Cyber Attacks, Threats, and Vulnerabilities
Blackout threat to Britain from Russian cyber-attack (Times) Spy chiefs have warned the bosses of Britain’s key power companies to boost their security amid fears of a Russian cyber-attack that could put the lights out.
Threat of Russian cyber reprisal puts UK finance, power and water on high alert (the Guardian) Britain’s infrastructure ready as intelligence service warns of risk of virtual strike by Moscow
Four meals from anarchy: How Britain would collapse in just days if power supply is cut (The Telegraph) British cities would be uninhabitable within days and the country is only a few meals from anarchy if the National Grid was taken down in a cyber attack or solar storm, disaster and security experts have warned.
Russian Cyberattacks on Critical Infrastructure - What You Need to Know (Nozomi Networks) The U.S. government has just released an important cybersecurity alert that confirms Russian government cyberattacks targeting energy and other critical infrastructure sectors.
Five things to know about Russian attacks on the energy grid (TheHill) Trump administration officials on Thursday accused the Russian government of staging a multi-year cyberattack campaign against the energy grid and other elements of critical infrastructure in the United States.
Russian Cyber Threat Actors Have Gained Access to Power Plant ICS Systems (POWER Magazine) Russian cyber threat actors have infiltrated corporate networks and accessed data output from power plant industrial control systems (ICS), DHS has warned.
US Intelligence Has Known Russian Hackers Infiltrated Power Grids For Months (Geek.com) While suspicions have been floating for years, the US has officially accused the Russian Federation of launching a massive series of cyber attacks targeting critical infrastructure and utilities like power and water services …
US Says Russian Hack Did Not Compromise Power Grid, Plants (US News and World Report) A Russian government hacking operation aimed at the U.S. power grid did not compromise operations at any of the nation's power plants.
In Light Of The Russian Attack, Utilities Seek New Defenses To Protect Critical Infrastructure (Forbes) Now that the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI have formally accused of Russia of penetrating this nation’s cyber defenses and threatening our critical infrastructure, what can be done?
How An Entire Nation Became Russia's Test Lab for Cyberwar (WIRED) Blackouts in Ukraine were just a trial run. Russian hackers are learning to sabotage infrastructure--and the US could be next.
Wiltshire Police denies reports it suffered cyber attack by 'Russian hackers' (The Independent) Wiltshire Police has denied reports it suffered a cyber attack in the aftermath of the Salisbury nerve agent incident.
House Intel Russia head's nightmare: a "cyber bomb" on Election Day (Axios) "So when the people went to the polls to vote, it's like, 'Whoop. No, you're not registered. We don't have your name.'"
Russian Central Election Commission comes under cyberattack (RT International) There is an ongoing cyberattack on Russia’s Central Election Commission, targeting its information center, the body’s secretary has said. The commission’s website earlier came under a DDoS attack from 15 countries.
Russia’s Interior Ministry says cyber attack against vote counting system thwarted (TASS) The collapse of the system has been prevented, First Deputy Interior Minister Alexander Gorovoy said
Ireland on the front line in Russia's new hacking war (Independent) The use of a rare military grade nerve agent in the attempted assassination of Sergei Skripal in England was a deliberately provocative move by Moscow.
Energy Sector Under Threat From Deadly Cyberattacks (OilPrice.com) Investigators are warning that hackers could attempt to replicate Saudi Arabia’s deadly energy infrastructure attack if cybersecurity efforts are not prioritized
A pro-Erdoğan Turkish hacker team is behind cyber attacks in Europe (Ahval) A Turkish hacker, Arslan A. (alias Osman T., aka General Osman), living in Kentucky, U.S. and a member of Turkish nationalist group Lion Soldiers Team (ANT) was behind in a string of cyber attacks on the Vienna Airport, Austrian National Bank, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Defense, and the Federal Army in Fall 2016 according to Austrian Intelligence.
Cambridge Analytica Under Fire for Data Harvesting (Infosecurity Magazine) Data analytics firm accused of harvesting millions of Facebook profiles of US voters
Cambridge Analytica Took 50M Facebook Users' Data—And Both Companies Owe Answers (WIRED) New reports indicate that the data team behind Trump's 2016 presidential campaign harvested data from 50 million Facebook users—and Facebook failed to stop them.
The Cambridge Analytica Debacle is not a Facebook “Data Breach.” Maybe It Should Be. (TechCrunch) If it talks like a government and acts like a government, it must be a tech giant…
Facebook has suspended the account of the whistleblower who exposed Cambridge Analytica (TechCrunch) Tech hath no fury like a multi-billion dollar social media giant scorned. In the latest turn of the developing scandal around how Facebook’s user data wound up in the hands of Cambridge Analytica — for use in the in development in psychographic profiles that may or may not have played a…
Facebook and the endless string of worst-case scenarios (TechCrunch) Facebook has naively put its faith in humanity and repeatedly been abused, exploited, and proven either negligent or complicit. The company routinely ignores or downplays the worst-case scenarios, idealistically building products without the necessary safeguards, and then drags its feet to admit th…
How A Twitter Fight Over Bernie Sanders Revealed A Network Of Fake Accounts (HuffPost) One Democratic Party consultant said an unnamed client controlled many of these accounts.
YouTube is reportedly introducing your kids to conspiracy theories, too (TechCrunch) In a recent appearance by YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki at the South by Southwest Festival, she suggested that YouTube is countering the conspiracy-related videos that have been spreading like wildfire on the platform — including videos telling viewers that high school senior and Parkland, Fl. s…
Everything is terrible: an explanation (TechCrunch) Facebook is a breeding ground for fake news and polarized outrage, accused of corrupting democracy and spurring genocide. Twitter knows it has become a seething battleground of widespread, targeted abuse — but has no solution. YouTube videos are messing with the minds of children and adults a…
Firefox Master Password System Has Been Poorly Secured for the Past 9 Years (BleepingComputer) For at past nine years, Mozilla has been using an insufficiently strong encryption mechanism for the "master password" feature.
Researchers Discover Security Issue on Chrome RDP (Infosecurity Magazine) Bug discovered that allows a guest user full access to an administer’s machine using Chrome Remote Desktop
DocuTrac medical software is a breach risk, warns Rapid7 (ComputerWeekly) Security researchers have issued a security warning about medical billing and documentation software they say puts patients at risk of data breach.
GandCrab Ransomware Crooks Take Agile Development Approach (Threatpost) Despite setbacks hackers behind GandCrab malware are pushing ahead with lucrative new ransomware strain thanks to quick-and-dirty agile development approach.
Pre-installed malware on Android devices made $115k revenue in 10 days (HackRead) The pre-installed malware called RottenSys has infected 5 million Android devices to create botnets and made $115,000 revenue in just ten days.
Combating W-2 Fraud, An Avalanche of False Positives and Wasted Time (Security Boulevard) Year over year, the number of IRS-related phishing scams related to W-2 fraud targeting individuals and companies continues to grow, putting organizations at risk of a data breach.
Vulnerability Discovered in MikroTik RouterOS (Infosecurity Magazine) Software sold across the globe found to have vulnerability by security researchers
Smart home devices can be hacked within minutes through Google search (HackRead) Smart home devices can be easily hacked using simple Google search and secretly spy on unsuspecting users.
Hackers continue to exploit hijacked MailChimp accounts in... (HOTforSecurity) MailChimp, a service that millions of people around the world use to send out email newsletters, is being abused by hackers to spam out malware. A typical attack involves hackers either compromising an existing MailChimp account, or setting up a...
Hackers Hide Monero Cryptominer in Scarlett Johansson’s Picture (HackRead) Security researchers have identified a new but unusually distributed Monero cryptominer scam campaign involving the face of Scarlett Johansson.
Meltdown, Spectre, and the Costs of Unchecked Innovation (WIRED) Spectre fixes forced browsers to break the compatibility covenant of the web. Other unchecked technologies could cause even deeper damage.
DADI ICO Investors Become Targets of Phishing Scams Amid Reports of Data Leak (Bitcoinist) In January 2018, DADI launched an ICO that required investors to verify their identities (KYC). Now reports are emerging that investors' personal data has been leaked and is being used in phishing scams.
Modern yachts have routers that allow root access and may be vulnerable to hackers (The Verge) Hackable, just like many other IoT devices
Security Patches, Mitigations, and Software Updates
Google Rolls Out New Security Features for Chrome Enterprise (Dark Reading) The business-friendly browser now includes new admin controls, EMM partnerships, and additions to help manage Active Directory.
PS4 Firmware 4.55 Modified to Be Compatible with Firmware 5.50 (HackRead) A PS4 hacker going by the online handle of qwertyoruiop has used a technique to run Linux on PS4 Firmware 5.50.
Cyber Trends
A Rubicon (Hoover Institution) We state as an axiom that cybersecurity and the future of humanity are now conjoined, and that that conjoining makes the scope of a full analysis of the situation too broad and too subtle for an essay as short as this one.
Have you evaluated the cost of a cloud outage? (Help Net Security) Most have not fully evaluated the cost of a cloud outage to their business and are therefore ill prepared to deal with the impact of an outage.
Marketplace
Lloyd’s Register buys cyber security specialist Nettitude (Seatrade Maritime) Read the latest maritime & shipping news from Europe. Including coverage of key shipping markets: London, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Athens, Oslo and Copenhagen
AMD: Investor Implications Of The Security Flaws Identified By CTS Labs (Seeking Alpha) Are the security flaws disclosed by CTS labs yesterday real? We look at the vulnerabilities and impacts. We review what this disclosure means for investors.
Broadcom-Qualcomm: What's the fallout of epic takeover battle? (San Diego Union Tribune) The dramatic battle for control of Qualcomm raises questions about free trade, national security, critical technology and company performance for shareholders.
Qualcomm’s war may be over, but the casualties are just starting to be calculated (TechCrunch) The epic battle between Qualcomm and Broadcom seems to have reached its armistice, with President Trump using the power of CFIUS to block the transaction this past week, ending what would have been the largest tech M&A transaction of all time. It may be all quiet on the semiconductor front, but…
World Economic Forum Announces Fintech Cyber Security ‘Consortium’ (Cyber Security Hub) It was announced last week that major players in the financial technology (fintech) space have come together to convene a cyber security consortium – poised to centralize best practices, encourage collaboration and shed light on the widening scope of security as a whole.
FireEye's Innovation Engine Just Got Better (NASDAQ.com) With security breaches in the news , company boards and customers are demanding that companies have a plan for protecting customer and proprietary.
When China hoards its hackers everyone loses (Engadget) They say you don't notice something good until it's gone. With China's decision to restrict its information security researchers from participating in global ha...
Products, Services, and Solutions
New infosec products of the week: March 16, 2018 (Help Net Security) DFLabs launches new security incident response platform DFLabs announced a new version of its IncMan Security Orchestration, Automation and Response (SOAR) platform for enterprise SOC and MSSPs. IncMan R3 Rapid Response Runbooks now support ‘User Choice’ conditions that allow more granular flow control compared to
Technologies, Techniques, and Standards
What you need to know about defending critical infrastructure (CSO Online) Patching is useless most of the time, industrial control systems (ICS) security expert tells Senate committee.
The great attribution debate: Why we should focus on HOW not WHO (Help Net Security) As analysts we are essentially trying to identify an actor's signature; some uniquely identifiable component of their activities online which gives their identity away. Attribution can rarely be 100% accurate.
Why PKI will secure the Internet of Things for years to come (Help Net Security) Several PKI vendors have shown how you could scale up a PKI ecosystem to issue and manage billions of device certificates.
Beyond passwords: Companies use fingerprints and digital behavior to ID employees (CNNMoney) Biometrics are coming to the workplace.
Advanced Phishing Threat Protection Requires Security at the Mailbox Level (Infosecurity Magazine) Because it is inevitable that phishing messages will land in employees’ inboxes, it is essential that every employee have mailbox-level detection.
Design and Innovation
Ausdroid visits Huawei’s R&D Centre in Beijing where new ideas are created and devices are tested (Ausdroid) Just over an hour north-west of China's capital city, Beijing, is Huawei's Exhibition and Research
Use tech to help fight false information, suggest cybersecurity experts (Channel NewsAsia) Technology, which [has] been identified as a key contributor to the speed and scale of how false information is spread, can also help to counter the threat, according to experts from IT security company Trend Micro.
Five cybersecurity trends to watch (RCR Wireless News) Demand for cybersecurity has been growing due to reports of data breaches and cyber attacks. Find out what sort of trends are taking hold within the realm of cybersecurity, from the rise of botnets to...
Research and Development
Quantum computing’s future is almost semi-here—are we ready for it? (Ars Technica) As we approach useful hardware, human elements of computing are becoming critical.
COMPASS to Filter Areas of Gray (SIGNAL) Program will seek clues in the hazy space between war and peace.
US spy lab hopes to geotag every outdoor photo on social media (Ars Technica) "Finder" will geotag images by terrain, sky features.
Legislation, Policy, and Regulation
Putin Wins Election: Six More Years Of Criminal Cyber Attacks On The West (KnowBe4) Russian President Vladimir Putin won re-election by a wide margin Sunday, strengthening his hand amid an escalating confrontation with the West.
Russia threatens to ban all UK media if RT loses license (CNNMoney) UK regulators could revoke the license of Russian state-backed television network RT after Moscow was linked with the attempted murder of former double agent Sergei Skripal.
Resolute U.S. response needed after Russian spy poisoning incident (The Blade) 'Collateral damage’ makes most recent attack unprecedented.
Russian Cyber Attacks Call for Stringent Security Standards at US Nuclear Plants, But Plant Owners Want Them Weakened (Union of Concerned Scientists) Yesterday, the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation officially confirmed that Russian hackers have been targeting US nuclear power plants...
Region needs rules, norms to tackle cyber threats: PM (The Straits Times) It is essential for the region to develop new rules and norms to deal with cyber security threats, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said, as he called for Asean and Australia to work more closely together on issues ranging from Internet crimes to fake news.. Read more at straitstimes.com.
Ombudsman forces release of defence spending on spy software (NZ Herald) After a year of wrangling the New Zealand Defence Force has been forced to reveal how much it pays for software from Peter Thiel's secretive firm Palantir.
Facebook’s latest privacy debacle stirs up more regulatory interest from lawmakers (TechCrunch) Facebook’s late Friday disclosure that a data analytics company with ties to the Trump campaign improperly obtained — and then failed to destroy — the private data of 50 million users is generating more unwanted attention from politicians, some of whom were already beating the drums of regula…
Trump's NSA nominee promises to 'follow the law' in 2nd confirmation hearing (Cyberscoop) Lt. Gen. Paul Nakasone, the current head of Army Cyber Command, took another step Thursday toward taking over the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command.
Illinois primary puts focus on security of state voter rolls (Spokesman.com) With the Illinois primary just days away, state election officials are beefing up cyber defenses and scanning for possible intrusions into voting systems and voter registration rolls.
New York power companies can now charge Bitcoin miners more (Ars Technica) With few community benefits, power authorities are cracking down.
The City That Banned Bitcoin Mining (Motherboard) Plattsburgh, NY voted to place an 18-month moratorium on new commercial cryptocurrency mines in the city on Thursday. Here's why, and what comes next for cities that have had a Bitcoin gold rush.
Litigation, Investigation, and Law Enforcement
Voice Chat App Zello Turned a Blind Eye to Jihadis for Years (WIRED) Despite warnings and flagged accounts, Zello left accounts with ISIS flag avatars and jihadist descriptions live on its service.
Judge eases feds' case against NSA hoarder (POLITICO) The judge suggested that he might require prosecutors to prove the NSA contractor knew he had 20 specific documents, out of the millions he collected.
Ether plunges after SEC says “dozens” of ICO investigations underway (Ars Technica) The Ethereum cryptocurrency is below $500 for the first time since 2017.
FTC shuts down crypto Ponzi schemers (TechCrunch) The FTC has announced that they’ve issued temporary restraining orders and frozen the assets of a team of three defendants who pitched investment advice as the Bitcoin Funding Team and My7Network. The FTC claims that the defendants “promised big rewards for a small payment of bitcoin or…
Phantom Secure 'Uncrackable Phone' Execs Indicted for RICO Crimes (Dark Reading) Executives of Phantom Secure have been indicted on federal RICO charges for encrypting communications among criminals.
Four Alleged Associates of Sinaloa Cartel-Linked Encrypted Phone Company Are On the Run (Motherboard) Authorities have already arrested Vincent Ramos, Phantom Secure’s CEO. But the Department of Justice has indicted four other alleged Phantom associates, who are currently fugitives.
Cybercriminals launder money through mansions, private islands and crypto currency (Help Net Security) Many cybercriminals are using virtual currency to make property purchases which convert illegal proceeds into legitimate cash and assets.
Hacker Adrian Lamo dies at 37 (ZDNet) The coroner confirmed Lamo's death, but the circumstances of his passing are not yet known.
Adrian Lamo, ‘Homeless Hacker’ Who Turned in Chelsea Manning, Dead at 37 (KrebsOnSecurity) Adrian Lamo, the hacker probably best known for breaking into The New York Times‘s network and for reporting Chelsea Manning‘s theft of classified documents to the FBI, was found dead in a Kansas apartment on Wednesday.
