Cybercrime

WASHINGTON -- Congress took a stab Thursday at improving the nation’s cybersecurity as the federal government mobilizes more resources against ransomware and hackers. Both President Joe Biden and members of a House Homeland Security subcommittee described threats to U.S. computer... Read More

An investigation by the Paris-based journalism nonprofit Forbidden Stories and the human rights group Amnesty International revealed thousands of people were targeted by spyware developed by the Israel-based NSO Group Technologies. Hundreds of human rights activists, government officials, business executives... Read More

WASHINGTON -- As the international blame game over ransomware heats up this week, the U.S. government is scrambling for solutions with increasingly combative strategies. Legislation that won tentative approval in Congress on Monday anticipates a bigger role for the U.S.... Read More

BEIJING (AP) — China on Tuesday rejected an accusation by Washington and its Western allies that Beijing is to blame for a hack of the Microsoft Exchange email system and complained Chinese entities are victims of damaging U.S. cyberattacks. A... Read More

WASHINGTON — Despite our reliance on space technology for things like communication, transportation, food, and health care — not to mention national security — our national space assets aren’t officially designated as critical infrastructure. Humanity is already dependent on space,... Read More

The United States, NATO and several allies collectively called out China on Monday for a series of malicious cyber- and ransomware attacks, including a March attack that exploited a flaw in Microsoft's Exchange Server. Monday’s announcement, which followed a conference... Read More

BOSTON (AP) — The State Department will offer rewards up to $10 million for information leading to the identification of anyone engaged in foreign state-sanctioned malicious cyber activity against critical U.S. infrastructure — including ransomware attacks — and the White... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said Tuesday that damage to U.S. businesses in the biggest ransomware attack on record appears minimal, though information remained incomplete. The company whose software was exploited said fewer than 1,500 businesses worldwide appeared compromised... Read More

WASHINGTON - Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm requested $201 million in additional funds to fortify her department’s cybersecurity defenses in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday. Granholm’s request came in response to a ransomware attack on an... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Government Accountability Office issued a report this week addressing cybersecurity vulnerabilities in the Department of Defense inventory management systems used to manage the national defense supply chain. Risks in six inventory management systems run by the Defense... Read More

BOSTON (AP) — If your business falls victim to ransomware and you want simple advice on whether to pay the criminals, don't expect much help from the U.S. government. The answer is apt to be: It depends. "It is the... Read More

WASHINGTON -- A group of U.S. senators responded Thursday to recent ransomware attacks by introducing legislation to impose new tactics and harsh penalties on cyberattackers. They pinned much of the blame on Russia, despite denials a day earlier by Russian... Read More

WASHINGTON — The rise in profit-driven cyberattacks has prompted Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., to contemplate a mandatory reporting bill so law enforcement can promptly take action on urgent threats. Warner told Axios recently that he... Read More

Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y. recently went into a couple of Lincoln car dealerships in Syracuse, New York, but “neither one of them had any cars.”  “And they’re not going to have any cars for several weeks because of the chip... Read More

WASHINGTON -- Testimony at a congressional hearing Wednesday on last month’s Colonial Pipeline Co. ransomware attack demonstrated that a bigger role for the federal government is coming soon to protect private computer networks. The Georgia-based company’s chief executive officer admitted... Read More

WASHINGTON -- The Biden administration and members of Congress are pledging a tough response to the mounting devastation of cyberattacks as the risk of a bigger confrontation with Russia grows. On Wednesday, a White House spokesperson spelled out the U.S.... Read More

BOSTON (AP) — The state-backed Russian cyber spies behind the SolarWinds hacking campaign launched a targeted spear-phishing assault on U.S. and foreign government agencies and think tanks this week using an email marketing account of the U.S. Agency for International... Read More

The U.S. witnessed an “uptick” in ransomware attacks during the pandemic, particularly small businesses. And if those small businesses were offline even a couple of days, “the impact on their supply chain was so significant” that manufacturers turned to other... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. pipeline operators will be required for the first time to conduct a cybersecurity assessment under a Biden administration directive in response to the ransomware hack that disrupted gas supplies in several states this month. The Transportation... Read More

WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers who listened to Defense Department officials explain recent cyberthreats Friday gave unmistakable hints that some kind of large-scale U.S. response is coming soon. The hearing of the House Armed Services subcommittee on cyber, innovative technologies and information... Read More

WASHINGTON -- Defense Department officials described a bleak outlook for cybersecurity to a Senate panel Tuesday as a report of another huge Internet scam emerged from a new government report. However, they also said they are becoming increasingly sophisticated in... Read More

Gas shortages at the pumps are spreading from the South to the Mid-Atlantic states, where Virginia and the District of Columbia have become some of the hardest-hit areas following a cyberattack that forced a shutdown of the nation's largest gasoline... Read More

WASHINGTON -- The ongoing energy crisis created by a Russian gang’s ransomware attack late last week led the Biden administration to announce a multi-pronged strategy for confronting it on Monday. While President Biden declared an emergency, Colonial Pipeline officials said... Read More

Last year saw an increase of 20% in cyberattacks against organizations, said James Turgal, vice president of Optiv, during the first day of the CyberSatDigital conference. The most common attack, with over 184 million reported last year, is known as... Read More

WASHINGTON — In a covert operation to undercut hacking groups’ attempts to exploit vulnerabilities in Microsoft’s Exchange email program, the FBI has begun accessing hundreds of vulnerable computers in the United States to remove malicious web shells.  Web shells, interfaces... Read More

The White House on Thursday unveiled sweeping sanctions on Russia in retaliation for cyberattacks, foreign influence operations and other behavior. The measures include the expulsion of 10 Russian diplomats. The moves were announced Thursday morning in a lengthy statement from... Read More

The two federal laws governing sex trafficking online have disproportionately harmed more sex workers than saved victims of human trafficking, said Danielle Borrelli, operations coordinator at the California Cybersecurity Institute, today at a Lincoln Network event moderated by Alexiaa Jordan.  ... Read More

Suspected Russian hackers gained access to email accounts belonging to the Trump administration's head of the Department of Homeland Security and members of the department's cybersecurity staff whose jobs included hunting threats from foreign countries, The Associated Press has learned.... Read More

WASHINGTON — Microsoft is placing the blame for a hack on its email software on China after President Joe Biden called on allied nations to create a new set of rules governing cybersecurity threats across the globe. It is believed... Read More

WASHINGTON -- A congressional hearing Friday showed that foreign computer hackers are facing a growing likelihood of counterattack from the United States as a result of the SolarWinds software breach. Lawmakers and computer industry officials agreed the hackers must face... Read More