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☆ State-backed cyberattacks, AI deepfakes, and more: Experts reveal UK election cyber threats
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-08 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

State actors have since made routine attacks in various countries to manipulate the outcome of elections, according to cyber experts. "Right now, generative AI can be used for harm or for good and so we see both applications every day increasingly adopted," Meyers told CNBC. "This democratic process is extremely fragile," Meyers told CNBC. "You can train those voice AI models very easily ... through exposure to social [media]," Holmes told CNBC in an interview. It's just one example of many deepfakes that have cybersecurity experts worried about what's to come as the U.K. approaches elections later this year.

Persons: Andrew Brookes, Rishi Sunak, Todd McKinnon, Okta's McKinnon, We're, Adam Meyers, CrowdStrike, Meyers, Dan Holmes, Holmes, Keir Starmer, what's Organizations: Getty, Britain, CNBC, British, U.S, APT, New Zealand, Labour Party, Local, Facebook, Meta, Google Locations: Russian, Moscow, London, Wuhan, U.S, Australia, New, China, cybersecurity, Russia, Iran

☆ Asia is entering a deepfake era in an election year — can it handle misinformation campaigns?
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( Chelsea Ong | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

The AI-generated deepfake video that cloned his face and voice racked up 4.7 million views on X alone. In Pakistan, a deepfake of former prime minister Imran Khan emerged around the national elections, announcing his party was boycotting them. Deepfakes of politicians are becoming increasingly common, especially with 2024 set up to be the biggest global election year in history. With tech companies adopting different measures across their platforms, a multi-prong approach is needed, she said. watch now"We should not just be relying on the good intentions of these companies," Chesterman added.

Persons: Suharto, Imran Khan, Joe Biden's, deepfakes, Simon Chesterman, Crowdstrike, — that's, Carol, Chesterman, Taylor Swift, Adam Meyers, X, OpenAI, “, I’m, we’re, Sam Altman Organizations: Istock, , New Hampshire voters, Singapore, Institute of Policy Studies, Microsoft, Meta, Google, IBM, Tech, Adobe, Intel Locations: deepfakes, Pakistan, U.S, , New Hampshire, Asia, China, Russia, Iran, Singapore, CrowdStrike, they're

☆ US officials combing leaked documents from Chinese tech firm for clues about Chinese hacking campaigns
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —US officials have been scouring a trove of newly leaked documents from a Chinese tech firm for clues on how the government in Beijing allegedly uses the company in extensive hacking campaigns, multiple US cybersecurity officials familiar with the matter told CNN. The documents, posted anonymously online last weekend for anyone to access, include screenshots of chat logs, as well as records of employees and Chinese government clients of the tech firm I-Soon. “This is some of the best visibility we’ve had into Chinese hacking operations outside of a government SCIF,” said Adam Kozy, who used to track Chinese hackers for the FBI, using an acronym for classified facilities. In a leaked marketing presentation, I-Soon touted its participation in an unspecified hacking project for China’s Ministry of Public Security in 2018. The project “achieved significant results” and received “recognition and praise” from Chinese officials, according to a presentation slide.

Persons: Biden, ”, Adam Kozy, I’m, ” Liu Pengyu, Wu Haibo, Beijing’s, Christopher Wray, Dakota Cary, ” GitHub, “, Wu, Obama, Xi Jinping, Adam Meyers, CrowdStrike, Meyers Organizations: CNN, FBI, Embassy, Telecom, China’s Ministry of Public Security, US Justice Department, US Locations: Beijing, Taiwan, India, Hong, Sichuan, China, Washington ,, Shanghai, Dakota, Asia, South Korea, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan

☆ Israel’s cyber defense chief tells CNN he is concerned Iran could increase severity of its cyberattacks
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

So far, suspected Iranian hackers appear to have had minimal impact on their publicly claimed targets in Israel in the last month. But Portnoy said those hackers have been relatively quiet in the latest Israel-Hamas war (Israeli airstrikes have decimated internet infrastructure in Gaza.) “There is a gap between their [cyber] capabilities and their rhetoric,” the official told CNN, referring to Iran-backed hackers. “Even the successful, real cyberattacks are probably not going to be about the actual attack,” John Hultquist, Mandiant’s chief analyst, told CNN. This campaign is “maybe the most sophisticated we have seen from Iran on a technological level,” Sergey Shykevich, threat intelligence group manager at Check Point, told CNN.

Persons: “, ”, Gaby Portnoy, ” Portnoy, Portnoy, –, Christopher Wray, ” Wray, ” Eric Goldstein, CrowdStrike, ” John Hultquist, “ It’s, Solomon, Israel, Adam Meyers, CrowdStrike’s, ” Meyers, Sergey Shykevich Organizations: CNN, Israel National Cyber Directorate, Lebanese, Hezbollah, Palo Alto Networks, Hamas, Infrastructure Security Agency, FBI, Boston Children’s Hospital, ” CNN, Iranian, United Nations, “, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Locations: Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia, East, Iranian, Syria, Iraq, Tehran, –, Palo, Gaza, Palestine, China, Russia

The FBI is investigating the MGM and Caesars breaches, and the companies did not comment on who may be behind them. In some cases - Mandia did not say which ones - hackers tied to Scattered Spider placed bogus emergency calls to summon heavily armed police units to the homes of executives of targeted companies. ALPHV, which according to Mandiant is a "ransomware-as-a-service", would provide services such as a helpdesk, webpage and branding, and in turn get a cut of whatever Scattered Spider would make from the hack. While many ransomware attacks go unpublicised, the MGM hack was a vivid example of the real-world impact of such incidents. Ransomware gangs often function like large organizations, and continue to evolve their methods to adapt to the latest security measures organizations use.

Persons: Bridget Bennett, helpdesk, they’d, Wendi Whitmore, Adam Meyers, it's, Kevin Mandia, Mandiant, Reuters couldn't, CrowdStrike's Meyers, helpdesks, David Bradbury, they've, Bradbury, ALPHV, Okta's Bradbury, Whitmore, Zeba Siddiqui, Raphael Satter, Chris Sanders, Claudia Parsons Organizations: MGM, MGM Resorts, REUTERS, FRANCISCO, Alto Networks, Caesars Entertainment, FBI, Caesars, Google, Reuters, Microsoft, British, Thomson Locations: Las Vegas , Nevada, U.S, WASHINGTON, Canada, Japan, United States, reassign, Las Vegas, San Francisco, New York

Aug 1 (Reuters) - An obscure cloud service company has been providing state-sponsored hackers with internet services to spy on and extort their victims, a cybersecurity firm said in a report to be published on Tuesday. Researchers at Texas-based Halcyon said a company called Cloudzy had been leasing server space and reselling it to no fewer than 17 different state-sponsored hacking groups from China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, India, Pakistan and Vietnam. Halcyon estimated that roughly half of Cloudzy’s business was malicious, including renting services to two ransomware groups. The cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, which wasn’t involved in the research, said that it hadn’t seen state-sponsored hackers using Cloudzy. He said the company needed U.S. domicile to be able to register internet protocol addresses in America.

Persons: Halcyon, Cloudzy, Hannan Nozari, couldn’t, Nozari, ”, Ryan Golden, wasn’t, It’s, – CloudPeak, Sheridan –, Adam Meyers, “, Christopher Bing, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: LinkedIn, Reuters, ”, Nozari, CrowdStrike, Thomson Locations: Texas, China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, India, Pakistan, Vietnam, Tehran, Nozari, Cyprus, U.S ., Wyoming, America, Sheridan

[1/2] Miniatures of people with computers are seen in front of North Korea flag in this illustration taken July 19, 2023. North Korea has previously denied organizing digital currency heists, despite voluminous evidence - including U.N. reports - to the contrary. “North Korea in my opinion is really stepping up their game,” said Hegel, who works for U.S. firm SentinelOne. The cybersecurity-focused podcast Risky Business earlier this week cited two sources as saying that North Korea was a suspect in the intrusion. "I don't think this is the last we'll see of North Korean supply chain attacks this year," he said.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, ”, JumpCloud, CrowdStrike, Adam Meyers, Tom Hegel, wasn't, Hegel, cryptocurrency, Chainalysis, CrowdStrike's Meyers, Christopher Bing, Raphael Satter, James Pearson, Michelle Nichols, Anna Driver, Bernadette Baum Organizations: REUTERS, WASHINGTON, American IT, Reuters, CrowdStrike Holdings, North, United Nations, U.S, FBI, Thomson Locations: North Korea, Korean, American, Louisville , Colorado, North Korean, New York, Korea, “ North Korea, The U.S, Washington, London

It can boost security, especially for small organizations that lack the resources to run their own IT or security departments. But competitors squeezed by Microsoft's security offering are sounding the alarm over how wide swaths of industry and government were effectively putting all their eggs in one basket. Adair said he understood that Microsoft wanted to make money from its premium security product. He noted that the hackers - which Microsoft nicknames Storm-0558 - were caught only because someone at the State Department with access to Microsoft's top-of-the-line logging noticed an anomaly in their forensic data. "Having Microsoft further empower customers and security companies so they can work together is probably the best way," Adair said.

Persons: Steven, Adair, Gina Raimondo, Microsoft, Ron Wyden, Redmond, Adam Meyers, CrowdStrike, Raphael Satter, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Microsoft, NASA, Reuters, U.S, State Department, Storm, Thomson Locations: cyberdefense, U.S, Washington

☆ North Korean hackers breach software firm in significant cyberattack
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Suspected North Korean hackers infiltrated a software firm that claims hundreds of thousands of customers around the world in a cyberattack that shows Pyongyang’s advanced hacking capabilities, private investigators said Thursday. But it’s the latest evidence that North Korean hackers are pulling out all the stops to break into organizations to steal or spy on them in support of dictator Kim Jong Un’s strategic interests. A recent CNN investigation found a rampant effort by North Korean hackers to steal cryptocurrency and launder it into hard cash that might help fund the regime’s weapon’s programs. Trading Technologies has not been able to verify Mandiant’s findings yet because the company just became aware of the issue last week, a spokesperson for Trading Technologies told CNN on Thursday. “What we do know with certainty is that 3CX is not a vendor or a customer of Trading Technologies,” the Trading Technologies spokesperson said.

☆ The attack in Ukraine took a lot of the cyber focus off China, says CrowdStrike's sr. vp of intelligence
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailThe attack in Ukraine took a lot of the cyber focus off China, says CrowdStrike's sr. vp of intelligenceCrowdStrike’s Adam Meyers joins Eamon Javers and the 'CNBC Special: Taking Stock' to discuss the real-world cyberthreats we face across the globe.

☆ Russian hackers launched attacks on 3 US nuclear research laboratories, says Reuters investigation
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A group of Russian hackers targeted three US nuclear research laboratories. Russian hackers have used malware in phone apps to track Ukrainian artillery units. Russian hackers have used malware in phone apps to track Ukrainian artillery units and have sent propaganda to Ukrainian phones using simulators that imitate cell towers. Ukrainians have also reportedly tracked Russian generals making unsecured calls and used the information to launch attacks, Insider's Christopher Woody reports. In 2018, it was reported that the Russian military had been able to jam some US drones operating in the skies over Syria, seriously affecting American military operationsx

The FBI has warned that an Iranian government-tied hacker group that tried to interfere in the 2020 election is currently active and a threat to the U.S. The group, which federal agencies say operates from an Iranian cybersecurity company called Emennet Pasargad, is engaged in “ongoing” operations to hack and leak material, and may target American organizations, the FBI said Thursday in an industry warning. In October 2020, the FBI announced that Iran was behind the most significant foreign attempt to influence that year’s U.S. elections. Democrats registered to vote in Florida, which makes voter information publicly accessible, received intimidating emails in the weeks before the election, instructing them to become Republicans. It was not clear what organization the FBI was referring to, and the agency did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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