Category Archives: Department of Justice

Two Iranian hackers charged in sprawling effort to interfere in 2020 U.S. election

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Two Iranian nationals engaged in a sprawling effort to interfere in the 2020 U.S. elections — including by gaining access to confidential voter information from at least one state election website and attempting to access 11 states in total — according to a federal indictment unsealed Thursday. The defendants, Seyyed Mohammad Hosein Musa Kazemi, 24, and Sajjad Kashian, 27, face charges of computer fraud, voter intimidation and transmission of interstate threats. Part of the campaign was allegedly sending emails to Democratic voters purportedly from the Proud Boys, a right wing nationalist hate group, demanding that they vote for former President Trump. That effort was quickly identified by journalists and the U.S. government as a likely Iranian interference effort. The initial reporting on the Proud Boys emails painted a picture of a crude campaign that was almost immediately unmasked. But Thursday’s indictment suggests a much more complex operation. Officials told reporters […]

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Hoax Email Blast Abused Poor Coding in FBI Website

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The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) confirmed today that its fbi.gov domain name and Internet address were used to blast out thousands of fake emails about a cybercrime investigation. According to an interview with the person who claimed responsibility for the hoax, the spam messages were sent by abusing insecure code in an FBI online portal designed to share information with state and local law enforcement authorities. Continue reading Hoax Email Blast Abused Poor Coding in FBI Website→

Suspect in scheme to breach major Twitter accounts is now charged with hacking crypto executives

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Federal prosecutors on Wednesday unsealed an indictment against a 22-year-old British man accused of stealing $784,000 in cryptocurrency from a Manhattan-based holding company. U.S. attorneys in the Southern District of New York say Joseph James O’Connor and his associates SIM-swapped three executives between March and May in 2019 at a company that maintained cryptocurrency wallet infrastructure for various international exchanges. SIM-swapping occurs when an attacker takes control of a victim’s phone number by linking the number to a device controlled by the attacker. CyberScoop could not immediately locate an attorney for O’Connor. The operation netted the group various amounts of litecoin, ethereum, and bitcoin totaling roughly $784,000. The indictment, originally filed on Aug. 25, charges O’Connor with conspiracy to commit computer hacking, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit money laundering. O’Connor — also known as “PlugWalkJoe” — was arrested in Spain in July after […]

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DOJ Recovers $2.3M in Bitcoin Ransom Paid by Colonial Pipeline

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Investigators recovered $2.3 million in bitcoin paid by the Colonial Pipeline Company to DarkSide following a ransomware attack in early May. On June 7, the Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed that law enforcement agencies had been tracking trans… Continue reading DOJ Recovers $2.3M in Bitcoin Ransom Paid by Colonial Pipeline→

National security officials outline hopes for national data breach notification law

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Top U.S. national security officials on Tuesday explained some ideal elements to a potential national data breach reporting law, describing the idea as one pathway to stopping massive security incidents like the SolarWinds hack. A national data breach reporting law would need to be clear and concise for companies to follow it, and generally not be a huge burden, said Tonya Ugoretz, deputy assistant director of the FBI. It also might function as an alternative to government surveillance of private sector networks, a controversial idea previously suggested as a means of detecting cyber-espionage. Such a law should be focused on receiving reports about only especially sensitive breaches, such as those which jeopardize national security and critical infrastructure or that compromise U.S. government information, Ugoretz said during a prerecorded segment that aired at the virtual 2021 RSA Conference. However, Ugoretz and Adam Hickey, the deputy assistant attorney general and the Justice […]

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Ticketmaster Coughs Up $10 Million Fine After Hacking Rival Business

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Several Ticketmaster executives conspired a hack against a rival concert presales firm, in attempt to ‘choke off’ its business. Continue reading Ticketmaster Coughs Up $10 Million Fine After Hacking Rival Business→

Suspect in case of Mirai botnet, which knocked major sites offline in 2016, pleads guilty

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The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday announced that an unnamed defendant has pleaded guilty in connection with a cyberattack that rocked the internet in 2016. The October 2016 distributed denial-of-service attack affected Dyn, an internet infrastructure company, before rippling out to cause outages for sites including Twitter, Netflix, Spotify, AirBnb and Reddit, among others. DDoS attacks typically occur when attackers access a network of hacked computers, then direct those connections to a single point on the web, overwhelming the target with traffic and knocking it offline. In this case, the defendant in question conspired with others in September and October 2016 to leverage an offshoot of an army of hackers computers known as the Mirai botnet, the Justice Department said Wednesday. The malicious tool relied on connected video cameras, recorders and other devices to carry out the incident. Authorities withheld the name of the defendant because they were a […]

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Why the Biden administration needs a National Cyber Director more than ever

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As the Biden-Harris administration thinks about cyber appointments and cyber strategy for the first 100 days of the administration, appointing a National Cyber Director role requiring Senate confirmation is critical. The National Cyber Director will coordinate, support, and deconflict efforts on cyber, technology, and related issues led by executive branch agencies, engage the private sector to build trust and advance shared priorities, and represent the administration at home and abroad on cyber. The administration will face a number of cybersecurity and technology challenges upon entering the White House. Effective mobilization and coordination of the government, and engagement with industry and civil society requires a coordinated strategy led by an empowered National Cyber Director who is responsible for the work. That person also must be able to hold federal agencies accountable. The cybersecurity landscape has only grown more complex since President-Elect Biden left office as vice president. Election security, foreign investment […]

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$100M Botnet Scheme Lands Cybercriminal 8 Years in Jail

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Aleksandr Brovko faces jail time after stealing $100 million worth of personal identifiable information (PII) and financial data over the course of more than 10 years. Continue reading $100M Botnet Scheme Lands Cybercriminal 8 Years in Jail→