U.S. Indicts Six Russian Officers Tied to One of the World’s Most Destructive Hacking Groups
The U.S. unsealed charges today against six Russian intelligence officers who are allegedly members of the elite Russian hacking organization known as Sandworm—a group believed to be behind some of the most destructive cyberattacks in history. The charges come weeks after several indictments targeting Chinese and Iranian hackers and just 15 days before the U.S. presidential election…
Why a Failed Election Hack Could Be Worse Than a Successful One
According to former intelligence and homeland security officials, it doesn’t matter how strong the U.S.’s cyber defenses are in the lead-up to the election, because even a failed or thwarted hack could still disrupt the vote—maybe even worse than a successful one…
How Iran’s Election Interference Efforts Have Evolved
Prior to 2016, Iran’s cyberoperations were primarily focused on the Middle East and its regional rivals, including Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the Islamic State. Tehran’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 election were limited and largely unsuccessful, according to a new report. But since President Trump took office, Iranian cyberoperations have focused on targeting a U.S. audience, and those efforts have increased as the 2020 election draws closer…
Your Voting Data Is Being Sold Online. But Who’s Buying It?
State and local governments make voter databases readily available to give academics, pollsters, and pretty much anyone who asks a nationwide impression of voter registration and election turnout. But on occasion—and especially before elections—this publicly available information makes its way onto sites where users typically share and sell breached databases and hacking tools…
Flurry of Indictments Signal a New U.S. Strategy for Combating Foreign Hackers
The federal government isn’t always known for its speed in the cybersecurity realm. But last week it moved at a breakneck pace to pull back the curtain on foreign cyberthreats. In a series of enforcement actions, the Department of Justice unsealed seven federal indictments charging 16 foreign nationals from China, Russia, Iran, and Malaysia with hacking-related crimes…
Officials Warn of Phone Scams Targeting Hospitals and Patients
Tucked into the University of South Florida’s Tampa campus, the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute treats a range of health issues and pioneers research in oncology and drug discovery. But the Moffitt staff — like hospital workers throughout the country — have struggled to deal with a particular IT problem in recent years: robocalls and phone scams that clog lines and put sensitive data at risk…
Five Reasons Voters and Election Officials Should Be Worried About Ransomware
In the run-up to the U.S. presidential election, federal officials have raised concerns about how a well-timed ransomware attack could