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☆ Former CIA employee sentenced to 40 years in prison after carrying out largest data leak in agency’s history
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Rob Frehse | Mark Morales | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —A former CIA employee was sentenced to 40 years in prison after carrying out the largest data leak in the agency’s history, the US Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York announced Thursday. He was also found guilty in 2023 of receiving, possessing and transporting child pornography, according to the US Attorney’s Office. He had worked as a computer engineer within the CIA’s Center for Cyber Intelligence, and created cyber tools that could grab data undetected from computers. A year later, investigators said Schulte stole cyber tools and source code and transferred them to WikiLeaks, according to court records. Schulte, who also allegedly lied to CIA and FBI investigators to cover his tracks, was arrested in August 2017 on child pornography charges.

Persons: CNN —, Joshua Schulte –, –, Schulte, “ Joshua Schulte, Damian Williams, ” Williams, Joshua Schulte, Elizabeth Williams, James Smith Organizations: CNN, CIA, US, Office, Southern, of New York, WikiLeaks, CIA’s, Cyber Intelligence, FBI, AP “, Investigators Locations: New York

On the phone was 28-year-old Jimmy Zhong, a local party boy and Georgia alum who frequented Athens' drinking establishments. Robin Martinelli, Martinelli Investigations owner and private investigator. Martinelli said Zhong appeared resistant to her theories, especially when they began to focus on his circle of friends. Source: Zhong's social media profileHis parties were epic. Source: Zhong's social media profile

Persons: Jimmy Zhong, Zhong, Robin Martinelli, Martinelli, Montel Williams, " Martinelli, Jimmy, Zhong didn't, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Jimmy Choo, didn't, he'd, Satoshi Nakamoto, Stefana, CNBC Masic, Zhong couldn't, Jody Thompson, Thompson, Trevor McAleenan, Shaun MaGruder, McAleenan, that's, MaGruder, I've, wasn't, Trevor, I'm, coders, Nathaniel Popper, Popper, Bitcoin, Nobody, bitcoin, Michael Bachner, John Garland, Bachner, Ross Ulbricht, Chad Organizations: University of Georgia, Clarke County Police Department, rowdies, Clarke County Police, CNBC, Department of Justice, Martinelli Investigations, Broad, College, Ritz Carlton, Waldorf, Georgia Bulldogs football, Rose, IRS, Silk, Clarke, Investigators, Misfits, . Locations: Athens, Georgia, bitcoin, It's, Loganville , Georgia, Zhong's, Gainesville , Georgia, Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, LA, Gainesville, Chad, Clarke County, Montgomery , Alabama, U.S

A hooded man holds a laptop computer as cyber code is projected on him in this illustration picture taken on May 13, 2017. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsOct 10 (Reuters) - Hacktivist groups say they are hitting Israeli targets online amid the war in Israel and Gaza, disrupting and defacing websites like the Jerusalem Post. The conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbors routinely attracts both intense global interest and politically minded hackers - dubbed hacktivists - who piggyback on the fighting, either to support their favored side or simply get attention. "There are dozens of victims per day, claimed by both pre-established and new (hacktivist) groups," cyber intelligence firm Recorded Future said. Examples of serious or long-term damage are still thin, but the activism shows how a subset of supporters use digital tools to bring the war online.

Persons: Kacper, Avi Mayer, hacktivists, Omri Segev Moyal, Israel, Profero, Christopher Bing, Raphael Satter, Zeba Siddiqui, Chris Sanders, Sonali Paul Organizations: REUTERS, CERT, Microsoft, Thomson Locations: Israel, Gaza, Jerusalem, Ukraine, Iranian, Washington, San Francisco

☆ FBI director urges private sector to lend government more support in cyber intelligence
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies hearing on Capitol Hill May 10, 2023 in Washington, DC. WASHINGTON, D.C. – FBI Director Christopher Wray said Monday that the federal government is relying more than ever on private sector support to ensure that U.S. infrastructure remains secure. Wray said that artificial intelligence may help China's cyber intelligence operations in their efforts to overpower U.S. defenses, and reiterated that Chinese hackers outnumber the FBI's cyber and intelligence agents by at least 50 to 1. China is poised to "use the fruits of their widespread hacking to power, with AI, even-more-powerful hacking efforts," he added. North Korean hacking groups, for example, often seek to generate revenue for the government while gathering espionage for the state.

Persons: Christopher Wray, Wray, it's, Colonial's Organizations: Commerce, Justice, Science, Capitol, WASHINGTON , D.C, Mandiant's mWise Conference, Google, FBI, Cybersecurity Infrastructure Agency, Colonial Pipeline Locations: Washington , DC, WASHINGTON ,, Washington, China, Korean, Ukraine, Eastern Europe, U.S, East

☆ Meet the newest employee at Elon Musk's SpaceX. He's 14.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-10 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

SpaceX has hired a young prodigy to join its Starlink division as a software engineer. The latest recruit at SpaceX is a software engineer who passed its "technically challenging" and "fun" interview process. He's planning to make the move from Pleasanton, California with his mother to start work at SpaceX in Redmond, Washington, per the report. "I felt like I was learning at the level that I was meant to learn," he told the LA Times. Starlink is SpaceX's satellite internet service and started operating in January in Nigeria – its first African market.

Persons: Santa Clara University's, he'd, BrainGain, Quazi, Starlink Organizations: SpaceX, Santa Clara University, Morning, Santa Clara, Seattle Times, Los Angeles Times, LA Times, Intel Labs, ABC7, Nigeria – Locations: California, Santa, Pleasanton , California, Redmond , Washington, Nigeria

☆ Chinese hackers outnumber FBI cyber staff 50 to 1, bureau director says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

U.S. cyber intelligence staff is vastly outnumbered by Chinese hackers, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray told Congress as he pleaded for more money for the agency. The disclosure highlights the massive scale of cyber threats the U.S. is facing, particularly from China. The agency is requesting about $63 million to help it beef up its cyber staff with 192 new positions. Wray said this would also help the FBI put more cyber staff in field offices to be closer to where victims of cyber crimes actually are. WATCH: Crowdstrike CEO on government spending on cyber, vulnerabilities and geopolitical threats

LONDON, April 5 (Reuters) - International law enforcement agencies have seized a sprawling dark web marketplace popular with cybercriminals, Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA) said on Wednesday, in a multinational crackdown dubbed 'Operation Cookie Monster'. A banner plastered across Genesis Market's site late on Tuesday said domains belonging to the organisation had been seized by the FBI. Logos of other European, Canadian, and Australian police organizations were also emblazoned across the site, along with that of cybersecurity firm Qintel. The NCA estimated that the service hosted about 80 million credentials and digital fingerprints stolen from more than two million people. The NCA said Genesis had operated by selling credentials from as little as $0.7 to hundreds of dollars depending on the stolen data available.

☆ It's not just you: Cybercriminals are also using ChatGPT to make their jobs easier
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

ChatGPT can quickly generate targeted phishing emails or malicious code for malware attacks. AI companies could be held liable for chatbots counseling criminals since Section 230 may not apply. Sergey Shykevich, a lead ChatGPT researcher at cybersecurity company Checkpoint security, has already seen cybercriminals harness the AI's power to create code that can be used in a ransomware attack. In dealing with unlawful or criminal content on their sites from third-party users, most tech companies cite Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. In addition, ChatGPT continues to implement guardrails to deter illegal activity, although these guardrails can often be sidestepped with the right script.

☆ Mexican opposition lawmaker says he was target of Pegasus spyware
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Daina Beth Solomon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Federal lawmaker Basave from the center-left Citizens' Movement in the wealthy northern city of Monterrey said an analysis from leading cyber watchdog Citizen Lab found Pegasus on his phone in September 2021. Pegasus belongs to Israeli spyware firm NSO Group, which typically only sells the software to governments or law enforcement. When asked about Basave's case, NSO Group said Citizen Lab investigations are not able to differentiate between NSO tools and other cyber intelligence software. Citizen Lab said it rejects that assertion. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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