Tag Archive for: thwart

Wray defends FISA, says law used to ‘detect and thwart’ Chinese hacking of US critical infrastructure

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The FBI was able to “detect and thwart” Chinese hackers attempting to access U.S. critical infrastructure, as well as malign threats from other adversaries, under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, FBI Director Christopher Wray said Friday in a letter to Congress defending the law.

Fox News Digital obtained letters Wray sent to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Friday highlighting the positives of the surveillance tool amid significant reforms the bureau has made under his leadership.

The letters come on the same day the FISA Court released its 2023 opinion, which said a U.S. senator and a state senator were queried under FISA Section 702 in June 2022, and a state judge was queried in October 2022 — demonstrating a “failure” to follow FBI policy.

The opinion, though, said “the FBI has been doing a better job in applying the querying standard,” and said its compliance rate with that standard is more than 98%, after the implementation of reforms.

FISA COURT OPINION REVEALS A US SENATOR, STATE SENATOR, STATE JUDGE GOT SWEPT UP IN 702 QUERIES

FBI Director Christopher Wray

FBI Director Christopher Wray speaks during a news conference in Omaha, Nebraska, on Aug. 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Wray’s letters highlighted the successes the bureau has had in combating threats, using the tool of Section 702, which will sunset on Dec. 31 and requires congressional reauthorization.

“Section 702’s critical importance to our national security has only grown with the evolution of technology and threats. Without Section 702 we would be unable to plug a critical intelligence gap — one that foreign threat actors regularly exploit as they traverse computer networks and electronic service providers to conduct cyberattacks, espionage campaigns, or coordinate with likeminded terrorists,” Wray wrote.

Wray called Section 702 “invaluable” to the FBI’s ability to “know what our foreign adversaries are doing and how they are doing it — intelligence without which we could not protect Americans or the homeland.”

Section 702 of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) allows the government to conduct targeted surveillance of non-U.S. citizens…

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Security Forces thwart ISIS suicide attack in Hasaka – ANHA | HAWARNEWS

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The General Command of the Internal Security Forces – North and East Syria issued a statement announcing that its forces had responded to a suicide attack carried out by two ISIS mercenaries in the city of Hasaka.

 “On Friday, March 31, two suicide attackers of ISIS were wearing uniform of SDF and sneaked to a center of the Internet Security Forces in al-Nashwa neighborhood in Hasaka to carry out the suicide attack.”

The statement added, “Clashes took place between the attackers and our forces for ten minutes, however, the latter thwarted the attack.”

According to the statement, “The attack resulted in the killing of the two attackers and seizure of their ammunition, including two AK-47s, 20 magazines, eight bombs, and two explosive belts.”

After the attack the Security Forces launched investigations to uncover the circumstances of the attack, called on all residents of the area to be aware of such attacks and demanded that concerned authorities be informed about any suspicious movements.

a.k

ANHA

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Hackers Extort Less Money, Are Laid Off as New Tactics Thwart More Ransomware Attacks

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Cybercriminals face drop in payments, as U.S. companies are better at bouncing back from attacks

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How Can Disrupting DNS Communications Thwart a Malware Attack?

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Question: How does a threat actor utilize DNS communications in malware attacks?

Dave Mitchell, CTO, Hyas: The idea that you can protect yourself from all malware is unrealistic, especially considering malware is an umbrella term that does not refer to any specific exploit, vector, goal, or methodology. Because the range of cyber threats is so wide and varied, there is no magic bullet that will repel every attack. So it’s really only a matter of time before your network environment is compromised, forcing you to make some very hard decisions.

For instance, in the medical field, successful cyber attacks don’t just affect an organization’s ability to function; they also have major legal and reputational repercussions. Because of these circumstances, medical industry victims end up paying out ransomware demands at a higher rate than any other industry. If they were able to detect indicators of problems before they become full-blown attacks, healthcare organizations could save an average of $10.1 million per incident averted.

Most security solutions address a specific subsection of malware and/or infiltration vectors, but none of them can stop all threats at the gate. Even if they could, sometimes the gate is bypassed altogether. As we saw with the Log4J exploit and the recent compromise of the popular Ctx Python package, “trusted” resource libraries hosted on places like GitHub can be compromised by outside entities and used to deliver payloads of malware to thousands of endpoints without immediately triggering a red flag.

Not all threats lurk solely in cyberspace. Returning to the healthcare industry as an example highlights another attack vector that can get around all of your perimeter security — physical access. Most hospitals, physician’s offices, pharmacies, and other medical facilities rely on networked terminals and devices located (or accidently left) in places where they can be accessed by patients, visitors, or other unauthorized users. In situations like these, it doesn’t matter how well-defended your network is from outside attacks because the bad actor can simply insert a USB stick or use a logged-in device to access malware, compromising the network from within.

This may…

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