Tag Archive for: documents

Suffolk documents posted by hackers include traffic tickets with defendants’ names, and county contracts

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Documents published by a group taking responsibility for the ransomware attack on Suffolk County government include speeding tickets, contracts with county vendors, and a handwritten marriage license from 1908, according to a Newsday review of the materials.

Such documents, which in some cases show the names, addresses and dates of birth of county residents, could contain increasingly sensitive information as hackers press their demands, one cybersecurity expert said.

Steve Morgan, founder of Cybersecurity Ventures in Northport, which provides data and research to the information technology industry, said ransomware hackers sometimes will start by leaking less sensitive data in what they consider to be a show of good faith to open ransom negotiations.

“They’re putting data out to try to provide evidence that we have your data, and we’re willing to put your data out, but without putting out anything that would be too compromising to scare the county,” Morgan told Newsday Monday.

Morgan said hackers could continue to leak increasingly sensitive information to ramp up pressure on the county.

“The worst of what they have is the last that would get published,” Morgan said.

Suffolk County took down its web-based applications and websites on Sept. 8 following a cyberattack on county computer systems.

On Friday, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone announced cybercriminals had taken credit for a hack on county government.

Bellone said county officials were working to protect sensitive information.

County officials referred to postings on the “dark web” — an anonymized portion of the internet where criminal activity can occur — attributing the attack to the BlackCat or ALPHV strain of ransomware.

County officials have not said whether hackers have made a ransom demand, and have offered no timeline for when county operations could be back online.

An updated posting Monday said the hackers were seeking an unspecified “small reward.”

County officials did not respond immediately for comment last night.

Earlier Monday, Marykate Guilfoyle, a spokeswoman for Bellone, said county officials were continuing to assess the attack.

In their post on the dark…

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Portugal investigates dark web sale of classified NATO documents – EURACTIV.com

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Portugal’s public prosecutor’s office is investigating a cyberattack against the Armed Forces General Staff in which classified NATO documents were extracted and put up for sale on the ‘dark web’, the Attorney General’s Office said on Tuesday.

“The establishment of an enquiry is confirmed. It is led by the public prosecutor’s office of the Central Department of Investigation and Prosecution (DCIAP),” the Attorney General’s Office told EURACTIV’s media partner Lusa.

According to the Portuguese newspaper Diário de Notícias, the government was informed of the situation last week by the US intelligence services, via the embassy in Lisbon, through a communication that was reportedly made directly to Prime Minister António Costa in August.

The same newspaper mentioned that this case was considered “extremely serious” and that US cyber spies had detected “for sale on the ‘dark web’ hundreds of documents sent by NATO to Portugal, classified as secret and confidential.”

The Defence Ministry said it was already investigating “all signs of a potential breach of computer security” and claimed the “sensitivity” of the proceedings meant further comment was not appropriate.

In a statement, the ministry said that the investigations are conducted by the National Security Office, “with which the ministry of defence and the armed forces work in close coordination.”

Among the functions of the National Security Office is to “ensure the security of classified information within the national framework and international organisations to which Portugal is a party” and exercise “the function of accreditation authority for natural or legal persons to access and handle classified information.

(Fernando Carneiro/Lusa.pt)

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‘Portugal’s army lost NATO documents in a hack’

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The Portuguese Armed Forces General Staff Agency (EMGFA) reportedly fell victim to a hack that resulted in the theft of sensitive NATO papers, which are currently being sold on the dark web.

EMGFA is the governmental agency responsible for controlling, planning and operating Portugal’s armed forces. The agency only discovered it had been hacked after hackers uploaded samples of the stolen data on the dark web, claiming they would sell the files to prospective buyers.

US cyber intelligence operatives discovered the sale of stolen records and notified the US embassy in Lisbon, which informed Portuguese authorities of the data breach.

The documents are extremely sensitive

A group of specialists from the National Security Office (GNS) and Portugal’s national cybersecurity center was quickly dispatched to EMGFA to thoroughly examine the organization’s network.

The revelation was first reported by Diario de Noticias, a local news outlet that claims to have validated the accuracy of the information through anonymous individuals involved in the investigations.

According to these sources, the stolen documents are of extreme importance. Their distribution might jeopardize the country’s reputation in the NATO.

Air-gapped but vulnerable

EMGFA’s computers are air-gapped, but the data breach was reportedly caused by non-secure links. The investigation’s initial finding is that the senior military authority violated its operational security standards at some point in time.

At the time of writing, the Portuguese government has made no official statement on the subject. However, the political opposition is increasing pressure for a briefing in response to the reports.

Many parliamentary representatives expressed amazement after learning that sensitive military documents were being auctioned on the internet and the country’s intelligence services had failed to identify such a significant breach.

Tip: Data privacy: from necessary security step to competitive advantage

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Intelligence Officials Will Assess Security Risks From Mar-a-Lago Documents

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WASHINGTON — U.S. intelligence officials will conduct a review to assess the possible risks to national security from former President Donald J. Trump’s handling of classified documents after the F.B.I. retrieved boxes containing sensitive material from Mar-a-Lago, according to a letter to lawmakers.

In the letter, Avril D. Haines, the director of national intelligence, informed the top lawmakers on the House Intelligence and Oversight Committees that her office would lead an intelligence community assessment of the “potential risk to national security that would result from the disclosure” of documents Mr. Trump took with him to his private club and residence in Palm Beach, Fla.

In the letter, which was obtained by The New York Times, Ms. Haines said her office would work with the Justice Department to ensure that the assessment did not interfere with the department’s criminal investigation concerning the documents. The review will determine what intelligence sources or systems could be identified from the documents and be compromised if they fell into the wrong hands.

Ms. Haines’s letter, dated Friday, was reported earlier by Politico. It came after the leaders of the Intelligence and Oversight Committees asked her on Aug. 13 to conduct an “immediate review and damage assessment” in the wake of the F.B.I.’s search of Mar-a-Lago, during which federal agents recovered 11 sets of classified documents.

On Friday, the Justice Department released a redacted version of the affidavit used to obtain the search warrant for Mar-a-Lago. That document included the revelation that Mr. Trump had retained highly classified material after leaving office, including documents related to the use of “clandestine human sources” in intelligence gathering.

Representatives Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California and the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, and Carolyn B. Maloney, Democrat of New York and the chairwoman of the Oversight Committee, issued an approving statement in response to Ms. Haines’s letter.

“The D.O.J. affidavit, partially unsealed yesterday, affirms our grave concern that among the documents stored at Mar-a-Lago were those that could endanger human…

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