July 20, 2021, 8:42 PM
A Russian hacker who was once labeled one of the world’s most notorious spammers was spared additional prison time by a federal judge in Connecticut.
Peter Levashov, 40, was sentenced to time served on Tuesday during a remote proceeding before U.S. District Judge
Levashov had asked Chatigny to spare him from additional prison time, …
“The official website of the Russian Ministry of Defense on the Internet was subjected to a DDoS attack, as a result of which some users may experience difficulties in accessing its content,” the ministry said, according to TASS.
The ministry added that the source of the attack came from outside Russia. The site has been restored.
The computer security service of the Defense Ministry stated that “No violations in the operability of the software and technical infrastructure of the website of the Russian Defense Ministry have been allowed.”
Biden told reporters that he “made it very clear to him that the United States expects when a ransomware operation is coming from his soil, even though it’s not sponsored by the state, we expect them to act if we give them enough information to act on who that is,” according to the BBC.
The Kremlin denied that the US has contacted Russia about cyberattacks, saying that Russia is ready to “jointly clamp down on criminal activity in the informational sphere.”
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Hillicon Valley: Russian hacking group believed to be behind Kaseya attack goes offline | DHS funding package pours millions into migrant surveillance | Jen Easterly sworn in as director of DHS cyber agency
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Websites used by the cyber criminal group known as REvil went dark Tuesday, just over a week after the group was linked by cybersecurity experts to the ransomware attack on software company Kaseya. While it is unknown why the websites went dark, President Biden last week urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to take further steps against hackers based in his country, and hinted to reporters that the U.S. had the option of disrupting the hackers’ servers.
Meanwhile on Capitol Hill, the House Appropriations Committee marked up the annual Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill, approving a proposal that included millions to pay for technologies that surveil immigrants.
SUSPICIOUS TIMING FOR A HOLIDAY: Websites on the dark web used by a criminal hacking group believed to be behind the recent massive ransomware attack on software company Kaseya went offline Tuesday.
The hacking group, REvil, is believed to be based in Russia, and has been linked by the FBI to the ransomware attack in May on JBS USA, the nation’s largest beef producer. The more recent attack on Kaseya impacted up to 1,500 companies, many of them small businesses.
According to The New York Times, the websites on the dark web used by REvil to negotiate payment with victims and lists of companies it had targeted went dark early on Tuesday morning.
John Hultquist, the vice president of Analysis at cybersecurity group FireEye’s Mandiant Threat Intelligence, confirmed the takedown, saying in a statement provided to The Hill Tuesday that “at the time of analysis…
Russian government hackers breached the computer systems of the Republican National Committee last week, around the time a Russia-linked criminal group unleashed a massive ransomware attack, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The government hackers were part of a group known as APT 29 or Cozy Bear, according to the people. That group has been tied to Russia’s foreign intelligence service and has previously been accused of breaching the Democratic National Committee in 2016 and of carrying out a supply-chain cyberattack involving SolarWinds Corp., which infiltrated nine U.S. government agencies and was disclosed in December.
It’s not known what data the hackers viewed or stole, if anything. The RNC has repeatedly denied that it was hacked. “There is no indication the RNC was hacked or any RNC information was stolen,” spokesman Mike Reed said.
In a statement following the publication of this story, Chief of Staff Richard Walters said the RNC learned over the weekend that a third-party provider, Synnex Corp., had been breached.
“We immediately blocked all access from Synnex accounts to our cloud environment,” he said. “Our team worked with Microsoft to conduct a review of our systems and after a thorough investigation, no RNC data was accessed. We will continue to work with Microsoft, as well as federal law enforcement officials, on this matter.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied any Russian state involvement.
The attack on the RNC, coupled with the recent ransomware attack, is a major provocation to President Joe Biden, who warned Russian President Vladimir Putin about cyberattacks at a June 16 summit. The two countries have been holding “certain contacts” about cybersecurity as agreed at the meeting, Peskov said, declining to provide details or comment on whether the latest breach was discussed.
It’s not clear if the attack on the RNC is connected in any way to the ransomware attacks, which exploited multiple previously unknown vulnerabilities in software from Miami-based Kaseya Ltd.
Biden would mee with various agency leaders behind closed doors Wednesday to discuss ransomware and ways to combat it, the White…
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