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REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoJune 28 (Reuters) - Mercenary hackers increasingly are targeting law firms in a bid to steal data that could tip the balance in legal cases, French and British authorities say, echoing a Reuters investigation that uncovered the phenomenon last year. In a pair of reports published over the past week, the cyber watchdog agencies of France and the United Kingdom cataloged an array of digital challenges faced by law firms, including threats posed by ransomware and malicious insiders. Both also highlighted the dangers posed by mercenary hackers hired by litigants to filch sensitive information from courtroom opponents. France’s cyber watchdog, known as ANSSI, said in its report released Tuesday that “mercenaries with offensive cyber capacities” were increasingly targeting the legal sector. ANSSI cited Reuters reporting last year on how mercenary hackers based out of India were being drafted to help sway high-profile cases in the United States, Europe and elsewhere.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, ANSSI, Britain's, ANSSI didn't, Raphael Satter Organizations: REUTERS, Mercenary, Cyber Security, Reuters, Google, Facebook, Meta, Inc, Thomson Locations: France, United Kingdom, London, India, United States, Europe, U.S

[1/2] A worker arrives at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, October 1, 2013. REUTERS/James Lawler Duggan/File PhotoWASHINGTON, June 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was among those affected by a wide-ranging hack centered on a piece of software called MOVEit Transfer, a source at HHS said on Wednesday. "While no HHS systems or networks were compromised, attackers gained access to data by exploiting the vulnerability in the MOVEit Transfer software of third-party vendors," a health department official familiar with the matter said. Hackers behind the massive breach also claimed credit for stealing data from two major law firms, Kirkland & Ellis LLP and K&L Gates LLP. Kirkland and K&L did not immediately return messages left after hours.

Persons: James Lawler Duggan, Ellis, cl0p, Gates, Kirkland, doesn't, Cl0p didn't, Jon Clay, TrendMicro, Raphael Satter, Lincoln Organizations: Department of Health, Human Services, REUTERS, WASHINGTON, U.S . Department of Health, HHS, Kirkland, Gates, Bloomberg, Progress Software, Thomson Locations: Washington, Russian

☆ Angela Bassett, Mel Brooks to get honorary Oscars
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, June 27 (Reuters - Actor Angela Bassett and veteran filmmaker Mel Brooks will receive Academy Honorary Awards this year in honour of their careers and contribution to cinema, Hollywood's Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has said. The Academy announced it had voted to present the awards to two-time Oscar nominee Bassett and "The Producers" writer Brooks, as well as to editor Carol Littleton at its Governor Awards in November. "Across her decades-long career, Angela Bassett has continued to deliver transcendent performances that set new standards in acting. Mel Brooks lights up our hearts with his humor, and his legacy has made a lasting impact on every facet of entertainment," Yang added. Writer, director, actor and producer Brooks, who turns 98 on Wednesday, began his career writing comedy routines for Sid Caesar's TV shows.

Persons: Angela Bassett, Mel Brooks, Bassett, Brooks, Carol Littleton, Michelle Satter, Jean Hersholt, Janet Yang, Yang, Carol Littleton’s, Tina Turner, Exhale, Ramonda, Sid Caesar's, Oscar, Robin Hood, Littleton, Satter, Marie, Louise Gumuchian, Ed Osmond Organizations: Hollywood's Academy, Motion Picture Arts, Sciences, The Academy, Sundance, Jean, Governors, Sundance Institute, Academy, Thomson

☆ Angela Bassett and Mel Brooks Are Among Those to Receive Honorary Oscars
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Kyle Buchanan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Just a few months after Angela Bassett came close to clinching a supporting-actress Oscar for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” she’ll become one of four Hollywood figures to receive an honorary Oscar at this year’s Governors Awards, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced. Also getting honorary Oscars will be the director Mel Brooks and the editor Carol Littleton, while the Sundance Institute’s Michelle Satter will be presented with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. The awards “honor four trailblazers who have transformed the film industry and inspired generations of filmmakers and movie fans,” the academy president Janet Yang said in a statement. Bassett, 64, was first nominated for playing Tina Turner in the biopic “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” and also starred in films like “How Stella Got Her Groove Back,” “Malcolm X” and “Boyz N the Hood.” Her awards-season run for Wakanda Forever” earlier this year netted her a Golden Globe, and though she lost the Oscar to “Everything Everywhere All at Once” supporting actress Jamie Lee Curtis, Bassett is still one of only four Black actresses to have received more than one Oscar nomination for acting.

Persons: Angela Bassett, Oscar, “, she’ll, Mel Brooks, Carol Littleton, Michelle Satter, Jean Hersholt, ”, Janet Yang, Bassett, Tina Turner, Stella, ” “ Malcolm X ”, Jamie Lee Curtis Organizations: Academy of Motion Picture Arts, Sciences, Sundance, Globe

☆ Siemens and UCLA say data compromised in MOVEit data breach
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The hackers behind the wide-ranging breach, Cl0p, had earlier boasted about stealing data from UCLA and Siemens on their website. Cl0p also claimed to have stolen data from biopharmaceutical company Abbvie Inc (ABBV.N) and French industrial group Schneider Electric (SCHN.PA). Siemens and UCLA provided few additional details about the scope or consequences of the breach. Siemens said none of its critical data had been compromised and its operations remained unaffected. UCLA said its campus systems were unaffected and that "all of those who have been impacted have been notified".

Persons: Cl0p, Christoph Steitz, Raphael Satter, Matthias Williams, Mark Potter Organizations: Siemens Energy, University of California, UCLA, Siemens, Abbvie Inc, Schneider, FBI, Genworth, Thomson Locations: FRANKFURT, Los Angeles, UCLA

The total number of recent victims from the online extortion ring has reached 121 organizations, according to Brett Callow, whose cybersecurity company Emsisoft helps companies respond to digital shakedown attempts. In 2021, Ukrainian authorities announced the arrests of six people tied to cl0p, but it's not clear that they were core members of the group, which continued to hack victims. Plundering file transfer protocols has become increasingly popular as hackers shift from encrypting data to simply stealing files and threatening to release them unless a ransom is paid. Many of the organizations stress that the target of the hack is the file transfer service, not their systems. The FBI said it was "aware of and investigating the recent exploitation of a MOVEit vulnerability by malicious ransomware actors."

Persons: Brett Callow, encrypting, TrendMicro, didn't, Cl0p, Emsisoft, Charles Carmakal, Raphael Satter, Christopher Bing, James Pearson, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: University of California, Siemens Energy, Abbvie Inc, Schneider, Publicly, Sony, Shell PLC, Government, U.S . Energy Department, Alphabet Inc, FBI, Thomson Locations: Los Angeles, Russia, Washington, London

☆ Suncor Energy says it experienced a cybersecurity incident
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies Suncor Energy Inc FollowJune 25 (Reuters) - Canadian energy firm Suncor (SU.TO) on Sunday said it experienced a cybersecurity incident, adding that some transactions with customers and suppliers could be impacted while they investigate and resolve the situation. "At this time, we are not aware of any evidence that customer, supplier or employee data has been compromised or misused as a result of this situation," the company said in a statement. Suncor's operations include oil sands development, production, offshore oil and gas, petroleum refining in Canada and the U.S, including the company's Petro Canada retail and wholesale distribution networks. The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security had earlier said it was aware of reports of an incident affecting Petro Canada but said it did not generally comment on "specific cybersecurity incidents." Reporting by Seher Dareen and Swati Verma in Bengaluru and Raphael Satter Editing by Christopher Cushing and Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Seher Dareen, Swati Verma, Raphael Satter, Christopher Cushing, Louise Heavens Organizations: Suncor Energy, company's Petro Canada, Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, Petro Canada, Thomson Locations: Canada, Petro, Bengaluru

June 16 (Reuters) - The widow of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi says in a lawsuit that surveillance software built by the Israeli surveillance company NSO Group was used to spy on her messages in the months leading up to her husband's death. The company - which markets surveillance technology to intelligence agencies and law enforcement around the world - has previously denied that its technology was used to hack Khashoggi. He was a Washington Post columnist who was murdered on the grounds of Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul in 2018. U.S. intelligence concluded in 2021 that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved an operation to capture or kill Khashoggi. The Saudi government has denied any involvement by the crown prince and has maintained that Khashoggi's killing was a heinous crime by a rogue group.

Persons: Jamal Khashoggi, Hanan Elatr Khashoggi, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Loujain, Raphael Satter, Frances Kerry Organizations: NSO Group, Northern District of Virginia, NSO, Washington Post, Saudi Crown, Saudi, Pegasus, Reuters, Apple Inc, Meta, Inc, Thomson Locations: Saudi, Northern District, Washington, Saudi Arabia's, Istanbul, U.S

WASHINGTON, June 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Energy got ransom requests from the Russia-linked extortion group Cl0p at both its nuclear waste facility and the scientific education facilities that were recently hit in a global hacking campaign, a spokesperson said on Friday. Data was "compromised" at two entities within the DOE when hackers gained access through a security flaw in MOVEit Transfer. The requests came in emails to each facility, said the spokesperson, who did not say how much money was requested. "The two entities that received them did not engage," with Cl0p and there was no indication that the ransom requests were withdrawn, the spokesperson said. Cl0p has said it would not exploit any data taken from government agencies, and that it had erased all such data.

Persons: CISA, Cl0p, Allan Liska, cl0p, Liska, Timothy Gardner, Raphael Satter, Leslie Adler, Daniel Wallis Organizations: U.S . Department of Energy, DOE, Associated Universities, U.S, Cybsecurity, Infrastructure Security Agency, Thomson Locations: Russia, New Mexico, Washington

CORPORATE DROPBOXESFTA, GoAnywhere MFT, and MOVEit Transfer are corporate versions of file sharing programs consumers use all the time, like Dropbox or WeTransfer. MFT software often promises the ability to automate the movement of data, transfer documents at scale and provide fine-grained control over who can access what. MFT PROGRAMS CAN BE TEMPTING TARGETSRunning an extortion operation against a well-defended corporation is reasonably difficult, said Recorded Future analyst Allan Liska. "If you can get to one of these file transfer points, all the data is right there. HACKER TACTICS ARE SHIFTINGScooping up data that way is becoming an increasingly important part of the way hackers operate.

Persons: Ransom, GoAnywhere MFT, James Lewis, WeTransfer, Allan Liska, Bam, Liska, Joe Slowik, Huntress, Raphael Satter, Grant McCool Organizations: Software, GoAnywhere, Thomson

☆ US government agencies hit in global hacking spree
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

June 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. government has been hit in a global hacking campaign that exploited a vulnerability in widely used software but does not expect it to have significant impact, the nation's cyber watchdog agency said on Thursday. CISA did not identify the agencies that were hit or say exactly how they had been affected. The FBI and National Security Agency also did not immediately respond to emails seeking details on the breaches. MOVEit, made by Progress Software Corp (PRGS.O), is typically used by organizations to transfer files between their partners or customers. Neither Cl0p nor Progress immediately responded to requests for comment.

Persons: Eric Goldstein, cybersecurity, CISA, Jen, MOVEit, John Hammond, Huntress, Raphael Satter, Kanishka Singh, Zeba Siddiqui, Tanna, Chandi Shah, Jonathan Oatis, Angus MacSwan, Bill Berkrot Organizations: U.S, Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Security Agency, CNN, FBI, National Security Agency, MSNBC, Progress Software Corp, Progress, CITY, Thomson Locations: U.S, United States

WASHINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) - Estonian authorities are investigating the theft of cryptocurrency from users of the country's Atomic Wallet service, a police spokesperson said Wednesday. More than $100 million in digital assets were stolen from thousands of users of cryptocurrency service Atomic Wallet by a gang of allegedly North Korean hackers known as "Lazarus," cryptocurrency analytics firm Elliptic said Tuesday. A spokesperson for Estonia's National Criminal Police said in an email that authorities had been investigating the theft since last week but would not be drawn on the details. Kaarel Kallas said the investigation was still in its early stages "and at the moment we cannot comment on the origins of the attacks." The FBI, which has in the past investigated Lazarus-linked hacks, declined comment.

Persons: Lazarus, Kaarel Kallas, Raphael Satter, Mark Potter Organizations: National Criminal Police, FBI, Thomson Locations: Tallinn

WASHINGTON, June 12 (Reuters) - Chinese hackers are all but certain to disrupt American critical infrastructure, such as pipelines and railways, in the event of a conflict with the United States, a senior U.S. cybersecurity official said Monday. In comments made during an appearance at the Aspen Institute in Washington, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jen Easterly said Beijing was making major investments in the capability to sabotage U.S. infrastructure. She cautioned that Americans needed to be prepared for the likelihood that Beijing's hackers would dodge their defenses and cause damage in the physical world. The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request seeking a reaction to the warning. Reporting by Raphael Satter; Editing by Bill BerkrotOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Jen, Raphael Satter, Bill Berkrot Organizations: Aspen Institute, Infrastructure Security, Embassy, U.S, Thomson Locations: United States, U.S, Washington, Cybersecurity, Beijing

☆ BA, BBC and Boots caught up in file transfer hack
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BA, the BBC and Boots said the breach occurred at their payroll provider, Zellis. The provincial government of Nova Scotia, in Canada, was also hit by the breach. The data from Zellis and the Nova Scotia government was exposed through their use of the MOVEit file transfer software, both organizations said in separate statements. The Nova Scotia government did not immediate return a request for comment. Boots, part of Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA.O), said the attack had included some of its employees' personal details.

Persons: Boots, Zellis, Nova, Colton LeBlanc, MOVEit, extortionists, Raphael Satter, Sarah Young, Muvija, Eva Mathews, Paul Sandle, Bill Berkrot Organizations: British Airways, BBC, Nova, Security, Digital Solutions, IAG, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Progress Software, Microsoft, Reuters, Britain . British Airways, Thomson Locations: Nova Scotia, Canada, Zellis, Britain, Washington, London, Bengaluru

"The FSB has uncovered an intelligence action of the American special services using Apple mobile devices," the FSB said in a statement. The FSB said the plot showed "close cooperation" between Apple and the National Security Agency (NSA), the U.S. agency responsible for cryptographic and communications intelligence and security. The FSB provided no evidence that Apple cooperated with, or had any awareness of, the spying campaign. "The hidden data collection was carried out through software vulnerabilities in U.S.-made mobile phones," Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said all officials in the presidential administration knew that gadgets such as iPhones were "absolutely transparent."

Persons: Russia Apple, NSA Kaspersky, Apple, Eugene Kaspersky, Igor Kuznetsov, Kaspersky, Dmitry Peskov, Guy Faulconbridge, Raphael Satter, James Pearson, Zeba Siddiqui, Mark Potter, Andrew Heavens, Matthew Lewis, Diane Craft Organizations: NSA, Apple, Federal Security Service, FSB, Apple Inc, Soviet, National Security Agency, Twitter, Reuters, NATO, Harvard University's, Federal Guards Service, Kremlin, Kommersant, San, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, MOSCOW, Soviet Union, U.S, Israel, Syria, China, States, United Kingdom, Australia, Washington, London, San Francisco

☆ Apple denies surveillance claims made by Russia's FSB
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

June 1 (Reuters) - Apple Inc (AAPL.O) is denying claims made by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) that it cooperated with American spies to surveil Russian iPhone users. In a statement, the company said it has "never worked with any government to insert a backdoor into any apple product and never will." Reporting by Raphael Satter Editing by Chris ReeseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Raphael Satter, Chris Reese Organizations: Apple Inc, Russia's Federal Security Service, Thomson Locations: Russian

☆ ‘Reality’ Review: An Unusual Suspect
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Amy Nicholson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Reality Winner’s life changed six years ago in June when F.B.I. agents showed up at her home in Georgia. I’m giving this background because Tina Satter’s gripping docudrama “Reality” doesn’t. Satter strips the political context from that first F.B.I. Working from the official transcript, Satter finds that the young woman is primarily concerned with the safety of her pets.

Persons: she’d, Miranda, Tina Satter’s, Sydney Sweeney, Josh Hamilton, Marchánt Davis, “, ” Organizations: U.S . Air Force Locations: Georgia

WASHINGTON, May 9 (Reuters) - The FBI has sabotaged a suite of malicious software used by elite Russian spies, U.S. authorities said on Tuesday, providing a glimpse of the digital tug-of-war between two cyber superpowers. "We assess this as being their premier espionage tool," one of the U.S. officials told journalists ahead of the release. He said Washington hoped the operation would "eradicate it from the virtual battlefield." The official identified the FSB hackers behind the malware with a notorious hacking group known as "Turla," which has been active for two decades against a variety of NATO-aligned targets. Moscow routinely denies carrying out cyberespionage operationsReporting by Raphael Satter; Editing by Chizu NomiyamaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ FBI says it is coordinating with city of Dallas over ransomware incident
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) - The FBI said on Friday it was coordinating with the city of Dallas, Texas, over a ransomware incident that disrupted several public services, closing courts and knocking emergency services websites offline this week. "The FBI is aware of the incident and coordinating with the city of Dallas. Courts were closed on Wednesday and Thursday, the city said in a series of statements posted online. Although the statements said emergency services to residents were unaffected, the home pages of the police and fire service were unavailable on Friday, and a police spokesperson said the city's computer-aided dispatch system had been hit. The ransomware operation behind the Dallas hack is called Royal, according to two security researchers familiar with the incident.

May 4 (Reuters) - Hacker sabotage has disrupted several public services in Dallas, closing courts and knocking emergency services websites offline, officials said Thursday. Courts were closed Wednesday and will remain closed Thursday, the City of Dallas said in a series of statements posted to the web. Dallas city officials did not immediately return messages seeking comment. Other authorities affected included the Dallas Water Utilities, which was delaying readings, and the Dallas Public Library, whose online materials were unavailable, according to the statement. Dallas officials said that the cause was ransomware - a form of malicious software that hackers use to scramble data and immobilize networks until an extortion payment is made, typically in digital currency.

Britain's National Cybersecurity Centre (NCSC), part of its GCHQ eavesdropping spy agency, said in a report published on Wednesday that the mercenary hacking market was offering products that were on par with government hacking groups. On Tuesday, Canadian internet watchdog group Citizen Lab published a report which said that NSO had been caught using newly-discovered hacking tools to break into iPhones belonging to Mexican human rights defenders in 2022. At least some in the spyware industry see regulation coming down the pipe and are taking steps to try to shape it. NSO has long touted its human rights policy despite repeated allegations that its software has been used abusively, including to spy on victims of human rights violations. NSO did not immediately return an email seeking comment on the Citizen Lab report or its communications with the American Bar Association.

☆ Factbox: Jack Teixeira: Who is the man arrested over leaked Pentagon documents?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

WASHINGTON, April 14 (Reuters) - Jack Douglas Teixeira was arrested on Thursday for allegedly leaking a trove of highly classified documents online. Teixeira served with the Air National Guard in Massachusetts, as did his stepfather. His unit, the 102nd intelligence wing of the Massachusetts National Guard, is responsible for providing intelligence support to many units of the military. Teixeira joined the Air National Guard in 2019, part of the National Guard that reports to the governor of their respective state or territory. The National Guard is made up of reserve troops that often hold civilian jobs or attend schools, and often respond to domestic emergencies.

REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File PhotoWASHINGTON, April 13 (Reuters) - The FBI on Thursday arrested an employee of the U.S. Air Force National Guard over the leaks online of classified U.S. documents that embarrassed Washington with allies around the world. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the FBI arrested the man, Jack Teixeira, "in connection with an investigation into alleged unauthorized removal, retention, and transmission of classified national defense information." The FBI said its agents had made an arrest and were conducting "authorized law enforcement activity at a residence in North Dighton, Massachusetts." The leaks were a "deliberate, criminal act," the Pentagon said. President Joe Biden earlier on Thursday said investigators were closing in on the source of the online leaks in what is believed to be the most serious security breach in years.

WASHINGTON, April 12 (Reuters) - Instant messaging platform Discord said on Wednesday it was cooperating with U.S. law enforcement's investigation into a leak of secret U.S. documents that has grabbed attention around the world. The source of the documents is not publicly known, but reporting by the open-source investigative site Bellingcat has traced their earliest appearance to Discord, a communications platform popular with gamers. "In regards to the apparent breach of classified material, we are cooperating with law enforcement," the statement said. Reuters could not immediately corroborate Bellingcat's reporting; attempts to reach former members of the server via the social media site Reddit and other servers on Discord were not immediately successful. Reporting by Raphael Satter; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Josie KaoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

WASHINGTON, April 12 (Reuters) - America's cybersecurity watchdog has no confidence that the cellular network used by American first responders and the military is secure against digital intrusions, U.S. The letter from the Oregon Democrat, a member of the intelligence committee, was addressed to the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). It concerns FirstNet, a dedicated mobile network for public safety officials such as emergency workers, firefighters and law enforcement. "These security flaws are also a national security issue, particularly if foreign governments can exploit these flaws to target U.S. government personnel," his letter said. Wyden called on FirstNet to share any security audits with the NSA and CISA or - alternatively - for the government to commission audits of its own.

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