Risk Management Never Been So Simplified

On Monday, the Intercept published a classified internal NSA document noting that Russian military intelligence mounted an operation to hack at least one US voting software supplier—which provided software related to voter registration files—in the months prior to last year’s presidential contest. It has previously been reported that Russia attempted to hack into voter registration systems, but this NSA document provides details of how one such operation occurred.

According to the Intercept:

The top-secret National Security Agency document, which was provided anonymously to The Intercept and independently authenticated, analyzes intelligence very recently acquired by the agency about a months-long Russian intelligence cyber effort against elements of the US election and voting infrastructure. The report, dated May 5, 2017, is the most detailed US government account of Russian interference in the election that has yet come to light.

While the document provides a rare window into the NSA’s understanding of the mechanics of Russian hacking, it does not show the underlying “raw” intelligence on which the analysis is based. A US intelligence officer who declined to be identified cautioned against drawing too big a conclusion from the document because a single analysis is not necessarily definitive.

The report indicates that Russian hacking may have penetrated further into US voting systems than was previously understood. It states unequivocally in its summary statement that it was Russian military intelligence, specifically the Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate, or GRU, that conducted the cyber attacks described in the document:

Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate actors … executed cyber espionage operations against a named U.S. company in August 2016, evidently to obtain information on elections-related software and hardware solutions. … The actors likely used data obtained from that operation to … launch a voter registration-themed spear-phishing campaign targeting U.S. local government organizations.

Go read the whole thing.

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Senior reporter Danny Palmer interviews cybersecurity experts about the latest cyber attacks, hacking trends and keeping you safe from online threats.
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Hacker

Tech giant claims Kremlin-backed group is trying to infiltrate Donald Trump and Joe Biden campaigns

One-Minute Read

Gabriel Power

Friday, September 11, 2020 – 2:26pm

Russian military hackers who leaked Democratic Party emails during the 2016 US presidential election are up to their old tricks ahead of this year’s vote, according to Microsoft.
The tech giant says that Strontium, a Kremlin-backed hacking group also known as Fancy Bear, “has attacked more than 200 organisations including political campaigns, advocacy groups, parties and political consultants” involved in the campaigns of Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden.
“The majority of these attacks were detected and stopped,” said Tom Burt, a Microsoft vice-president in charge of customer security and trust, in a blogpost that claims hackers from China and Iran are also attempting to derail the campaigns.
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Ten independent London cocktail bars now taking bookings The Washington-based multinational made no mention of “which foreign adversary poses the greater threat to the integrity of the November presidential election”, says The Guardian, but “the consensus among cybersecurity experts is that Russian interference is the gravest”.
Burt’s blogpost says that “similar to what we observed in 2016, Strontium is launching campaigns to harvest people’s log-in credentials or compromise their accounts, presumably to aid in intelligence gathering or disruption operations”.
The Times reports that the Biden campaign was “alerted to the threat when Microsoft contacted SKDKnickerbocker, a strategy company that advises the Democratic challenger, to say it had been under attack for the past two months”.
A spokesperson for the Trump campaign said the cybersecurity threats were being taken “very seriously”, adding: “We are a large target, so it is not surprising to see malicious activity directed at the campaign or our staff. We work closely with our partners, Microsoft and others, to mitigate these threats.”
Meanwhile, a Kremlin spokesperson dismissed the allegations as “nonsense”. Moscow has repeatedly denied using hacking to interfere in elections in countries across the world.

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Russia China Iran Joe Biden Donald Trump 2020 US election
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Coronavirus vaccine

US charges two men accused of targeting drug companies during global cybertheft campaign

One-Minute Read

Joe Evans

Wednesday, July 22, 2020 – 1:27pm

Two Chinese men linked to Beijing’s intelligence service targeted vaccine development research during a six-year cybertheft campaign in which trade secrets worth hundreds of millions of dollars were hacked, US prosecutors claim.
Li Xiaoyu, 34, and Dong Jiazhi, 33, are alleged to have stolen data from a wide range of technology companies in countries across the world, including one unnamed “UK artificial intelligence and cancer research firm”, The Times reports.
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) says that the pair’s hacking operation was also “aimed at industries such as defence contractors, high-end manufacturing and solar energy companies” and that they sometimes “operated on behalf of China’s spy services and sometimes to enrich themselves”, adds The New York Times (NTY).

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The Official Secrets Act explained Reaction: MI5 to get more powers following damning Russia report Kremlin interference: what is in the long-awaited Russia report? Having previously stolen information about “other Chinese intelligence targets like human rights activists”, the duo shifted their focus to trying to steal coronavirus vaccine research this year, the newspaper reports. It is not clear whether the Covid-related hacking was successful.
According to the DOJ indictment, when “they were stealing information of obvious interest” to the Chinese government, the hackers “were assisted by, and operated with the acquiescence of” the Ministry of State Security (MSS), China’s intelligence agency.
The indictment lists 11 criminal charges against Li and Dong, including conspiracies to commit computer fraud and theft, as well as multiple counts of aggravated identity theft.
According to The Times, the hackers “would often find a way into a network by looking for flaws in software products, especially vulnerabilities that had just been announced and for which most businesses had not had time to install an update to fix”.
Computer security expert Alan Woodward, a visiting professor at Surrey University’s Cyber Security Centre, told the paper that the aim with such a strategy is to “establish a toe hold using one of these vulnerabilities and then directly access data or establish a shell which provides you with your own direct access to the system”.
Announcing the charges against the two Chinese men, US Assistant Attorney General John Demers said that “China has now taken its place, alongside Russia, Iran and North Korea, in that shameful club of nations that provide a safe haven for cybercriminals in exchange for those criminals being ‘on call’ to work for the benefit of the state”, reports Al Jazeera.
The goal for Li and Dong was “to feed the Chinese Communist Party’s insatiable hunger for American and other non-Chinese companies’s hard-earned intellectual property, including Covid-19 research”, added Demers, who leads the DOJ’s National Security Division.

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LIM Guan Eng’s wife Betty Chew will be charged under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001, at the Butterworth Session’s Court next Tuesday, her lawyer said today. 

Lee Khai also said the case against Chew was not connected to the undersea tunnel project for which her husband has been charged this morning. 
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BUTTERWORTH: Former Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and businesswoman Phang Li Koon were charged in the sessions court here today with corruption.Lim, 60, and Phang, 48, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge after it was read out to them before judge Ahmad Azhari Abdul Hamid.Lim was charged, in his capacity as the Chief Minister of Penang and chairman of the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) Procurement Board then, with using his position for gratification, involving RM372,009 for his wife, Betty Chew Gek Cheng, through a company, Excel Property Management & Consultancy Sdn Bhd, by ensuring Magnificent Emblem Sdn Bhd was offered the “Jemputan Cadangan Perkampungan Pekerja di Lot 631, Mukim 13, Juru, Seberang Prai Tengah dan Sebahagian Lot 282, Mukim 13, Batu Kawan, Seberang Perai Selatan, Pulau Pinang”, worth RM11,610,000, where Chew indirectly had interest.The Bagan Member of Parliament was charged with committing the offence between Aug 19, 2013 and March 3, 2016, at the office of the Penang Chief Minister, Level 28, Komtar, in George Town, Penang.The charge was framed under Section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, which provides an imprisonment for up to 20 years and fine of not less than five times the sum or value of the gratification, or RM10,000, whichever is higher, if found guilty. Phang is charged with abetting Lim in committing the offence at the same place and date.Meanwhile, Chew, 56, pleaded not guilty to three counts of money laundering by receiving RM372,009 from a company through her bank account.For all three charges, Chew was alleged to have received RM87,009, RM180,000 and RM105,000, respectively, which were proceeds from unlawful activities from Excel Property Management & Consultancy Sdn Bhd, and deposited into her Public Bank Berhad account.She was alleged to have committed the offences between Oct 7, 2013 and Aug 4, 2014 for the first charge, between Sept 3, 2014 and Aug 11, 2015 (second charge) and from Sept 4, 2015 to March 3, 2016 (third charge), all at Public Bank Berhad, Taman Melaka Raya branch, Malacca.The charges were made under Section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2002, which provides a maximum fine of RM5 million, or imprisonment for up to five years, or both, if found guilty. — Bernama
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KEPALA BATAS: Penang police have been conducting operations and raids against illegal gambling dens in the state on almost a daily basis this year.Penang police chief Datuk Sahabudin Abd Manan said 462 raids involving gambling activities had been carried out from January till yesterday, and 137 cases had been taken to court.“During the same period, we have successfully crippled nine gambling syndicates involving online gambling, call centres and gaming houses.“There is no denying that gambling is still present in Penang, but we have always taken firm action, including cutting off the electricity supply to the premises involved,“ he told reporters after a ceremony to dispose of drug case exhibits here yesterday.He said a total of 20 individuals including syndicate leaders had been charged under the Prevention of Crime Act 1959 (POCA) while nine others are being prosecuted under the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001 (AMLA).Meanwhile, Sahabudin said the police would act decisively in ensuring all residents in Penang complied with standard operating procedures (SOPs) following the addition of new Covid-19 cases in the state.He said a meeting chaired by State Secretary Datuk Abdul Razak Jaafar was held today to discuss the measures to be taken to break the chain of infection.“We will not compromise with any party, and recently, we have also arrested an individual who violated the quarantine order, the police will hunt down those who are defiant,“ he said.Penang has so far recorded four positive Covid-19 cases linked to the Sivagangga Patient Under Investigation (PUI) and Kurau clusters. — Bernama
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 Segun Showunmi, Ibadan   TWO brothers, Ayoola Timilehin, Olusola Timilehin, and others have been arrested by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Ibadan zonal office, for internet fraud. They were arrested at their hideout yesterday at Alaka in Elebu area of Ibadan, Oyo State. The Head, Media & Publicity of the anti-graft […]
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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday re-arraigned Malabu Oil & Gas Limited, Aliyu Abubakar and 6 others before Justice I. E. Ekwo of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja. Others were: A Group Construction Company Limited, Rocky Top Resources Limited, Megatech Engineering Limited, Novel Properties and Development Company Limited, Imperial Union […]
Alleged $876m fraud: EFCC re-arraigns Malabu Oil, Abubakar, others
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