Security News
Menacing emails to Democratic voters, telling them to vote for Donald Trump in the upcoming US elections or else, were sent by Iran, US intelligence claimed on Wednesday night. At a press conference tonight, Uncle Sam's Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said the messages were actually sent by Iranian agents, who had obtained US voter records, including contact details, seemingly to intimidate Americans.
Iran is responsible for emails sent to Democratic voters in multiple states aimed at intimidating the recipients into voting for President Donald Trump, U.S. officials said Wednesday night in calling out both Tehran and Russia for activities meant to interfere in the upcoming presidential election. The announcement at a rare, hastily called news conference just two weeks before the election underscored the concern within the U.S. government about efforts by foreign countries to spread false information meant to suppress voter turnout and undermine American confidence in the vote.
The report concludes that, far from modern phones being a bastion of privacy and security, there are in fact routinely rifled through for trivial crimes without a warrant in sight. The report gives numerous other examples of phones taken from their owners and searched for evidence, without a warrant - many in cases where the value of the information was negligible such as cases involving graffiti, shoplifting, marijuana possession, prostitution, vandalism, car crashes, parole violations, petty theft, and public intoxication.
The US govt has stated that Iran is behind threatening emails sent to Democratic voters warning that they must vote for Trump or face consequences. Over the past two days, voters registered as Democrats in Florida and Alaska have received voter intimidation emails claiming to be from the far-right group known as the Proud Boys.
You've probably seen the news that six Russians, allegedly employed by the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate, better known as the GRU, have been charged with cybercrimes by the US Department of Justice. The indictment of the Russian GRU hackers related to the attacks referred to collectively as "Sandworm" is an interesting development in attempts by Western governments to rein in foreign adversary attacks.
The Sandworm Team hacking group is part of Unit 74455 of the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate, the US Department of Justice claimed as it unsealed an indictment against six hackers and alleged members on Monday. "These GRU hackers and their co-conspirators engaged in computer intrusions and attacks intended to support Russian government efforts to undermine, retaliate against, or otherwise destabilize: Ukraine; Georgia; elections in France; efforts to hold Russia accountable for its use of a weapons-grade nerve agent, Novichok, on foreign soil; and the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games after Russian athletes were banned from participating under their nation's flag, as a consequence of Russian government-sponsored doping effort," the DoJ alleges.
American voters face an especially pivotal, polarized election this year, and scammers here and abroad are taking notice - posing as fundraisers and pollsters, impersonating candidates and campaigns, and launching fake voter registration drives. It's not votes they're after, but to win a voter's trust, personal information and maybe a bank routing number.
The US Department of Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network today announced the first-ever penalty against a Helix and Coin Ninja cryptocurrency mixing services. FinCEN assessed a $60 million civil money penalty against Larry Dean Harmon, the founder and operator of the Helix and Coin Ninja cryptocurrency tumblers, for violating the Bank Secrecy Act and its regulations while operating the two services as unregistered money services businesses.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a flash alert to warn of the potential use of spoofed US Census Bureau domains in future malicious campaigns including phishing and credential theft attacks. The US Census Bureau is a federal government statistical agency that collects statistical data on the US economy and population, data used by the federal government to allocate over $675B in federal funds to tribal, local, and state governments each year.
The U.S. Department of Justice has charged six Russian intelligence operatives for hacking operations related to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, the 2017 French elections, and the notorious NotPetya ransomware attack. Believed to be part of the elite Russian hacking group known as "Sandworm", the indictment states that all six individuals are part of the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate known as GRU. "No country has weaponized its cyber capabilities as maliciously or irresponsibly as Russia, wantonly causing unprecedented damage to pursue small tactical advantages and to satisfy fits of spite," said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers.