In recent months, incoming Trump administration national security adviser Mike Waltz and some lawmakers have suggested that in response to Chinese cyber breaches, the United States needs to prioritize taking more aggressive offensive actions in cyberspace rather than emphasizing defense. It’s been said before. And it’s easier said than done. Experts that spoke with reporters…
Category: North America
china, Cybersecurity, Evergreen, Global Security News, hacking, North America, Security, state-sponsored hacking, us government
Meet the Chinese ‘Typhoon’ hackers preparing for war
U.S. intelligence say these China-backed hackers among laying the groundwork for future conflict with the United States. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Global Security News, North America, Security
Treasury hackers also breached US foreign investments review office
Chinese hackers, part of the state-backed Silk Typhoon threat group, have reportedly breached the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which reviews foreign investments to determine national security risks. […]
Global Security News, Healthcare, North America, Security
Largest US addiction treatment provider notifies patients of data breach
BayMark Health Services, North America’s largest provider of substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and recovery services, is notifying an undisclosed number of patients that attackers stole their personal and health information in a September 2024 breach. […]
Global Security News, North America
PowerSchool Reportedly Pays Ransom to Prevent Student Data Leak
A school district said that PowerSchool paid a ransom to prevent the attackers releasing data it accessed of students and teachers in North America
AI, Election Security, Global Security News, lawsuit, Microsoft, North America, Technology
Microsoft moves to disrupt hacking-as-a-service scheme that’s bypassing AI safety measures
Microsoft is petitioning a Virginia court to seize software and shut down internet infrastructure that they allege is being used by a group of foreign cybercriminals to bypass safety guidelines for generative AI systems. In a filing with the Eastern District Court of Virginia, Microsoft brought a lawsuit against ten individuals for using stolen credentials…
Global Security News, North America
Mirai Botnet Variant Exploits Four-Faith Router Vulnerability for DDoS Attacks
A Mirai botnet variant has been found exploiting a newly disclosed security flaw impacting Four-Faith industrial routers since early November 2024 with the goal of conducting distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. The botnet maintains approximately 15,000 daily active IP addresses, with the infections primarily scattered across China, Iran, Russia, Turkey, and the United States.
Delta, Global Security News, North America, Transportation, Uber
Delta SkyMiles members can now earn miles riding with Uber, ending its deal with Lyft
Uber announced during CES 2025 a multi-year exclusive partnership with Delta Air Lines that allows SkyMiles members to earn miles when they ride with Uber or order delivery through Uber Eats in the United States. The deal means an end of Delta’s partnership with Lyft. The Uber partnership will launch in the spring, giving Uber…
cyberattack, Cybersecurity, data breach, Global Security News, North America, Security, T-Mobile
Washington sues T-Mobile over 2021 data breach that spilled 79 million customer records
The 2021 breach affected at least 2 million Washington state residents, and tens of millions more customers around the United States. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Budapest Convention, Chris Painter, Cybercrime, David Kaye, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Geopolitics, Global Forum on Cyber Expertise, Global Security News, human rights, North America, Policy, privacy, Russia, State Department, treaties, United Nations
After UN adoption, controversial cybercrime treaty’s next steps could prove vital
A divisive United Nations cybercrime treaty — one that critics say is a huge danger to human rights and that the United States cautiously agreed to advance — is now in the hands of member nations. The U.N. General Assembly adopted the treaty without a vote last week, leaving ratification to individual states. If the…
Global Security News, North America
Chinese APT Exploits BeyondTrust API Key to Access U.S. Treasury Systems and Documents
The United States Treasury Department said it suffered a “major cybersecurity incident” that allowed suspected Chinese threat actors to remotely access some computers and unclassified documents. “On December 8, 2024, Treasury was notified by a third-party software service provider, BeyondTrust, that a threat actor had gained access to a key used by the vendor to…
A Little Sunshine, Allison Nixon, Cameron John Wagenius, Connor Riley Moucka, Global Security News, Judische, Kiberphant0m, Ne'er-Do-Well News, North America, Unit 221B
U.S. Army Soldier Arrested in AT&T, Verizon Extortions
Federal authorities have arrested and indicted a 20-year-old U.S. Army soldier on suspicion of being Kiberphant0m, a cybercriminal who has been selling and leaking sensitive customer call records stolen earlier this year from AT&T and Verizon. As first reported by KrebsOnSecurity last month, the accused is a communications specialist who was recently stationed in South…
Global Security News, North America
New HIPAA Rules Mandate 72-Hour Data Restoration and Annual Compliance Audits
The United States Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has proposed new cybersecurity requirements for healthcare organizations with an aim to safeguard patients’ data against potential cyber attacks. The proposal, which seeks to modify the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996, is part of a broader…
bytedance, Donald Trump, Global Security News, Government & Policy, North America, Social, Startups, TikTok, TikTok Ban
Trump asks Supreme Court to pause imminent TikTok ban
Attorneys representing President-elect Donald Trump have asked the Supreme Court to pause a law that would force TikTok-owner ByteDance to sell the short-form video app or see it banned from the United States. If the app isn’t sold, the ban is set to take effect in just a few weeks, on January 19. ByteDance is…
Global Security News, North America
Brazilian Hacker Charged for Extorting $3.2M in Bitcoin After Breaching 300,000 Accounts
A Brazilian citizen has been charged in the United States for allegedly threatening to release data stolen by hacking into a company’s network in March 2020. Junior Barros De Oliveira, 29, of Curitiba, Brazil has been charged with four counts of extortionate threats involving information obtained from protected computers and four counts of threatening communications,…
ev charging stations, EVs, Global Security News, hyundai, nacs, North America, Tesla, Transportation
Hyundai is giving away free Tesla NACs adapters to its EV customers
Hyundai said Monday it will send customers who have bought or leased an EV before January 31 a free charging adapter that will let them access Tesla’s supercharging network. The Hyundai-authorized adapter will give CCS-port-equipped Hyundai EV drivers access to more than 20,000 Tesla Superchargers in the United States, according to Hyundai. Free adapters will…
california, Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), Global Security News, Mark Zuckerberg, Meta, North America, NSO Group, pegasus, privacy, Spyware, U.S. courts, WhatsApp
Judge grants ruling in favor of WhatsApp against spyware firm NSO Group
A federal judge has dealt the first major legal blow against spyware maker NSO Group, ruling in favor of WhatsApp in a five-year-old lawsuit against the Israeli firm over allegations that it hacked the chat service. Northern California District Court Judge Phyllis Hamilton made her ruling on Friday as a summary judgment, thus not requiring…
Global Security News, North America
LockBit Developer Rostislav Panev Charged for Billions in Global Ransomware Damages
A dual Russian and Israeli national has been charged in the United States for allegedly being the developer of the now-defunct LockBit ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) operation since its inception in or around 2019 through at least February 2024. Rostislav Panev, 51, was arrested in Israel earlier this August and is currently awaiting extradition, the U.S. Department…
Central Intelligence Agency, Commerce Department, Geopolitics, Global Security News, Google, Kaspersky, Mastercard, Money, North America, Recorded Future, Russia, Ukraine
Russia bans cybersecurity company Recorded Future
Russia banned the cybersecurity company Recorded Future on Wednesday, labeling it an “undesirable” organization — much to its CEO’s delight. The company stands accused of collaborating with the Central Intelligence Agency, Ukraine and other countries. “They provide information and technical support for the propaganda campaign launched by the West against Russia,” Russia’s Office of Prosecutor…
Global Security News, North America, Security
CISA urges switch to Signal-like encrypted messaging apps after telecom hacks
Today, CISA urged senior government and political officials to switch to end-to-end encrypted messaging apps like Signal following a wave of telecom breaches across dozens of countries, including eight carriers in the United States. […]
CISA, critical infrastructure, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Global Security News, Government, grants, Harry Coker, Jen Easterly, National Cyber Director, National Cybersecurity Strategy, North America, NSM-22, Office of the National Cyber Director, Policy, secure by design, semiconductors
Playbook advises federal grant managers how to build cybersecurity into their programs
Two U.S. cyber agencies released guidance Tuesday on how federal grant managers should incorporate cybersecurity in their programs for critical infrastructure projects, as well as how potential recipients can take it into account. The Office of the National Cyber Director and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency publication — the “Playbook for Strengthening Cybersecurity in…
bytedance, Global Security News, Government & Policy, In Brief, North America, Social, TikTok, TikTok Ban
TikTok asks Supreme Court for a lifeline as sell-or-ban deadline approaches
TikTok and ByteDance asked the United States Supreme Court to block the law that forces TikTok to be sold off or banned in the United States, according to an emergency filing with America’s top court on Monday. The social media company requested that the Supreme Court consider blocking the sell-or-ban law passed earlier this year…
Global Security News, North America
New Glutton Malware Exploits Popular PHP Frameworks Like Laravel and ThinkPHP
Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a new PHP-based backdoor called Glutton that has been put to use in cyber attacks targeting China, the United States, Cambodia, Pakistan, and South Africa. QiAnXin XLab, which discovered the malicious activity in late April 2024, attributed the previously unknown malware with moderate confidence to the prolific Chinese nation-state group tracked…
Global Security News, North America
Iran-Linked IOCONTROL Malware Targets SCADA and Linux-Based IoT Platforms
Iran-affiliated threat actors have been linked to a new custom malware that’s geared toward IoT and operational technology (OT) environments in Israel and the United States. The malware has been codenamed IOCONTROL by OT cybersecurity company Claroty, highlighting its ability to attack IoT and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) devices such as IP cameras,…
Application Security, Data and Information Security, IT Training , Security, Global Security News, North America
How to turn around a toxic cybersecurity culture
A toxic cybersecurity culture affects team turnover, productivity, and morale. Worse yet, it places enterprise systems and data at risk. In a toxic cybersecurity culture, everybody believes that cybersecurity is somebody else’s job, says Keri Pearlson, executive director for Cybersecurity at MIT Sloan (CAMS), a research consortium focusing on cybersecurity leadership and governance issues. “They…
Global Security News, North America, Security
New IOCONTROL malware used in critical infrastructure attacks
Iranian threat actors are utilizing a new malware named IOCONTROL to compromise Internet of Things (IoT) devices and OT/SCADA systems used by critical infrastructure in Israel and the United States. […]
china, Cybercrime, Department of Justice, Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of State, Geopolitics, Global Security News, Justice Department, Mandiant, North America, North Korea, North Korean IT workers, Russia, State Department, U.S. courts, U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of State
Court indicts 14 North Korean IT workers tied to $88 million in illicit gains
A federal court has indicted 14 more North Korean IT workers as part of an ongoing U.S. government campaign to crack down on Pyongyang’s use of tech professionals to swindle American companies and nonprofits. The Justice Department said the 14 indicted workers generated at least $88 million throughout a conspiracy that stretched over approximately six…
data breach, Data loss, Global Security News, Guest blog, Krispy Kreme, malware, North America, Ransomware
Doughnut orders disrupted! Krispy Kreme suffers hack attack
Krispy Kreme, the dispenser of delectable doughnuts, says that it suffered a cyber attack at the end of last month which saw its IT systems compromised and has disrupted online orders in parts of the United States. Read more in my article on the Hot for Security blog.
business email compromise (BEC), Cybercrime, Department of Justice (DOJ), Global Security News, North America, Treasury Department
Notorious Nigerian cybercriminal tied to BEC scams extradited to U.S.
Abiola Kayode, a 37-year-old Nigerian national, has been extradited from Ghana to the United States to face charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Kayode, who was on the FBI’s Most Wanted cybercriminal list, is charged with participating in a business email compromise (BEC) scheme and romance fraud from January 2015 to September 2016, defrauding…
Global Security News, North America, Technology
She Joined Facebook to Fight Terror. Now She’s Convinced We Need to Fight Facebook.
For two years, Hannah Byrne was part of an invisible machine that determines what over 3 billion people around the world can say on the internet. From her perch within Meta’s Counterterrorism and Dangerous Organizations team, Byrne helped craft one of the most powerful and secretive censorship policies in internet history. Her work adhered to…
Global Security News, Guest blog, malware, North America, Ransomware, Russia
Ransomware-hit vodka maker Stoli files for bankruptcy in the United States
Stoli Group USA, the US subsidiary of vodka maker Stoli, has filed for bankruptcy – and a ransomware attack is at least partly to blame. The American branch of Stoli, which imports and distributes Stoli brands in the United States, as well as the Kentucky Owl bourbon brand it purchased in 2017, was hit by…
@chenlun, A Little Sunshine, and Mobile Anti-Abuse Working Group, Anti-Phishing Working Group, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email, Global Security News, ICANN, Interisle Consulting, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, John Levine, Latest Warnings, malware, Messaging, new gTLDs, North America, phishing, spam, The Coming Storm, U.S. Postal Service
Why Phishers Love New TLDs Like .shop, .top and .xyz
Phishing attacks increased nearly 40 percent in the year ending August 2024, with much of that growth concentrated at a small number of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) — such as .shop, .top, .xyz — that attract scammers with rock-bottom prices and no meaningful registration requirements, new research finds. Meanwhile, the nonprofit entity that oversees…
Global Security News, Justice, North America, Technology
These Tech Firms Won’t Tell Us If They Will Help Trump Deport Immigrants
President-elect Donald Trump vows to start his second term with the immediate mass deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants. Like everything else, deportations of the 21st century are an increasingly data-centric undertaking, tapping vast pools of personal information sold by a litany of companies. The Intercept asked more than three dozen companies in the data…
A Little Sunshine, AT&T, Boxfan, buttholio, Connor Riley Moucka, cyb3rph4nt0m, DDoS-for-Hire, Global Security News, John Erin Binns, Judische, Kiberphant0m, Naver, Ne'er-Do-Well News, North America, Proman557, Ransomware, Reverseshell, Shi-Bot, Snowflake, South Korea, telekomterrorist, The Coming Storm, Vars_Secc, Verizon, Waifu
Hacker in Snowflake Extortions May Be a U.S. Soldier
Two men have been arrested for allegedly stealing data from and extorting dozens of companies that used the cloud data storage company Snowflake, but a third suspect — a prolific hacker known as Kiberphant0m — remains at large and continues to publicly extort victims. However, this person’s identity may not remain a secret for long:…
A Little Sunshine, Aleksandr Ermakov, chronopay, Data Breaches, Dmitri Golubov, Global Security News, Helkern, Home Depot breach, Hydra Market, MikeMike, Mikhail Lenin, Mikhail Shefel, Ne'er-Do-Well News, North America, pavel vrublevsky, Peter Vrublevsky, Pharma Wars, Sprut, Sugar ransomware, target breach
An Interview With the Target & Home Depot Hacker
In December 2023, KrebsOnSecurity revealed the real-life identity of Rescator, the nickname used by a Russian cybercriminal who sold more than 100 million payment cards stolen from Target and Home Depot between 2013 and 2014. Moscow resident Mikhail Shefel, who confirmed using the Rescator identity in a recent interview, also admitted reaching out because he…
A Little Sunshine, emergency data request, fake EDR, fbi, Global Security News, Kodex, Latest Warnings, Matt Donahue, North America, pwnstar, The Coming Storm, Web Fraud 2.0
FBI: Spike in Hacked Police Emails, Fake Subpoenas
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is urging police departments and governments worldwide to beef up security around their email systems, citing a recent increase in cybercriminal services that use hacked police email accounts to send unauthorized subpoenas and customer data requests to U.S.-based technology companies. In an alert (PDF) published this week, the FBI…
Global Security News, North America, Politics, Technology
Pegasus Spyware Maker Said to Flout Federal Court as It Lobbies to Get Off U.S. Blacklist
Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, serves a primarily rural district anchored in Waco, a city of 150,000. It’s unclear why he is so interested in NSO Group, the infamous Israeli spyware firm that was blacklisted by the U.S. for its role in human rights abuses. Between February and July, though, Sessions and his team met eight…
Global Security News, North America, Politics, Technology
Pegasus Spyware Maker Said to Flout Federal Court as It Lobbies to Get Off U.S. Blacklist
Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, serves a primarily rural district anchored in Waco, a city of 150,000. It’s unclear why he is so interested in NSO Group, the infamous Israeli spyware firm that was blacklisted by the U.S. for its role in human rights abuses. Between February and July, though, Sessions and his team met eight…
Global Security News, North America, Technology
The Pentagon Wants to Use AI to Create Deepfake Internet Users
The United States’ secretive Special Operations Command is looking for companies to help create deepfake internet users so convincing that neither humans nor computers will be able to detect they are fake, according to a procurement document reviewed by The Intercept. The plan, mentioned in a new 76-page wish list by the Department of Defense’s…
Global Security News, North America, Technology
The Pentagon Wants to Use AI to Create Deepfake Internet Users
The United States’ secretive Special Operations Command is looking for companies to help create deepfake internet users so convincing that neither humans nor computers will be able to detect they are fake, according to a procurement document reviewed by The Intercept. The plan, mentioned in a new 76-page wish list by the Department of Defense’s…
Global Security News, North America
Enhancing Cyber Resilience: Insights from CISA Red Team Assessment of a US Critical Infrastructure Sector Organization
Executive Summary The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) conducted a red team assessment (RTA) at the request of a critical infrastructure organization. During RTAs, CISA’s red team simulates real-world malicious cyber operations to assess an organization’s cybersecurity detection and response capabilities. In coordination with the assessed organization, CISA is releasing this Cybersecurity Advisory to…