Category Archives: intelligence

Lawmakers to generals: Tell us the policies you need to launch cyberattacks

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Lawmakers bluntly asked military leaders for a regulatory wishlist Tuesday, in a move that could open the door for policy changes concerning when warfare units are allowed to launch hacking operations. Over the last several years, top military brass has been frustrated by the legal barriers that complicate military-led computer network attacks. Military organizations largely lack the authorities to act independently in cyberspace. Approval usually begins with a interagency review and ends with direct permission from the president. Historically, this arrangement has led to a long line of denials. One lawmaker, Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., described the current approval process as being “slow as molasses.” A bipartisan effort by lawmakers in recent weeks has seen Congress vocally criticize the Trump administration for its lackluster response to Russian offensive cyber and misinformation activities. Part of this outrage stems from two prior congressional hearings where intelligence leaders, including Director of National Intelligence Dan […]

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New CIA Director Gina Haspel Oversaw Torture at a Black Site Then Lost Evidence of It

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As “chief of base” of a CIA Black Site in Thailand, Haspel oversaw the torture and waterboarding of Abu Zubaydah, who still hasn’t been charged with a crime. Continue reading New CIA Director Gina Haspel Oversaw Torture at a Black Site Then Lost Evidence of It→

ISPs inside Turkey and Egypt spread FinFisher spyware in massive espionage campaign

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An expansive and ongoing computer espionage campaign spread across Egypt, Turkey and Syria has been powered by technology developed by a Canadian-American networking company, SandVine, and an infamous spyware maker known as GammaGroup or Lench IT Solutions, security researchers say. New research by human rights advocacy organization Citizen Lab shows how products made by two Western technology contractors facilitated nationwide surveillance in multiple developing countries under authoritarian rule. The findings piggyback on prior reporting by a Slovakian cybersecurity company, which also discovered similar “man-in-the-middle” cyberattacks at the internet service provider (ISP) level in September and December. People getting online through local ISPs in Egypt, Turkey and Syria were tricked into installing highly intrusive spyware that allows the attacker to gain full access of an infected device, including its microphone and camera. Whenever targeted users in Turkey attempted to access certain websites to install free software, they were instead covertly served up a nearly identical but boobytrapped […]

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Army pioneer heads to Army Cyber Command

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Command Sgt. Maj. Sheryl Lyon hopes she’s eased the path for future female military leaders. After almost three years at U.S. Army Europe, Lyon is leaving for an assignment at Army Cyber Command in Virginia. Lyon was the army’s first female senior leader at a service component command. She will be the senior enlisted leader at Army Cyber Command, serving in the role of the command sergeant major. “I hope that I’ve been able to help pave the way, that it’s based on capability for positions instead of gender or ethnicity or anything like that,” Lyon told Stars and Stripes. Lyon, a trained intelligence analyst, believes she can “bring some knowledge and past experience that will help in that realm that will help advance it as well.” Founded in 2010, Army Cyber Command is the cyberwarfare unit tasked with protecting Army computer systems and using hacking tools to support soldiers […]

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Hackers will target Putin’s reelection effort, Russian security chief warns

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A top Russian official warned that foreign hackers could be targeting the country’s March presidential election in which incumbent Vladimir Putin seeks his fourth term in office. Nikolai Patrushev, Russia’s Security Council Secretary, sounded an alarm this week saying that “there has been considerable expansion in the range of tasks pursued by foreign computer intelligence services” ahead of the election on March 18, according to Russian state media. “The carrying out of cyber operations is also projected, including ones aimed at disrupting the ability of the government to conduct elections,” he said, calling for stronger cybersecurity for Russia’s election infrastructure. The Russian chief warned specifically about attacks against the GAS Vybory, the national vote-counting system. Patrushev, like Putin, is formerly a director of the Russia’s FSB intelligence agency. He also warned Russian officials against using foreign internet services like Google and Yahoo, a mirror of the U.S. government recently banning the Moscow-based cybersecurity company Kaspersky Labs from […]

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DNC hires first ever CSO ahead of 2018 midterms

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The Democratic National Committee has named Bob Lord as its new chief security officer, hiring the former Yahoo CISO to lead the committee’s cybersecurity operations heading into the 2018 midterm elections. The hire was announced Thursday through a statement released by the DNC. The committee mentions that Lord will work with the organization’s own internal security team as well as in the field to support state parties, including efforts to update their “information security strategies” and improve practices to “change the economics” for attackers. “I’m confident Bob’s skills and hard work will help protect us against the sort of cyberattacks and intrusions that are unfortunately all too common in today’s age,” DNC Chair Tom Perez said in a release. “Defense is an essential part of any game plan, and I couldn’t be happier with Bob holding the line for the DNC.” The DNC has never employed a CSO before. But the […]

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ENISA Releases 2017 Threat Report

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The European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA) – has released it’s Annual Threat Landscape 2017 Report (clicking the preceding link will download the artifact in PDF format). H/T to Jart Armin – Principle at CyberDefcon; a Neth… Continue reading ENISA Releases 2017 Threat Report→