Government


  • Estonian state continuing to collect personal telecoms data

    August 4, 2023

    Obtaining data from telecoms firms in the course of criminal investigations in Estonia still goes on, despite stricter limits put in place by the European Union from last year. In April 2022, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) found that the wholesale storage of personal data, even in the interests of fighting crime, runs counter to ...

  • FBI was using advanced hacking software despite White House ban

    August 2, 2023

    Since November of 2021, US-based companies have been barred from doing business with the NSO Group, an Israeli research firm behind some of the most advanced hacking tools the tech world has ever seen. Come to find out, a New York Times investigation from this past April revealed that a US government agency was actively using ...

  • Kenya reports cyber attacks causing government system outages

    July 28, 2023

    Cyber attackers targeted a digital platform used by Kenya’s government to deliver services, the country’s technology minister said, highlighting the vulnerabilities of the system. The attack on the e-Citizen platform in recent days caused system outages that left users unable to access a broad range of government services, ranging from passport applications to electricity payments. Some ...

  • Norway government ministries hit by cyber attack

    July 24, 2023

    Norwegian authorities reported a cyber attack of unknown origin against 12 government ministries on Monday. “We have uncovered a previously unknown vulnerability in the software of one of our suppliers,” said Erik Hope, director of the Norwegian ministries’ security and service organisation, in a press statement. “This vulnerability has been exploited by an unknown actor. We ...

  • US ambassador to China and high level diplomat in East Asia targeted in recent cyberattack

    July 21, 2023

    The U.S. ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, and the State Department’s Assistant Secretary for East Asia Daniel Kritenbrink’s email accounts were breached by China-based hackers in the massive cyberattack that began in May and was discovered in mid-June, according to U.S. officials familiar with the investigation into the matter. The hackers are not believed to have ...

  • Seven AI companies commit to safeguards at the White House’s request

    July 21, 2023

    Microsoft, Google and OpenAI are among the leaders in the US artificial intelligence space that have committed to certain safeguards for their technology, following a push from the White House. The companies will voluntarily agree to abide by a number of principles though the agreement will expire when Congress passes legislation to regulate AI. Read more… Source: Engadget  

  • US energy department, other agencies hit in global hacking spree

    July 16, 2023

    The U.S. Department of Energy and several other federal agencies were hit in a global hacking campaign that exploited a vulnerability in widely used file-transfer software, officials said on Thursday. Data was “compromised” at two entities within the energy department when hackers gained access through a security flaw in MOVEit Transfer, the department said in a ...

  • Cyber attack hits South Korean government institution, $135,000 lost

    July 16, 2023

    According to Korean media reports, the Institute for Startup Promotion, operating under the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, transferred 175 million won (135,000 USD) to an overseas criminal group after being tricked by a sophisticated e-mail phishing scheme. The unfortunate event serves as a stern reminder of the increasing need for enhanced cybersecurity measures in both ...

  • Victorian government documents released on dark web after cyber attack

    July 14, 2023

    Victorian government legal files have been released on the dark web by criminals after a major cyber attack on law firm HWL Ebsworth. Victoria’s Chief Information Security Officer David Cullen on Friday said HWL Ebsworth had confirmed government information had been posted. The law firm was hit by a cyber incident in late April when information ...

  • 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 ...

  • 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 ...