A code connected to Russian hacking efforts has been discovered in a utility system in Vermont in the United States, which could point to vulnerabilities in the US electrical grid, The Washington Post has reported. The code detected in the northeastern state’s system did not disrupt its operations, the paper cited US officials as saying.
Category: Computer Security
Vermont electric company finds alleged Russian malware on computer
A Vermont utility company said Friday it had found on a company laptop the same kind of malware that US authorities believe was used by Russian hackers in an attempt to influence November’s election. Burlington Electric said it found the code after utility companies nationwide were sent an alert by the Department of Homeland Security.
Officials: Russians hacked utility, posing risk to US security
Francis Bradley, chief operating officer for the Canadian Electricity Association, noted that the Canadian electrical system was in some regions tied to the United States’ grid. “It’s very hard to determine where Canada ends and where the United States begins from an electricity standpoint.
Russian hackers accused of breaching Vermont utility laptop
The company says they scanned all computers and the code was found on one laptop “not linked to our organization’s grid systems.” “The grid is not in danger,” Vermont Public Service Commissioner Christopher Recchia told the Burlington Free Press .
Researchers map areas of the U.S. with the most infidelity
Michael Chohaney and Kimberly Panozzo used the data, retrievable online after hackers swiped it last year from the website Ashley Madison, to map areas of the United States with the most unfaithful husbands. The result was a first-of-its-kind geographical look at internet-facilitated infidelity, and serves as a warning to the wives of affluent Fairfield County, Connecticut, home to tony Greenwich and Stamford.
Vermont utility finds malware code attributed to Russians
A state electric utility confirmed on Friday it had found on one of its laptops a malware code the U.S. government says is used by Russian hackers. The Burlington Electric Department said U.S. utilities were alerted by the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday of a malware code used in Grizzly Steppe, the name Homeland Security has applied to a Russian campaign linked to recent hacks.
Provocative study maps unfaithful husbands
Michael Chohaney, a University of Toledo graduate student, did research with Kimberly Panozzo that was recently published in the jourA nal GeoA graphA iA cal Review. Michael Chohaney and Kimberly Panozzo used the data, retrievable online after hackers swiped it last year from the website Ashley Madison, to map areas of the United States with the most unfaithful husbands.
Battling the Online Highwayman: How to Guard Your Business Against Cyber Crime
In years gone by, if you saw a man galloping alongside your carriage waving a pistol with his face partially covered by a scarf, then you would be right to assume that he was a highwayman and you were about to be robbed. As technology lurches forward and criminals operate deep within the online space, they are not so easy to recognize.
Goodbye 2016, what did we learn from you?
As a result, a modern day carnival barker ascended to the presidency, England voted to abandon the European Union to its detriment and the cancer of worldwide terrorism slaughtered innocents at home and abroad.
Snowden Leak Suggests the NSA Could Prove Identity of DNC Hackers
A previously unpublished top-secret document provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden suggests the National Security Agency has the ability to conclusively determine who hacked Democratic Party servers during the 2016 election season. Sam Biddle at The Intercept explains: “The agency tracked a similar hack before in the case of a prominent Russian journalist, who was also a U.S. citizen.”
5 things you can’t miss at Hacker Connect
Inman’s Hacker Connect can provide just that for real estate techies, with discussions, debates and collaborative sessions that will reveal insights on some of the industry’s most pressing and upcoming tech issues. . It has a robust list of engineers, developers, designers, product managers, database architects, webmasters and technology executives from around the world both speaking and attending.
Police charge three more hacker suspects
THE military has handed over three more suspected hackers to police for their alleged involvement in the recent cyber attacks on government agency websites, a Royal Thai Police spokesman said yesterday. Police Colonel Krissana Pattanacharoen, deputy spokesman for the police force, said that the three suspects, all men, had been charged with taking part in a criminal syndicate, in addition to violations against the Computer Crime Act.
News 1 mins ago 5:37 a.m.Rep. Franks: If Russia hacked, it was a public service
Rep. Trent Franks addresses the Luke Air Force Base F-35 Lightning II Unveiling Ceremony in Glendale, Ariz., March 14, 2014. “I’m all for doing what’s necessary to protect the electorate but there’s no suggestion that Russia hacked into our voting systems or anything like that,” Franks said on MSNBC Thursday.
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LinkedIn has a ‘fakes’ problem. Hackers are using fake profiles to make connections with people at work.
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LinkedIn has a ‘fakes’ problem. Hackers are using fake profiles to make connections with people at work.
New year’s resolution for IoT vendors: Start treating LANs as hostile
In November, researchers from cybersecurity firm Invincea reported a vulnerability that could have allowed hackers to infect Belkin WeMo smart plugs with malware . The flaw was located in a configuration protocol that worked over the local area network and didn’t require any authentication.
The US just imposed sanctions on Russia over election hacks
President Barack Obama’s administration has imposed sanctions on Russia’s two top intelligence services and it’s ejected 35 Russian intelligence officials from the US. This is in response to Russia’s repeated , documented hacks of the US election system throughout 2016, and it marks the strongest-ever American response to a state-sponsored cyber attack, The New York Times reports.
Across the Nation: Law professor who wore blackface blasts school report
Federal prosecutors have charged three Chinese nationals accused of profiting from insider information about mergers and acquisitions by hacking into the networks of law firms working on the deals, authorities said Tuesday. The three men made more than $4 million in profits by buying stock in companies that were about to be acquired and then selling the shares after the acquisitions were announced, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said.
One-stop-shop: Server steals data then offers it for sale
While intercepting traffic from a number of infected machines that showed signs of Remote Admin Tool malware known as HawkEye, we stumbled upon an interesting domain. It was registered to a command and control server which held stolen keylog data from HawkEye RAT victims, but was also being used as a one-stop-shop for purchasing hacking goods.
Exclusive – Bangladesh police detail suspicions of inside help in central bank heist
A top investigator into the electronic theft of $81 million from the Bangladesh central bank is turning his attention to some IT technicians from the bank whom he suspects hooked up its transactions system to the public Internet, giving hackers access. In a series of interviews this month, Mohammad Shah Alam, a Bangladesh police deputy inspector general who is heading investigations in Dhaka, went into some detail about how insiders at Bangladesh Bank may have helped in the execution of one of the world’s biggest cyber-heists last February.
Asked about Russia sanctions, Trump says ‘we ought to get on with our lives’
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested that the United States and Russia lay to rest the controversy over Moscow’s computer hacking of Democratic Party computers, saying, “We ought to get on with our lives.” Trump has cast doubt on the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russian hackers took information from Democratic Party computers and individuals and posted it online to help Trump win the election.
BRIEF-Hanmi Semiconductor signs contract worth 3.52 bln won
WASHINGTON, Dec 28 The Obama administration plans to announce on Thursday a series of retaliatory measures against Russia for hacking into U.S. political institutions and individuals and leaking information in an effort to help President-elect Donald Trump and other Republican candidates, two U.S. officials said on Wednesday.
BRIEF-Systems Technology to buy facilities for 6.71 bln won
WASHINGTON, Dec 28 The Obama administration plans to announce on Thursday a series of retaliatory measures against Russia for hacking into U.S. political institutions and individuals and leaking information in an effort to help President-elect Donald Trump and other Republican candidates, two U.S. officials said on Wednesday.
Trump won the election, get over it
It’s time for the country to get over the “Clinton hangover” and be the Americans we’re supposed to be.
Chinese Traders Charged With Insider Trading on Hacked Information
Chinese traders hacked into the computer systems of U.S. law firms that handle mergers, then used the data for insider trading that generated more than $4 million in illegal profits , federal prosecutors and regulators charged Tuesday. From a report on USA Today: The suspects in the alleged criminal marriage of cyber-hacking and securities fraud targeted at least seven law firms and other entities that handle the sensitive and often lucrative legal work of advising companies pursuing mergers and acquisitions, according to a 13-count superseding indictment unsealed in New York.
OSCE security monitors targeted by hackers
An international monitoring body has said its IT systems were hit by cyber attackers in a “major security incident” that compromised its network. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe refused to speculate on reports that Russian hackers were behind the attack.
Recounts or no, US elections are still vulnerable to hacking
Jill Stein’s bid to recount votes in Pennsylvania was in trouble even before a federal judge shot it down Dec. 12. That’s because the Green Party candidate’s effort stood almost no chance of detecting potential fraud or error in the vote – there was basically nothing to recount. Pennsylvania is one of 11 states where the majority of voters use antiquated machines that store votes electronically, without printed ballots or other paper-based backups that could be used to double-check the balloting.
Chinese Hackers Charged With Trading on Stolen Law Firm Data
Three Chinese hackers made more than $4 million in illicit profits after breaking into the servers of top deals law firms in New York, the U.S. said in announcing charges and the arrest of one of the men. The three targeted at least seven major international law firms that had been retained by companies to advise on deals and successfully got into the e-mail accounts of senior lawyers at two of the firms, according to the indictment unsealed Tuesday.
U.S. accuses Chinese citizens of hacking law firms, insider trading
Three Chinese citizens have been criminally charged in the United States with trading on confidential corporate information obtained by hacking into networks and servers of law firms working on mergers, U.S. prosecutors said on Tuesday. Iat Hong of Macau, Bo Zheng of Changsha, China, and Chin Hung of Macau were charged in an indictment filed in Manhattan federal court with conspiracy, insider trading, wire fraud and computer intrusion.
Feds say 3 hacked law firms’ networks, made insider trades
Federal prosecutors have charged three Chinese nationals accused of profiting from insider information about mergers and acquisitions by hacking into the networks of law firms working on the deals, authorities said Tuesday. The three men made more than $4 million in profits by buying stock in companies that were about to be acquired and then selling the shares after the acquisitions were announced, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said.
Ransomworm: the next level of cybersecurity nastiness
As if holding your data hostage and seeking cash payment weren’t harsh enough, security experts foresee the next stage of ransomware to be even worse. Scott Millis, CTO at mobile security company Cyber adAPT, expects ransomware to spin out of control in the year ahead.
News Improvements done to prevent a cyber attack at county hall
Improvements to the cyber security system have been made at Laois County Council, home to MyPay which controls millions of euros a month in salaries to every local authority. Speaking in the wake of a near successful a 4m cyber attack on Meath County Council by international thieves, deputy CEO Kieran Kehoe said that a recent review had resulted in stronger security measures.
Nine young, alleged hackers detained by military
Police chief Chakthip Chaijinda, seated centre, and senior police officers with alleged hacker Natdanai Khongdee, 19, at a press conference at the Royal Thai Police Office in Bangkok on Monday. Nine people have been detained on suspicion of hacking government and military websites, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon said on Monday.
Vasco Data Security International Inc. (VDSI) Lifted to…
Zacks Investment Research currently has $16.00 price target on the stock. According to Zacks, “Vasco Data Security International Inc. design, develop, market and support security products and services which manage and secure access to computer systems of corporate and government customers.
New air safety threat?
A security systems firm says it has found serious vulnerabilities in a popular inflight entertainment system used by 13 major airlines which could allow hackers to potentially infiltrate carrier operations. On Tuesday, IOACtive, a research-driven security company, released a study alleging “several cybersecurity vulnerabilities found in Panasonic Avionics In-Flight Entertainment systems.”
Technical developments in Cryptography: 2016 in Review
While 2016 may not have been the banner year for cryptographic exploits that 2015 was , researchers around the world continued to advance the state of the art. The biggest practical development in crypto for 2016 is Transport Layer Security version 1.3 .
Tech #101 – change your passwords now
Tech #101 – change your passwords now Tips for keeping hackers away Check out this story on USATODAY.com: http://usat.ly/2hiHuTB Tips on how not to fall for clicking a bogus link in an e-mail and losing your online identity, in this edition of #Tech 101 with Jefferson Graham. LOS ANGELES – If recent news that more than 1 billion Yahoo users may have had their e-mails hacked won’t get you to update your passwords- what will? On a recent #TalkingTech podcast, we offered tips and tricks on password management, and debated the use of password managers.
Skeptics Doubt Ukraine Hack, Its Link to DNC Cyberattack
CrowdStrike co-founder and CTO Dmitri Alperovitch speaks during the Reuters Media and Technology Summit in New York, June 11, 2012. Malware used to hack Democratic National Committee servers during the 2016 elections was also used to hack an artillery-targeting app in Ukraine, and might have caused Ukrainian military losses to pro-Russian forces, according to a report released this week by CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity company.
Skeptics Doubt Ukraine Hack, Its Link to DNC Cyberattack
CrowdStrike co-founder and CTO Dmitri Alperovitch speaks during the Reuters Media and Technology Summit in New York, June 11, 2012. Malware used to hack Democratic National Committee servers during the 2016 elections was also used to hack an artillery-targeting app in Ukraine, and might have caused Ukrainian military losses to pro-Russian forces, according to a report released this week by CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity company.
Putin congratulates Trump as he denies meddling in US election
Vladimir Putin has praised Donald Trump for “keenly” gauging public sentiment in order to win the US election, and denied White House claims that Russia had meddled with the vote. Speaking during a marathon end-of-year news conference, Russian president Mr Putin said he sees “nothing unusual” in Mr Trump’s pledge to strengthen the US nuclear forces, saying the statement was in line with the president-elect’s campaign promises.