Category Archives: adam meyers

U.S., U.K. Sanction 7 Men Tied to Trickbot Hacking Group

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Authorities in the United States and United Kingdom today levied financial sanctions against seven men accused of operating “Trickbot,” a cybercrime-as-a-service platform based in Russia that has enabled countless ransomware attacks and bank account takeovers since its debut in 2016. The U.S. Department of the Treasury says the Trickbot group is associated with Russian intelligence services, and that this alliance led to the targeting of many U.S. companies and government entities. Continue reading U.S., U.K. Sanction 7 Men Tied to Trickbot Hacking Group→

Ransomware isn’t always about gangs making money. Sometimes it’s about nations manufacturing mayhem.

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Ransomware is fundamentally about reaping massive profits from victims — payments were on pace to cross the billion-dollar threshold in 2021, according to the U.S. government — but there are signs foreign government-connected groups are increasingly moving into a territory dominated by criminal gangs, and for an entirely different motive: namely, causing chaos. Research that Microsoft and cybersecurity company CrowdStrike recently publicized separately concluded that Iranian hackers tied to Tehran had been conducting ransomware attacks that weren’t about making money, but instead disrupting their enemies. It echoed research from last spring and summer by FlashPoint and SentinelOne, respectively. When disruptive ransomware pays off, those who have studied the phenomenon say, it can embarrass victims. It can be used to steal data and leak sensitive information the public. It can lock up systems, disabling targets. And given the prominence of ransomware, it’s another method that foreign intelligence and military agencies can use […]

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Chinese hackers tried to spy on U.S. think tanks to steal military secrets, CrowdStrike says

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A series of cyberattacks against Western think tanks and nongovernmental organizations appear to be attempts by the Chinese government to gain insight on the military strategies of Western governments, according U.S. cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike. In a blog post published Wednesday, CrowdStrike said it observed Chinese hackers trying to break into the servers of six different Western organizations in October and November, marking an uptick in cyberattacks originating from China in recent months. CrowdStrike researcher Adam Kozy writes that in the recent attacks, the “adversaries specifically targeted the communications of foreign personnel involved in Chinese economic policy research and the Chinese economy, as well as users with noted expertise in defense, international finance, U.S.-Sino relations, cyber governance, and democratic elections.” CrowdStrike Vice President of Intelligence Adam Meyers told CyberScoop that, given the information the attackers appeared to be after, the efforts were likely coordinated by Beijing. A mix of both U.S. […]

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