Category Archives: Robert Mueller

Russian national accused of hacking, illegal trading is extradited to US

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A Russian national accused of hacking into U.S. company networks, stealing non-public information, and then trading stocks based on that information was extradited to the U.S., federal prosecutors announced Monday. Vladislav Kliushin, 41, along with four co-conspirators, allegedly hacked into two firms that help publicly traded companies prepare filings for public release, and used non-public information, such as earnings projections, to trade stocks ahead of the public release. Between February 2018 and August 2020, the scheme netted the hackers at least $82.5 million, prosecutors allege. The four other suspects in the case are: Nikolai Rumiantcev, 33; Mikhail Irzak, 43; Igor Sladkov, 42; and Ivan Yermakov, 35. All five face charges of conspiring to obtain unauthorized access to computers, along with wire and securities fraud. Kliushin is the only suspect in custody after his extradition from Switzerland. Yermakov, a former officer in the Russian military intelligence directorate, was already under U.S. […]

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Russian indicted by Mueller for alleged troll-farm activities is released by Belarus

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Authorities in Belarus have released a Russian national whom former Special Counsel Robert Mueller indicted for interfering in the 2016 U.S. election. Anna Bogacheva allegedly worked for the notorious Internet Research Agency,  a propaganda-spouting company with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. A February 2018 indictment from the Department of Justice alleges that Bogacheva traveled to the U.S. in 2014 “under false pretenses for the purpose of collecting intelligence” to support the IRA’s disinformation campaigns. Bogacheva was released after being detained in the capital of Minsk, according to multiple media reports quoting Belarus’s prosecutor general’s office. Her detention initially raised the possibility that one of the 13 Russians charged by Mueller might see the inside of the U.S. courtroom. Bogacheva immediately returned to Russia upon being released, The Washington Post reported. Belarusian authorities did not find grounds to detain Bogacheva for extradition, according to reports. A spokesperson for the office could not be […]

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After Mueller, Senate Intel Reports on Russian Election Hacks

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Now we have the Senate Intel Committee’s report on how Russia sought to influence the 2016 elections, how it might do it again in 2020, and how we can stop it.
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Mueller report confirms Trump lobbied top intel officials to refute Russia stories

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President Donald Trump pushed top intelligence officials to refute information tied to the investigations into links between his 2016 presidential campaign and Russia, according to information publicly released Thursday in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report. According to the report, Trump phoned then-NSA Director Adm. Mike Rogers on March 26, 2017 to complain the investigation was “messing up” his ability to get things done with Russia, as far as Rogers recalls. The president also asked Rogers if there was anything he could do to refute news stories linking him to Russia. Richard Ledgett, former NSA deputy director who was reportedly present for the exchange, drafted a memo about the substance of the call. He and Rogers both signed it and locked it in a safe. Ledgett “said it was the most unusual thing he had experienced in 40 years of government service,” the report states. By the time the phone call […]

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There’s A Lot We Still Don’t Know About WikiLeaks’ Role In The 2016 Election

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The Mueller report leaves some unanswered questions on Julian Assange and WikiLeaks’s role in the hack and leak against the DNC and John Podesta. Continue reading There’s A Lot We Still Don’t Know About WikiLeaks’ Role In The 2016 Election→

Research shows gap in House, Senate candidates’ website security

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Nearly 30 percent of House of Representatives candidates have significant security issues in their websites compared to less than 5 percent of Senate candidates, according to new research. The disparity underscores the challenge that smaller, resource-strapped campaigns have in making themselves less vulnerable to hacking. About 3 in 10 House candidate websites scanned by election-security expert Joshua Franklin and his research team were not using important security protocols for routing data or had a major certificate issue. The scans, most of which took place in June, covered the websites of more than 500 House candidates and nearly 100 Senate candidates. “The House has significantly more candidates running and that provides more opportunities for security errors,” Franklin told CyberScoop. He presented his findings at the DEF CON conference in Las Vegas. The major political parties’ Senate candidates also tend to be more experienced on the campaign trail and have bigger staffs for those statewide races. […]

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Twitter shutters accounts linked to US election hacking

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The move comes after special counsel Robert Mueller’s indictment of 12 Russians believed to have used the accounts as fronts in US election hacking. Continue reading Twitter shutters accounts linked to US election hacking→

Monday, July 16: Dtex, Insider Threat News: Privileged User Dents Apple Self-Driving Car Program; DOJ Says Russia Hacked Clinton Campaign, Issues Indictments Against Spies

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Last week, Apple found out it had an insider threat active in its ranks. It was the type of insider that Dtex and the industry commonly refers to as a “leaver.” In this case, the leaver also happened to be a privileged user. A leaver is someone w… Continue reading Monday, July 16: Dtex, Insider Threat News: Privileged User Dents Apple Self-Driving Car Program; DOJ Says Russia Hacked Clinton Campaign, Issues Indictments Against Spies→

Newsmaker Interview: Bruce Schneier on ‘Going Dark’ and the Crypto Arms Race

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Noted cryptographer waxes on the threats posed by physical cyber systems, ‘going dark’ and a crypto arms race. Continue reading Newsmaker Interview: Bruce Schneier on ‘Going Dark’ and the Crypto Arms Race→