Tag Archive for: Dozens

Dozens of NH restaurants affected by nationwide ransomware attack

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Dozens of establishments across New Hampshire have been impacted by a nationwide ransomware attack.Restaurant owners said this isn’t affecting the dining experience, but it is causing some problems with gift cards.This time of year is one of The Beach Plums’ busiest with a gift card special right before Mother’s Day.But none of the restaurant’s locations have been able to issue new gift cards for almost two weeks, due to a nationwide ransomware attack on NCR, a supplier for many restaurant point-of-sale systems.“It’s something totally out of our control; that’s what makes it so frustrating,” Robert Lee, owner of The Beach Plum Restaurant, said. “We hope to be able to issue those starting in a few days, but NCR’s been pretty uncommunicative.””The majority of our regulars are completely understanding,” Tom Boucher, CEO and owner of Great New Hampshire Restaurants, said. ”I’m more concerned about the people who want to try us for the first time and they feel like we’re not living up to our end of the deal.”Tom Boucher said all of his restaurants are also having problems with gift cards, loyalty points and payroll for his 900 employees. “I hope people have patience and understand that this is not any restaurant in New Hampshire’s issue — it’s clearly an NCR issue,” Boucher said. In a statement to News 9, NCR said it’s working to both restore applications and enhance its security. “While in-restaurant purchases and transactions continue to operate, affected customers have reduced capabilities on specific Aloha cloud-based and Counterpoint functionality that has impacted their ability to manage restaurant administrative functions. NCR is conducting concurrent efforts to establish alternative functionality for customers, fully restore impacted data and applications, and to enhance its cyber security protections,” NCR said in a statement. Restaurant owners are feeling frustrated with what seems like roadblock after roadblock. “We had two and a half years of the pandemic, we had a year of inflation and trying to find employees and here we are finally getting back to normal and bang, we get hit with this,” Boucher said. “But you know what, we persevere, we…

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U.S. Blacklists Dozens of Chinese Tech Firms Citing National Security Concerns – NBC New York

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  • The Biden administration added a dozen Chinese companies to its trade blacklist on Wednesday.
  • Of those blacklisted, eight Chinese technology entities were added for their alleged role in assisting the Chinese military’s quantum computing efforts.
  • U.S. officials have long complained that Chinese companies are beholden to the People’s Republic of China and collect sensitive information on behalf of the People’s Liberation Army.

WASHINGTON – The Biden administration added a dozen Chinese companies to its trade blacklist on Wednesday citing national security as well as foreign policy concerns.

Eight technology entities based in China were added to the list for their alleged role in assisting the Chinese military’s quantum computing efforts and acquiring or attempting “to acquire U.S. origin-items in support of military applications.”

U.S. officials have long complained that Chinese companies are beholden to the People’s Republic of China and collect sensitive information on behalf of the People’s Liberation Army. The Chinese Communist Party has previously said that it does not engage in industrial espionage. 

The Commerce Department also listed 16 entities and individuals operating in China and Pakistan for their work on Islamabad’s nuclear and ballistic missile program. In all, the Biden administration added 27 entities and individuals located in the People’s Republic of China, Pakistan, Russia, Japan and Singapore.

“Global trade and commerce should support peace, prosperity, and good-paying jobs, not national security risks,” wrote U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo in a statement. “The Department of Commerce is committed to effectively using export controls to protect our national security.”

The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

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Iran-linked hackers targeted dozens of US, Israeli defense firms, Microsoft says

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Suspected Iranian hackers have targeted dozens of defense technology and maritime transportation firms, successfully breaching a small number, in a spying campaign launched since July that could leave some of the companies vulnerable to follow-on hacking attempts, Microsoft announced Monday.Among the targets were companies that work with the U.S., European Union and Israeli governments to make satellite systems, drones technology and “military-grade radars,” Microsoft said.It’s just the latest effort by an alleged Iranian hacking group to access sensitive data held in the maritime sector. Another Iranian group last year stole information on the military unit of U.S. Navy members, according to IBM.”Gaining access to commercial satellite imagery and proprietary shipping plans and logs could help Iran compensate for its developing satellite program,” Microsoft researchers wrote in a blog post on Monday.Microsoft did not attribute the activity directly to an Iranian government organization but instead said the hacking “supports the national interests” of Iran based on a number of factors, including hacking techniques associated with another Iranian group.John Lambert, head of Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center, told CNN that Microsoft discovered the hacking activity when responding to a breach of a U.S. financial services firm this summer.The goal of releasing information on the intrusions now is to help organizations prepare for follow-on breach attempts, Lambert said. The hackers, he added, could look to use stolen login information to break into the internal networks of targeted organizations.The suspected Iranian operatives tried guessing passwords at roughly 250 organizations, including unnamed U.S. and Israeli defense firms and organizations operating in Persian Gulf ports, according to Microsoft. The hackers managed to breach “less than 20” of those organizations, the tech firm said.The maritime sector has long been of interest to Iran’s intelligence services and the country sits on the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil shipments pass.”Given Iran’s past cyber and military attacks against shipping and maritime targets, Microsoft believes…

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