Security News
The US Department of Justice said that the attackers behind the SolarWinds supply chain attack have gained access to roughly 3% of the department's Office 365 email inboxes. The Justice Department currently employs over 115,000 people [1, 2] which translates to around 3450 potentially breached mailboxes.
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order banning transactions with eight Chinese apps including Alipay and WeChat Pay in an escalation of a trade war that has been unfolding through most of his term. The orders follow two others Trump signed in August banning dealings with the popular video app TikTok as well as the main WeChat messaging app.
Top national security agencies confirmed Tuesday that Russia was likely responsible for a massive hack of U.S. government departments and corporations, rejecting President Donald Trump's claim that China might be to blame. The agencies made clear the Russian operation was "Ongoing" and indicated the hunt for threats was not over.
The Cyber Unified Coordination Group said today that a Russian-backed Advanced Persistent Threat group is likely behind the SolarWinds hack. The UCG was established by the National Security Council after the SolarWinds supply chain attack to help the intelligence agencies better coordinate the government's response efforts surrounding this ongoing espionage campaign.
A U.S.-funded center in Cyprus will help train officials from countries in the eastern Mediterranean region and the Middle East on the latest techniques in border, customs, maritime and cyber security, the acting head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said on Monday. Chad Wolf said the $5 million Cyprus Center for Land, Open-Seas, and Port Security will incorporate a mobile facility to instruct officials on how to best protect their key infrastructure and take part in cross-border cyber investigations.
A British judge on Monday rejected the United States' request to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to face espionage charges, saying he was likely to kill himself if held under harsh U.S. prison conditions. In a mixed ruling for Assange and his supporters, District Judge Vanessa Baraitser rejected defense arguments that the 49-year-old Australian faces a politically motivated American prosecution that rides roughshod over free-speech protections.
Accused hacker and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should not be extradited to the US to stand trial, Westminster Magistrates' Court has ruled. District Judge Vanessa Baraitser told Assange this morning that there was no legal obstacle to his being sent to the US, where he faces multiple criminal charges under America's Espionage Act and Computer Fraud and Abuse Act over his WikiLeaks website.
The US Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network warned financial institutions of ransomware actively targeting vaccine research organizations. "FinCEN is aware of ransomware directly targeting vaccine research, and FinCEN asks financial institutions to stay alert to ransomware targeting vaccine delivery operations as well as the supply chains required to manufacture the vaccines," the US Treasury Department bureau warned [PDF].
Threat actors have been discovered distributing a new credential stealer written in AutoHotkey scripting language as part of an ongoing campaign that started early 2020. Customers of financial institutions in the US and Canada are among the primary targets for credential exfiltration, with a specific focus on banks such as Scotiabank, Royal Bank of Canada, HSBC, Alterna Bank, Capital One, Manulife, and EQ Bank.
China's spies "Were actively using that for counterintelligence and offensive intelligence. The capability was there and was being utilized." China had also stepped up its hacking efforts targeting biometric and passenger data from transit hubs. To be sure, China had stolen plenty of data before discovering how deeply infiltrated it was by U.S. intelligence agencies.