Cybercrime experts are asking whether REvil, the notorious group of Russian hackers responsible for million-dollar ransomware attacks worldwide, is really gone for good–or operating under a new name. A more interesting question: has the group’s exposure motivated authorities to strengthen defenses against future attacks?
Author: Nancy Bilyeau
The mystery over the sudden disappearance of a Russian-speaking cybercrime gang believed responsible for hacking more than 360 targets in the United States in 2021 alone has raised questions about whether the cyber “cold war” between Russia and the U.S. is heating up.
Almost eight years after former CIA contractor Edward Snowden revealed the existence of a massive domestic spying program, the National Security Agency still operates a clandestine surveillance tool that threatens Americans’ privacy, according to a dissenting member of a watchdog group that just completed a report on the “XKeyscore program.”
Recent decisions by some media outlets to shield the names of those arrested for misdemeanors raises questions about the media’s longtime reliance on crime news, much of it sensational, writes Jack Shafer, senior media writer for Politico.
The frauds include romance scams, tech support fraud, and lottery or sweepstake scams, according to an FBI report released to mark World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.
The attack on JBS USA affected servers supporting its IT systems in North America and Australia. The company blamed an “organized” group of cybersaboteurs, and warned of temporary shortages.
Microsoft announced on Thursday that it had observed cyberattacks by the threat actor Nobelium, the same actor behind the SolarWinds 2020 hack, that are targeting government agencies, think tanks, consultants and non-governmental organizations.
“A lot of the jabbering in the House―for and against the thing―seems like thinly veiled midterm strategy,” said Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb). “And if that’s all this becomes, it’d be better for historians to take the long view than for politicians to take the short view.”
The federal government needs to put resources into hiring more cyber prosecutors and agents to conduct long-term, proactive investigations into ransomware gangs and the organizations that enable them, writes Kellen Dwyer, who was in charge of cybersecurity policy and represented the DOJ on the National Security Council.
Andrew Yang, the lead candidate in the race, promised to continue plans to shutter the sprawling jail complex. But rising crime has introduced concerns for public safety into this year’s mayoral campaign.