Tag Archives: hacking

White House Blames China For Microsoft Email Hack

The Associated Press reports: The Biden administration on Monday blamed China for a hack of Microsoft Exchange email server software that compromised tens of thousands of computers around the world earlier this year. The administration and allied nations also disclosed a broad range of other cyberthreats from Beijing, including ransomware attacks from government-affiliated hackers that have targeted companies with demands …

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Russian State Hackers Breached RNC Computer System

Bloomberg News reports: Russian government hackers breached the computer systems of the Republican National Committee last week, around the time a Russia-linked criminal group unleashed a massive ransomware attack, according to two people familiar with the matter. The government hackers were part of a group known as APT 29 or Cozy Bear, according to the people. That group has been …

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Up To 1500 Companies Affected In Ransomware Attack

Reuters reports: Between 800 and 1,500 businesses around the world have been affected by a ransomware attack centered on U.S. information technology firm Kaseya, its chief executive said on Monday. Fred Voccola, the Florida-based company’s CEO, said in an interview that it was hard to estimate the precise impact of Friday’s attack because those hit were mainly customers of Kaseya’s …

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Hackers Demand $70M In Latest Ransomware Attack

Reuters reports: Hackers suspected to be behind a mass extortion attack that affected hundreds of companies worldwide late on Sunday demanded $70 million to restore the data they are holding ransom, according to a posting on a dark web site. The demand was posted on a blog typically used by the REvil cybercrime gang, a Russia-linked group that is counted …

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DOJ To Give Ransomware Attacks Terror-Level Priority

Reuters reports: The U.S. Department of Justice is elevating investigations of ransomware attacks to a similar priority as terrorism in the wake of the Colonial Pipeline hack and mounting damage caused by cyber criminals, a senior department official told Reuters. Internal guidance sent on Thursday to U.S. attorney’s offices across the country said information about ransomware investigations in the field …

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Chinese Hackers Penetrated NYC’s Subway Computers

The New York Times reports: A hacking group believed to have links to the Chinese government penetrated the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s computer systems in April, exposing vulnerabilities in a vast transportation network that carries millions of people every day, according to an M.T.A. document that outlined the breach. The hackers did not gain access to systems that control train cars …

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Russian Hackers Hit State Department Email System

The New York Times reports: Hackers linked to Russia’s main intelligence agency surreptitiously seized an email system used by the State Department’s international aid agency to burrow into the computer networks of human rights groups and other organizations of the sort that have been critical of President Vladimir V. Putin, Microsoft Corporation disclosed on Thursday. Discovery of the breach comes …

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Gas Shortages In Southeast Widen Due To Panic-Buying

The Washington Post reports: Panic-buying has emptied 28 percent of North Carolina’s fuel stations and is exacerbating gasoline shortages across the Southeast, underscoring the real-world implications of a cyberattack that forced Colonial Pipeline offline last week. More than 17 percent of the stations in Georgia and Virginia were dry Wednesday, according to GasBuddy, and states as far as West Virginia …

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US Fuel Supply Reduced As Pipeline Outage Continues

Reuters reports: Supplies of gasoline tightened further in parts of the United States on Tuesday as the shutdown of the nation’s biggest fuel pipeline by hackers entered its fifth day, raising concern about price spikes at the pumps heading into the summer driving season. The Colonial Pipeline said it was working to “substantially” resume operations by the end of this …

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Biden To Issue Order On Strengthening Cyber Defenses

The New York Times reports: The order, drafts of which have been circulating to government officials and corporate executives for weeks and summaries of which were obtained by The New York Times, is a new road map for the nation’s cyberdefense. It would create a series of digital safety standards for federal agencies and contractors that develop software for the …

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US Invokes Emergency Powers After Pipeline Hacking

The Guardian reports: The Biden administration has invoked emergency powers as part of an “all-hands-on-deck” effort to avoid fuel shortages after the worst-ever cyber-attack on US infrastructure shut down a crucial pipeline supplying the east coast. The federal transport department issued an emergency declaration on Sunday to relax regulations for drivers carrying gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other refined petroleum …

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Cyberattack Shuts Down Major East Coast Pipeline

The New York Times reports: A cyberattack forced the shutdown of one of the largest pipelines in the United States, in what appeared to be a significant attempt to disrupt vulnerable energy infrastructure. The pipeline carries refined gasoline and jet fuel up the East Coast from Texas to New York. The operator of the system, Colonial Pipeline, said in a …

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Florida Homecoming Queen Hackers To Face 16 Years

Law & Crime reports: A Florida teenager and her mother stand accused of rigging a homecoming election last fall. Both will be prosecuted as adults, local prosecutors told the media on Tuesday. Emily Rose Grover, 18, was still a minor when she and her mother, Laura Rose Carroll, 50, allegedly hacked into the Escambia County School District’s internal computer system …

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Russia Expels US Diplomats After Sanctions By Biden

The Associated Press reports: Russia on Friday responded in kind to a barrage of new U.S. sanctions, saying it would expel 10 U.S. diplomats and take other retaliatory moves in a tense showdown with Washington. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also said Moscow will add eight U.S. officials to its sanctions list and move to restrict and stop the activities …

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Biden Admin To Sanction Russia For Bounties, Hacking

The New York Times reports: The Biden administration is set to announce on Thursday a string of long-awaited measures against Russia, including far-reaching financial sanctions, for the hacking of government and private networks and a range of other activity, according to people who have been briefed on the moves. The sanctions will be among what President Biden’s aides say are …

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Hacker Leaks Personal Info On 533M Facebook Users

The Insider reports: A user in a low level hacking forum on Saturday published the phone numbers and personal data of hundreds of millions of Facebook users for free online. The exposed data includes personal information of over 533 million Facebook users from 106 countries, including over 32 million records on users in the US, 11 million on users in …

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AP: Russian Hackers Got Emails Of Top Trump Officials

The Associated Press reports: Suspected Russian hackers gained access to email accounts belonging to the Trump administration’s head of the Department of Homeland Security and members of the department’s cybersecurity staff whose jobs included hunting threats from foreign countries, The Associated Press has learned. The intelligence value of the hacking of then-acting Secretary Chad Wolf and his staff is not …

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Teen Gets 3 Years In Hack Of Celebrity Twitter Users

The Washington Post reports: A Florida teenager who was involved in the high-profile and massive hack of Twitter last year has reached a plea deal with prosecutors and will serve three years in a juvenile facility, followed by three years of probation. Graham Ivan Clark, now 18, was the “mastermind” of the so-called “Bit-Con” hack, authorities said, and one of …

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FL Mom Charged For Hacking Homecoming Queen Tally

The Orlando Sentinel reports: An Escambia County assistant principal and her daughter hacked into dozens of student accounts to cast fake votes to apparently help her daughter become homecoming queen, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Pensacola residents Laura Rose Carroll, 50, and her 17-year-old daughter were arrested by FDLE agents Monday after an investigation found they cast …

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Hackers Breach Sprawling Security Camera Network

Bloomberg News reports: A group of hackers say they breached a massive trove of security-camera data collected by Silicon Valley startup Verkada Inc., gaining access to live feeds of 150,000 surveillance cameras inside hospitals, companies, police departments, prisons and schools. Companies whose footage was exposed include carmaker Tesla Inc. and software provider Cloudflare Inc. In addition, hackers were able to …

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