Information Security reports that criminals are impersonating the BTC Era Bitcoin trading platform. Victims are phished with encouragement to send money to what they’re told will be an “investment.”

TechNewsWorld says the pandemic has reversed an underworld trend, driving stolen credential prices up.

An investigation by Secure-D and BuzzFeed concludes that discount Chinese phones sold for the most part in underdeveloped markets arrive in consumers' hands with adware and fleeceware pre-installed.

As expected, TikTok has sued the US Government over the Executive Order that found the company a security threat. The Washington Post reports that TikTok says the Government’s ban is “not rooted in bona fide national security concerns.” In its explanation of the suit, the company cites the steps it had already taken to secure user data, and it alleges that the Executive Order constitutes a violation of due process.

In a Foreign Affairs essay, General Nakasone, commander of US Cyber Command and director of the National Security Agency, explained his organizations’ increasingly assertive doctrine of persistent engagement in cyberspace. Simply defending perimeters has become insufficient. “We learned that defending our military networks requires executing operations outside our military networks. The threat evolved, and we evolved to meet it.”

The Times of Israel reports that Israel’s Ministry of Defense is distancing itself from Psy-Group, which the US Senate cited in its recent report on foreign attempts to influence the 2016 US election. The report indicated that Psy-Group had worked for Russian operators; Israel’s Ministry of Defense disclaims any involvement.