Tag Archive for: unit

US military hacking unit targets cyber criminals behind ransomware attacks

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The U.S. military’s hacking unit is taking steps to combat cyber criminal groups that have conducted ransomware attacks on American companies.

A spokesperson for the unit, known as Cyber Command, did not specify what the actions would entail; however, this is one of the first and most direct acknowledgements that the group is targeting criminal entities that attack the computer systems of U.S. businesses, according to CNN.

These actions come after ransomware attacks on Colonial Pipeline, which supplies roughly 45 percent of the East Coast’s fuel, and JBS USA, one of the largest meat suppliers in the country, took place earlier this year.

Gen. Paul Nakasone, who leads Cyber Command and serves as the director of the National Security Agency, told The New York Times that the government previously saw ransomware attacks as the responsibility of law enforcement.

Nakasone added that attacks such as the one at Colonial Pipeline, however, demonstrated that the criminal groups leading the attacks are “impacting our critical infrastructure,” noting that the government would now take a more hands-on approach to dealing with this threat.

In the past year, cyber threats have ramped up following a series of major attacks on federal agencies and other organizations.

Following the attack on Colonial Pipeline, the company was able to resume its normal business operations after paying a ransom of the equivalent of $4.4 million in bitcoin. At the time, President Biden confirmed that the attack was carried out by a criminal group based in Russia, though it was not backed by the Russian government itself.

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Mansfield police to lease mobile security unit

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The Live View Technologies mobile unit comes with a strobe light, two-way speaker and infrared cameras that upload recordings to the cloud.

The Mansfield Division of Police will lease a mobile security unit for the next three years.

The camera system will be identical to the one stationed on North Park Street outside Dan Lew Exchange and could be used for a variety of things, such as monitoring large crowds or summer automobile racing on Park Avenue West, said police Chief Keith Porch.

“Everybody is aware of the personnel issues. So this would be a force multiplier for us,” he said.

Made by Live View Technologies, the mobile unit comes with a strobe light, two-way speaker and infrared cameras that upload recordings to the cloud, according to Porch.

On Wednesday, Porch stressed to council members its cameras are not meant for surveillance.

It’s an overt camera system, not meant for surveillance

“It’s an overt camera system. Meaning, it clearly has strobe lights. There is no secret what that camera is there for and its purpose. It’s definitely to monitor streets, crowds — we can use it out at Inkarceration or (for) parades,” Porch said, referring to the heavy metal music festival.

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EU cites HSE hack as it unveils plans for rapid-response cyber unit

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Plans to set up an EU rapid-response cyber unit that could quickly respond to attacks like the recent ransomware hack of the Health Service Executive (HSE) were unveiled on Wednesday.

Across Europe cyberattacks rose 75 per cent last year, with 756 such incidents logged, including an increasing number of attacks on healthcare systems, representing a growing risk to society with critical infrastructure at stake, according to the European Commission.

“We have a lot of cyber enemies around us,” European commissioner Thierry Breton told journalists.

“On May 14th, Ireland’s public healthcare system suffered a pretty strong ransomware attack. I believe it affected a system with more than 80,000 computers, so that was something which was pretty, pretty strong.”

The State co-ordinated with an existing EU information-sharing network of national Computer Security Incident Response Teams to respond to the ransomware attack as soon as it came to light.

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Hezbollah-Linked Cyber Unit Has Been Hacking Into Internet Companies for Years

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A supporter of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah waves Palestinian and Hezbollah flags.

A supporter of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah waves Palestinian and Hezbollah flags.
Photo: Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP (Getty Images)

A cyber unit believed to be associated with the Shiite militant group Hezbollah has been conducting stealthy espionage missions all over the globe, hacking into internet service providers and telecoms to gather data.

The threat group researchers call “Lebanese Cedar” is believed to have formed sometime around 2012, and is primarily motivated by “political and ideological” rather than financial incentives, says a new report from security firm ClearSky. “Cedar” uses its intrusion campaigns to quietly climb into government and corporate systems and gather intelligence, the report states.

The group was first discovered by security firms Kaspersky Labs and Checkpoint back in 2015 (it was called “Volatile Cedar” at that time), at which point researchers said it had the fingerprints of the Lebanese government. ClearSky agrees with this assessment.

“We endorse Check Point’s strong case attributing Lebanese Cedar APT to the Lebanese government or a political group in Lebanon. Moreover, there are several indications that link Lebanese Cedar APT to the Hezbollah Cyber Unit,” researchers write.

Hezbollah, which the U.S. government has designated a terrorist organization, has been known for its use of cyberattacks in its conflicts with Israel, as well as for its prolific use of information operations and social media manipulation.

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“Cedar” has apparently kept a low profile since its initial sighting half a decade ago. Through its quiet maneuvering, the group has managed to compromise approximately 250 servers in countries all over the world, including the U.S., Israel, the UK, and a number of countries in the Middle East like Egypt, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority.

In the U.S., “Cedar” has managed to get inside the networks of entities such as Frontier Communications—a telecom company based in Connecticut—as well as the Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Service, the state’s primary IT agency, the report says.

Researchers emphasize the group’s ability to carry out missions without…

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