Author Archives: Chris Bing

Cybercrime gang leader who caused ATMs to spit cash is arrested

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The leader of Russian-Ukrainian cybercrime gang Carbanak, allegedly responsible for stealing billions of Euros from hundreds of banks, has been arrested in Spain. Over the last five years, the “Carbanak” group has stolen roughly 1.2 billion euros from more than 100 financial institutions, according to a dual announcement Monday by Europol and police forces in Spain. Carbanak is the name for the cybercrime group, as well as their characteristic hacking tool: a malware framework designed to allow the attacker to covertly move money around from account to account. An individual leading the criminal entity was recently arrested, but police have yet to release their name. At least two other members of Carbanak were also reportedly arrested in a related investigation. In various cases, Carbanak was able to success spearphish banking employees. These breaches saw complex malware spread inside the companies, redirecting funds from legitimate accounts to ATM machines in Eastern […]

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U.S. indicts hackers over terabytes worth of intellectual property theft

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The Trump administration has announced indictments and sanctions against multiple hackers who acted as contractors for a secretive branch of Iran’s armed forces. On Friday, the Justice Department unsealed charges against nine Iranian nationals for hacking into the networks of multiple U.S. universities, municipal governments and other American businesses. The hackers sought to steal research and leverage the high bandwidth networks for future operations. A senior U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity explained the White House believes the punishment will be more damaging than similar indictments against other nation-states that have attacked U.S. companies, like Russia or China. This is because many of those named are private citizens that currently enjoy the ability to travel internationally and some even own assets abroad. Government officials do not expect the same from those indicted in previous instances. “These nine Iranian nationals allegedly stole more than 31 terabytes of documents and […]

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Trump administration says China broke Obama-Xi hacking agreement

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The Trump administration explicitly called out the Chinese government Thursday for having hacked U.S. companies to steal business secrets in recent years. The disclosure means the U.S. government believes China broke a 2015 agreement reached by then-President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping that was aimed at curbing cyber economic espionage between the two countries. A Department of the Treasury investigation detailed in a 215-page report published Thursday finds multiple cases where China had continued to conduct economic cyber espionage after the 2015 arrangement was announced. The report does not, however, explain these incidents with any specifics. “After a major debate in the private sector cybersecurity community over the past three years about the level of Chinese cyber activity directed against U.S. organizations and its meaning related to China’s commitments, the 301 report can be read as effectively ruling that China is in violation of the 2015 Obama-Xi accord on cyber […]

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Tenable inches towards IPO, finally

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One of the best funded cybersecurity companies in the entire industry is reportedly on the precipice of finally going public. Columbia, Maryland-based Tenable Network Security has hired investment bank Morgan Stanley to help it file for an initial public offering (IPO), so that it can be traded on the New York Stock Exchange, according to Reuters. The move comes after rumors of a planned IPO for Tenable have circulated for at least two years, based on prior reporting by DC Inno. Tenable’s product portfolio largely focuses on endpoint detection software which helps organizations detect and analyze internet traffic at a granular level. The company’s competitors include other publicly-traded cybersecurity brands, like Boston-based Rapid7 and California-based Qualys. Over the last several years, publicly-traded cybersecurity companies have struggled to match trading estimates, having not performed financially on a reliable basis. But more recently, these same firms are recovering by posting respectable earnings […]

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White House pushing for research carveout in GDPR

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The White House is hoping to convince European regulators to protect security researchers in their General Data Protection Regulation so they can continue to scrape data that’s relevant for data breach and botnet investigations, according to White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Rob Joyce. GDPR, which mandates companies with European customers to have numerous data protections in place, goes into effect May 25, 2018. The law will have a significant impact on the billion dollar cybersecurity industry, but some of its privacy provisions could have a negative effect on security researchers’ work. One of the more concerning developments revolves around access to data published by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Whenever a domain name is registered, ICANN requires information like, a name, IP address and physical address to be submitted. While these details are sometimes forged, that information can provide clues about a cyberattack. ICANN stores all of […]

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Spending bill will offer $380M for election cybersecurity improvements

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The big spending bill currently speeding through Congress will allocate about $380 million to a new fund designed to help local election officials upgrade their systems, a senior U.S. official told CyberScoop. The money would be distributed by the Election Administration Commission (EAC), an independent agency. The move comes after the Senate Intelligence Committee announced Tuesday a list of recommendations for individual states to improve their cybersecurity posture ahead of the 2o18 midterm elections. Senior U.S. intelligence officials predict that Russia will once again target the U.S. election this year, perhaps similar to what occurred in 2016. Lawmakers are expected to release the spending bill — a $1.3 trillion “ombnibus” appropriations measure covering most federal agencies through the end of fiscal 2018 — early Wednesday afternoon. Votes are expected on the legislation soon, because current government funding only lasts through Friday at midnight. The EAC fund would represent one of the first major steps taken […]

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Kaspersky’s ‘Slingshot’ report burned an ISIS-focused intelligence operation

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The U.S. government and Russian cybersecurity giant Kaspersky Lab are currently in the throes of a nasty legal fight that comes on top of a long-running feud over how the company has conducted itself with regard to U.S. intelligence-gathering operations. A recent Kaspersky discovery may keep the feud alive for years to come. CyberScoop has learned that Kaspersky research recently exposed an active, U.S.-led counterterrorism cyber-espionage operation. According to current and former U.S. intelligence officials, the operation was used to target ISIS and al-Qaeda members. On March 9, Kaspersky publicly announced a malware campaign dubbed “Slingshot.” According to the company’s researchers, the campaign compromised thousands of devices through breached routers in various African and Middle Eastern countries, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Kenya, Sudan, Somalia, Turkey and Yemen. Kaspersky did not attribute Slingshot to any single country or government in its public report, describing it only as an advanced persistent threat (APT). But current and […]

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Chinese hacking group resurfaces to spy on U.S. maritime firms

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Researchers say they’ve noticed an uptick in Chinese hacking activity aimed at a mix of U.S. maritime, engineering and defense companies, some of which are commonly linked to the South China Sea territory dispute, according to cybersecurity firm FireEye. The findings reveal how one previously idle and nondescript Chinese hacking group is now returning to the fold: a new cyber-espionage operation has been found collecting confidential information which is relevant to the interests of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC). It comes after news reports surfaced that the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force was able to easily detect a Chinese nuclear submarine in January while it circled around the disputed islands. That incident resulted in an international controversy. The CPC has been outspoken in recent years about advancing the country’s naval forces as part of a broader push to modernize the military, foreign policy experts say. Dubbed “TEMP.Periscope” by FireEye […]

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Trump’s NSA nominee promises to ‘follow the law’ in 2nd confirmation hearing

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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. The public Senate Intelligence Committee hearing featured few pointed questions, as might be expected from a panel that does a lot of its work behind closed doors.The hearing lasted less than one hour. Only eight of the committee’s 15 members attended. The Senate Armed Services Committee approved Nakasone’s nomination earlier this week. The Intelligence Committee is likely to approve Nakasone’s nomination in the coming days, setting it up for a vote on the Senate floor. The job would put him in the unique and powerful position of guiding cyber-espionage and cyberwarfare for the United States. The current NSA director, Adm. Mike Rogers, is expected to depart from the job soon. One of the few exchanges of real substance Thursday saw Ron Wyden, D-Ore., ask Nakasone about whether he […]

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Lawmakers to generals: Tell us the policies you need to launch cyberattacks

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Lawmakers bluntly asked military leaders for a regulatory wishlist Tuesday, in a move that could open the door for policy changes concerning when warfare units are allowed to launch hacking operations. Over the last several years, top military brass has been frustrated by the legal barriers that complicate military-led computer network attacks. Military organizations largely lack the authorities to act independently in cyberspace. Approval usually begins with a interagency review and ends with direct permission from the president. Historically, this arrangement has led to a long line of denials. One lawmaker, Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., described the current approval process as being “slow as molasses.” A bipartisan effort by lawmakers in recent weeks has seen Congress vocally criticize the Trump administration for its lackluster response to Russian offensive cyber and misinformation activities. Part of this outrage stems from two prior congressional hearings where intelligence leaders, including Director of National Intelligence Dan […]

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