Michael Kan
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Politics bog down US response to election hacks
U.S. efforts to get to the bottom about Russia’s role in hacking this year’s presidential election may very well end up mired in politics, hampering any response.On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, was the latest U.S. lawmaker to call for an investigation into Russia’s possible involvement. “This simply cannot be a partisan issue,” he said during a press conference.A growing number of lawmakers, in addition to U.S. intelligence agencies, also assert that Russia was behind the high-profile hacks that were intended to influence this year’s election. Among the targets were Democratic groups and figures whose emails were stolen and later leaked online.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Obama orders review of election hacks as Trump doubts Russia’s role
President Barack Obama has ordered U.S. intelligence agencies to conduct a full review of the cyberattacks that allegedly tried to disrupt this year's election, as his successor Donald Trump casts doubt over Russia's possible involvement. Obama's homeland security advisor Lisa Monaco first mentioned the need for the review while speaking to reporters on Friday morning, according to Politico."We may be crossed into a new threshold, and it is incumbent upon us to take stock of that, to review, to conduct some after-action, to understand what this means, and to impart those lessons learned," Monaco reportedly said.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Obama orders review of election hacks as Trump doubts Russia’s role
President Barack Obama has ordered U.S. intelligence agencies to conduct a full review of the cyberattacks that allegedly tried to disrupt this year's election, as his successor Donald Trump casts doubt over Russia's possible involvement. Obama's homeland security advisor Lisa Monaco first mentioned the need for the review while speaking to reporters on Friday morning, according to Politico."We may be crossed into a new threshold, and it is incumbent upon us to take stock of that, to review, to conduct some after-action, to understand what this means, and to impart those lessons learned," Monaco reportedly said.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Georgia says it’s traced an attempted voter hack to DHS
Georgia's secretary of state says the state was hit with an attempted hack of its voter registration database from an IP address linked to the federal Department of Homeland Security. The allegation by Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp is one of the more bizarre charges to come up in the recent spate of alarms about voting-system hacks. He said in a Facebook post on Thursday that he had been made aware of the failed attempt to breach the firewall protecting Georgia's voter registration database. The attack was traced to an Internet Protocol address associated with DHS, he said.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Georgia says it’s traced an attempted voter hack to DHS
Georgia's secretary of state says the state was hit with an attempted hack of its voter registration database from an IP address linked to the federal Department of Homeland Security. The allegation by Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp is one of the more bizarre charges to come up in the recent spate of alarms about voting-system hacks. He said in a Facebook post on Thursday that he had been made aware of the failed attempt to breach the firewall protecting Georgia's voter registration database. The attack was traced to an Internet Protocol address associated with DHS, he said.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Russian cyberspies likely behind DNC breach move on to German election
A group of suspected Russian cyberspies blamed for interfering in the U.S. election is also attempting to influence the upcoming vote in Germany, according to the country's domestic intelligence agency.The Russian hacking group known as Fancy Bear or APT 28 has been targeting political parties in the country, Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) intelligence agency said in a statement Thursday posted online by Politico.The hacking activities have led to a surge in spear-phishing email attacks directed at German politicians, the agency said. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Russian cyberspies likely behind DNC breach move on to German election
A group of suspected Russian cyberspies blamed for interfering in the U.S. election is also attempting to influence the upcoming vote in Germany, according to the country's domestic intelligence agency.The Russian hacking group known as Fancy Bear or APT 28 has been targeting political parties in the country, Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) intelligence agency said in a statement Thursday posted online by Politico.The hacking activities have led to a surge in spear-phishing email attacks directed at German politicians, the agency said. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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A Turkish hacker is giving out prizes for DDoS attacks
A hacker in Turkey has been trying to encourage distributed denial-of-attacks by making it into a game, featuring points and prizes for attempting to shut down political websites. The DDoS platform, translated as Surface Defense in English, has been prompting other hackers in Turkey to sign up and score points, according to security firm Forcepoint which uncovered it. Users that participate will be given a tool known as Balyoz, the Turkish word for Sledgehammer, that can be used to launch DDoS attacks against a select number of websites. For every ten minutes they attack a website, the users will be awarded a point, which can then be used to obtain rewards. These prizes include a more powerful DDoS attacking tool, access to bots designed to generate revenue from click fraud, and a prank program that can infect a computer and scare the victim with sounds and images.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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A Turkish hacker is giving out prizes for DDoS attacks
A hacker in Turkey has been trying to encourage distributed denial-of-attacks by making it into a game, featuring points and prizes for attempting to shut down political websites. The DDoS platform, translated as Surface Defense in English, has been prompting other hackers in Turkey to sign up and score points, according to security firm Forcepoint which uncovered it. Users that participate will be given a tool known as Balyoz, the Turkish word for Sledgehammer, that can be used to launch DDoS attacks against a select number of websites. For every ten minutes they attack a website, the users will be awarded a point, which can then be used to obtain rewards. These prizes include a more powerful DDoS attacking tool, access to bots designed to generate revenue from click fraud, and a prank program that can infect a computer and scare the victim with sounds and images.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Democrats unveil bill to probe Russia’s role in alleged election hacks
U.S. lawmakers are pushing for a government probe into whether Russia may have interfered with the presidential election by hacking high-profile political targets. On Wednesday, two Democratic representatives unveiled legislation that proposes to form a 12-member bipartisan commission to investigate the electronic means Russia may have used to influence the U.S. election."Regardless of whether you voted for Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, or anyone else, Russia’s attacks on our election are an attempt to degrade our democracy," said Representative Elijah Cummings of Maryland, one of the sponsors of the bill.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Democrats unveil bill to probe Russia’s role in alleged election hacks
U.S. lawmakers are pushing for a government probe into whether Russia may have interfered with the presidential election by hacking high-profile political targets. On Wednesday, two Democratic representatives unveiled legislation that proposes to form a 12-member bipartisan commission to investigate the electronic means Russia may have used to influence the U.S. election. "Regardless of whether you voted for Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, or anyone else, Russia’s attacks on our election are an attempt to degrade our democracy," said Representative Elijah Cummings of Maryland, one of the sponsors of the bill.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Malicious online ads expose millions to possible hack
Since October, millions of internet users have been exposed to malicious code served from the pixels in tainted banner ads meant to install Trojans and spyware, according to security firm ESET.The attack campaign, called Stegano, has been spreading from malicious ads in a “number of reputable news websites,” ESET said in a Tuesday blog post. It’s been preying on Internet Explorer users by scanning for vulnerabilities in Adobe Flash and then exploiting them.The attack is designed to infect victims with malware that can steal email password credentials through its keylogging and screenshot grabbing features, among others.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Malicious online ads expose millions to possible hack
Since October, millions of internet users have been exposed to malicious code served from the pixels in tainted banner ads meant to install Trojans and spyware, according to security firm ESET.The attack campaign, called Stegano, has been spreading from malicious ads in a “number of reputable news websites,” ESET said in a Tuesday blog post. It’s been preying on Internet Explorer users by scanning for vulnerabilities in Adobe Flash and then exploiting them.The attack is designed to infect victims with malware that can steal email password credentials through its keylogging and screenshot grabbing features, among others.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Obama’s cybersecurity plan faces uncertainty with Trump
U.S. consumers could one day see cybersecurity ratings on technology products, much like today's EnergyStar ratings, if the findings of a government-sponsored cybersecurity commission are heeded. Although like much in Washington right now, a lot depends on incoming U.S. President Donald Trump and his views on cybersecurity are far from clear.The report, published on Friday by the Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity, also suggests usernames and passwords are replaced with something more secure and wants 150,000 cybersecurity experts trained over the next four years to help the U.S. defend against hacking threats. The commission has the support of President Obama and began its work in February this year, with executives at Microsoft, IBM, Uber and former U.S. government officials. However, in releasing its findings, Obama acknowledged it’ll be up to the next president and U.S. Congress to more fully implement what the commission has recommended. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Obama’s cybersecurity plan faces uncertainty with Trump
U.S. consumers could one day see cybersecurity ratings on technology products, much like today's EnergyStar ratings, if the findings of a government-sponsored cybersecurity commission are heeded. Although like much in Washington right now, a lot depends on incoming U.S. President Donald Trump and his views on cybersecurity are far from clear.The report, published on Friday by the Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity, also suggests usernames and passwords are replaced with something more secure and wants 150,000 cybersecurity experts trained over the next four years to help the U.S. defend against hacking threats. The commission has the support of President Obama and began its work in February this year, with executives at Microsoft, IBM, Uber and former U.S. government officials. However, in releasing its findings, Obama acknowledged it’ll be up to the next president and U.S. Congress to more fully implement what the commission has recommended. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Russia claims it foiled a cyber attack from a foreign spy service
The Russian government claims to have foiled a "large-scale" cyber attack from foreign intelligence services meant to destabilize the country’s financial system.The government’s Federal Security Service made the statement on Friday without blaming a specific country, but said the attack was meant to be carried out on Dec. 5 against a number of major Russian banks.The hack would have also included the use of social media and SMS text messages to circulate posts claiming a crisis in Russia’s financial system. Several dozen cities in the country had been targeted, the Federal Security Service claimed, stating it had already neutralized the threat.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Russia claims it foiled a cyber attack from a foreign spy service
The Russian government claims to have foiled a "large-scale" cyber attack from foreign intelligence services meant to destabilize the country’s financial system.The government’s Federal Security Service made the statement on Friday without blaming a specific country, but said the attack was meant to be carried out on Dec. 5 against a number of major Russian banks.The hack would have also included the use of social media and SMS text messages to circulate posts claiming a crisis in Russia’s financial system. Several dozen cities in the country had been targeted, the Federal Security Service claimed, stating it had already neutralized the threat.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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China cracks down on fake news
The current debate over fake online news has one country feeling vindicated: China. For years, its controversial censorship system has been cracking down on so-called "online rumors," and last week a state-controlled newspaper essentially told the U.S., "I told you so.""China’s crackdown on online rumors a few years ago was harshly condemned by the West,” wrote the Global Times. “Things changed really quickly, as the anxiety over internet management has been transferred to the U.S."To be sure, the two are very different.In the U.S., it’s private citizens and internet companies that are questioning the role of fake news while acknowledging freedom of speech. In China, the government itself is arresting people as part of its concerted effort to maintain control over all corners of the internet.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Major cybercrime network Avalanche dismantled in global takedown
Law enforcement agencies have dismantled a major cybercriminal network responsible for malware-based attacks that have been harassing victims across the globe for years.The network, called Avalanche, operated as many as 500,000 infected computers on a daily basis and was responsible for delivering malware through phishing email attacks. Avalanche has been active since at least 2009, but on Thursday, authorities in the U.S. and Europe announced they had arrested five suspects allegedly involved with it.Avalanche has been found distributing more 20 different malware families including GozNym, a banking Trojan designed to steal user credentials, and Teslacrypt, a notorious ransomware. Europol estimated the network has caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damages across the world.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Major cybercrime network Avalanche dismantled in global takedown
Law enforcement agencies have dismantled a major cybercriminal network responsible for malware-based attacks that have been harassing victims across the globe for years.The network, called Avalanche, operated as many as 500,000 infected computers on a daily basis and was responsible for delivering malware through phishing email attacks. Avalanche has been active since at least 2009, but on Thursday, authorities in the U.S. and Europe announced they had arrested five suspects allegedly involved with it.Avalanche has been found distributing more 20 different malware families including GozNym, a banking Trojan designed to steal user credentials, and Teslacrypt, a notorious ransomware. Europol estimated the network has caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damages across the world.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here