Tag Archive for: attacked

MI6 chief’s hacked emails attacked MI5 and betrayed British spy operations in China

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Emails published by Russian hackers and systematically analysed by Computer Weekly reveal that in January 2020 the former “C” (chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, MI6) Richard Dearlove linked up with hard-Brexit campaigners and White House lobbyists to send a threat-laden briefing to 10 Downing Street warning about telecoms company Huawei.  

Dearlove’s exposure of former MI6 spy colleagues – in support of a Donald Trump government campaign – came as a secretive group of hard-Brexit supporters attempted to clandestinely replace advice from Britain’s main national security organisation, the National Security Council (NSC). Dearlove also attacked every other British security and intelligence organisation, including MI5, GCHQ and one of his successors as chief of MI6.

This group, formed with Dearlove’s help, used a variety of cover names to push its agenda and was launched on 18 August 2018 by former historian and retired LSE research professor Gwythian (Gywn) Prins. The conspiratorial group initially campaigned to replace then prime minister Theresa May with Boris Johnson, according to emails published this year by Russian hackers. The group labelled its “super top secret” plans “Operation Surprise”.

Johnson did replace May less than a year later, in July 2019. Six months after that, Prins and his group thought they had made it to the very top. Two weeks before the event they had dreamed of and campaigned for – the UK’s departure from the European Union (EU) – Prins was invited to the Cabinet Office for a 90-minute meeting with Michael Gove, then chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and number two to Johnson.

According to leaked emails Prins sent out after he met Gove on 16 January 2020, Gove offered him a top job. “I shall likely head up a small geo-strategic assessment unit in the Cabinet Office,” he wrote. “It will … be a rival to the NSC behemoth … Gove understands that.”

Wanting the group to campaign against official MI5 advice on Huawei, Gove had also asked for “a short, hard-hitting note which explains why Huawei should not be touched in any aspect”.

“The Prime Minister … should NOT take the advice of the current…

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Mass. Correction Officer Attacked by Inmate at MCI-Shirley – NBC Boston

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Free weights should be removed from maximum and medium security prisons in the Bay State, after a correction officer was “violently assaulted” with gym equipment last week, the Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union Executive Board said Tuesday.

Correction Officer Matthew Tidman is on life support after being assaulted by an inmate with a 10-15 pound piece of lead gym equipment last Wednesday at MCI-Shirley, according to the union. The attack was unprovoked, the union said, and happened while the officer was monitoring the gym area. The officer was knocked to the floor, where the inmate allegedly struck him in the head several more times.

The correction officer had to be med flighted to a hospital, after other officers were able to subdue the inmate, the news release said.

The executive board of the union wants the inmate to face prosecution “to the fullest extent of the law to include attempted murder” by the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, which the union is pushing to conduct a full investigation of the incident alongside Massachusetts State Police.

Additionally, the union’s executive board wants to see an investigation into how “such a violent criminal” was in a medium security prison. Union leaders also want to see free weights removed from medium and maximum security prisons immediately.

MCI-Shirley is a medium and minimum security prison that holds male inmates.

Tidman’s family has released a statement asking for privacy and thanking everyone for the support they’ve received through the ordeal.

“We are so thankful for the attentive and kindhearted hospital staff working day and night to support Matt, as he remains in critical condition fighting for his life,” the statement read, in part.

“Matt’s correctional officer brothers and sisters have shown how they are a united force who supports their own.
Anyone who knows Matt, knows he is a fighter and will never give up. He is the one to always have your back. Aside from being a character that puts a smile on your face, he is a loving son, brother and uncle.”

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Russian hackers attacked Ukraine more than 1,000 times since start of invasion

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Since the start of the full-scale invasion, 1,123 cyberattacks have been launched against Ukraine.

The press service of the State Special Communications Service of Ukraine said in a Telegram post, Ukrinform reports.

“During the six months of the war, the national Computer Emergency Response Team of Ukraine CERT-UA, which operates under the State Special Communications Service, recorded 1,123 cyberattacks,” the report says.

It is noted that cybercriminals most often attacked the central government and local government bodies.

Among the main targets are also commercial and financial institutions, agencies of the security and defense sector, enterprises of the energy sector, transport industry and telecom – all essential public infrastructure.

As Ukrinform reported, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Ukrainian cyber police have repelled 83 enemy cyberattacks and prevented another 300.

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Attacked by CCP Cyber Army, Taiwan Government Information Security Being Shored Up

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Taiwan is facing political, economic, and military coercion from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) amid a significant increase in cyber-attacks on government departments, according to Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang. The completeness of security and protection of government agencies has recently gained public attention.

ROC Defense Department Confirmed Cyber-attack from Beijing

The Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of China (ROC), that is, Taiwan, held a press conference on Tuesday, confirming that in addition to military exercises, the Chinese Communist Party (CP) has also launched a cognitive warfare and cyber-attack on major global information websites in Taiwan.

The official website of the Ministry of National Defense was hacked on March 3. According to a search by the response team of the Ministry, the website was flooded with requests for connections from multiple suspicious computer IP addresses at the same time, causing the network traffic to exceed the limit and making it impossible to access the website.

According to the Political Warfare Bureau of ROC, the CCP launched a cognitive warfare ahead of its military exercises. From Aug. 1 to Aug. 8, a total of 272 controversial messages were copied and distributed to call for “unity by force” and undermine the authority of the ROC government.

Speaking of the CCP’s cognitive warfare, Chen Yu-lin, Deputy Director of the Political Warfare Bureau, pointed out that with the rapid development of online communities and media, the style of warfare has changed greatly from what it was in the past.

Cognitive warfare, in particular, destroys the existing networks of society and makes if difficult to have a decisive influence on the battlefield, she said.

The Defense Ministry urged the public not to ignore disputed messages.

Numerous Cyberattacks Launched Abroad

The ROC’s presidential office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of National Defense, and other agencies have all recently experienced Level 1 information security incidents. Government agencies and critical infrastructure websites have been attacked by foreign forces in distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.

A DDoS attack on a website is like a busy…

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