Russia-aligned information operation uses generative AI to modify legitimate articles. Dell discloses data breach.

Summary

By the CyberWire staff

At a glance.

Russia-aligned information operation uses generative AI to modify legitimate articles.
Dell discloses data breach.
British Columbian government hit by cyberattacks.

Russia-aligned information operation uses generative AI to modify legitimate articles.

Recorded Future's Insikt Group describes a Russia-linked influence network dubbed "CopyCop" that's using generative AI tools to modify content from legitimate mainstream media sources, inserting bias that aligns with Russian government perspectives. The researchers explain, "CopyCop websites focus their attention on US, UK, and French domestic news, politics, crime, and other nationally trending stories, in addition to covering the war in Ukraine from a pro-Russian perspective and the Israel-Hamas conflict from a point of view that is critical of Israeli military operations in Gaza."

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Dell discloses data breach.

Dell has disclosed a breach involving customer names and home addresses, as well as "Dell hardware and order information, including service tag, item description, date of order, and related warranty information," TechCrunch reports. The company didn't provide information on how many customers were affected or how the data was breached. TechCrunch notes that a user posted on a dark web forum last month claiming to be selling 49 million customer records from Dell, including "information of systems purchased from Dell between 2017 and 2024."

British Columbian government investigates cyber incidents.

The Canadian province of British Columbia is investigating multiple "sophisticated cybersecurity incidents" affecting government networks, the Record reports. The nature of the incident wasn't disclosed. BC's Premier David Eby said in a statement, "The government is working closely with the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (Cyber Centre) and other agencies to determine the extent of the incidents and implement additional measures to safeguard data and information systems. We have also informed the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner. There is no evidence at this time that sensitive information has been compromised. However, the investigation is ongoing and we have more work to do to determine what information may have been accessed."

Notes.

Today's issue includes events affecting Canada, Israel, Russia, Ukraine, and the United States.

Attacks, Threats, and Vulnerabilities

Cyberattack shuts down 4 Quebec CEGEPs, cancelling classes and exams | CBC News (CBC) A cyberattack has led to the suspension of classes and the cancellation of exams at four Cégep de Lanaudière locations, affecting 7,000 students.

Cyberthreat landscape permanently altered by Chinese operations, US officials say (The Record) The wide-ranging hacking campaign by the state-backed group Volt Typhoon is seen as a prelude of what's to come.

Dell warns of “incident” that may have leaked customers’ personal info (Ars Technica) Notification follows claim of compromised database with 49M Dell customers' data.

Security Patches, Mitigations, and Software Updates

Google fixes fifth Chrome zero-day exploited in attacks this year (BleepingComputer) Google has released a security update for the Chrome browser to fix the fifth zero-day vulnerability exploited in the wild since the start of the year.

Legislation, Policy, and Regulation

State attorneys general implore Congress not to preempt their privacy laws (The Record) The cohort fears the draft federal American Privacy Rights Act (APRA) could wipe out existing, and in a few cases stronger, state data privacy laws.

Litigation, Investigation, and Law Enforcement

FBI working towards nabbing Scattered Spider hackers, official says (Reuters) The U.S. FBI is working towards charging hackers from the aggressive Scattered Spider criminal gang who are largely based in the U.S. and western countries and have breached dozens of American organisations, a senior official said.

Industry Events

For a complete running list of events, please visit the Event Tracker.

Events

World’s Top 50 Innovators 2024 (London, England, UK, May 8 - 10, 2024) We are thrilled to invite you to join us at one of the most prestigious events in the tech calendar, the World’s Top 50 Innovators 2024! Get ready to embark on an incredible journey of inspiration, creativity, and breakthrough technologies that will shape the future. Innovation is the driving force behind progress, and once again it’s time to celebrate the companies that are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. Come and join us to learn what’s on the horizon, understand the bigger picture, and celebrate world-firsts and sensational achievements in the high-tech sectors. The format will be a series of Codex Talks, each of which is a concise presentation, lasting 15 minutes (or less), in which the speaker addresses a challenging question faced by their technology or industry today, and ends with a bold prediction for the future.

SANS Security West San Diego 2024 (San Diego (and virtual), California, USA, May 9 - 14, 2024) At SANS Security West San Diego 2024, choose from 41 interactive courses with hands-on labs. Practice your skills and compete against your peers during NetWars Tournaments, and network with your instructor and industry colleagues in real-time. Each course includes electronic and printed books, and several courses align with GIAC certifications!

Space Cyber Executive Course and Conference (Glasgow, Scotland, UK, May 13 - 17, 2024) The first Executive Space Course to be offered in Scotland by the International Space University (ISU) will be hosted and developed in partnership with the University of Strathclyde Business School (SBS). The programme will have cybersecurity as its central theme and includes postgraduate level micro credentials. The Course will be followed by a two-day conference with the theme “Space: Securing our Entrepreneurial Future".

Insider Threat Program Development, Management & Optimization Live Web Based Training Course (Virtual, May 14 - 15, 2024) This highly sought after and very comprehensive training course, will ensure that the Insider Threat Program (ITP) Manager and other key stakeholders that support the ITP (Insider Threat Analyst, FSO, CSO, CISO, Human Resources, CIO - IT, Network Security, Counterintelligence Investigators, Behavioral Science Professionals, Legal Etc.), have the Core / Advanced Knowledge, Blueprint, Resources needed for developing, managing or optimizing an ITP. Students will be provided with an ITP Management Toolkit that provides an abundance of educational resources, templates and checklists for ITP development, management and optimization. All materials will be provided to the student in electronic format (Via Download) before the training. Our student satisfaction levels are in the exceptional range. Over 900+ individuals have attended this training course and received ITP Manager Certificates.

SANS Leadership & Cloud Security – Crystal City 2024 (Arlington (and virtual), Virginia, USA, May 20 - 24, 2024) At SANS Leadership & Cloud Security – Crystal City 2024, choose from 41 interactive courses with hands-on labs. Practice your skills and compete against your peers during NetWars Tournaments, and network with your instructor and industry colleagues in real-time. Each course includes electronic and printed books, and several courses align with GIAC certifications!

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Daily Briefing for 05.10.24