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☆ Britain to Expel Russian Defense Attaché and Close Some Diplomatic Sites
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Britain’s diplomatic feud with Russia escalated on Wednesday after the British government announced it would expel a senior Russian diplomat who officials claim is an “undeclared” military intelligence officer, and also shut down several Russian diplomatic facilities in the country. The government accused Russia’s foreign intelligence service, the Federal Security Service, or F.S.B., of a pattern of “malign activity” in Britain and Europe, including hacking and leaking trade documents relating to the United States, and targeting of British lawmakers through malicious email campaigns. James Cleverly, the British home secretary, told Parliament that the government was announcing the retaliatory measures “to make clear to Russia that we will not tolerate such apparent escalations.”Britain’s action came two days after the Russian Foreign Ministry said it had summoned the British ambassador to Moscow to lodge a “strong protest” over remarks the British foreign secretary, David Cameron, had made about Ukraine’s using weapons supplied by Britain to strike Russian territory.

Persons: James, ”, David Cameron Organizations: Federal Security Service, Russian Foreign Ministry Locations: Russia, British, Russian, Britain, Europe, United States, Moscow

☆ China sees foreign threats ‘everywhere’ as powerful spy agency takes center stage
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-21 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +16 min

But among the crowds you and I together are protecting national security,” the narrator concludes. Chinese soldiers look at a poster promoting national security in the southwestern city of Beihai on National Security Education Day on April 15, 2024. CFOTO/Future Publishing/Getty ImagesAccording to the MSS, foreign spies are omnipresent and infiltrating everything – from mapping apps to weather stations. But China’s spy agency has gradually stepped out of the shadows as Xi makes national security a key priority. “Shenyin Special Investigation Squad” is a comic series based on real-life counterespionage operations, according to China's spy agency.

Persons: –, “, ”, Xi, Xuezhi Guo, Sheena Chestnut Greitens, Xi Jinping, Greg Baker, Mao Zedong, Greitens, Chen Yixin, Chen, “ Chen, ” Greitens, Xi –, denigrate, Bain, Alex Plavevski, Guo, influencers, China’s, can’t, James Zimmerman, Perkins Coie, Zimmerman, ” Zimmerman Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, National Security Education, “, Ministry of State Security, National Security, Publishing, CIA, National, Education, Capitol, Guilford College, Asia, University of Texas, Getty, Communist Party, FBI, National Security Propaganda, CCTV, Ministry of State, China’s National Security Commission, Group, China Development Forum, Perkins Coie LLP, ”, MSS Locations: China, Hong Kong, Beihai, British, American, Beijing, Austin, AFP, Zhejiang province, Shanghai, New York, overreaching

☆ Germany Arrests 2 in Spying and Sabotage Case Linked to Russia
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Christopher F. Schuetze | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Two men have been arrested in Germany over suspicions that they spied for Russia and were part of a plot to sabotage aid to Ukraine by trying to blow up military infrastructure on German soil, the authorities announced on Thursday. The two men, both dual citizens of Russia and Germany, were arrested on Wednesday in Bayreuth, a city about 120 miles north of Munich, German federal prosecutors said. The arrests came as worries grow in Germany about the reach of Russian intelligence and disruption operations. One of the men had been in contact with Russian intelligence services and had considered a U.S. military base in Germany as one of several potential targets, according to federal prosecutors based in Karlsruhe, in southwestern Germany, who oversaw the arrests. But the federal prosecutors said that the pair were suspected of working for a foreign intelligence service and, in one man’s case, of illegally taking pictures of military infrastructure and of planning explosive attacks and arson.

Locations: Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Bayreuth, Munich, U.S, Karlsruhe

☆ FBI interview transcript reveals how Trump aide characterized boxes at Mar-a-Lago to investigators
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-12 | by ( Tierney Sneed | Holmes Lybrand | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The transcript of an FBI interview made public late Thursday details how an aide to former President Donald Trump characterized the boxes of sensitive documents that are now at the center of the special counsel’s case into the mishandling of classified documents from the Trump White House. For much of the May 2022 interview, Nauta describes the layout of Mar-a-Lago, what he claimed to know about where boxes of Trump’s items from the White House were stored and his assessment of what was in the boxes. Nauta has been charged with conspiring to conceal documents as well as lying to the FBI in his interview about the location and movement of boxes of documents at Mar-a-Lago. According to the transcript, investigators at one point in the interview ask Nauta whether he was aware of Trump showing a document with classified markings to people while on a plane. So that’s kind of the reason why we’re looking into this.”Nauta denied telling Trump that he was sitting for the interview, and according to the transcript, Nauta said he told Trump that he was going for a run.

Persons: Donald Trump, Walt Nauta, Nauta, Trump, Aileen Cannon, Jack Smith’s, we’ve, ” Nauta Organizations: CNN, FBI, Trump White House, Mar, Trump

☆ Opinion: Despite ISIS threat, Putin’s only concern is the politics of terrorism
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-02 | by ( Opinion Douglas London | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Russia knows it has a terrorist problem, despite its deflection and spin to preserve Putin’s image, but his priorities are elsewhere. Russian intelligence also suffers from systemic failings in recognizing, penetrating and dismantling terrorist cells, failings that stem from doctrine and a deliberately stovepiped structure that obstructs information sharing and agility. FSB officers will coerce, threaten and intimidate potential sources with diminishing returns that will only fuel ISIS-K recruitment and fundraising, which is no doubt seeing a surge from its Moscow attack. Russian intelligence will be left to depend on the unwilling, ill-informed or duplicitous. At the Islamic State’s height, Tajik Gulmurod Khalimov commanded its Iraqi capital of Mosul.

Persons: Douglas London, ”, Vladimir Putin, Alexander Bortnikov, Douglas, Mike Pompeo, Russia’s, Sergey Naryshkin, Igor Korobov, Donald Trump, Pompeo, Russia Michael McFaul, Barack Obama, Trump, Putin, Gulmurod Khalimov, Khalimov, “ Omar al, “ Omar, ” Batirashvili, Washington, Sergei Skripal, Yulia Organizations: CIA, of American Intelligence, Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, Global National Security Institutes, CNN, Federal Security Service, CBC, Ukraine, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, Russian Military Intelligence, Trump, White, ISIS, Central, Former, Terrorism, Embassy, K’s, Tajikistan’s Interior Ministry, Islamic Locations: South, Southwest Asia, London, Khorasan, United States, Afghanistan, Islamic State, Great Britain, Russia, Washington, State, Moscow, Syria, Iraq, Russian, US, Ukraine, St . Petersburg, Central Asia, Central Asian, Central, East, Turkey, Turkish, Istanbul, Mosul, Chechen, Georgian, Georgia, Iran, Kerman, Salisbury, England

☆ Russia is returning to its Cold War posture with plans to increase troops along its NATO borders, Lithuania's PM warns
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-22 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russia plans to increase its troops along its border with NATO, Lithuania's prime minister said. Ingrida Šimonytė said Russia is returning to a Cold War posture and Europe needs to be prepared. AdvertisementRussia is returning to its Cold War posture and is preparing to seriously grow the number of troops that it has along its shared borders with NATO, Lithuania's prime minister warned. Ingrida Šimonytė told Business Insider in an interview that the rebuilding of Russia's military capacities on its borders with NATO member states means that it is "returning to the Cold War sort of posture." As Business Insider previously reported, this is the kind of language Putin used before he launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Persons: Ingrida Šimonytė, —, Šimonytė, Russia hadn't, It's, Vladimir Putin, Putin Organizations: NATO, Service, Ukraine, EU, Finland, Business, Lithuania, for Locations: Russia, Europe, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Finland, Ukraine, Kaliningrad, Soviet Union, Russia's, Baltic

☆ US Marines don skis in joint NATO exercises in the critical Arctic battleground
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-17 | by ( Cameron Manley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Last month, II MEF attended a 10-day training course in the hills near the Norwegian town of Setermoen. "I think that's one of the things that we see with our marines and sailors in this training," said II MEF commander, Lt. AdvertisementThe II MEF, the US military's rapid response group, was ordered to delay the hypothetical enemy so that "reinforcements" had time to arrive. The Arctic is a key locationThe Arctic itself is already a critical region for Russia and NATO. AdvertisementPutin has snapped back at the West following French President Emmanuel Macron's suggestions that NATO could send troops to Ukraine.

Persons: —, Ted Driscoll, David A, JONATHAN NACKSTRAND, Grant Schapps, Pål Jonson, Mark Stephens, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Emmanuel Macron's, Sergei Naryshkin, General Carl, Johan Edstrom, it's Organizations: Service, US Marines, Marine Expeditionary Force, NATO, Marines, Business, NBC News, Nato Nordic, Getty, Reuters, NBC, Norwegian Communication Authority, Brookings Institution, Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, BBC Locations: Alaska, Norway, Norwegian, Setermoen, Iraq, Afghanistan, AFP, Russia, Ukraine, Finland, Sweden, North America, Europe, Russian

☆ Exclusive: US prepared ‘rigorously’ for potential Russian nuclear strike in Ukraine in late 2022, officials say
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-09 | by ( Jim Sciutto | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

Russian officials alleged Ukraine would build and detonate a dirty bomb against Russian forces and then blame the attack on Russia. Western intelligence agencies had received information that there were now communications among Russian officials explicitly discussing a nuclear strike. “It’s never a cut-and-dry, black-and-white assessment,” the first senior administration official told me. Secretary of State Antony Blinken communicated US concerns “very directly” with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, according to senior administration officials. “We conducted a number of quiet conversations with core allies to go through our thinking,” the first senior administration official told me.

Persons: CNN —, Biden, Powers, “, ” “, Chris McGrath, Vladimir Putin, Sergei Shoigu, “ It’s, NurPhoto, Antony Blinken, Sergey Lavrov, Mark Milley, General Valery Gerasimov, Joe Biden, Bill Burns, Sergey Naryshkin, Xi Jinping, Narendra Modi, Alexandr Demyanchuk, ”, … Organizations: CNN, US, National Security Council, Kherson City, “, UN, United Nations, Russian, Russian Armed Forces, CIA, Indian, Shanghai Cooperation Organization Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, “, Russian, Kherson, Ukrainian, France, Turkey, ”, Kyiv, India, China, Samarkand

☆ Russian state-backed hackers accessed Microsoft’s core software systems, company says
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Russian state-backed hackers gained access to some of Microsoft’s core software systems in a hack first disclosed in January, the company said Friday, revealing a more extensive and serious intrusion into Microsoft’s systems than previously known. Hackers with access to source code can use it for follow-on attacks on other systems. Microsoft first revealed the breach in January, days before another Big Tech company, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, said the same hackers had breached its cloud-based email systems. The hacking group was behind the infamous breach of several US agency email systems using software made by US contractor SolarWinds, which was revealed in 2020. US officials have attributed the hacking group to Russia’s foreign intelligence service.

Organizations: CNN, Microsoft, US Securities and Exchange Commission, Big Tech, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Kremlin, SolarWinds, Homeland Security, SEC Locations: Russian, Russia

☆ Biden to issue executive order aimed at protecting Americans’ sensitive data from China, other 'hostile countries'
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

U.S. President Joe Biden will issue an executive order Wednesday intended to safeguard the personal data of American citizens from countries deemed hostile. The executive order centers on the business of selling people's personal information, in which companies and so-called data brokers collect and trade data. The order focusses on specific, sensitive information like genomic data, biometric data, personal health data, geolocation data, financial data and other kinds of personally identifiable information. The executive order will direct the Department of Justice to issue several regulations intended to protect sensitive data. "American privacy concerns in the data broker industry are not new, and existing laws do not sufficiently protect Americans' data from misuse," the letter said.

Persons: Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Mitch McConnell, Mike Johnson, Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, Biden Organizations: White, Chinese Communist Party, Department of Justice, of Homeland Security, United States Telecommunications Services, U.S, Oracle, Trump, Biden Locations: Washington , DC, U.S, China

☆ White House looks to curb foreign powers’ ability to buy Americans’ sensitive personal data with executive order
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —President Joe Biden will issue an executive order on Wednesday aimed at curbing foreign governments’ ability to buy Americans’ sensitive personal information such as heath and geolocation data, according to senior US officials. The department will also issue regulations that require better protection of sensitive government information, including geolocation data on US military members, according to US officials. “Countries of concern, such as China and Russia, are buying Americans’ sensitive personal data from data brokers,” a separate senior administration official told reporters. In addition to health and location data, the executive order is expected to cover other sensitive information like genomic and financial data. Administration officials told reporters the new executive order would be applied narrowly so as not to hurt business transactions that do not pose a national security risk.

Persons: Joe Biden Organizations: CNN, Department, Justice Department, Social, Defense, Health, Human Services, Veteran Affairs Locations: China, Russia

The staff member, Kyle Parker, is the senior Senate adviser for the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, known as the Helsinki Commission. The commission is led by members of Congress and staffed by congressional aides. It is influential on matters of democracy and security and has been vocal in supporting Ukraine. A confidential report by the commission’s director and general counsel, which The New York Times reviewed, said that the equipment transfer could make Mr. Parker an unregistered foreign agent. It said that Mr. Parker had traveled Ukraine’s front lines wearing camouflage and Ukrainian military insignia and had hired a Ukrainian official for a U.S. government fellowship over the objections of congressional ethics and security officials.

Persons: Kyle Parker, Parker Organizations: Capitol Hill, U.S . Commission, Security, Cooperation, Helsinki Commission, New York Times Locations: Russia, Europe, Helsinki, Ukraine

☆ Opinion: The Hur report points to a huge danger that one no one’s talking about
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Opinion Gary Ross | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Over the past year, we’ve seen an alarming wave of current or former senior government officials who reportedly failed to properly safeguard classified information. The clearest threat is that our adversaries can more easily gain access to classified material and the sensitive information it contains. This increases the likelihood that an adversary would succeed in accessing any classified documents stored at these locations. Our adversaries are not the only ones observing how well we safeguard sensitive information. Finally, US intelligence community employees, bound by the same oath to safeguard classified information, may come to question the seriousness of their obligation.

Persons: Gary Ross, Ross, we’ve, Donald Trump’s Mar, Joe Biden, Mike Pence, Pence, Trump, Robert Hur’s, Biden, Hur, ” Organizations: Texas, Bush School ,, Department of Defense, Office, National Intelligence and Department of Homeland Security, Bush, CNN, Biden, Justice Department, Trump, of Justice, US, US Justice Department, Lago Club . US Department of Justice, CIA, Intelligence Service Locations: Bush School , Washington, DC, United States, Delaware

☆ Opinion: The biggest potential danger from the Hur report is one no one’s talking about
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Opinion Gary Ross | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Persons: Gary Ross, Ross, we’ve, Donald Trump’s Mar, Joe Biden, Mike Pence, Pence, Trump, Robert Hur’s, Biden, ” Organizations: Texas, Bush School ,, Department of Defense, Office, National Intelligence and Department of Homeland Security, Bush, CNN, Biden, Justice Department, Trump, of Justice, US, US Justice Department, Lago Club . US Department of Justice, CIA, Intelligence Service Locations: Bush School , Washington, DC, United States, Delaware

☆ Estonia thwarts ‘shadow war’ attack, Prime Minister Kaja Kallas tells CNN
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Jim Sciutto | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Estonia has thwarted a Russian-directed influence operation on its territory, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas has told CNN. The Estonian Internal Security Service arrested 10 individuals, including both Russian and Estonian nationals. “There’s a shadow war going on against our societies,” Prime Minister Kallas told CNN. “The aim of Russia’s influence operations is to influence our democratic decision making. The Kremlin is also directly involved in shaping Russian influence operations in neighboring countries, according to Presidential Administration documents leaked last year.

Persons: Kaja Kallas, Kallas, ” Kallas Organizations: CNN, Estonian, Estonian Internal Security Service, ”, Intelligence, SVR, Administration, Moldovan, NATO, European Union Locations: Estonia, Russian, Russia, –, NATO, Europe, Baltic States, Moldova

☆ Russia could be at war with NATO "within the next decade," intelligence report says
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Russia may be preparing for a "confrontation with the West," says Estonia's intelligence service. "Russia has chosen a path which is a long-term confrontation," said Estonia's intelligence chief. AdvertisementNATO may find itself at war with Russia in the next 10 years, says Estonia's foreign intelligence service. The intelligence agency said in a report on Tuesday that Russia may be preparing for a "confrontation with the West." "Russia has chosen a path which is a long-term confrontation," Rosin said during the report's launch, per Reuters.

Persons: —, Rosin, Donald Trump, Trump, he'd, didn't, Trump's, Ben Hodges, Hodges Organizations: NATO, Service, Reuters, US Army, British, Times, Business Insider Locations: Russia, Estonia, Estonian, Ukraine, Russian, South Carolina, US Army Europe

CNN —Russian authorities on Tuesday launched criminal proceedings against Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, charges the leader of the Baltic state alleged were politically motivated. The Kremlin accused Kallas, Estonian Secretary of State Taimar Peterkop and Lithuanian Culture Minister Simonas Kairys of destroying or damaging monuments to Soviet monuments in memory of Soviet soldiers, Russia’s state-run Tass news reported. Shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago, Kallas announced that Estonia would remove all of the country’s Soviet monuments from public spaces. A report by the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service said Russia may consider doubling the number of troops stationed on its border with the Baltic countries and increasing those on its frontier with Finland, which joined NATO last year. Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna also on Tuesday delivered his annual foreign policy speech, which included fiery anti-Russian remarks and a full-throated backing for Ukraine.

Persons: Kaja Kallas, Kallas, Peterkop, Simonas, Dmitry Peskov, ” Kallas, ”, Vladimir Putin, Margus Tsahkna, Joshua Berlinger Organizations: CNN, Estonian, Kremlin, State, Lithuanian Culture, Russia, Soviet Union, European Union, NATO, Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service, Ukraine Locations: Baltic, Estonian, Ukraine, Estonia, Russia, Siberia, Soviet, Finland, “

☆ Fact check: Biden makes three false claims about his handling of classified information
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-09 | by ( Daniel Dale | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Where the classified material was storedBiden sought to contrast his handling of classified material with that of former President Donald Trump, who faces felony charges for willfully retaining classified documents. According to the special counsel, even classified documents Biden was storing elsewhere in his home were insufficiently secure. Hur wrote that Biden notebooks containing classified information from his vice presidency were found by investigators in “unlocked drawers in the office and basement den” of the home. The classification level of the documents Biden had in his possessionBiden claimed of the documents he possessed: “None of it was high classified. Biden shared information, including some classified information, from those notebooks with his ghostwriter.” He elaborated that Biden shared classified information with his ghostwriter by reading “nearly verbatim” from his notebooks “on at least three occasions,” including his “notes from meetings in the Situation Room.”Hur did find, however, that Biden “at times” tried to avoid sharing classified information, by stopping at or skipping over certain material from the notebooks.

Persons: Joe Biden, Robert Hur, Biden, Hur’s, Donald Trump, Hur, Trump, “, Ian Sams, ” Sams, CNN’s MJ Lee, ”, Sams, weren’t, Barack Obama, ” Hur, Obama, Mr, Mark Zwonitzer, Afghanistan –, CNN’s Nikki Carvajal Organizations: CNN, ”, White, National Security, SCI, Mr, FISA, Virginia, National Security Council Locations: Lago, Biden’s Delaware, Afghanistan, Virginia, United States, “, Iraq, Delaware

☆ Live updates: Israel-Hamas war, Gaza hostage release and sustained cessation proposal
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Helen Regan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: 1 min

Antony Blinken arrives at Ben Gurion International airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, late Tuesday, on February 6. Mark Schiefelbein/APUS Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Israel for high-stakes talks with top officials about a proposal for a sustained cessation in Gaza fighting in exchange for Hamas' release of hostages held since October 7. Hamas gave a “positive” reply to the proposal, according to Qatar's prime minister, but he offered few details. Blinken said the United States is reviewing Hamas' response, as is Israel's foreign intelligence service, according to Israeli authorities. It does not include two of its most prominent and public demands: that Israeli soldiers leave Gaza or for a deal to end the war.

Persons: Antony Blinken, Mark Schiefelbein, Blinken, ’ Organizations: Ben, Hamas, CNN Locations: Ben Gurion, Tel Aviv, Israel, Gaza, United States

The recordings immediately went viral on social media, and the candidate, who is pro-NATO and aligned with Western interests, was defeated in September by an opponent who supported closer ties to Moscow and Russian President Vladimir Putin. AI images that falsely depicted former President Donald Trump sitting with teenage girls on Jeffrey Epstein’s plane circulated on social media last month. And once a deepfake appears on social media, it can be nearly impossible to stop its spread. Šimečka said his team and others complained to social media platforms and law enforcement. He said social media platforms need to “put measures in place” to prevent attempts to meddle with an election.

Persons: he’d, Vladimir Putin, ”, Joe Biden’s, Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein’s, Trump, “, Subrahmanian, Alex Curtas, Curtas, Jared DeMarinis, ’, ” DeMarinis, Chelsea Carattini, Ilana Beller, haven’t, ” Beller, Paul Vallas, Sean R, Clark, ” Vallas, Vallas, Brandon Johnson, ” “ We’ll, Slovakia Michal Šimečka, ” Šimečka, Šimečka, ” Daniel Milo, Milo, it’s, ” Milo, Janis Sarts, ” Sarts Organizations: CNN, NATO, Northwestern University, Senior, Twitter, Democratic, Chicago, Political, FBI, Department of Homeland Security, Public Citizen, State’s, Republican Party, Commission, Progressive, YouTube, Facebook, Slovakia’s Ministry, Meta, NATO Strategic Communications, of Excellence, Foreign Intelligence Service, Russian Intelligence Locations: Slovakia, Moscow, Europe, States, New Hampshire, Russia, China, Russian, Northwestern, American, California , Michigan, Minnesota , Texas, Washington, New Mexico, Idaho, Chicago, Progressive Slovakia, Slovakia’s, Latvia

BOSTON (AP) — Hewlett Packard Enterprise disclosed Wednesday that suspected state-backed Russian hackers broke into its cloud-based email system and stole data from cybersecurity and other employees. It said it believed the hackers were from Cozy Bear, a unit of Russia's SVR foreign intelligence service. It said the Russian hackers accessed accounts of senior Microsoft executives as well as cybersecurity and legal employees. Political Cartoons View All 253 ImagesCompany spokesman Adam R. Bauer, reached by email, would not say who informed HPE of the breach. “We're not sharing that information at this time.” Bauer said the compromised email boxes were running Microsoft software.

Persons: Cozy Bear, ”, Adam R, Bauer, HPE, We're, ” Bauer, ” HPE Organizations: BOSTON, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Securities and Exchange, Microsoft, SharePoint, . Securities, Exchange, Hewlett, Packard Inc Locations: Russian, Redmond, Washington, U.S, Europe, Spring , Texas

☆ Biden administration planning action to stop hostile foreign governments exploiting Americans’ personal data
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The Biden administration is preparing an executive order aimed at curbing the ability of foreign governments to access sensitive personal data on Americans that could jeopardize national security, one current US official and one former US official familiar with the matter told CNN. Foreign efforts to exploit Americans’ data represent an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to national security and foreign policy, the draft text of the order says, according to the US official. The National Security Council at the White House declined to comment on the draft executive order. A surge in the amount of intimate personal information on US citizens that can be bought and sold online has alarmed lawmakers and senior US officials focused on national security. Wyden said he hoped the final text of the executive order, among other things, applies to data held by US subsidiaries of foreign companies.

Persons: CNN —, Biden, ” Sen, Ron Wyden, Wyden, TikTok, “, ” Justin Sherman, Duke, ” Sherman Organizations: CNN, Bloomberg News, National Security Council, White, Oregon Democrat, Social, Duke University Locations: China, Oregon

☆ CrowdStrike CEO talks Microsoft's security breach and explains why Russian hackers are hard to beat
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Julie Coleman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

In a Monday interview with CNBC's Jim Cramer, CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz discussed Microsoft 's high-profile security breach by a Russian intelligence group, saying these adversaries have a determined "low and slow" approach to hacking that's especially tough to beat. Thought to be part of the Russian foreign intelligence service SVR, Nobelium is also known as Midnight Blizzard and Cozy Bear. Nobelium has tried to breach the systems of U.S. allies as well as the Department of Defense. He said CrowdStrike uses its algorithms to string together these "low signals" and identify such adversaries. Kurtz added that CrowdStrike has been able to stop the group in the past, saying that some of Microsoft's customers seek additional support from his company.

Persons: CNBC's Jim Cramer, George Kurtz, Cozy Bear, Kurtz, it's, Nobelium, CrowdStrike Organizations: Microsoft, Nobelium, Midnight, Cozy, Department of Defense, SolarWinds Locations: Russian, U.S, China

Microsoft said in a Friday regulatory filing that a Russian intelligence group accessed some of the software maker's top executives' email accounts. The company said a group called Nobelium carried out the attack, which it detected last week. Microsoft and the U.S. government consider Nobelium to be a part of the Russian foreign intelligence service SVR. The hacking group was responsible for one of the most prolific breaches in U.S. history, when it breached government supplier SolarWinds in 2020. It was also implicated alongside another Russian hacking group in the 2016 breach of the Democratic National Committee's systems.

Persons: Amy Hood, Brad Smith, Satya Nadella, Nobelium Organizations: Microsoft, Infrastructure Security Agency, U.S, SolarWinds, Department of Defense, Democratic National Locations: Russian, U.S

☆ Russian spy chief who once participated in US-funded program suggests that other Russians who participated in US-funded programs are disloyal
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-11 | by ( Sonam Sheth | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read previewThe head of Russia's foreign intelligence service claimed Thursday that the US could meddle in Russia's upcoming presidential election. Washington could do this, SVR chief Sergei Naryshkin baselessly claimed, by creating a "fifth column" in Russia consisting of Russians who participated in US-funded exchange programs. The term "fifth column" refers to a group of people working to undermine a nation's interests from within. Naryshkin was parroting Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has repeatedly warned of a fifth column within the country's borders.

Persons: —, Sergei Naryshkin baselessly, Naryshkin, Anastasia Burakova, Washington, they'll, Vladimir Putin Organizations: Service, Business, USAID, Foreign Relations, Government Locations: Washington, Russia, USAID, Europe, Leningrad Oblast, Russian, masse, Ukraine

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