Tag Archive for: Unleashed

USB worm unleashed by Russian state hackers spreads worldwide


USB worm unleashed by Russian state hackers spreads worldwide

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A group of Russian-state hackers known for almost exclusively targeting Ukranian entities has branched out in recent months either accidentally or purposely by allowing USB-based espionage malware to infect a variety of organizations in other countries.

The group—known by many names, including Gamaredon, Primitive Bear, ACTINIUM, Armageddon, and Shuckworm—has been active since at least 2014 and has been attributed to Russia’s Federal Security Service by the Security Service of Ukraine. Most Kremlin-backed groups take pains to fly under the radar; Gamaredon doesn’t care to. Its espionage-motivated campaigns targeting large numbers of Ukrainian organizations are easy to detect and tie back to the Russian government. The campaigns typically revolve around malware that aims to obtain as much information from targets as possible.

One of those tools is a computer worm designed to spread from computer to computer through USB drives. Tracked by researchers from Check Point Research as LitterDrifter, the malware is written in the Visual Basic Scripting language. LitterDrifter serves two purposes: to promiscuously spread from USB drive to USB drive and to permanently infect the devices that connect to such drives with malware that permanently communicates with Gamaredon-operated command and control servers.

“Gamaredon continues to focus on [a] wide variety [of] Ukrainian targets, but due to the nature of the USB worm, we see indications of possible infection in various countries like USA, Vietnam, Chile, Poland and Germany,” Check Point researchers reported recently. “In addition, we’ve observed evidence of infections in Hong Kong. All this might indicate that much like other USB worms, LitterDrifter [has] spread beyond its intended targets.”

Virus Total Submissions of LitterDrifter
Enlarge / Virus Total Submissions of LitterDrifter

Check Point Research

The image above, tracking submissions of LitterDrifter to the Alphabet-owned VirusTotal service, indicates that the Gamaredon malware may be…

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Probert unleashed against Open field


The Fillies and Mares Open at Saratoga Casino Hotel has belonged to leading harness racing trainer Melissa Beckwith this year. Putting the finishing touches on her ninth training title this season, Beckwith has had two mares dominate the action in the regular Monday (Dec. 12) feature and this week scored her twelfth victory in the top race for the ladies.

Probert (Dali) came into her most recent try in the $16,000 feature as an owner of four Open wins this year despite racing well over half her races out of town in 2022. On Monday, Probert wound up as her race’s 1-5 betting favorite in the five-horse Open and took back in the early going.

Probert and driver Brett Beckwith (Melissa Simser Photo)

In a half mile clocked in :59 seconds, the Beckwith trainee sat patiently before being unleashed by driver Brett Beckwith approaching the three-quarter pole. Resistance was futile for the rivals of Probert who surged past her competition en route to stopping the timer in 1:56.1 for her fifth Open score, a number that is second only to stablemate Sea Shadows and her seven Open victories among top-flight mares at the Spa this year.

Invader Newsy N (Ron Cushing) was the runner-up to Probert in a chalky $6.60 exacta while Pammy Jo (Shawn Gray) earned the show spot in a $17.80 triple.

PROBERT REPLAY

Probert, who is owned by Howard Jacobs, Jim Winske and Marcus Kemblowski, now has ten wins to her credit in a year in which she has piled up over $150,000 in earnings.

Live racing resumes on Saturday evening for closing weekend of the ’22 season. Saturday’s first post time is 5pm to be followed by closing day’s matinee on Sunday which will kick off at noon.

For complete race results, click here.

by Mike Sardella, for Saratoga Raceway

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Coronavirus pandemic has unleashed a wave of cyber attacks — here’s how to protect yourself – The Next Web

Coronavirus pandemic has unleashed a wave of cyber attacks — here’s how to protect yourself  The Next Web
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