Tag Archive for: blame

Defining democracy down. Preemptive blame for a prospective invasion. The Corpse Bride Diet and other temptations of social media.

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At a glance.

  • Defining democracy down.
  • Preemptive blame for a prospective invasion.
  • The Corpse Bride Diet and other temptations of social media.

Pushing a “positive” message (as opposed to merely sowing confusion).

As we saw last week, China has been working to push an alternative picture of democracy, the “whole-process people’s democracy” outlined by the State Council of the People’s Republic white paper, “China: Democracy That Works.” The overarching goal is to contrast China’s mode of social organization with America’s process-bound cynicism, all, of course, to the advantage of China and the disadvantage of America.

Beijing’s news outlet CGTN has been running a multi-part series, “America: War by another name,” which it describes as “a special eight-part series that explores the sinister motivations for [America’s] warmongering.” Part six came out this week, and it’s devoted to “American Cyber Hegemony: Science fiction turned into reality.” The upshot of the article is that US institutional paranoia has led the Americans to become the leading proponents of both cyberespionage and cybersabotage. The US strategy, CGTN explains, has these four phases, roughly strategy, organization, operations, and intelligence:

  • “First, the U.S. has formulated and promoted an increasingly offensive cyber security strategy, rendering cyberspace in perpetuated instability. With strategic competition as the focal point, the four U.S. governments since the 20th century [those would be the Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden Administrations, and CGTN says elsewhere that Washington’s hegemonic ambitions in cyberspace go back to President Clinton] have embarked on a three-phase process of establishing, managing and controlling the cyber network – all in an attempt to write the rules and gain absolute strategic advantages in cyberspace…. From a passive defensive strategy that protected key infrastructure and beefed up the management system, the U.S. has gradually turned to an active defensive strategy that systematically built cyberspace deterrence to fend off threats, and then to a forward defensive strategy that pre-emptively attacks potential targets of threat actors. America’s increasingly expansive…

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IOTW: China Possibly To Blame For India’s 2020 Power Outage As Cyber Warfare Increases Globally

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On February 28, a report published by the U.S. cyber security firm Recorded Future, prompted India to make its own announcement regarding a widespread hacking campaign against the country.

Facts

Last October, Mumbai, India’s financial capital, suffered a massive power outage that shut down thousands of businesses, dozens of trains, and left millions without power. The power outage was initially pinned on “technical glitches.” In an increasingly nationalistic country who is working to decrease its dependence on China’s supply chain and increase its international investment appeal, the power outage wasn’t just a logistical nightmare—it was also embarrassing.

Now, home minister of the state, Anil Deshmukh, is releasing information about the outage and its possible link to a wave of Trojan horse attacks and power company data transfers. Additionally, between June and October, 8GB of data from China and other nation states snuck into the servers of Indian power companies. Blacklisted IP addresses also tried to break in en masse.

Related: On The Leading Edge Of Fraud: The Data, The User & The Risk

Four months before the outage, Chinese and Indian troops engaged in a close-range skirmish at the border that involved bats wrapped in barbed wire, rocks, and batons. India reportedly lost 20 soldiers; China, four. The attack was the first to result in combat mortalities between the countries in 45 years.

Recorded Future’s investigation linked China with the power outage and theorizes that the attack on India’s infrastructure was both a warning and retaliation for the border skirmish. China denies the claim, saying, “It is highly irresponsible to accuse a particular party when there is no sufficient evidence around. China is firmly opposed to such irresponsible and ill-intentioned practice.”

Lessons Learned

India is taking extra measures to keep threat actors out of its infrastructure including strengthening firewalls, blacklisting additional IP addresses, and utilizing antivirus software.

Cyber attacks are a new form of warfare, both psychologically and with physical consequences, and level the playing field for…

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Rising Ransomware Attacks Spur Debate Over Whether Cyber Insurance Is to Blame

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Last week Delaware County, Pennsylvania, joined a growing list of entities struck by ransomware. The Philadelphia suburb announced that it paid $500,000 to regain full access to its network after hackers encrypted police reports, payroll and expense databases and other files. However, the ransom payment was covered by the municipality’s insurance, according to local media.

Ransomware payment coverage is fairly common in most cybersecurity insurance polices as more organizations, including municipalities and law firms  fall victim to cyberattacks. But some observers argue such payments are incentivizing hackers and creating more ransomware opportunities.

Source…

Ransomware reportedly to blame for outage at US hospital chain – The Verge

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  1. Ransomware reportedly to blame for outage at US hospital chain  The Verge
  2. Ransomware Attack Hits Universal Health Services – WSJ  The Wall Street Journal
  3. A Ransomware Attack Has Struck a Major US Hospital Chain  WIRED
  4. Healthcare giant UHS hit by ransomware attack, sources say  TechCrunch
  5. Health care provider United Health Services hit with cyberattack  USA TODAY
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