Category Archives: intelligence

FBI assesses Russian apps may be counterintelligence threat

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All mobile apps developed by Russian entities may be counterintelligence threats to the United States, the FBI has assessed in a letter sent to the Senate’s minority leader. “The FBI considers any mobile application or similar product developed in Russia … to be a potential counterintelligence threat, based on the data the product collects, its privacy and terms of use policies, and the legal mechanisms available to the Government of Russia that permit access to data within Russia’s borders,” Jill Tyson, the assistant director for the FBI’s office of congressional affairs, wrote in a letter to Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-NY, that CyberScoop obtained. The bureau’s concerns about Russian counterintelligence operations come in response to an inquiry Schumer sent to the FBI this summer about whether Americans’ data on FaceApp was being provided to the Kremlin. The FBI has assessed that the Russian photo-aging app, which became a viral sensation earlier this […]

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Cozy Bear kept moving after 2016 election, ESET says

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One of the Kremlin-linked hacking groups that breached the Democratic National Committee in 2016 has remained active in the years that followed, even if it’s been less visible. Cozy Bear, also known as APT29 and the Dukes, began using different malicious software and new hacking techniques after 2016, according to findings published Thursday by the Slovakian security firm ESET. There wasn’t much public evidence of the group’s activity, but researchers say it did not go quiet after interfering in the U.S. presidential election. The hackers targeted U.S. think tanks in 2017, defense contractors in 2018 and three European countries’ ministries of foreign affairs. (The U.S. security firm FireEye suggested in November that Cozy Bear was showing signs of activity.) “Our new research shows that even if an espionage group disappears from public reports for many years, it may not have stopped spying,” ESET said in its report. “The Dukes were able […]

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Senator: U.S. companies can’t stand up to China without cybersecurity assurances

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If American businesses want to stop “playing by China’s rules” and challenge its anti-democratic actions, they will need firm support from the federal agencies charged with protecting them from Chinese hackers, Sen. Ben Sasse says. In an op-ed for the Washington Post, the Nebraska Republican says the U.S. is “not fated to lose the war” against the Chinese government, which has successfully pressured some of the most influential American brands — from Apple to the National Basketball Association — into stifling criticism of Beijing. If companies are to speak and act freely, they must feel protected from retaliation, especially in cyberspace, Sasse writes. “U.S. businesses must step up to the plate and aggressively confront China’s intimidation campaign. And if they don’t have the courage and integrity to fight back, American consumers should demand that our companies put basic human rights above profit margins,” the senator says. “The U.S. government has a […]

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APT groups are exploiting outdated VPNs to spy on international targets, U.K. and U.S. warn

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International hacking groups are exploiting vulnerabilities in virtual private network technologies to steal user credentials and monitor sensitive traffic, the United Kingdom’s National Cyber Security Centre said, amid recent warnings that the Chinese government has used similar tactics to collect intelligence. The NCSC, an offshoot of Britain’s intelligence agency, the GCHQ, said on Oct. 2 hackers are leveraging outdated versions of Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet and Pulse Secure products. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency published its own advisory on the vulnerabilities, which attackers could use to take over an affected system, on Oct. 4. Neither warning speculates on who may be behind the attack, though the alerts come after Microsoft in August said Manganese, a Chinese hacking collective also known as APT5, was focusing attacks on Pulse Secure and Fortinet products. Pulse Secure, Palo Alto and Fortinet have each released security updates for all of […]

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Air Force unveils information warfare outfit amid U.S. effort to go on offense in cyberspace

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After months of planning, the U.S. Air Force announced it is creating a new information warfare body, an official step that aims to bolster the military’s digital warfare capabilities. The Air Force announced this week it will create an information warfare command, which will combine the capabilities from the division now responsible for defending crucial networks, Air Forces Cyber, and the 25th Air Force, which oversees intelligence collection, surveillance, and reconnaissance. The new outfit will be known as the 16th Air Force, and led by Maj. Gen. Timothy Haugh, who formerly led the Cyber National Mission Force at Cyber Command, pending his confirmation. The update is one aspect in a series of efforts the Pentagon is undertaking to accelerate offensive operations after years of focusing primarily on defense. It also comes at a time when every other U.S. military service — the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard – also is considering upgrades to […]

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The NSA recognizes it needs to share more nation-state threat data, and faster

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The National Security Agency’s new Cybersecurity Directorate wants to more quickly share threat data in response to private sector criticism that the agency has been slow to provide key information that companies need to protect themselves, the head of the new foreign intelligence and digital defense outfit said Wednesday. The NSA’s impetus for creating the Cybersecurity Directorate, set to launch Oct. 1, was to address complaints that context is lacking in U.S. intelligence community’s threat reports that are issued to private companies. By sharing data such as malicious domain names or IP addresses long after hackers have abandoned them, NSA is not providing the real-time information corporate security teams need to block attacks. Now, the directorate will provide additional context to help sectors like the defense industrial base and election technology providers “prevent and eradicate” intruders, according to Anne Neuberger, director of the NSA’s Cybersecurity Directorate. The goal for the directorate, which was […]

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Alleged CIA leaker’s attorneys now might have to become witnesses

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The bizarre legal wrangling in the case of an accused CIA leaker took another turn this week when lawyers for Joshua Schulte asked the court to appoint new representation in the event the existing attorneys need to testify at trial. Defense attorneys, in an Aug. 26 letter, ask Judge Paul Crotty of the Southern District of New York to divide the case and appoint new counsel over “an ethical issue” in the matter. Schulte was charged last year with allegedly leaking U.S. government secrets to WikiLeaks, eventually resulting in the so-called Vault7 files. Later he was charged with conspiring to leak information from jail. The current moves are associated with those accusations. The attorneys now say Sabrina Schroff, who represents Schulte now, and Matthew Larsen, who previously consulted with Schulte, can testify to the defendant’s mental state before the alleged transmission of classified information from within Manhattan’s Metropolitan Correctional Center. Understanding Schulte’s […]

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Why is DJI getting the Huawei treatment?

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While a big portion of the current trade war is focused on tech giant Huawei, another company based in China has been battling U.S. government claims that its products present national security concerns. SZ DJI Technology, the world’s largest commercial drone maker, is facing a ban from all U.S. military purchases over cybersecurity concerns and allegations of links to the Chinese government. But while the company has long been accused of security issues — a threat level nudged up to a “national security threat,” as one Senate staffer told CyberScoop — few supporting details have emerged. There is no public evidence showing a link between mass swaths of U.S. user data falling into the hands of Chinese intelligence services, as has been suggested in Congressional testimony and a public intelligence report from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. But concerns over government use of commercial drones continues as the company moves to […]

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Controversial new study rekindles link between fluoride and low IQ in children

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A new study from a team of Canadian researchers is rekindling a long-standing divisive debate around the link between fluoride and IQ. The observational research suggests exposure to fluoride in pregnancy can result in lower IQ scores in chil… Continue reading Controversial new study rekindles link between fluoride and low IQ in children→

Assessing the Recently Leaked FSB Contractor Data – A Peek Inside Russia’s Understanding of Social Network Analysis and Tailored Access Operations

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I’ve recently managed to obtain a copy of the recently leaked FSB contractor data courtesy of 0v1ru$ and “Digital Revolution” and I’ve decided to take a closer look including an in-depth overview and discussion of the leaked data in the context of toda… Continue reading Assessing the Recently Leaked FSB Contractor Data – A Peek Inside Russia’s Understanding of Social Network Analysis and Tailored Access Operations→