Tag Archive for: largest

Ukraine’s Largest Phone Operator Hacked in “Act of War”

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Kyivstar, Ukraine’s leading mobile network operator, is experiencing a significant shutdown allegedly due to a cyber-attack.

The company, owned by Amsterdam-based Veon, warned on December 12 that it had suffered a “powerful” cyber-attack that caused a technical failure, rendering internet access and mobile communications temporarily unavailable for its customers.

Although Kyivstar did not make directly attribute the attack initially, its director general later told Agence France Presse (AFP) that the firm considered the attack to be linked with the war against Russia.

In a Facebook post, Kyivstar said it was investigating the issue with law enforcement agencies, had reported it to Ukrainian state services, and was “working to eliminate the consequences and restore communications as soon as possible.”

“The most important thing is that, as of now, the personal data of subscribers has not been compromised. Our team will definitely compensate those subscribers who had no connection or could not use our services,” the firm added on social media.

“Yes, our enemies are cunning. But we are ready to face any challenges, overcome them and continue working for Ukrainians.”

Ukraine’s government confirmed to AFP that it started investigating the incident and that Russia was “suspected” of being behind it.

Both Cloudflare, a content delivery network (CDN) provider, and Netblocks, an internet monitoring firm, noticed disruptions on the Kyivstar internet network on December 12.

Additionally, Ukrainian payment system Monobank reported being targeted by a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack just a few hours after Kyivstar’s social media post.

At the time of writing, there is no evidence that these two events are related.

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Spain’s police report arrest of leader of world’s largest hacking group

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(MENAFN) In the coastal city of Alicante, Spanish police have reported the arrest of an individual believed to be one of the leaders of the hacktivist group Kelvin Security.

As reported by Spanish authorities, Kelvin Security has engaged in hacking activities targeting more than 300 organizations across more than 90 countries in the last three years. The group is alleged to have extracted sensitive information, subsequently selling it on the dark web.

The arrested individual, considered the head of finances within Kelvin Security, is accused of being responsible for money laundering related to the proceeds obtained from the group’s hacking operations.

Police assert that the detainee primarily utilized cryptocurrency trading for money laundering purposes. Hailing from Venezuela, the individual faces charges such as belonging to a criminal organization, revealing secrets, as well as money laundering.

Spanish law enforcement notes that Kelvin Security’s most recent cyber-attack targeted an energy company last month, resulting in a significant extraction of confidential information from over 85,000 clients of the company.

The investigation in Spain began in 2021 after Kelvin Security hacked the computer systems of several Spanish entities, including the cities of Getafe, Camas, La Haba, in addition to the regional government of Castille-La Mancha.

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$4.6 million NSF grant awarded to UAB Department of Computer Science; largest grant in its history – News

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UAB is one of the seven institutions receiving multimillion renewal funding to advance its Cyber Corps program. The grant will support an integrated curriculum for training master’s students in both cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.

CAS Comp Science StreamThe College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Alabama at Birmingham has been awarded a Scholarship for Service grant renewal worth $4.6 million from the National Science Foundation to further cybersecurity workforce development programs. 

“This renewal grant is the largest grant our department has received, which shows NSF’s trust in our vision to educate and train a world-class, diverse group of students who are ready to address real-world computer security and artificial intelligence challenges,” said Yuliang Zhang, Ph.D., professor and department chair of the UAB Department of Computer Science. “This grant is a renewal of the previous grant we received in 2017; but it is double in amount this time, which truly speaks to our commitment to preparing the best professionals who meet the ever-changing needs of the industry.”

This expansion of funds by NSF is aimed at addressing the growing need for a well-trained national cybersecurity workforce that is equipped to deal with artificial intelligence and machine learning and their spread –– an important aspect of the White House’s Cybersecurity strategy implementation plan.  

Yuliang ZhengYuliang Zheng, Ph.D.“Cybersecurity is critical to our nation’s economic and national security,” said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. “Through this program, NSF has helped more than 4,500 students get the degrees they need to be part of the cybersecurity workforce and helped them give back through public service. With this announcement, NSF reaffirms its commitment to invest in institutions that have demonstrated exceptional success and innovative advancements to their existing projects with the aim of fostering a robust workforce and growing interest in cybersecurity careers.”

At UAB, the grant will support the following programs:

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Argentinian Hacker Returns USD 200 Million in Largest Heist in History to a Digital Bank  

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At just 19 years old, Federico Jaime infiltrated a complex computer security system and in just 18 minutes obtained a record amount. Days later, Jaime returned the money and left an unexpected message.

A couple of weeks ago, news circulated on some international portals about a 19-year-old Argentine hacker who had stolen 200 million dollars from an English bank, and who contrary to what usually happens in the vast majority of these cases, had returned the total amount of money. Even one saver received much more than they had lost due to the touching words they shared.

To put the situation into perspective, this was the largest hack in history carried out by a single person, and the “attack” lasted just 18 minutes, followed by a series of communications between the parties. The total amount obtained was returned 23 days later, leaving as a golden touch to the maneuver a message revealing his identity and encouraging the practice of “Ethical Hacking”, that is, the one carried out with the aim of revealing the flaws of a computer security system.

After learning some details of this story, I began trying to contact Federico by all means. After a couple of weeks of persistence, I managed to get a response from him and we started talking through a channel he considered safe, finally agreeing after a few days to answer some questions, but in exchange for not revealing my identity, the medium by which we communicate, and the place in the world where he currently is. He explains that he should not need to behave this way but due to some malicious and false rumors, he prefers to be cautious at least during the first few months.

I must confess that if I didn’t know his age and wasn’t looking at the face of someone who recently stopped being a child, I would bet I was talking to a seasoned academic, when in fact it is a self-taught person, who does not yet have any university degree.

Here are some excerpts from what I’ve been able to learn about Federico Jaime, the Argentine hacker who left much of the world speechless.

  • Would you like to tell us a little about your story and how you gained the knowledge that makes you considered a hacker today?

I wouldn’t say I’m a…

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