Obama reportedly ordered implants to be deployed in key Russian networks
Enlarge (credit: Wikimedia Commons/Maria Joner) In his final days as the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama authorized a covert hacking operation to implant attack code in sensitive Russian networks. The revelation came in an 8,000-word article The Washington Post published Friday that recounted a secret struggle to punish the Kremlin for tampering with the 2016 election. According to Friday’s article, the move...
Check Point says Fireball malware hit 250 million; Microsoft says no
Enlarge (credit: Corinne Kuhlmann) Microsoft sparked a curious squabble over malware discovery and infection rates. At the start of the month security firm Check Point reported on a browser hijacker and malware downloader called Fireball. The firm claimed that it had recently discovered the Chinese malware and that it had infected some 250 million systems. Today, Microsoft said no. Redmond claimed that actually, far from being a...
How the CIA infects air-gapped networks
Enlarge / A configuration screen found in the Drifting Deadline exploit. (credit: WikiLeaks) Documents published Thursday purport to show how the Central Intelligence Agency has used USB drives to infiltrate computers so sensitive they are severed from the Internet to prevent them from being infected. More than 150 pages of materials published by WikiLeaks describe a platform code-named Brutal Kangaroo that includes a sprawling...
Honda shuts down factory after finding NSA-derived Wcry in its networks
Enlarge (credit: S-8500) The WCry ransomware worm has struck again, this time prompting Honda Company to halt production in one of its Japan-based factories after finding infections in a broad swath of its computer networks, according to media reports. The automaker shut down its Sayama plant northwest of Tokyo on Monday after finding that WCry had affected networks across Japan, North America, Europe, China, and other regions,...
More Android apps from dangerous Ztorg family sneak into Google Play
Enlarge (credit: Kaspersky Lab) For the second time this month, Google has removed Android apps from its Google Play marketplace. Google did so after a security researcher found the apps contained code that laid the groundwork for attackers to take administrative “root” control of infected devices. “Magic Browser,” as one app was called, was uploaded to Google’s official Android App bazaar on May 15 and...
Microsoft's Patching Windows XP Bugs, and More Security News This Week
Microsoft’s patching Windows XP, an anonymous tech company fought back against PRISM, and more of the week’s most important security news.
