Security News
Meta Platforms on Tuesday disclosed it took steps to dismantle two covert influence operations originating from China and Russia for engaging in coordinated inauthentic behavior so as to manipulate public debate. The sophisticated Russian activity, which commenced in May 2022, impersonated mainstream European news outlets like Der Spiegel, The Guardian, and Bild, not to mention build credibility by creating fake accounts across several platforms to amplify pro-Russian narratives.
The Ukrainian government on Monday warned of "Massive cyberattacks" by Russia targeting critical infrastructure facilities located in the country and that of its allies. The attacks are said to be targeting the energy sector, the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine said.
Someone is flooding Cobalt Strike servers operated by former members of the Conti ransomware gang with anti-Russian messages to disrupt their activity. The operators of Conti ransomware completed turning off their internal infrastructure in May this year but its members have dispersed to other ransomware gangs.
Russia's internet watchdog Roskomnadzor is developing a neural network that will use artificial intelligence to scan websites for prohibited information. Examples of information targeted by Oculus include homosexuality "Propaganda," instructions on manufacturing weapons or drugs, and misinformation that discredits official state and army sources.
Microsoft on Monday revealed it took steps to disrupt phishing operations undertaken by a "Highly persistent threat actor" whose objectives align closely with Russian state interests. "SEABORGIUM intrusions have also been linked to hack-and-leak campaigns, where stolen and leaked data is used to shape narratives in targeted countries," Microsoft's threat hunting teams said.
Russia's Shuckworm cyber group launching ongoing attacks on Ukraine. The Russia-linked cyber group Shuckworm is continuing to target Ukrainian organizations with infostealing malware.
Apple's internet traffic took an unwelcome detour through Russian networking equipment for about twelve hours between July 26 and July 27. In a write-up for MANRS, a public interest group that looks after internet routing, Internet Society senior internet technology manager Aftab Siddiqui said that Russia's Rostelecom started announcing routes for part of Apple's network on Tuesday, a practice referred to as BGP hijacking.
Iran's Communications Ministry joined in a pledge with Russian state-owned defence and technology conglomerate Rostec to explore future collaboration in e-government, information security, and other areas. News of the collaboration came in a statement published on Friday by Iran's Information Technology Organization - a government agency charged with developing policy related to data networks and digital services.
Russian threat actors capitalized on the ongoing conflict against Ukraine to distribute Android malware camouflaged as an app for pro-Ukrainian hacktivists to launch distributed denial-of-service attacks against Russian sites. "The apps were not distributed through the Google Play Store, but hosted on a domain controlled by the actor and disseminated via links on third party messaging services."
The Russian hacking group Turla released an Android app that seems to aid Ukrainian hackers in their attacks against Russian networks. The hackers pretended to be a "Community of free people around the world who are fighting russia's aggression"-much like the IT Army.