Tag Archive for: Chaos

Crowdsourcing Cyber Chaos – Security Boulevard

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Crowdsourcing Cyber Chaos

Once upon a time, the rules were simple.

Strategic cyber operations were led by government hackers hidden away in giant, windowless buildings. When organized cybercrime groups came onto the scene, they mainly focused on profitable targets like corporations and tried to avoid public targets that would attract too much attention, such as critical infrastructure and governmental systems.

However, the Ukraine-Russia War tossed all these “rules” out the window.

Today anyone, including the stereotypical hacker in a hoodie working out of their parent’s basement, can join in on a cyber war. As the Ukraine-Russia War rages on, more and more people from around the world are joining the conflict from the comfort of their own home.

*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from IronNet Blog authored by . Read the original post at: https://www.ironnet.com/blog/crowdsourcing-cyber-chaos

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Cyber threats rise amid chaos of pandemic | News

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BOSTON — With local governments, schools and businesses using the internet to stay connected during the pandemic, hackers have been busy at work trying to exploit weaknesses in computer systems to steal money and personal information.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center logged 791,790 complaints of suspected internet crimes last year — an increase of more than 300,000 complaints from 2019. Reported losses exceeded $4.2 billion.

Topping the list of cyber crimes last year were computer “phishing” scams, non-payment/non-delivery scams and internet-based extortion, the agency said.

The FBI reported more than 12,000 victims of cyber crimes in Massachusetts last year, with losses topping $118 million.

“The bad guys have figured out how to make this into a business,” said Stephanie Helm, director of the MassCyberCenter at the Mass Tech Collaborative, which advises businesses and local governments on cyber security.

Helms said businesses, local governments and health care facilities, have become an increasingly popular targets for cyber criminals amid the pandemic.

The attacks range from malware, ransomware and email phishing scams, to old-fashioned con games using the internet to trick people out of their money.

The state Registry of Motor Vehicles is still reeling from a recent cyber attack that shut down its vehicle emissions system network.

Locally, Lawrence, Methuen and Haverhill city halls have reported coming under cyber attacks in the past year.

School districts have also come under attack in the past year, Helms said.

“Not only have they been targeted for ransomware but sometimes it was denial of service attacks that have shut down remote teaching classes,” she said.

Many other hacking attacks have preyed on people’s sense of loneliness throughout the pandemic, particularly the elderly who have been isolated at home or in long-term care facilities, she said.

The FBI data for Massachusetts shows that victims of cyber crimes 60 and older were more affected than other age groups last year. The agency reported…

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Scientists harness chaos to protect devices from hackers

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hacker
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Researchers have found a way to use chaos to help develop digital fingerprints for electronic devices that may be unique enough to foil even the most sophisticated hackers.

Just how unique are these fingerprints? The researchers believe it would take longer than the lifetime of the universe to test for every possible combination available.

“In our system, chaos is very, very good,” said Daniel Gauthier, senior author of the study and professor of physics at The Ohio State University.

The study was recently published online in the journal IEEE Access.

The researchers created a new version of an emerging technology called physically unclonable functions, or PUFs, that are built into computer chips.

Gauthier said these new PUFs could potentially be used to create secure ID cards, to track goods in supply chains and as part of authentication applications, where it is vital to know that you’re not communicating with an impostor.

“The SolarWinds hack that targeted the U.S. government really got people thinking about how we’re going to be doing authentication and cryptography,” Gauthier said.

“We’re hopeful that this could be part of the solution.”

The new solution makes use of PUFs, which take advantage of tiny manufacturing variations found in each computer chip—variations so small that they aren’t noticeable to the end user, said Noeloikeau Charlot, lead author of the study and a doctoral student in physics at Ohio State.

“There’s a wealth of information in even the smallest differences found on computers chips that we can exploit to create PUFs,” Charlot said.

These slight variations—sometimes seen only at the atomic level—are used to create unique sequences of 0s and 1s that researchers in the field call, appropriately enough, “secrets.”

Other groups have developed what they thought were strong PUFs, but research showed that hackers could successfully attack them. The problem is that current PUFs contain only a limited number of secrets, Gauthier said.

“If you have a…

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Man Utd’s January transfer plans in chaos after scouting network hacked in cyber attack on computer database

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MANCHESTER UNITED’S January transfer plans are in chaos after their scouting network was hacked amid the club’s ongoing cyber attack scandal.

The Mirror reports the Red Devils fear confidential material regarding player targets and active scouting missions may have been compromised.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's January transfer plans are up in the air after the club were hacked

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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s January transfer plans are up in the air after the club were hackedCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd

United confirmed last week that the club was hit by a ‘sophisticated operation by organised criminals’.

The assault on their computer systems reportedly left staff still locked out of club email accounts a week after the event.

United have brought in a team of technical experts to contain the damage but could face a £15million fine if they pay a ransom to hackers.

United are owned by the American Glazer family and as the club are listed on the New York Stock Exchange they are subject to US law.

If they paid a fee they would be breaking legislation and could be sanctioned by the US Treasury.

Hackers are understood to be holding United to ransom for millions of pounds with the possibility they will leak sensitive information or block access to it.

The identity of the attackers and the amount being demanded are currently unclear but paying a lump sum would not guarantee information isn’t leaked.

United revealed their internal investigation to assess the extent of the security breach is still ongoing but the club are also at risk of being slapped with a fine in the UK if data security laws are found to have been breached.

The Red Devils have been knocked back by the unexpected disruption with the January transfer window just weeks away.

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United operate an extensive global scouting operation with a sophisticated network and advanced planning is well underway ahead of the next two windows.

As is common with all top clubs, United use a bespoke online scouting system based on analysis, data and video footage.

The report states that the system is being looked at as part of the forensic investigation.

Files are kept on transfer targets and the confidential material inside as well as United stars’ sensitive private information may have been targeted.

United say they are not aware of any…

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