Category Archives: Raffi Krikorian

DNC tells candidates not to use Huawei or ZTE devices

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The Democratic National Committee has warned candidates running in the 2018 midterm elections not to use devices made by Chinese telecom firms Huawei and ZTE because of security concerns. “[P]lease make sure that you are not using or purchasing ZTE or Huawei devices anywhere within your staff – for personal or work-related use,” DNC Chief Security Officer Bob Lord wrote in an email obtained by CyberScoop. Lord sent the email Friday to Democratic state parties and the DNC’s sister committees. U.S. intelligence officials have long expressed concerns that equipment from Huawei and ZTE could be used to spy on Americans due to the companies’ alleged links to the Chinese government. Both companies have vigorously denied the allegations. Lord cited congressional testimony from February, in which U.S. intelligence directors raised security concerns about the Chinese companies. “I wanted to highlight that the intelligence community does not make statements like this lightly,” […]

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Two Democratic campaigns hit with DDoS attacks in recent months

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Hackers have launched distributed denial-of-service attacks against at least two municipal-level Democratic campaigns in 2018, according to two people familiar with the matter. These incidents, which occurred as the campaigns were focused on primary elections, were publicly unknown prior to this report. The malicious cyber-activity did not appear random, sources told CyberScoop. The attacks hit specific campaign websites at important moments, including during online fundraising periods. In another case, a website was hit while a candidate was receiving good publicity after a public speaking event. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss privately held information, say that news of the incidents has already reached the Democrats’ largest campaigning bodies, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). Sources said they were told about the attacks by campaign officials and not cybersecurity experts, leaving a gap in their understanding of the events. Raffi Krikorian, the […]

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