breached. The state says MOVEit – which is a ...
- Shuckworm: Inside Russia’s Relentless Cyber Campaign Against Ukraine
June 15, 2023
The Shuckworm espionage group is continuing to mount multiple cyber attacks against Ukraine, with recent targets including security services, military, and government organizations. In some cases, Shuckworm has succeeded in staging long-running intrusions, lasting for as long as three months. The attackers repeatedly attempted to access and steal sensitive information such as reports about the deaths ...
- US government agencies hit in global cyberattack
June 15, 2023
“Several” US federal government agencies have been hit in a global cyberattack that exploits a vulnerability in widely used software. The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency “is providing support to several federal agencies that have experienced intrusions affecting their MOVEit applications,” Eric Goldstein, the agency’s executive assistant director for cybersecurity, said in a statement on ...
- UK media watchdog Ofcom data downloaded in cyber-attack
June 12, 2023
Media watchdog Ofcom has confirmed that it is a victim of a cyber-attack by hackers linked to a notorious Russian ransomware group. Confidential data about some companies regulated by Ofcom, and personal information from 412 employees was downloaded during the mass hack. A number of firms, including British Airways, the BBC and Boots, have been affected ...
- At least 100,000 Nova Scotians affected by cyber theft of government employee files
June 6, 2023
Cyber-criminals made off with the personal and banking information of at least 100,000 Nova Scotians last week, before the Nova Scotia government secured a file transfer service that had been breached as part of a global attack on MOVEit. Nova Scotia’s Minister of Cyber Security and Digital Service Colton LeBlanc provided that number Tuesday as part ...
- Swiss administration hit by cyber attack
June 3, 2023
Swiss authorities are investigating a cyber attack on the IT company Xplain, whose clients include many federal and cantonal government departments, including the army and customs. The online attack was revealed on Saturday by the newspaper Le Temps, which reported that “several cantonal police forces, the Swiss army and the Federal Office of Police (Fedpol) have ...
- Russia says US intelligence hacked thousands of iPhones
June 2, 2023
Russia has accused United States intelligence agencies of hacking thousands of iPhones belonging to Russian users and foreign diplomats in the country. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Thursday that it had discovered an “intelligence action” that had compromised the phones of Russians as well as diplomats from Israel, Syria, China and NATO members. Read more… Source: ...
- Senegalese government websites hit with cyber attack
May 27, 2023
A group of hackers called Mysterious Team made multiple Senegalese government websites go offline overnight on Friday by hitting them with denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, a government spokesperson said. The group claimed responsibility for the cyber attacks in a series of Twitter posts using the hashtag #FreeSenegal used by campaigners alleging political repression in Senegal. Read more… Source: Reuters
- US govt pushes spyware to other countries? Senator Wyden would like a word
May 26, 2023
The US International Trade Administration (ITA) has admitted it promotes the sale of American-approved commercial spyware to foreign governments, and won’t answer questions about it, according to US Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR). Wyden, in a letter to US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, has demanded answers about the surveillance and policing tech that ITA – a US ...
- China revises Counter-Espionage Law, defining cyber-attacks against state organs as spy activities
April 26, 2023
The 14th National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee passed an amendment to the Counter-Espionage Law on Wednesday. The revised law refines the definition of espionage activities, explicitly categorizing “collaborating with spy organizations and their agents” and “conducting cyber-attacks against state organs, confidential-related units, or critical information infrastructure and etc.” as espionage activities. The revised law will ...
- Energy giant warns of ‘catastrophic damage’ if government bans payment of cyber ransoms
April 26, 2023
A government-imposed ban on companies paying cyber ransoms to hackers could cause “catastrophic damage” and even lead to the loss of Australian lives, the nation’s biggest energy producer has warned. AGL Energy, whose board was recently reshuffled by Atlassian billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes, described ransom bans as a dangerous double-edged sword. Read more… Source: 9News
- CISA and Partners Release Cybersecurity Best Practices for Smart Cities
April 19, 2023
Today, CISA, NSA, FBI, NCSC-UK, ACSC, CCCS and NCSC-NZ released a joint guide: Cybersecurity Best Practices for Smart Cities. Smart cities may create safer, more efficient, resilient communities through technological innovation and data-driven decision making. However, this opportunity also introduces potential vulnerabilities and weaknesses that—if exploited—could impact national security, economic security, public health and safety, and ...