Collaborate Disseminate
In a World dominated by buzz words such as military defense contractors entering the World of cyber warfare through the supposedly proposed cyber weapons inventory that they could supply to their clients and a multi-tude of third-party cyber weapon and… Continue reading The Relevance and Irrelevance of CIA’s Vault 7 Cyber Weapons Arsenal – An In-depth OSINT Analysis
U.K. Defense Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said Tuesday that his country is regularly and successfully utilizing offensive cyberweapons within Iraq and other areas under control of the Islamic State. “I can confirm that we are now using offensive cyber routinely in the war against Daesh, not only in Iraq but also in the campaign to liberate Raqqa and other towns on the Euphrates,” Fallon said, using the Arabic phrase for ISIS. “Offensive cyber there is already beginning to have a major effect on degrading Daesh’s capabilities.” The U.K. isn’t the only country to use offensive cyberweapons against the Islamic State, but Fallon’s comments suggest it might be having more success than others. The U.S. has struggled to tailor its arsenal of cyberweaponry to fight ISIS, which notoriously utilizes social media to recruit while remaining overall less technically advanced than its enemies. Social media also creates legal gray areas for U.S. agencies, potentially slowing offensive operations. […]
The post U.K. confirms use of offensive cyberweapons against ISIS appeared first on Cyberscoop.
Continue reading U.K. confirms use of offensive cyberweapons against ISIS
The Obama Administration reportedly planted cyber weapons within Russian infrastructure in 2016 to use in response to potential threats made by the Kremlin, according to the Washington Post. Through collaboration with members of the NSA, CIA and U.S. Cyber Command, according to the Washington Post, Obama gave his signature to a covert cyber operation designed “to be triggered remotely as part of retaliatory cyber-strike in the face of Russian aggression, whether an attack on a power grid or interference in a future presidential race.” The cyber weapons were “the digital equivalent of bombs that could be detonated if the United States found itself in an escalating exchange with Moscow,” but the project, including the “time sensitive” weapons, were never fully completed under Obama and the option for potential retaliation now rests with President Donald Trump. The Obama administration publicly announced a set of sanctions in December 2016 aimed at cracking […]
The post Report: Obama admin planted cyber ‘bombs’ inside Russian infrastructure appeared first on Cyberscoop.
Continue reading Report: Obama admin planted cyber ‘bombs’ inside Russian infrastructure
The U.S. military’s reported inability to effectively “drop cyber bombs” on the Islamic State is raising new questions about the military’s existing “cyber weapons arsenal,” a loosely defined collage of digital warfare capabilities shrouded in secrecy. Computer network attacks have been conducted by operators within the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command, the military’s top cyber warfare unit, under the order of Joint Task Force Ares. While the two organizations are inherently aligned, the NSA and Cyber Command follow different missions and employ different capabilities. Very little is publicly known about either the intelligence community or U.S. military’s ability to conduct offensive cyber operations; the subject matter is generally considered classified if not highly sensitive. A leaked CIA document published by WikiLeaks in March and identified by CyberScoop provides a rare window into how analysts conduct cyber warfare operations; describing one instance in which an operator worked to remotely disrupt a […]
The post Why the U.S. is struggling with their digital war on ISIS appeared first on Cyberscoop.
Continue reading Why the U.S. is struggling with their digital war on ISIS
The Shadow Brokers say they will be accepting Zcash for subscriptions to their monthly dumps of leaked NSA files — a decision intended to needle the U.S. government over its role in the cryptocurrency’s creation. But the company that oversees Zcash says that federal agencies have no ties to the cryptocurrency beyond some general connections to its academic roots. In announcing the subscription service, the Shadow Brokers insinuated that Zcash has links to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, other U.S. military agencies and Israel. “Maybe USG is needing to be sending money outside from banking systems? If USG is hacking and watching banking systems (SWIFT) then adversaries is also hacking and watching banking systems. Maybe is for sending money to deep cover foreign assets? Maybe is being trojan horse with cryptographic flaw or weakness only NSA can exploit? Maybe is not being for money?” the blog post written in broken English reads. Though the hacking group has claimed Zcash’s privacy […]
The post Cryptocurrency company pushes back against Shadow Brokers’ latest claims appeared first on Cyberscoop.
Continue reading Cryptocurrency company pushes back against Shadow Brokers’ latest claims
There’s an oversight bill in the works that would compel the Defense Department to notify Congress when the military is engaged in sensitive cyber operations. The bipartisan legislation, as it’s currently written, would require congressional notification when the Defense Department takes action in cyberspace under U.S. Code Title 10, which supervises operations led by Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, as well as the Reserves. Title 10 is unrelated to the U.S. government’s intelligence gathering mission set, which is led by federal organizations like the National Security Agency. Sponsored by top House Armed Service Committee Reps. Elise Stefanik, D-N.Y., Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, Jim Langevin, D-R.I., and Adam Smith, D-Wash., the bill does not provide Congress with any additional authorization authority, but rather codifies an informal disclosure process that exists between the Defense Department and relevant congressional committees. There is no mention of a public disclosure element in […]
The post Proposed bill would make DOD tell Congress when ‘special cyber operations’ are taking place appeared first on Cyberscoop.
A mysterious group known for publishing highly classified computer code developed by the National Security Agency returned to the limelight Tuesday with a cryptic message concerning the future release of other government hacking tools and secretive information, including “network data from Russian, Chinese, Iranian, and North Korean nuclear missile programs.” “TheShadowBrokers is having many more where coming from?” a lengthy message posted Tuesday morning by the peculiar group reads, claiming they own “75% of U.S. cyber arsenal.” The message also cites the Equation Group, which has been observed operating in the wild by cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab and is believed to associated with an elite hacking unit within the NSA. “This is theshadowbrokers way of telling theequationgroup ‘all your bases are belong to us.’ TheShadowBrokers is not being interested in stealing grandmothers’ retirement money. This is always being about theshadowbrokers vs theequationgroup.” Since the Shadow Brokers posted their first message to […]
The post Shadow Brokers return to taunt U.S. government after ransomware spread appeared first on Cyberscoop.
Continue reading Shadow Brokers return to taunt U.S. government after ransomware spread