Security News
The US Department of Commerce added six more entities to its blacklist on Friday on grounds of national security after an errant Chinese surveillance balloon was shot down over the US last week. According to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, the balloon followed a flight path, and the US did not give any credence to the Chinese argument that the balloon veered off course.
US and South Korean agencies have issued a joint cybersecurity advisory describing the tactics, techniques and procedures used by North Korean hackers to deploy "State-sponsored" ransomware on hospitals and other organizations that can be considered part of the countries' critical infrastructure. "The authoring agencies assess that an unspecified amount of revenue from these cryptocurrency operations supports DPRK national-level priorities and objectives, including cyber operations targeting the United States and South Korea governments-specific targets include Department of Defense Information Networks and Defense Industrial Base member networks," the advisory points out.
The US and UK have sanctioned seven Russians for their alleged roles in disseminating Conti and Ryuk ransomware and the Trickbot banking trojan. Conti and Ryuk ransomware extorted at least £27 million from 149 UK individuals and businesses, according to the government's estimate.
The Chinese surveillance balloon that drifted across the US last week looks set to spark a new round of sanctions against Middle Kingdom tech firms. Ned Price, the State Department spokesperson said on Thursday, "We're exploring taking action against PRC entities linked to the PLA that supported the balloon's incursion into US airspace."
The National Institute of Standards and Technology announced that ASCON is the winning bid for the "Lightweight cryptography" program to find the best algorithm to protect small IoT devices with limited hardware resources. The weak chips inside these devices call for an algorithm that can deliver robust encryption at very little computational power.
A top US cyber diplomat said his Twitter account was compromised over the weekend. Nate Fick, the inaugural US ambassador at large for Cyberspace and Digital Policy, on Saturday announced the hack of his personal account with - of course - a tweet.
A Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon, spotted drifting over the US, has caused concern about national security - but the Department of Defense says it will not be shot down by F22s at this time. "The United States Government has detected and is tracking a high altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental United States right now," read a statement from Pentagon press secretary brigadier general Pat Ryder.
The U.S. Department of State today offered up to $10 million for information that could help link the Hive ransomware group with foreign governments. "If you have information that links Hive or any other malicious cyber actors targeting U.S. critical infrastructure to a foreign government, send us your tip via our Tor tip line. You could be eligible for a reward," the State Department's Rewards for Justice Twitter account said.
The head of both US Cyber Command and the NSA, Gen. Paul Nakasone, broadly discussed that first organization's offensive cyber operations during the runup to the 2022 midterm elections. "We did conduct operations persistently to make sure that our foreign adversaries couldn't utilize infrastructure to impact us," said Nakasone.
In brief Nearly 3,000 immigrants seeking asylum in the United States have been released from custody after Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials inadvertently published their personal information online. Now, the Los Angeles Times reports that ICE has promised not to deport anyone affected by the breach until they have an opportunity to raise the issue in immigration court.