Tag: york | SpinSafe

Chinese Hackers Indicted in New York for Targeting Government

March 26, 2024/in Computer Security

(TNS) — A band of hackers sent a years-long barrage of malicious e-mails to U.S. politicians, government officials, and private companies as part of a Chinese espionage and intelligence operation, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn said.

The feds on Monday announced the indictment of seven members of a Chinese state-run hacking operation, known in the cyber security community as Advanced Persistent Threat 31, running out of Wuhan since 2010. The indicted suspects all live in China, and have not been arrested by U.S. law enforcement agents.

The group sent tens of thousands of phishing e-mails to government and political officials in the U.S., as well as their family members and other contacts, usually pretending to be from prominent American journalists, according to the indictment.

The e-mails had links to what looked like real news articles, but opening the e-mail would activate a tracking link, sending location, device and network data back to a server controlled by the hackers.

They’d then use that info to target home routers and electronic devices, the feds allege.

“This case serves as a reminder of the ends to which the Chinese government is willing to go to target and intimidate its critics, including launching malicious cyber operations aimed at threatening the national security of the United States and our allies,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said Monday.

The targets included White House officials and their spouses, officials with the departments of Justice, Commerce, Treasury and State, and senators from both parties across 10 states. The hackers also tried their e-mail schemes on defense contractors, political strategists, commentators and advocates, according to the feds.

In May 2020, the hackers targeted staffers for a presidential campaign — the indictment wouldn’t say which campaign — and sent out tracking e-mails to more political campaigns that November, the feds allege.

Dissidents critical of the Chinese government and their supporters also found themselves in the hackers’ crosshairs, the feds said.

They also used custom malware and “zero-day exploits,” so named because they take…

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Ransomware group Blackcat is behind cyberattack on UnitedHealth division, company says – NBC New York

February 29, 2024/in Internet Security

Change Healthcare on Thursday confirmed that the ransomware group Blackcat is behind the ongoing cybersecurity attack that’s been impacting its systems since last week.
The attack has caused widespread disruptions to pharmacies and health systems across the U.S.
“We are actively working to understand the impact to members, patients and customers,” said Change Healthcare, which is owned by UnitedHealth.

Change Healthcare on Thursday confirmed that ransomware group Blackcat is behind the ongoing cybersecurity attack that’s caused widespread disruptions to pharmacies and health systems across the U.S.

“Our experts are working to address the matter and we are working closely with law enforcement and leading third-party consultants,” Change Healthcare told CNBC in a statement Thursday. “We are actively working to understand the impact to members, patients and customers.”

The company said it’s working with Mandiant, which is owned by Google, and cybersecurity software vendor Palo Alto Networks.

In a since-deleted post on the dark web, Blackcat said Wednesday that it was behind the attack on Change Healthcare’s systems. The group said it managed to extract six terabytes of data, including information like medical records, insurance records and payment information.

Change’s parent company UnitedHealth Group said it discovered that a cyber threat actor breached part of the unit’s information technology network on Feb. 21, according to a filing with the SEC. UnitedHealth isolated and disconnected the impacted systems “immediately upon detection” of the threat, the filing said, but it didn’t disclose the nature of the attack or exactly when it took place.

Blackcat, also called Noberus and ALPHV, steals sensitive data from institutions and threatens to publish it unless a ransom is paid, according to a December release from the U.S. Department of Justice. Blackcat has compromised computer networks across the U.S. and the globe, amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars in losses, the release said.

Change Healthcare offers tools for payment and revenue cycle management that help facilitate transactions like reimbursement payments. In 2022, it merged with the…

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Popular Hack Gets Whacked In New York State

February 19, 2024/in Internet Security

The phone you have is with you more than 75% percent of the day and there is a good chance that you have had some nasty mishaps with it. From dropping it in toilets, to it falling in mud and whatever else is on the ground at concerts. With many concerts coming to New York State this summer, a hack you may have use to fix your phone may not be helpful after all.

There is a new report that may change the way you think about taking care of your iPhone if it ever gets wet. You know how it goes, the phone seems to fall in to water or other liquids in slow motion. The first thing you do is shake it out and hope for the best. The next thing you do is get a bag of rice and a bowl or bucket. But that may not be the best plan.

A new report says to let that wet phone air itself out.

MSN.com says:

Apple recommends gently tapping your iPhone against your hand to knock out excess water, then make sure your connector is facing down.

After that, leave your iPhone in a dry area with airflow, wait half an hour and then repeat the process.

The most frustrating thing that can happen is if when you lose your phone. You feel naked or helpless until it is back in your possession. There are apps to help with that.

But there is one app that your iPhone has that you may never knew existed and can be very helpful.

Future Publishing via Getty Imag

“If you are in an email or typing a long piece of text and want to change something, it can be difficult to go back to where you need to go, unless you activate the iPhone’s secret mouse,” McConomy said.

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