Collaborate Disseminate
In the dog-days of last week, a shadowy group of secret sources in U.S. Cyber Command whispered to reporters that they’d disrupted a huge, ransomware-spewing botnet.
The post U.S. Army Says it Nuked Trickbot, but Microsoft and Chums Claim Credit appea… Continue reading U.S. Army Says it Nuked Trickbot, but Microsoft and Chums Claim Credit
Chinese government-linked hackers are suspected to be behind an ongoing global cyber-espionage campaign that U.S. officials are actively tracking, CyberScoop has learned. Malicious software used in the campaign, which the departments of Defense and Homeland Security have dubbed “SlothfulMedia,” is linked with “high confidence” to the Chinese government, according to one U.S. government official. Another U.S. government source said the hackers are suspected of having ties to Beijing, while a third government official described the group as operating a concerted hacking campaign based in China. Each person spoke with CyberScoop on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. The advisory is part of a broader effort to expose foreign hacking, including from China, to help protect American companies, two of the U.S. officials said. “This was a high-value disclosure because it demonstrates China’s targeting of Russian targets,” said one U.S. government source. The revelation comes after U.S. Cyber Command, the Pentagon’s […]
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Russia and China are “undoubtedly” working to interfere in the 2020 presidential election in the U.S., Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton said Tuesday. The comment, which Bolton shared in response to a question from CyberScoop about offensive cyber-operations, came days after the Office of the Director of National Intelligence shared publicly that a whole host of foreign governments, including Russia, China, and Iran, are trying to exert influence over the U.S. presidential election this year. Russia is working to “primarily denigrate former Vice President [Joe] Biden,” while China “prefers” that Trump “does not win reelection,” the U.S. intelligence shows, according to the ODNI. Iran has set its focus on spreading disinformation on social media and seeks to “undermine U.S. democratic institutions, President Trump, and to divide the country,” according to the ODNI. The U.S., however, can and should hit back in cyberspace in an effort to try to […]
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This year when U.S. Cyber Command convened with allied countries to test how they would collectively defend against a cyber-operation targeting allied networks, the units came together for what appeared to be a straightforward simulation of an attack against a European airbase. The worldwide coronavirus pandemic made the simulation less than straightforward. For the first time ever, participants conducted the exercise from home, according to U.S. military cyber commanders involved in the exercise. The annual simulation, which simulated an attack that impacted both information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT), took place on a new platform, the Persistent Cyber Training Environment (PCTE). “The impact of COVID-19 is pretty clear and it’s been a challenge for us. But it didn’t pause the action that’s been going on in cyberspace,” U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger, the director of Cyber Command exercises and training, told reporters Wednesday. “Within Cyber Command we couldn’t stop […]
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Gen. Paul Nakasone, the director of the National Security Agency and head of U.S. Cyber Command, is a busy man. He oversees vast, technical surveillance efforts in the U.S. and abroad, while also commanding a military outfit charged with launching cyberattacks. Emailing random women from an outpost in Syria is probably not on his to-do list. So when, Susan, a woman from the New York City area, started receiving correspondence from a “Paul Nakasone” this week, she wondered why the self-proclaimed “head of U.S. Army Cyber Command” was trying to flirt with her. “I Googled this guy and I’m like, ‘Are you kidding me?’” Susan, who asked to be identified by only her first name, told CyberScoop. “And it was very flirtatious, but I’m a married woman.” Susan ultimately realized, that, no, she was not talking to the real Paul Nakasone. She and her friend were actually dealing with scammers who were posing as top […]
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The US blocked internet access to Russian trolls who, they say, were trying to spread FUD. Continue reading US pushed Russian troll factory offline during US midterm elections
US Cyber Command, a part of the military tasked with hacking and cybersecurity operations, says it is releasing malware samples as an information sharing effort. Continue reading The US Military Just Publicly Dumped Russian Government Malware Online
Two samples have already been added to the malware zoo, indicating a new openness from the federal government when it comes to cyber. Continue reading Pentagon Draws Back the Veil on APT Malware with Sudden Embrace of VirusTotal
The White House’s National Cyber Strategy was received by many with yawns and expressions of puzzlement, as the administration of President Trump had been pruning cyber expertise from within the ranks of those advising the National Security Council (N… Continue reading White House: Let’s Get It On with Cyber Ops
Documents obtained by Motherboard give insight into how hackers at CYBERCOM prepare before launching offensive cyber operations, including figuring out how likely an attack will be attributed back to them. Continue reading How US Military Hackers Prepared to Hack the Islamic State