Security News

U.S. nuclear research lab data breach impacts 45,000 people
2023-12-14 17:59

The research lab says in breach notification letters filed with the Maine Attorney General's Office this week that the attackers exfiltrated the data of 45,047 current and former employees, as well as their dependents and spouses. "The event did not impact INL's own network, or other networks or databases used by employees, lab customers or other contractors. The breach only impacted the cloud-based Oracle HCM test environment that resides off-site."INL said.

Hacktivists breach U.S. nuclear research lab, steal employee data
2023-11-21 21:20

INL is a nuclear research center run by the U.S. Department of Energy that employs 5,700 specialists in atomic energy, integrated energy, and national security. The INL complex extends over an 890-square-mile area, encompassing 50 experimental nuclear reactors, including the first ones in history to produce usable amounts of electricity and the first power plant designed for nuclear submarines.

Nuclear and oil & gas are major targets of ransomware groups in 2024
2023-11-15 03:45

Resecurity, Inc. protecting major Fortune 100 and government agencies globally has identified an alarming rise in ransomware operators targeting the energy sector, including nuclear facilities and related research entities. Over the last year, ransomware attackers have targeted energy installations in North America, Asia, and the European Union.

'Bitter' espionage hackers target Chinese nuclear energy orgs
2023-03-24 14:47

A cyberespionage hacking group tracked as 'Bitter APT' was recently seen targeting the Chinese nuclear energy industry using phishing emails to infect devices with malware downloaders. Bitter is a suspected South Asian hacking group known to target high-profile organizations in the energy, engineering, and government sectors in the Asian-Pacific region.

Husband and wife nuclear warship 'spy' team get 20 years each
2022-11-10 17:14

US Navy nuclear engineer Jonathan Toebbe and his wife Diana Toebbe were sentenced to 232 months and 262 months, respectively, on charges that they worked together to hand numerous physical and electronic documents, including schematics for the advanced Virginia-class nuclear submarine, to an agent of a foreign government. Toebbe never spoke to a spy - when the unnamed foreign government received an initial teaser package of documents from the engineer, it handed them right over to a local FBI attaché.

Couple sentenced to prison for trying to sell nuclear warship secrets
2022-11-09 22:39

A Navy nuclear engineer and his wife were sentenced to over 19 years and more than 21 years in prison for attempting to sell nuclear warship design secrets to what they believed was a foreign power agent. While working as a Navy nuclear engineer, Jonathan Toebbe had access to naval nuclear propulsion information, including military-sensitive design elements, performance characteristics, and other restricted data for nuclear-powered warship reactors.

Hacktivists say they stole 100,000 emails from Iran's nuclear energy agency
2022-10-24 02:30

Iran's Atomic Energy Organization has laughed off claims that the email systems of a subsidiary were compromised, revealing important operational data about a nuclear power plant. An activist group that calls itself Black Reward and claims to be from Iran took to Telegram last Friday with claims it had accessed an email server run by a company related to Iran's Atomic Energy Organization and exfiltrated 324 inboxes comprising over 100,000 messages and totalling over 50G of files.

Iranian Hackers Target High-Value Targets in Nuclear Security and Genomic Research
2022-09-13 09:25

Hackers tied to the Iranian government have been targeting individuals specializing in Middle Eastern affairs, nuclear security and genome research as part of a new social engineering campaign designed to hunt for sensitive information. Enterprise security firm attributed the targeted attacks to a threat actor named TA453, which broadly overlaps with cyber activities monitored under the monikers APT42, Charming Kitten, and Phosphorus.

Spanish Police Arrest 2 Nuclear Power Workers for Cyberattacking the Radiation Alert System
2022-07-30 03:40

Spanish law enforcement officials have announced the arrest of two individuals in connection with a cyberattack on the country's radioactivity alert network, which took place between March and June 2021. The act of sabotage is said to have disabled more than one-third of the sensors that are maintained by the Directorate-General for Civil Protection and Emergencies and used to monitor excessive radiation levels across the country.

Nuclear engineer's espionage plans unraveled by undercover FBI agent
2021-10-11 12:00

A Navy nuclear engineer and his wife were arrested under espionage-related charges alleging violations of the Atomic Energy Act after selling restricted nuclear-powered warship design data to a person they believed was a foreign power agent. Jonathan and Diana Toebbe sold the confidential information to an undercover FBI agent.