Infrastructure Laundering: Blending in with the Cloud

In an effort to blend in and make their malicious traffic tougher to block, hosting firms catering to cybercriminals in China and Russia increasingly are funneling their operations through major U.S. cloud providers. Research published this week on one such outfit — a sprawling network tied to Chinese organized crime gangs and aptly named “Funnull” — highlights a persistent whac-a-mole problem facing cloud services. Continue reading Infrastructure Laundering: Blending in with the Cloud

Why is .US Being Used to Phish So Many of Us?

Domain names ending in “.US” — the top-level domain for the United States — are among the most prevalent in phishing scams, new research shows. This is noteworthy because .US is overseen by the U.S. government, which is frequently the target of phishing domains ending in .US. Also, .US domains are only supposed to be available to U.S. citizens and to those who can demonstrate that they have a physical presence in the United States. Continue reading Why is .US Being Used to Phish So Many of Us?

FCC officially names Huawei, ZTE as national security risks

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has designated Chinese telecommunication providers Huawei and ZTE as national security risks, a decision that officially prohibits American phone companies from purchasing their equipment with government subsidies. The announcement Tuesday comes after U.S. intelligence agencies have repeatedly warned that Huawei and ZTE could conduct espionage against the U.S. and its allies on Beijing’s behalf. The FCC’s decision takes effect immediately. It prevents U.S. companies regulated by the agency from spending federal funds obtained through the $8.3 billion Universal Service Fund (USF) — which is designed to promote universal access to phone services — on equipment or services from Huawei or ZTE. The companies are subject to a Chinese law that requires firms to provide authorities with sensitive data, even if they’re unwilling to do so. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement that both companies “have close ties to the Chinese Communist Party and China’s military apparatus,” […]

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Continue reading FCC officially names Huawei, ZTE as national security risks