Tag: Cyber security

Georgia House Committee to Debate Cyber Security

The Center Square

A Georgia House committee will soon debate cyber security enhancements for state agencies.

“Cyber security is a complex and constantly-evolving challenge, and it’s crucial that we have a strong cyber security framework in place to protect our citizens and our businesses,” Rep. Brent Cox, R-Dawsonville, said in an announcement. “Fostering an environment for Georgia to become a leader in this field has been a priority of mine since I first decided to pursue public office, and I am honored to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to study the state’s cyber security needs.”

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Federal Indictment Alleging Iranian Hack Further Erodes Narrative of Perfect 2020 Election

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During the dizzying days after the November 2020 election, the Homeland Security cyber-security chief was fired by a frustrated President Donald Trump, then went on national TV to insist the election was fully secure.

“There was no indication or evidence that there was any sort of hacking or compromise of election systems on, before or after November 3,” ex-Cyber-Security and Infrastructure Agency Chief Chris Krebs declared on “60 Minutes.”

On Thursday, nearly a year later, federal prosecutors in New York unsealed a dramatic indictment that conflicts with that clean bill of health.

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House GOP Campaign Committee Was Hacked During 2018 Election

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by Luke Rosiak   The National Republican Congressional Committee was hacked during the 2018 election after hiring CrowdStrike, the cyber-firm that the Democratic National Committee employed that allowed DNC emails to be stolen even after the 2016 hack was detected. The emails of four top NRCC officials were stolen in a major hack that was detected in April — eight months ago, Politico reported Tuesday. The NRCC did not tell Republican leaders or the public that it had been hacked, though it did notify the FBI. The NRCC would not say what information was compromised. “We don’t want to get into details about what was taken because it’s an ongoing investigation,” a senior party official told Politico. “Let’s say they had access to four active accounts. I think you can draw from that.” Politico reported that a different vendor, not CrowdStrike, finally detected the hack: The hack was first detected by an MSSP, a managed security services provider that monitors the NRCC’s network. The MSSP informed NRCC officials and they, in turn, alerted Crowdstrike, a well-known cybersecurity firm that had already been retained by the NRCC. The NRCC paid Crowdstrike at least $120,000 in 2017, according to campaign finance records. CrowdStrike was responding to…

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US Charges Two Iranian Cyber Criminals in Ransomware Scheme

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by Masood Farivar   In the first case of its kind, the U.S. Justice Department announced charges Wednesday against two alleged Iranian cybercriminals who used malware to infect the computer networks of U.S. municipalities, hospitals and other organizations in a scheme to extort millions of dollars from the victims. Faramarz Shahi Savandi, 34, and Mohammad Mehdi Shah Mansouri, 27, are accused of creating and deploying a sophisticated malware known as SamSam Ransomware to forcibly encrypt data on the computer networks of more than 200 organizations and other victims in the United States and Canada. Savandi and Mansouri would then demand a ransom payment in the form of the virtual currency known as bitcoin in exchange for decryption keys for the encrypted data. In all, the two allegedly received more than $6 million in extortion payments. Officials did not name the victims that made the payments. Other victims that refused to pay ransom suffered more than $30 million in lost data. The victims included state agencies, city governments and hospitals, including the City of Atlanta, the City of Newark, the Port of San Diego, the Colorado Department of Transportation, the University of Calgary in Calgary, Canada, and six U.S. public health…

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Facebook is in Talks to Buy a Large Cyber-security Company

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by Gavin Hanson   Sources inside Facebook say that the company is currently in acquisition talks with more than one major — but unnamed — cyber-security company, according to a report from The Information. Reporters spoke with four anonymous sources who refused to name specific companies but claimed that a deal could be struck as early as the end of 2018, The Information reported Sunday. Facebook reportedly has a team tasked with courting “several” major cyber-security firms companies to halt further data breaches and mitigate public scrutiny surrounding the company’s insecurity. Facebook’s security failings have not left the public eye since March 2017 reports broke that a data analysis firm, Cambridge Analytica, had been scraping data from millions of users illicitly. Just days after the scandal broke, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg took out ads in British and American newspapers declaring “We have a responsibility to protect your information. If we can’t, we don’t deserve it.” Zuckerberg was brought before Congress and the nation to answer for the breach in April 2017 but the leaks were not totally plugged. Facebook released information on its largest breach on Oct. 12, 2018, a breach that involved involved spammers using bugs in Facebook’s software…

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Cyber Infrastructure Gets a Boost by Congress

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by Natalia Castro   In the last year, both chambers of Congress have been working hard to improve our nation’s cyber security and cyber infrastructure. Last week, the Senate passed landmark legislation that will modernize U.S. cyber technology to combat growing threats around the world. On Oct. 4, 2018, the Senate passed the Cyber security and Infrastructure Security Agency Act of 2018 which passed the House in December 2017 when it was introduced by Texas Republican Rep. Michael McCaul. In the Senate it passed by unanimous consent and in the House by voice vote due to its widespread support. The Act reorganizes the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) main cyber security unit, the National Protection and Programs Directorate, to the Cyber security and Infrastructure Protection Agency. Under the law, this group will now function more like FEMA or the Secret Service instead of a small internal DHS office. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen noted in an interview with the Washington Post, “We are responsible for federal efforts when it comes to both protecting critical infrastructure, working with the owner-operators in private sector, and protecting all those civilian dot govs. To do that, we have to have both a name that indicates…

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