Ukraine information sharing a model for countering China, top cyber official says

Intelligence sharing ahead of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine should inform efforts to combat Chinese cyber operations, DHS official argues.

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Ukraine information sharing a model for countering China, top cyber official says

Intelligence sharing ahead of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine should inform efforts to combat Chinese cyber operations, DHS official argues.

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US intelligence research agency examines cyber psychology to outwit criminal hackers

An Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity project looks to study hackers’ psychological weaknesses and exploit them.

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The Discord servers at the center of a massive US intelligence leak

The intelligence files related to the Ukraine war that appeared online aren’t the first sensitive military documents shared on video game forums.

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The cost of expected cybersecurity mandates: bigger energy bills for consumers

Biden’s forthcoming national cybersecurity is expected to introduce regulations for utilities that could increase consumers’ energy bills.

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Congress goes after spyware purveyors. Will it make a difference?

The crackdown on foreign commercial surveillance comes in the wake of high-profile attacks on diplomats and government officials abroad.

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US spy agencies review software suppliers’ ties to Russia following SolarWinds hack

U.S. intelligence agencies have begun a review of supply chain risks emanating from Russia in light of the far-reaching hacking campaign that exploited software made by SolarWinds and other vendors, a top Justice Department official said Thursday. The review will focus on any supply chain vulnerabilities stemming from Russian companies — or U.S. companies that do business in Russia, according to John Demers, the assistant attorney general for national security. “If there’s back-end software design and coding being done in a country where we know that they’ve used sophisticated cyber means to do intrusions into U.S. companies, then maybe … U.S. companies shouldn’t be doing work with those companies from Russia or other untrusted countries,” Demers said during a Justice Department-hosted cybersecurity conference. Demers said that the FBI and other intelligence agencies will pass any information obtained from the review to the Commerce Department to decide if further action to exclude […]

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U.S. intelligence community details destructive cyber capabilities, growing influence threats

The intelligence community made its most direct public attribution yet that Russia was behind weaving malicious code into a SolarWinds software update to facilitate a sweeping espionage operation, impacting hundreds of companies and U.S. federal agencies. The intelligence community said Russia was behind the software supply chain hack in the intelligence community’s Annual Threat Assessment, which the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released Tuesday. “A Russian software supply chain operation against a US-based IT firm exposed approximately 18,000 customers worldwide, including enterprise networks across US Federal, state, and local governments,” the assessment notes, without naming SolarWinds. The intelligence community under the Trump administration had only previously stated that the operation was “likely” Russian in origin. The publication of the threat assessment coincides with President Joe Biden’s call with Russian President Vladimir Putin Tuesday, during which Biden “made clear that the United States will act firmly in defense of […]

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US intelligence report warns of increased offensive cyber, disinformation around the world

Over the course of the next 20 years, nation-states will see a rise in targeted offensive cyber-operations and disinformation in an increasingly “volatile and confrontational” global security landscape, according to a new U.S. intelligence assessment. The U.S. intelligence community’s Global Trends report, issued on Thursday, notes many of theses offensive cyber-operations will likely target civilian and military infrastructure. Nation-states will likely increasingly favor tools that allow them to operate below the level of armed conflict in order to avoid the geopolitical and resource costs that come with violence and traditional warfare, the report adds. Countries also will leverage proxies such as hackers or military contractors to disrupt their adversaries, according to the assessment, which is issued by the National Intelligence Council, which reports to the Director of National Intelligence. “Proxies and private companies can reduce the cost of training, equipping, and retaining specialized units and provide manpower for countries with […]

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Biden orders US intelligence review of SolarWinds hack

President Joe Biden has ordered U.S. intelligence agencies to provide him with an assessment of a suspected Russian hacking operation that breached multiple U.S. federal agencies and exposed glaring weaknesses in U.S. cyber-defenses, the White House said Thursday. The move highlights how responding to the sophisticated spying operation, which has exploited software made by federal contractor SolarWinds, will shape the early days of Biden’s administration. It was not immediately clear what the intelligence review would entail, but Biden has vowed to get a full understanding of the computer intrusions and their impact. “Even as we work with Russia to advance U.S. interests, so, too, we work to hold Russia to account for its reckless and adversarial actions,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters. Moscow has denied involvement in the hacking campaign. Biden has also tasked intelligence agencies with reviewing the extent of Russian interference in the 2020 election, […]

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