Tag Archive for: attempts

Inside Russia’s attempts to hack Ukrainian military operations : NPR


In this photo illustration, the 502 Bad Gateway message is seen on Ministry of Defence of Ukraine official webpage displayed on a smartphone screen and flag of Ukraine in the background.

SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images


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SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

In this photo illustration, the 502 Bad Gateway message is seen on Ministry of Defence of Ukraine official webpage displayed on a smartphone screen and flag of Ukraine in the background.

SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian intelligence officials have revealed details to NPR about an attempt by Russian state hackers to penetrate Ukrainian military planning operations systems.

The hackers from Russian military intelligence captured Android tablet devices used by Ukrainian officers on the front lines in an attempt to spy, according to a report published by the Security Service of Ukraine’s Cyber Security Situation Center.

“We saw that there were attempts to penetrate these systems,” said Illia Vitiuk, the head of the Cybersecurity Department of Ukraine’s Security Services, also known as the SBU. Vitiuk spoke to NPR in an exclusive interview in Kyiv on Wednesday.

“Our enemy is extremely focused on getting insight into these systems,” he continued.

The Ukrainian military uses multiple tools for situational awareness to track Russian troop positions and gather other intelligence from the land, air and sea. Those include Delta, a military platform developed by the Defense Technology Innovation and Development Center within Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense, and Kropvya, a defense mapping software made by Ukrainian NGO Army SOS. Developers working on these systems in Kyiv are becoming increasingly aware of Russia’s focus on them, and are declining to openly discuss the platforms and how they work to…

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Kids’ intimate files — including suicide attempts — are being put online after ransomware gangs hack schools: report


The confidential documents stolen from schools and dumped online by ransomware gangs are raw, intimate and graphic.

They describe student sexual assaults, psychiatric hospitalizations, abusive parents, truancy — even suicide attempts.

“Please do something,” begged a student in one leaked file, recalling the trauma of continually bumping into an ex-abuser at a school in Minneapolis.

Other victims talked about wetting the bed or crying themselves to sleep.

Complete sexual assault case folios containing these details were among more than 300,000 files dumped online in March after the 36,000-student Minneapolis Public Schools refused to pay a $1 million ransom.

Other exposed data included medical records, discrimination complaints, Social Security numbers and contact information of district employees.

Rich in digitized data, the nation’s schools are prime targets for far-flung criminal hackers, who are assiduously locating and scooping up sensitive files that not long ago were committed to paper in locked cabinets. “In this case, everybody has a key,” said cybersecurity expert Ian Coldwater, whose son attends a Minneapolis high school.

Often strapped for cash, districts are grossly ill-equipped not just to defend themselves but to respond diligently and transparently when attacked, especially as they struggle to help kids catch up from the pandemic and grapple with shrinking budgets.

Months after the Minneapolis attack, administrators have not delivered on their promise to inform individual victims.


Ransomware gangs dumped 300,000 files, including medical record and Social Security numbers, from Minneapolis Public Schools.
Ransomware gangs dumped 300,000 files, including medical record and Social Security numbers, from Minneapolis Public Schools.
AP

Unlike for hospitals, no federal law exists to require this notification from schools.

The Associated Press reached families of six students whose sexual assault case files were exposed.

The message from a reporter was the first time anyone had alerted them.

“Truth is, they didn’t notify us about anything,” said a mother whose son’s case file has 80 documents.

Even when schools catch a ransomware attack in progress, the data are typically already gone.

That was what Los…

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Hacking Attempts in the Education Sector Are On the Rise. Here’s How Schools Can Stay Safe from Cyberattacks.


 

Educational institutions are facing a surge in cyberattacks targeting IoT (Internet of Things) devices like IP cameras, network video recorders, and routers, according to recent data published by Check Point Research. In fact, the cybersecurity solutions provider states that there has been a 34% increase in cyberattacks when compared to last year. How can schools and other organizations stay safe from hacking attempts in the education sector?

Experts believe that schools and universities need to focus on vulnerability management. Basically, this process involves the continuous identification and resolution of potential weaknesses or flaws, such as bugs and firewall misconfigurations. These give hackers a chance to steal data and cause harm. Even something as simple as regularly updating software and installing antivirus solutions can help prevent unauthorized access to confidential data like the addresses and medical records of students.

BlueSteel Cybersecurity CEO Ali Allage, who has two decades of experience in leading tech companies, tells us how schools can stay safe from cyberattacks and institute better strategies against hacking attempts in the education sector.

 

Ali’s Thoughts

“So, my thoughts on the topic of the education sector seeing an increase in attacks is not surprising just because of how much the education system had to transition [during] and after covid on technology use. There’s been a lot of quick adoption without necessarily having the right frameworks in order to support remote education or adopting some of the technologies needed for today’s educational world. So, part of that is not having a grasp on vulnerability management, and this is using these tiny devices, like I mentioned [IoT devices] like cameras, [some] of these hardware pieces that sometimes get overlooked on firmware. Making sure that the software that goes to run the hardware are up to date. And, so we’ll see a lot in terms of vulnerability management not necessarily getting the love or attention it needs, or you’ll see that they’re identifying some of the issues — It’s just that the breadth of items that need to be addressed are pretty large and it could be…

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Countering attempts to revive militancy in Punjab