Tag Archive for: russian

Six Lies the Russian President Told His Defense Council

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On December 23, Russian President Vladimir Putin held his annual press conference in Moscow. Answering journalists’ questions, he depicted a peaceful Russia victimized by constant aggression from the United States and NATO. Blaming Washington for NATO’s so-called “aggression,” Putin said he cannot promise that Russia will not invade Ukraine. These were similar talking points to ones he used two days earlier in a speech to the defense ministry’s annual conference in Moscow. In that December 21 speech, he made six claims that Polygraph.info found false and misleading.

“Good day, respected tovarischi!” Putin said in greeting his audience on December 21, using the Soviet-era Russian word for “comrades.” His speech was sprinkled with a nostalgia for the Soviet Union.

Putin’s speech was also full of half-truths and falsehoods. Among them:

  • “I want to emphasize again: Russia stands for equal and indivisible security throughout Eurasia.”
  • “What is happening now, the tension that is developing in Europe, is their fault. At every step, Russia was forced to somehow respond, at every step the situation was constantly deteriorating, deteriorating, deteriorating – degrading and degrading.”

Those two claims regarding Russia’s role in maintaining European/Eurasian security are false.

Putin did not specify what period he was referring to as “now.” However, it is Russia that has been the source of security tensions in Europe over the last two decades. Russia under Vladimir Putin’s leadership has become the most aggressive country in Europe. Moscow has waged wars, annexed territory, used chemical weapons to assassinate opponents, weaponized disinformation, unleashed cyber-attacks, and even leveraged its natural gas to destabilize and blackmail entire countries. The Russian military is accused of war crimes in Syria and Africa.

Notably, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the West dealt with the new Russia in a friendly and supportive manner. With diplomatic backing from the United States, Russia was accepted into the world’s most influential groups like the G-7, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization, and…

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Google warns a MILLION devices have been infected in ‘Russian hack’ – check yours now

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GOOGLE has taken action against a major hacking operation that it thinks has infected more than one million devices.

The tech giant is coming down hard on the so-called Glupteba botnet, suing two Russians who are allegedly behind it.

Hackers can use the malware to take control of PCs

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Hackers can use the malware to take control of PCsCredit: Getty

It’s a notorious piece of malware known for taking control of people’s Windows PCs.

Crooks can then steal peoples’ details and data, as well as using your machine to mine cryptocurrency.

At times the vicious attack was spreading at a rate of thousands of new devices per day.

Google said it has disrupted the operation by terminating about 63million Google Docs detected sharing Glupteba, more than 1,100 Google Accounts and even 870 Google Ads.

But it warned the criminal masterminds running things have already taken steps to keep the network running.

“We understand and recognise the threats the Internet faces, and we are doing our part to address them,” the firm pledged.

It’s the first time legal action has been launched against a blockchain enabled botnet.

The claim was filed to Southern District of New York, for computer fraud and abuse, and trademark infringement.

They also asked for a temporary restraining order.

Google hopes the move will put other cyber criminals off doing the same.

Though security experts have their doubts.

“It is rare that those behind such operations are ever caught so it is often best to fight such activities with preventative measures,” said Jake Moore, a cybersecurity specialist from the internet security firm ESET.

As ever with any computer, you should have antivirus software and run regular scans, as well as replacing default passwords with unique passwords.

Google hopes legal action will put a stop to it - experts are less convinced that'll work

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Google hopes legal action will put a stop to it – experts are less convinced that’ll workCredit: Getty
Cyber security company show how hackers could use your PRINTER to access your Gmail in new cyber security threat

In other news, iPhone owners are being urged to change their settings in order to protect their texts from snoopers.

The UK is fighting an epidemic of hack attacks targeting consumers and businesses, according to officials.

Apple has announced that it will let customers fix their own…

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Google sues two Russian nationals for allegedly hacking computers

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Google is suing two Russian nationals it claims are part of a criminal enterprise that has silently infiltrated more than a million computers and devices around the world, creating “a modern technological and borderless incarnation of organised crime.”

In a complaint being unsealed Tuesday in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, Google names two defendants, Dmitry Starovikov and Alexander Filippov, as well as 15 unnamed individuals. Google claims the defendants have created a “botnet” known as Glupteba, to use for illicit purposes, including the theft and unauthorised use of Google users’ login and account information.

A botnet is a network of internet-connected devices that have been infected with malware. When summoned together, they can do the bidding of a hacker, often with the devices’ owners not realising their machines have been hijacked. A swarm of devices can jam traffic at websites, run malware to steal login credentials, sell fraudulent credit cards online and grant unauthorized access to other cyber criminals.

Botnet attack

The Glupteba botnet stands out from others because of its “technical sophistication,” using blockchain technology to protect itself from disruption, Google said in the complaint. At any moment, the power of the Glupteba botnet could be used in a powerful ransomware attack or distributed denial of service attack, Google said.

It’s the first time that Google is going after a botnet, a spokesperson for the Mountain View, California-based company said in an email. “We are taking this action to further protect internet users and to send a message to cyber criminals that we will not tolerate this type of activity.”

The spokesperson said the company worked with the…

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Companies Linked to Russian Ransomware Hide in Plain Sight

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MOSCOW — When cybersleuths traced the millions of dollars American companies, hospitals and city governments have paid to online extortionists in ransom money, they made a telling discovery: At least some of it passed through one of the most prestigious business addresses in Moscow.

The Biden administration has also zeroed in on the building, Federation Tower East, the tallest skyscraper in the Russian capital. The United States has targeted several companies in the tower as it seeks to penalize Russian ransomware gangs, which encrypt their victims’ digital data and then demand payments to unscramble it.

Those payments are typically made in cryptocurrencies, virtual currencies like Bitcoin, which the gangs then need to convert to standard currencies, like dollars, euros and rubles.

That this high-rise in Moscow’s financial district has emerged as an apparent hub of such money laundering has convinced many security experts that the Russian authorities tolerate ransomware operators. The targets are almost exclusively outside Russia, they point out, and in at least one case documented in a U.S. sanctions announcement, the suspect was assisting a Russian espionage agency.

“It says a lot,” said Dmitri Smilyanets, a threat intelligence expert with the Massachusetts-based cybersecurity firm Recorded Future. “Russian law enforcement usually has an answer: ‘There is no case open in Russian jurisdiction. There are no victims. How do you expect us to prosecute these honorable people?’”

Recorded Future has counted about 50 cryptocurrency exchanges in Moscow City, a financial district in the capital, that in its assessment are engaged in illicit activity. Other exchanges in the district are not suspected of accepting cryptocurrencies linked to crime.

Cybercrime is just one of many issues fueling tensions between Russia and the United States, along with the Russian military buildup near Ukraine and a recent migrant crisis on the Belarus-Polish border.

The Treasury Department has estimated that Americans have paid $1.6 billion in ransoms since 2011. One Russian ransomware strain, Ryuk, made an estimated $162 million last year encrypting the computer systems of American hospitals…

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