The Crime Report (https://thecrimereport.org/category/cybercrime/)
Many of the cyberattacks had been attributed to the Russian government, but the indictments unsealed Monday are the first U.S. criminal charges linking them to named Russian intelligence officers.
Due to a lack of preparedness in the legal world, many lawyers and their clients are battling to make sure their communications stay between them — and away from the eyes and ears of hackers domestically and abroad, a new NYCLU report details.
The company has obtained an order from a federal judge allowing it control over the “Trickbot” botnet, a global network it describes as the largest in the world. The botnet aims to create uncertainty about the election results by infecting computers which tally up votes.
A hacker published documents containing Social Security numbers, student grades and other private information stolen from a large Nevada public-school district after officials refused a ransom demanded in return for unlocking computer servers.
A Texas company selling software that cities and states use to display results on election night was hit by ransomware last week. It was the latest of nearly a thousand such attacks over the past year against cities and the contractors who run their voting systems.
At least 16 school districts, from California to New Jersey, have been victimized in a rash of ransomware attacks since July.
“The Department of Justice has used every tool available to disrupt the illegal computer intrusions and cyberattacks by these Chinese citizens,” said Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen.
Social media companies “must take more responsibility” to counter fake news and conspiracy theories promoted on their networks or risk helping to fuel extremist violence, says a counterterrorism expert.
Cybercriminals backed by the North Koreans have escalated a global ATM cash-out scheme that began over two years ago, says security officials. “They’re actually hidden in the system, waiting for a transaction and routing it somewhere else,” explained a former White House CIO.
After news reports said Michigan voter data appeared on a Russian hacking forum, state officials said, “Our system has not been hacked.”