Category Archives: Department of Defense (DOD)

How the Pentagon is trolling Russian, Chinese hackers with cartoons

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There’s little that Russian hackers hate more than being seen as soft. So when U.S. military hackers saw a way to publicly portray them as bumbling and unthreatening in recent weeks, they seized the moment. It all began when Cyber Command, the U.S. Department of Defense’s offensive cyber arm, started working with a graphics company to illustrate foreign government hackers. The military realized it could punch up the reports it releases on foreign hacking operations by adding illustrations, and try to embarrass or infuriate the foreign hacking shops along the way, one U.S. official told CyberScoop. In one case, when Cyber Command started making plans to expose some state-sponsored espionage operations tied to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), the country’s KGB successor, they turned to the graphics company to develop images that would goad the Russians, the official said. “Russia hates to be seen as cuddly or cozy so we want to tick them off,” said the official, who was not authorized […]

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Biden transition efforts on cybersecurity uncertain as Trump administration throws up obstacles

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Former Department of Homeland Security chiefs cautioned Tuesday that President Donald Trump is endangering national security by blocking the transition to Joe Biden’s presidency, as the standoff stretched days after news organizations declared Biden the victor. “At this period of heightened risk for our nation, we do not have a single day to spare to begin the transition,” said the four former DHS secretaries Tom Ridge, Michael Chertoff, Janet Napolitano and Jeh Johnson. “For the good of the nation, we must start now.” Biden nonetheless plowed ahead with his plans to take over the executive branch, announcing agency review teams sprinkled with former U.S. government cybersecurity officials. But the Trump administration is so far making it difficult, and the dispute potentially stands to hamper cybersecurity on multiple fronts. One of those fronts: The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) indicated that it would not work with the Biden transition until after […]

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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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Pentagon’s initiative for Black cyber students met with cautious optimism

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Not everyone in the cybersecurity community is entirely optimistic about a new U.S. military program meant to extend educational resources to historically Black colleges and universities. For years, the Department of Defense has worked to extend cybersecurity resources to historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). A new initiative meant to improve access to cybersecurity resources at HBCUs and Minority Serving Institutions, though, is being met with some skepticism among prominent cyber practitioners and educational advocates. Backed by the National Security Agency and the Pentagon’s Office of Small Business Programs, the goal is to connect Black and minority universities with other colleges that already meet NSA cybersecurity curriculum standards. The aim is to share resources, such as labs and range time, and advice on curriculum development. The effort, known as the Cybersecurity Education Diversity Initiative (CEDI), also allocates $300,000 available for internships, the Pentagon said. “A lot of these programs almost end up being lip service,” said Camille Stewart, who […]

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DOJ efforts to weaken encryption place national security at risk, congressman says

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Rep. Ro Khanna has one message for politicians who continue to suggest technology companies should give law enforcement agencies access to encrypted data: This is a power grab. The U.S. Department of Justice has long called for technology firms to create software that would allow law enforcement agencies to investigate suspects who use encryption to hide illegal behavior. For Khanna, a California Democrat, the tradeoff is too dangerous. Legislation that enables law enforcement to crack strong security measures in order to root out some criminals, while also but leaving other people’s communications exposed, just is not worth it, he said Wednesday during CyberTalks, a virtual event produced by CyberScoop. “What I worry about is at a time where we already have an imbalance between the power of the U.S. government and the power of corporations and the individual, is it would shift more power to the tech companies and the government,” he said. “If you […]

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TrickBot really is on the run after Microsoft, Cyber Command disruption

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After some initial doubts, Tuesday brought encouraging signs that a multi-front attempt to dismantle the massive TrickBot botnet in advance of Election Day has taken root, perhaps thanks to an extra push. In recent weeks, a Pentagon hacking division and a coalition of organizations led by Microsoft took aim at TrickBot, one of of the world’s largest armies of zombie computers. Fears that attackers could use the botnet to deploy ransomware and disrupt the 2020 election motivated the takedown bids. Microsoft said on Tuesday that, as of the start of this week, it had disabled 120 out of 128 command-and-control servers the company identified as part of TrickBot’s infrastructure, good for a 94% takedown rate. Nearly 60 of the 128 sprung up as cybercriminals sought to fortify its infrastructure, after which Microsoft said it shut down all but one. “To be clear, these numbers will change regularly as we expect action we’ve already […]

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NSA aims to boost Black students’ access to security education, paid internships

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The National Security Agency and the Department of Defense announced an initiative on Thursday meant to increase access to cybersecurity education, mentoring and paid internships for students at historically Black colleges and universities. The workforce development program will connect students at eligible educational institutions with internships and mentorship through the Pentagon’s Office of Small Business Programs, officials said Thursday during a call with reporters. Students may also participate in exercises at the Maryland Innovation & Security Institute’s virtual cyber range, to gain hands-on technical training that will help them to later provide technical assistance to small businesses. Students may receive paid stipends during their internships, according to a Defense Department and NSA release. Exactly how much money the NSA and the Defense Department will reward to students was not immediately clear. Shannon Jackson, associate director of the Department of Defense’s Office of Small Business Program, said the Cybersecurity Education Diversity Initiative (CEDI), is meant to […]

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DOD, DHS expose hacking campaign in Russia, Ukraine, India, Malaysia

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The Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security are calling out an unspecified “sophisticated cyber actor” Thursday for using malware to launch cyberattacks against targets in India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Russia and Ukraine. The malware, which the military’s Cyber Command has dubbed “SlothfulMedia,” is an information-stealer capable of logging keystrokes of victims and modifying files, according to an analysis shared early with CyberScoop. The agencies shared the malware sample on the malware-sharing repository on VirusTotal Thursday afternoon. The malware “is in use in successful ongoing campaigns,” a Cyber Command spokesperson told CyberScoop. The DOD and DHS did not say what threat group or nation-state might be running the malware campaign. The report does not mention specific targets, either. It’s the latest Pentagon effort to expose malware used by well-resourced hackers around the world. Cyber Command, which first began exposing state-backed hacking campaigns by sharing malware samples with the public in 2018, has previously exposed foreign […]

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Secret Service looks to outsiders to boost financial cybercrime probes

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The U.S. Secret Service is pulling in outside expertise from the private sector and U.S. Cyber Command as it weighs changes to its investigative methods in an attempt to keep pace with international hackers. The engagement with Cyber Command, the Pentagon’s offensive cyber unit, is focused on learning from the military’s experience with transnational cybercriminals, a Secret Service official told CyberScoop. The Secret Service’s efforts to consult with private sector experts, meanwhile, is focused on specifically overhauling the agency’s investigative practices. The effort to consult with outside expertise comes as part of a recognition that the Secret Service lacks the latest techniques needed to root out financially motivated hackers. To formalize its interest in tapping into the private sector’s understanding of scammers’ latest tactics, the agency earlier this year established an advisory group composed of cybersecurity practitioners from the private sector, academia, and U.S. government, as CyberScoop first reported. Known as the Cyber Investigations Advisory Board (CIAB), the group met last week […]

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How the government is keeping hackers from disrupting coronavirus vaccine research

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Six months ago, as professional sports were postponed indefinitely, schools were shuttering, Tom Hanks was the poster boy for COVID-19, and President Donald Trump addressed a nervous nation, people at the highest levels of the U.S. government became laser-focused on one idea: Coronavirus vaccine research needed to be defended from hacking attempts. Soon after the World Health Organization declared a pandemic, the Pentagon’s Defense Digital Service and the National Security Agency got to work on a behind-the-scenes protection mission for “Operation Warp Speed,” the U.S. government program responsible for producing 300 million coronavirus vaccine doses by January 2021. Known as the Security and Assurance portion of Operation Warp Speed, the mission is no small effort. Consisting of people from DDS, NSA, FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services, it has been running behind the scenes for months, and is being detailed here for the first time. […]

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