Tag Archive for: WRALcom

US government taking creative steps to counter cyberthreats :: WRAL.com

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By ERIC TUCKER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON — An FBI operation that gave law enforcement remote access to hundreds of computers to counter a massive hack of Microsoft Exchange email server software is a tool that is likely to be deployed “judiciously” in the future as the Justice Department, aware of privacy concerns, develops a framework for its use, a top national security official said Wednesday.

The department this month announced that it had obtained a warrant from a federal judge in Texas to remove web shells, or malicious code that gives hackers a foothold into networks, from hundreds of vulnerable computers affected by a hack that Microsoft has blamed on a group operating from China.

The FBI operation was designed to disrupt the effects of a hack that affected an untold thousands of servers running the Microsoft Exchange email program. Many victims took steps on their own to safeguard their systems, but for those that who did not, the Justice Department stepped in to do it for them with a judge’s approval.

It was the virtual equivalent of police going around the neighborhood locking doors that criminals had opened remotely.

“We have a decision to make, which is are we going to go ahead and do that action ourselves or are we just going to leave that malware there, sort of unremediated,” said Assistant Attorney General John Demers, speaking at a virtual discussion hosted by the Project of Media & National Security at George Washington University.

He said the operation was one of the very first of its kind and was discussed extensively beforehand by the FBI and the Justice Department. The department is figuring out how it plans to use the tool in the future.

“We don’t yet have sort of worked out what our criteria are going to be going forward,” Demers said. “Now that we’ve had this experience, that’s the kind of discussion we’re having internally now.

“This is not a tool of first resort that we’re going to be using a couple times a week as different intrusions come up,” he added. “This does require working with the private sector on the right solution. It does require testing to be sure that…

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Cyber crime was second pandemic last year :: WRAL.com

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By Cullen Browder, WRAL anchor/reporter

A new FBI report shows the coronavirus wasn’t all that was spreading like wildfire in 2020 – so was cyber crime.

For example, phishing scams. where criminals try to get bank or personal information via email, text or phone, more than doubled last year, with 241,000 complaints to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. Overall, complaints jumped 70 percent.

Cyber security expert Neal Bridges, an Air Force veteran who now works for computer networking company INE, said the jump in cyber crime in 2020 is concerning but not surprising.

“We don’t take cyber security seriously enough,” Bridges said. “It is very difficult to prosecute cyber criminals, and there’s a lot of return on investment from a monetary perspective.”

North Carolina accounted for more than 12,000 complaints to the FBI center, with people losing more than $69 million. Almost 2,500 people age 60 or older were victimized, paying out almost $28 million to criminals, according to the report.

“A lot of the tech fraud scams and some of the phishing attacks that are being targeted are targeting senior citizens,” Bridges said.

Cyber crimes are up nearly 1000%. Learn how to protect yourself, tonight at 5 on WRAL

Non-payment or non-delivery schemes, essentially a bogus online purchase, was the most common cyber crime in North Carolina, according to the FBI report. That was followed by personal data breaches, where hackers get identifying information about people, and confidence or romance scams, where people are asked to send money for a loved one or a potential lover.

“It’s OK to question if something doesn’t sound right, especially when it comes to your livelihood, your hard-earned money, whether it’s your retirement or your bank account, even your Social Security numbers,” Bridges said.

In addition to being more skeptical, Bridges suggested using multi-factor authentication so account entry isn’t so easy and frequently changing passwords, which are currency for cyber thieves.

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2 Myanmar protesters killed by police fire, reports say :: WRAL.com

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MANDALAY, Myanmar — Two anti-coup protesters were shot dead by riot police who fired live rounds Saturday in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, local media reported.

One of the victims was shot in the head and died at the scene, according to Frontier Myanmar, a news and business magazine based in Yangon, the country’s largest city. Another was shot in the chest and died en route to the hospital.

Several other serious injuries were also reported. The shootings occurred near Mandalay’s Yadanabon dock, where tear gas and rubber bullets were used on protesters earlier in the day.

The Irrawaddy news website also confirmed the deaths on social media.

Security forces had been increasing their pressure against anti-coup protesters earlier Saturday, using water cannons, tear gas, slingshots and rubber bullets against demonstrators and striking dock workers in Mandalay.

At least five people were injured by rubber bullets and had to be carried away in ambulances, according to an Associated Press journalist who witnessed the violence.

Some 500 police and soldiers descended on the area near Yadanabon dock after dock workers joined the national civil disobedience movement, refusing to work until the military junta that seized power in a Feb. 1 coup reinstates the democratically elected government.

Protesters and residents were forced to flee the neighborhood amid the violence, as security forces chased after them.

There were reports of sounds that resembled gunfire. A group of journalists was forced to flee after being hit with tear gas and slingshot projectiles.

Earlier in the week in Mandalay, security forces cracked down on state railway workers in a similar fashion after they joined the civil disobedience movement.

Less than an hour after the 8 p.m. curfew started on Wednesday, gunshots were heard as more than two dozen police officers with shields and helmets marched past railway workers’ housing. Numerous videos posted on social media showed muzzle flashes as shots were heard, and some police shot slingshots and threw rocks at the buildings. Marching chants of “left, right, left, right” could be heard along with…

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Claim about an insurrectionist trying to send a Pelosi laptop to Russia hasn’t been proven :: WRAL.com

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By Daniel Dale

CNN — Arguing that the Capitol insurrection damaged US national security, one of the House impeachment managers, Rep. Joaquin Castro, spoke Thursday about the theft of a laptop from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office.

“At least one of the insurrectionists may have intended to steal information and give it to a foreign adversary. According to charging documents, Riley Williams allegedly helped steal a laptop from Speaker Pelosi’s office to ‘send the computer device to a friend in Russia, who then planned to sell the device to SVR, Russia’s foreign intelligence service,'” Castro said.

Facts First: Castro appropriately hedged his claim by saying “may,” but it’s still worth emphasizing that the allegation that Williams intended to send the Pelosi laptop to Russia has not been proven. While the FBI has alleged that Williams had a role in the theft of the laptop, the FBI said in a January court document that that the claim that she had a desire to send the laptop to Russia “remains under investigation”; the FBI explained that this claim was made by a tipster who said they were a former romantic partner of Williams. A lawyer for Williams told a court in January that claims about Williams and the laptop “came in part from a former abusive boyfriend” who has “threatened” her.

Williams, a Pennsylvania woman in her early 20s, faces multiple charges over the insurrection, including aiding/abetting the theft of government property. She has not been charged with stealing the laptop herself.

The FBI said in a court document that the former romantic partner of Williams alleged that “the transfer of the computer device to Russia fell through for unknown reasons” and that Williams “still has the computer device or destroyed it.” Williams has denied the accusations against her.

It is unclear how much intelligence value the laptop might have to Russia. Pelosi deputy chief of staff Drew Hammill tweeted in January that a computer was stolen from a conference room and that it “was only used for presentations.”

According to the FBI, a video taken by Williams during the insurrection shows an HP laptop on a desk in Pelosi’s…

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