Tag Archive for: daily

‘Empire of hacking’ exposed: China Daily editorial

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Although the Central Intelligence Agency had acquired exceptional experience in overthrowing governments by triggering “peaceful evolution” or instigating “color revolutions” in other countries before the emergence of the internet, it is the advancement of information and communication technology, in which the US enjoys huge advantages, that has greatly boosted the intelligence agency’s capability to accomplish its goals in the new century.

The disintegration of the Soviet Union — the United States established the CIA in 1947 to counter Soviet intelligence wings — transformed the former socialist republics in Eastern and Central Europe, and created a golden opportunity for the CIA to trigger “color revolutions” in the region as well as in the Middle East and Central Asia.

The end of the Cold War gave the CIA the reason to help establish the US’ global hegemony by exploiting its advantages in cyberspace to infiltrate, spy on and subvert other countries’ governments.

A report “Empire of Hacking: the US Central Intelligence Agency — Part I” jointly published by China’s National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center and the 360 Total Security, a Chinese cybersecurity company, on Thursday deserves credit for not only its systematic and professional approach to the ugly role of the CIA, but also its advice to the agency’s “victims all around the world” in order to help them better respond to the US’ cyberattacks and manipulations.

The report can also be seen as part of China’s efforts to help build a community with a shared future in cyberspace, because it regards maintaining silence in the face of the CIA’s dirty tricks as being complicit in the US’ overall destructive strategy.

The report says that, working with US internet companies, the CIA provides encrypted network communication services, and reconnects service and on-site command communication tools directly for its proxies in targeted countries and regions. For instance, a software called RIOT, developed and promoted jointly by US companies and the CIA, helps the intelligence agency to remote control its pawns triggering demonstrations and riots in other countries, by ensuring they have reliable…

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Cloudflare Announces Date of First Quarter 2023 Financial Results … – Galveston County Daily News

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Cloudflare Announces Date of First Quarter 2023 Financial Results …  Galveston County Daily News

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Ransomware group posts nude photos of cancer patients online – New York Daily News

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A ransomware gang with Russian ties is accused of posting nude photos of cancer patients online after a Pennsylvania health care group declined to meet its demands.

Lehigh Valley Health Network called the cyberattack an “unconscionable criminal act” that exploits patients undergoing treatment for cancer, according to Lehigh Valley Live.

On Sunday, a Twitter feed that tracks malware said the hacker group ALPHV, also known as BlackCat, was “exploiting and sexualizing breast cancer.”

The tweet included a note, seemingly from ALPHV, telling the health care provider that its patients’ “passports, personal data, questionnaires, nude photos and the like” had been stolen. The hacker group said it was prepared to publish these materials online, and warned such a disclosure would “cause significant damage to [the provider’s] business.”

Lehigh Valley Health Network announced Thursday that it is building a new hospital in Carbon County.

Lehigh Valley Health Network announced Thursday that it is building a new hospital in Carbon County. (The Morning Call/The Morning Call)

In a statement, Lehigh Valley Health Network said the information hacked from its systems included a trio of screenshots containing clinically appropriate images of patients undergoing radiation oncology treatment at a facility in Scranton, Pa. The breach also reportedly included seven documents with personal information about patients.

It’s unclear how much money ALPHV was demanding. The organization is reportedly known to have asked for payments of up to $1.5 million.

[ Industries hit hardest by ransomware ]

Lehigh Valley Health Network said last month it experienced a cyberattack that did not interrupt operations, but warned the incursion targeted images like the ones published over the weekend. Law enforcement was made aware of the situation.

ALPHV is said to target health care and academic institutions.

Georgia station WMAZ reported Monday that a Houston County-based health care group that treats 300,000 patients a year was targeted by a ransomware attack last week, causing the health care workers to implement “back up processes.”

Further details of that attack have not been made public.

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Hacking our way through a digital age – Daily News

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The Los Angeles Unified School District — a misnomer if ever there was one — has been hacked, paralyzing a system that needs no help grinding to a halt.

The perpetrators have yet to reveal either themselves or how much dough they want before they’ll release the computer system, just the latest example of a ubiquitous modern crime that has seen businesses, hospitals and even police departments paralyzed by cyber criminals.

It works like this: hackers penetrate computer system firewalls and shut out legitimate users until a ransom is paid, usually in hard-to-trace crypto-currencies. Many of these hack attacks originate overseas, making it even more unlikely anyone will ever be caught. In some cases (Russia) these attacks are state-sponsored. While hacking might be a non-violent crime, it’s hardly victimless. A hacked computer today is as serious as horse thievery back in the day. Ransomware shuts down modern life.

In my grandfather’s time, a “hack” was a cab or something you did to overgrown weeds. My father knew his son couldn’t hack 9th-grade math, or a curveball, or a regular 9-to-5 job. As a kid, when I got hacked it was when I drove to the hoop through a gauntlet of sharp fingernails clawing at the ball. Once during my life as a TV writer, a programing executive at MTM called me a hack. Once, that I know of.

Today getting hacked is as inevitable as getting lost before GPS, Waze and Google Maps came along. The initial panic over our Facebook account being cloned by some clown has given way to a yawn: “If you get a friend request from me, just ignore it.”

But our credit cards and Social Security numbers are another matter. Identity theft is a huge hassle and can seriously disrupt lives. It’s a tedious process to undo the damage caused by hackers and virtually risk free for them, so why not? Why steal with a revolver when someone might shoot back if you can steal from the comfort of your sofa?

From time immemorial, new technology has spawned new crimes. The first documented car theft took place in Paris in 1896 when a mechanic swiped a Peugot from Baron de Zuylen, founder of the Automobile Club of France. As bad as hacking is, it pales in comparison to the…

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