The operators behind DoppelPaymer ransomware reportedly attacked electronics manufacturer Kimchuk earlier this month, disrupting the company’s operations and stealing sensitive data that they have been publishing online as part of an extortion plot. Meanwhile, the cybercriminal outfit has continued to also publish information stolen earlier this year from Visser Precision, a parts maker and manufacturing solutions…
An analysis of 11 presidential campaign websites performed last September and again in December found multiple instances of potentially risky third-party code, unwanted code execution and unauthorized data tracking. According to a new report from The Media Trust, 81 percent of executing code on these websites was not internally developed, but rather from external third-party…
In an effort to protect government sources and investigative methods, Justice Department prosecutors will drop charges against two Russian companies, Concord Management and Concord Consulting, indicted by former Special Counsel Robert Mueller for financing operations behind interference in the 2016 presidential election. The two companies, along with Internet Research Agency and a cadre of 13…
As the U.S. ramped up its response to the coronavirus pandemic, a cyberattack on the Health and Human Services (HHS) Sunday night aimed to slow down the agency’s computer systems. The initiative didn’t make much of an impact. “Luckily it slowed, but didn’t break or compromise anything,” said Marty Puranik, CEO of Atlantic.Net. The attack…
Fed report castigates U.S. ability to fend off a cyberattack, suggests major reforms The Cyberspace Solarium Commission issued a 182-page report stating the United States in dangerously insecure when it comes to defending itself from a cyberattack and offered a litany of recommendations to shore up the nation’s defenses. The Commission, headed by Sens. Angus…
The House Tuesday introduced bipartisan legislation that lawmakers touted as reforming the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance court (FISC) based on recent recommendations from the Justice Department inspector general (IG) and ends the government’s controversial domestic surveillance program, but which detractors say doesn’t represent reform at all. The bill, USA Freedom Reauthorization Act, bumps up congressional oversight…
Recent U.S. efforts to ban the federal use of telecommunications equipment from Huawei Technologies and other Chinese companies are “malaligned” and “don’t make any sense to me,” said former Federal CIO Tony Scott in a podcast interview with SC Media. Scott, who served under former President Barack Obama and now operates as chairman of his own…
It’s hard to tell who’s benefitting most from the coronavirus – Russia, hackers or hand sanitizer vendors, the latter of whom are at least trying to help stop the spread of the dangerous disease. A State Department official told Congress Thursday that Russian operatives are behind coronavirus conspiracy theories popping up on social media while…
The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation on Wednesday held a hearing where officials from leading tech and telecom firms posed key recommendations to lawmakers who seek to replace and further prohibit telecommunications equipment that may pose a security risk, including products from China-based Huawei and ZTE. Among the key suggestions was that…
Even after a $280 million investment in modernizing its elections, including new high-tech voting machines as part of the Voting Solutions for All People (VSAP) initiative, Los Angeles on Super Tuesday still saw long lines of voters after some voting systems had difficulty connecting to the California voter database and other technical glitches arose. House…
