Category Archives: ISIS

Extortion and alleged ISIS threats: A Saudi embassy learned the hard way about email security

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When Saudi Arabia contacted security researcher Chris Kubecka to investigate an apparent intrusion into its Dutch embassy’s secured email accounts, she knew it was not going to be a simple case. Local laws in the Hague did not apply, since the embassy is considered Saudi soil. And it only got more complicated after Kubecka got to work: Once the email account was secured, the attacker — who claimed ISIS affiliation — left a trail suggesting an insider was responsible and then threatened to kill hundreds of innocent people if certain demands weren’t met. The escalations sent Kubecka, the Saudis, the Dutch and dozens of other diplomats scrambling on an international whodunnit — a hacking case that emphasized the high-stakes challenges and troublesome gray areas that come with securing diplomatic communications. The particular account that was compromised — the Saudi ambassador’s secretary’s email — was on its secure embassy system, according to Kubecka, whom the Saudi government brought in […]

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Why Won’t Twitter Treat White Supremacy Like ISIS? Because It Would Mean Banning Some Republican Politicians Too.

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A Twitter employee who works on machine learning believes that a proactive, algorithmic solution to white supremacy would also catch Republican politicians. Continue reading Why Won’t Twitter Treat White Supremacy Like ISIS? Because It Would Mean Banning Some Republican Politicians Too.→

Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing: What is FATF?

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Many cybercrime investigators seem narrowly focused on the bits and bytes of the crimes they investigate while not truly understanding or interacting with those who focus on where the money goes.  As we’ve been expanding our horizons, I’ve learne… Continue reading Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing: What is FATF?→

Smaller Nation State Attacks: A Growing Cyber Menace

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While there certainly remains a global hierarchy when it comes to cyber capabilities, smaller state and non-state actors are increasingly exploiting the asymmetric nature of cyberspace to achieve a broad range of objectives. Continue reading Smaller Nation State Attacks: A Growing Cyber Menace→

Senators call for DOJ investigation of Fancy Bear’s ‘CyberCaliphate’ ruse

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A bipartisan pair of senators is calling on the Department of Justice to investigate the alleged harassment of U.S. military families by Russian government hackers posing as Islamic State sympathizers. “We urge you to investigate this potential false flag operation and to hold any perpetrators accountable,” Sens. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., wrote in a July 9 letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The senators’ call for inquiry builds on evidence that Russian military hackers have masqueraded as Islamic State extremists to harass U.S. military family members. A group calling itself the CyberCaliphate sent death threats to the wives of U.S. military personnel in 2015. However, activity from the CyberCaliphate coincided with attempts by the Russian hacking group, known as APT28 or Fancy Bear, to breach the women’s email accounts, the Associated Press reported in May. The same Russian hacking group is accused of meddling in the 2016 presidential […]

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The U.S. military combined cyber and kinetic operations to hunt down ISIS last year, general says

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The military used a combination of kinetic attacks, like missile strikes, with cyber operations, to fight ISIS in an important battle last year, a senior U.S. official revealed recently. U.S. Cyber Command, the country’s leading cyber warfare force, was involved in secretly launching a series of disruptive-style cyberattacks against the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2017 which knocked out their computer systems in Iraq. The tactic caused the terrorists to leave their heavy command posts, exposing them to a more conventional attack. Last week, for the first time, the former commander of the Army’s anti-ISIS coalition discussed a covert operation in detail where U.S. forces and allies successfully used offensive cyber measures to hunt down enemy forces. Gen. Stephen Townsend, who commanded Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve in 2017, told an audience of Hawaii conference-goers via teleconference that the coalition cyberattacks leveled against ISIS were part of “a multi-domain operation […]

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Russian hackers sent death threats to US army wives posing as ISIS: Report

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By Uzair Amir
Reportedly, US military wives were threatened with death threats by
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GCHQ head says U.K. engaged in cyberwarfare against ISIS

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The director of GCHQ revealed in a speech on Thursday that Britain’s top signals intelligence agency had conducted a proactive cyber campaign against ISIS, touting the notion of using hacking tools to counter violent extremism. Speaking at the CYBERUK conference in Manchester, England, GCHQ Director Jeremy Fleming said that the agency worked with the U.K. Ministry of Defense to develop and deploy the country’s cyber weapons. “Much of this is too sensitive to talk about, but I can tell you that GCHQ, in partnership with the Ministry of Defense, has conducted a major offensive cyber-campaign against Daesh,” Fleming said, using the terror group’s Arabic acronym. Fleming said the attack was the first time the U.K. “systematically and persistently degraded an adversary’s online efforts as part of a wider military campaign.” “They [ISIS] understand the value of strategic communications, the power of social media, of messaging apps to radicalize and scare,” […]

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