US officials link Iran to emails meant to intimidate voters (AP NEWS) U.S. officials accused Iran on Wednesday of being behind a flurry of emails sent to Democratic voters in multiple battleground states that appeared to be aimed at intimidating...
Iran and Russia obtained U.S. voter registration data in effort to influence election, national security officials say (CNBC) The warnings about Iran and Russia came less than two weeks before the election between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden.
US Intelligence Leaders Say Russia, Iran Stole Voter Info (Defense One) They said Wednesday that voting systems remain secure, but to be on the lookout for emailed disinformation.
FBI says Iran behind threatening emails sent to Florida Democrats (NBC News) Iran and Russia had obtained some Americans' voter registration information, said John Ratcliffe, the director of national intelligence.
Iran Seeking to Intimidate U.S. Voters With Spoofed Emails, Intelligence Official Says (Wall Street Journal) Iran and Russia have both obtained some U.S. voter registration information and have taken specific actions in an attempt to influence public opinion in the upcoming presidential election, Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said.
Iran and Russia Seek to Influence Election in Final Days, U.S. Officials Warn (New York Times) Iran is behind threatening, spoofed emails sent to voters, the officials said, but there was no indication that any votes themselves had been altered.
US blames Iran for spoofed Proud Boys emails threatening Democrat voters (ZDNet) US claims Iran is behind a wave of emails purporting to be from right-wing Proud Boys group that threatened registered Democrat voters with repercussions if they didn't vote for Trump.
Election officials in at least two states contact law enforcement after threatening emails sent to voters (CNN) Elections officials in Florida and Alaska contacted law enforcement Tuesday after registered voters reported receiving threatening emails that said, "Vote for Trump or else!"
'We will come after you': Voters report personalized emails pressuring them to vote for Donald Trump (USA TODAY) The Proud Boys, a far-right group with a history of violent confrontations, denied responsibility and condemned the emails: "It wasn't us."
Threatening Election Emails Land in Florida Inboxes (KnowBe4) If you checked the news this morning, you probably noticed a story getting plenty of play on mainstream news sites: threatening election-themed emails sent to recipients in three states, including the perennial swing state of Florida.
Media Coverage Doesn’t Deter Actor From Threatening Democratic Voters (Proofpoint) On October 20, 2020, WUFT reported that Democratic-registered voters in Florida were receiving threatening emails purporting to be from the violent, right-wing hate group the Proud Boys. The reported emails direct recipients to “Vote for Trump or else!” in the subject lines and indicate that the senders will “know which candidate” the recipients vote for, in addition to claiming to have “gained access into the entire voting infrastructure.”
The Cybersecurity 202: Iran’s alleged voter intimidation scheme shows what 2020 election interference looks like (Washington Post) An alleged Iranian voter intimidation scheme revealed last night by U.S. government officials reflects just the sort of election interference experts have warned about since 2016 — an operation targeting voter confidence rather than ballots and run on the cheap, probably with publicly available data.
'MuddyWater' spies suspected in attacks against Middle East governments, telecoms (CyberScoop) One of the most prolific cyber-espionage groups linked to Iran has used old tricks — and perhaps a new hacking tool — in dozens of attempts to breach government and telecommunications operators in the Middle East in recent months, security researchers said Wednesday.
Iranian Cyberattack Group Deploys New PowGoop Downloader Against Mideast Targets (Dark Reading) Seedworm Group, aka MuddyWater, is also deploying commodity ransomware as part of espionage attacks on companies and government agencies in the Middle East region.
Seedworm: Iran-Linked Group Continues to Target Organizations in the Middle East (Symantec) Group continues to be highly active in 2020, while tentative links to recently discovered PowGoop tool suggest possible retooling.
Kremlin slams hacking accusations against Russian intel agencies as blatant Russophobia (TASS) The spokesman said the trend to blame Moscow "for just everything" was regrettable
Russia rejects Olympics cyber-attack claims as ploy to ruin diplomatic relations (Inside the Games) The Russian Embassy to the United Kingdom claimed allegations of cyber-attacks were made to disrupt relations with the Olympic host countries of South...
U.S. agencies mount major effort to prevent Russian interference in the election even though Trump downplays threat (Washington Post) The U.S. government is mounting a major effort to prevent a repeat of 2016 — when federal agencies were slow to address Russia’s attempts to manipulate the presidential election — and is taking a range of actions despite the disinterest of President Trump, who questions intelligence that the Kremlin is intent on undermining American democracy.
US Cyber Command Teams With Microsoft To Limit TrickBot Botnet Ahead of Expected Election Interference (CPO Magazine) The US Cyber Command is expecting the TrickBot botnet to be involved in election interference attempts, and is actively running persistent operations against it along with Microsoft.
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Zelensky enacts Law on Intelligence (UNIAN) The Ukrainian leader sees intelligence among the country's priorities.
US designates 6 more Chinese media outlets as 'foreign missions' (TheHill) The State Department announced Wednesday that the administration is labeling six more Chinese media outlets as “foreign missions,” accusing the publications of spreading propaganda.
Designation of Additional Chinese Media Entities as Foreign Missions (United States Department of State) Over the past decade and particularly under General Secretary Xi Jinping’s tenure, the CCP has reorganized China’s state propaganda outlets disguised as news agencies and asserted even more direct control over them. He has stated “Party-owned media must. . . embody the party’s will, safeguard the party’s authority … their actions must be highly consistent […]
In banning Huawei and ZTE, Sweden calls China a national security threat (South China Morning Post) Prohibition has already drawn a response from Beijing, but stark description may lead to retaliation against Swedish telecoms giant Ericsson in China.
China urges Sweden to reverse its Huawei, ZTE ban to avoid harming its companies (Reuters) Sweden should reverse its ban on Chinese telecommunications companies Huawei [HWT.UL] and ZTE <0763.HK> <000063.SZ> from a planned 5G spectrum auction to avoid a "negative impact" on its own companies, said China's foreign ministry.
Factbox: Huawei's involvement in 5G telecoms networks around the world (Reuters) Swedish regulators on Tuesday banned the use of telecom equipment from China's Huawei and ZTE <000063.SZ> in its 5G network ahead of the spectrum auction scheduled for next month.
Trump signs legislation making hacking voting systems a federal crime (TheHill) President Trump has signed legislation making it a federal crime to attempt to hack federal voting systems.
Twitter hack shows need for cybersecurity regulations, govt. report says (Mashable) The report argues Facebook and Twitter are "systemically important institutions" that need cybersecurity regulations to protect users — and everyone else.
Cybersecurity Lessons From The Twitter Hack As New York’s Chief Financial Services Regulator Calls For A Dedicated Cybersecurity Regulator Of Large Social Media Companies | JD Supra (JD Supra) There are cybersecurity lessons to be learned from high profile data breaches and the ensuing regulatory responses. The recent well-publicized Twitter...
White House Nears New Rules on Artificial Intelligence (Wall Street Journal) The Trump administration prefers what U.S. Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios has called a “light-touch” approach toward regulating AI, to avoid holding back U.S. leadership in the field.
FCC cites Title II in defense of helping Trump’s attack on social media (Ars Technica) FCC lawyer claims authority to interpret any part of the Communications Act.
FCC trying to help Trump win election with Twitter crackdown, Democrats say (Ars Technica) Pai's Section 230 plan called a "reckless and politically motivated stunt."
Colorado secretary of state announces election misinformation initiative (Colorado Politics) Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold will expand efforts to combat foreign influence in November’s general election with a new misinformation initiative, she announced Tuesday.
Baltimore City Council Split on Banning Facial Recognition (Wall Street Journal) A Baltimore City Council subcommittee on Tuesday deadlocked on a bill that would have banned facial-recognition technology there, preventing the measure from going before the full council.
The Police Can Probably Break Into Your Phone (New York Times) At least 2,000 law enforcement agencies have tools to get into encrypted smartphones, according to new research, and they are using them far more than previously known.
Judge in Google Lawsuit Presided Over Major Antitrust Case (Wall Street Journal) The Justice Department’s lawsuit against Google has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, an Obama appointee who presided over a major antitrust case in the food-distribution sector.
Europe’s Antitrust Push Against Google Hasn’t Dented Its Heft. Can the U.S.? (Wall Street Journal) Europe’s aggressive pursuit of antitrust cases against Google was long a beacon for detractors of the search giant world-wide. Now they see it as a cautionary tale.
Google's ex-CEO decries antitrust suit, says social networks are 'Amplifiers for Idiots' (Silicon Valley Business Journal) Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt doesn't think much of this week's government antitrust action against the search giant. But he said at a virtual Wall Street Journal conference on Wednesday that the "excesses" of social networks are going to bring more regulation of Internet platforms in the future.
UK Imposed Most GDPR Fines (TechRound) New data shows that the United Kingdom tops the list of the most expensive data breach penalties with €132.7 million in the total value of GDPR fines.
The Puzzle of the GRU Indictment (Lawfare) Why does the Justice Department laud indictments that communicate weakness?
