CYBERCRIME

Attractive Targets For Hackers – Local Governments Are Ill-Prepared

30Mar

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

CYBERCRIME, IN OTHER NEWS

Attractive Targets For Hackers – Local Governments Are Ill-Prepared

President Joe Biden on March 21, 2022, warned that Russian cyberattacks on U.S. targets are likely, though the government has not identified a specific threat. Biden urged the private sector: “Harden your cyber defenses immediately.” It is a costly fact of modern life that organizations from pipelines and shipping companies to hospitals and any number of private companies are vulnerable to cyberattacks, and the threat of cyberattacks from Russia and other nations makes a bad situation worse. Individuals, too, are at risk from the current threat. Local governments, like schools and hospitals, are particularly enticing “soft targets” – organizations that lack the resources to defend themselves against routine cyberattacks, let alone a lengthy cyber conflict. For those attacking such target...

In The Uphill Battle Against Russian Hackers The Biden Administration Is Making Gains

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

CYBERCRIME, VIDEO REELS

In The Uphill Battle Against Russian Hackers The Biden Administration Is Making Gains

On Jan. 14, 2022, the FSB, Russia’s domestic intelligence service, announced that it had broken up the notorious Russia-based REvil ransomware criminal organization. The FSB said the actions were taken in response to a request from U.S. authorities. The move marks a dramatic shift in Russia’s response to criminal cyberattacks launched against U.S. targets from within Russia, and comes at a time of heightened tensions between the two countries. U.S. policy and actions in response to cyberattacks connected to Russia have changed distinctly since the Biden administration took office. President Joe Biden has openly confronted Russian President Vladimir Putin on his responsibility regarding international cyberattacks, and the Biden administration has taken unprecedented steps to impose costs o...

How Paper Checks Stolen By Cybercriminals From Mailboxes Are Turned Into Bitcoin

5Jan

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

CYBERCRIME

How Paper Checks Stolen By Cybercriminals From Mailboxes Are Turned Into Bitcoin

While cybercrime gets a lot of attention from law enforcement and the media these days, I’ve been documenting a less high-tech threat emerging in recent months: a surge in stolen checks. Criminals are increasingly targeting U.S. Postal Service and personal mailboxes to pilfer filled-out checks and sell them over the internet using social media platforms. The buyers then alter the payee and amount listed on the checks to rob victims’ bank accounts of thousands of dollars. While the banks themselves typically bear the financial burden and reimburse targeted accounts, criminals can use the checks to steal victims’ identities, which can have severe consequences. I founded and now direct Georgia State University’s Evidence Based Cybersecurity Research Group, which is aimed at learning what wo...

Pandemic Used By Cyber-Criminals To Attack Schools And Colleges

15Sep

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

CYBERCRIME, EDUCATION

Pandemic Used By Cyber-Criminals To Attack Schools And Colleges

Nir Kshetri, University of North Carolina – Greensboro Cyberattacks have hit schools and colleges harder than any other industry during the pandemic. In 2020, including the costs of downtime, repairs and lost opportunities, the average ransomware attack cost educational institutions $2.73 million. That is $300,000 more than the next-highest sector – distributors and transportation companies. From Aug. 14 to Sept. 12, 2021, educational organizations were the target of over 5.8 million malware attacks, or 63% of all such attacks. Ransomware attacks alone impacted 1,681 U.S. schools, colleges and universities in 2020. Globally 44% of educational institutions were targeted by such attacks. I study cybercrime and cybersecurity. In my forthcoming book – set to be published in November 2021 –...

Smart Cyber Defense Or Government Overreach? The FBI Is Breaking Into Corporate Computers To Remove Malicious Code

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

CYBERCRIME, TECHNOLOGY

Smart Cyber Defense Or Government Overreach? The FBI Is Breaking Into Corporate Computers To Remove Malicious Code

The FBI has the authority right now to access privately owned computers without their owners’ knowledge or consent, and to delete software. It’s part of a government effort to contain the continuing attacks on corporate networks running Microsoft Exchange software, and it’s an unprecedented intrusion that’s raising legal questions about just how far the government can go. On April 9, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas approved a search warrant allowing the U.S. Department of Justice to carry out the operation. The software the FBI is deleting is malicious code installed by hackers to take control of a victim’s computer. Hackers have used the code to access vast amounts of private email messages and to launch ransomware attacks. The authority the Justice D...

Observations From A Cybersecurity Expert – The Sunburst Hack Was Massive And Devastating

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

CYBERCRIME

Observations From A Cybersecurity Expert – The Sunburst Hack Was Massive And Devastating

So much remains unknown about what is now being called the Sunburst hack, the cyberattack against U.S. government agencies and corporations. U.S. officials widely believe that Russian state-sponsored hackers are responsible. The attack gave the perpetrators access to numerous key American business and government organizations. The immediate effects will be difficult to judge, and a complete accounting of the damage is unlikely. However, the nature of the affected organizations alone makes it clear that this is perhaps the most consequential cyberattack against the U.S. to date. An act of cyberwar is usually not like a bomb, which causes immediate, well-understood damage. Rather, it is more like a cancer – it’s slow to detect, difficult to eradicate, and it causes ongoing and significant ...

Defending the 2020 election against hacking: 5 questions answered

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

CYBERCRIME

Defending the 2020 election against hacking: 5 questions answered

Journalist Bob Woodward reports in his new book, “Rage,” that the NSA and CIA have classified evidence that the Russian intelligence services placed malware in the election registration systems of at least two Florida counties in 2016, and that the malware was sophisticated and could erase voters. This appears to confirm earlier reports. Meanwhile, Russian intelligence agents and other foreign players are already at work interfering in the 2020 presidential election. Douglas W. Jones, Associate Professor of Computer Science at the University of Iowa and coauthor of the book “Broken Ballots: Will Your Vote Count?,” describes the vulnerabilities of the U.S. election system in light of this news. 1. Though Woodward reports there was no evidence the election registration system malware had bee...

Russian cyberthreat extends to coronavirus vaccine research

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, CYBERCRIME, TECHNOLOGY

Russian cyberthreat extends to coronavirus vaccine research

A Russian cyberespionage group that hacked into election networks before the 2016 U.S. presidential election is now attempting to steal coronavirus vaccine information from researchers in the U.S., U.K. and Canada. The governments of those three countries issued a warning on July 16 saying that the group known as APT29 or “Cozy Bear” is targeting vaccine development efforts. The group, which is connected with the FSB, Russia’s internal security service, had gotten inside the Democratic National Committee networks prior to the 2016 election. This latest incident illustrates yet again how, beyond carrying all of our phone, text and internet communications, cyberspace is an active battleground, with cybercriminals, government agents and even military personnel probing weaknesses in corporate...

Ransomware criminals are targeting US universities

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

CYBERCRIME, EDUCATION, TECHNOLOGY

Ransomware criminals are targeting US universities

As COVID-19 cases in the U.S. continue to climb, government and higher education leaders have been focused on doing what it takes to protect campus communities from the global pandemic. But college and university leaders would be wise if they were just as vigilant about protecting their sensitive data from the cybercriminals who are becoming increasingly sophisticated about encrypting the colleges’ data and making the colleges pay a ransom to get it back. One of the latest examples is a ransomware attack that struck the University of California, San Francisco on June 1. In that case, cybercriminals used the NetWalker malware to encrypt data on the servers of the university’s school of medicine. This malware targets corporate networks and encrypts the data it finds on the attacked devices...

Deal with ransomware the way police deal with hostage situations

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

CYBERCRIME, TECHNOLOGY

Deal with ransomware the way police deal with hostage situations

When faced with a ransomware attack, a person or company or government agency finds its digital data encrypted by an unknown person, and then gets a demand for a ransom. As that type of digital hijacking has become more common in recent years, there have been two major ways people have chosen to respond: pay the ransom, which can be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, or hire computer security consultants to recover the data independently. Those approaches are missing another option that we have identified in our cybersecurity policy studies. Police have a long history of successful crisis and hostage negotiation – experience that offers lessons that could be useful for people and organizations facing ransomware attacks. Understanding the problem In the first nine months of 2019, mo...