Category Archives: Christopher Wray

New 0-Day Attacks Linked to China’s ‘Volt Typhoon’

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Malicious hackers are exploiting a zero-day vulnerability in Versa Director, a software product used by many Internet and IT service providers. Researchers believe the activity is linked to Volt Typhoon, a Chinese cyber espionage group focused on infiltrating critical U.S. networks and laying the groundwork for the ability to disrupt communications between the United States and Asia during any future armed conflict with China. Continue reading New 0-Day Attacks Linked to China’s ‘Volt Typhoon’→

House hurtles toward showdown over expiring surveillance tools

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At issue is Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which authorizes snooping that some consider vital to security and others view as an out-of-control privacy threat.

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FBI seeks to balance risks, rewards of artificial intelligence

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The agency sees ways that AI could help protect cyber networks, but also ways it could be an ethical quagmire or a tool for enemies of the United States.

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Top FBI officials warn of ‘unparalleled’ threat from China and AI

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Director Christopher Wray said “AI will enable threat actors to develop increasingly powerful, sophisticated, customizable, and scalable capabilities.”

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Iranian hackers planned attack on Boston Children’s Hospital last summer, FBI director says

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The FBI is keeping an eye on threats from Iran and China even as Russia takes priority.

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The long, bumpy road to cyber incident reporting legislation — and the one still ahead

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The legislation eventually garnered widespread support on its way to becoming law, but much remains unresolved.

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FBI: Cybercrime reports saw ‘unprecedented’ rise last year, costing nearly $7B

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Business email compromise again proved costliest, at $2.4 billion, according to the bureau’s Internet Crime Complaint Center

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Lawmakers press spy leaders on lagging efforts to block foreign hackers, deterrence

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When companies become aware they have been targeted by criminal or nation-state hackers, they need to fess up and come to the U.S. government with information to help feds get a better handle on foreign nation-state hacking, FBI Director Chris Wray emphasized during testimony on Capitol Hill Wednesday. Wray noted that companies coming forward when they are impacted in cyberattacks is a crucial part of developing a sort of early-warning system for foreign hackers working to conduct sweeping cyber-operations against multiple American companies and government entities. “We need that first company [impacted]. Someday you’re going to be the first company, if you’re the CEO and someday you’re going to be the second, third or fourth company,” Wray told the Senate Intelligence Committee during the intelligence community’s global threats briefing. “We need in every instance those companies to be stepping forward promptly and reaching out to government so that we can […]

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White House official, former Nunes aide Michael Ellis named NSA general counsel

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The Pentagon’s general counsel has selected Michael Ellis, a White House official and former Republican aide on Capitol Hill who has faced accusations of politicizing intelligence, to be the National Security Agency’s next general counsel, according to a U.S. government official familiar with the matter. In recent months the White House has been repeatedly pressuring the Department of Defense’s general counsel to slate Ellis, who served as Intelligence Committee counsel to Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., as the top attorney at the NSA, a person familiar with the matter told CyberScoop. The appointment of Ellis to a traditionally non-partisan role could raise questions about whether President Donald Trump is seeking to plant political allies throughout the U.S. government before his final 70 days as a “lame duck” president come to a close. The news comes at a turbulent time for the Trump administration. Trump has refused to concede the election, and in recent hours announced he had […]

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‘DisrupTor’ dark-web crackdown leads to 179 arrests by international law enforcement

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U.S. and European law enforcement agencies on Tuesday announced the arrest of 179 alleged drug traffickers and the seizure of millions in cash and virtual currencies in one of the largest takedowns of dark-web commerce to date. The crackdown seized more than 1,000 pounds in drugs and targeted an illicit supply chain of opioids, a highly addictive class of drug that has ravaged American lives in recent years. More than two-thirds of the arrests occurred in the U.S., officials said. The alleged drug dealers are accused of advertising on infamous dark-web sites such as AlphaBay and Dream. The takedown — dubbed Operation DisrupTor — involved investigators from Austria, Cyprus, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the U.S. “With the spike in opioid-related overdose deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic, we recognize that today’s announcement is important and timely,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement. “The FBI will continue to […]

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