This post was made on 10/05/2018.

A Chinese hacking group known as cloudhopper is launching cyber-attacks on technology service providers in an attempt to steal data.

The Department of Homeland believes that the government of China may be aiding this hacking group, but the Chinese government denies these allegations. China’s government may be behind this because of the escalating trade war between the U.S and China.

The cloudhopper hacking group usually tries to access a internet router to spread malware and other malicious code. They use unrelenting bots to try and get into these routers and collect what they need. They usually target telecommunications, technology, and other types of wireless technology. They usually try to access telecommunications especially because of how much sensitive information is on there that they can use for their own villainous intentions.

U.S cybersecurity firms are aware of cloudhopper and is sending out information on how to prevent, find, and remedy, cyberattacks from cloudhopper. This information will help technology service providers be more careful and hopefully stop any cyber-attack attempts that cloudhopper will try to use on them.

It wouldn’t surprise me if China was helping these hackers to get personal info. The trade war is starting to become more and more volatile as the U.S is making it harder to sell and buy things. If China loses U.S as a trading partner then they are going to lose a lot of money as a result. So now China has become more aggressive and is trying to collect data. For what though? I can’t exactly answer that question, but if I had to guess I would say that China is trying to have an influence on the U.S population. Russia did this in the 2016 election to make all sorts of propaganda to divide the people of the U.S, and you know what? It kind of worked. So now China is trying to do the same thing and collect data to target certain people into supporting whoever China wants. There could be other ways they are using this info, like for money, identity theft, or something along those lines.

My theory could be completely wrong and they are using that data in other ways, but that’s not the point. We now have to have our cybersecurity ready now more then ever if we want to be able to prevent threats like this. Luckily our cybersecurity analysts have identified this and warned potential victims of these cyber-attacks and has given them instructions on what to look for. We are going to have our cybersecurity on its toes in the future if we are going to be able to combat to these cyber-attacks, because,in the future, these attacks will become way more elaborate and vicious.

Source:

China’s Hacking Group is now Cyber-Attacking the U.S

This post was made on 9/23/2018.

Google just told the US Senators that Gmail can have add-ons scan your Gmail inbox and use your data to hand to other companies. However, Google has stated that they have to have the users consent before they can initiate this practice.

Google’s Vice President, Susan Molinari, wrote to the US senators: “Developers may share data with third parties so long as they are transparent with the users about how they are using the data.”

These add-ons or apps that can be installed to your Gmail can be used to organize your email and even compare shopping prices and deals with each other. But these apps have the ability to go through personal emails and use them in their product refinement purposes, according to the Journal.

The idea of companies using your data for whatever they feel like it has always seemed wrong. Especially if they are using that data from your inbox that you can get important and personal information. Getting your data with consent is a step in the right direction, but I feel like getting information from your inbox, even with permission, is a bit wrong. There is so much personal and business information going into these inboxes that giving third parties permission to use them and do whatever they want with that data is still scary.

I feel like there are boundaries on the internet when it comes to using your data. If you are roaming the internet, going to various websites that don’t require too much personal information, then you can gather that data and use that for third parties. Hopefully you ask the user for permission to use their data, but we all know that’s not happening any time soon. Places where you gather personal info, (banks, taxes, medical records, etc), should be completely off-limits to third-party companies. That should include your email because so much sensitive information goes in there that third parties should have no business in my email.

Source: Google Apps can Scan your Gmail with your consent

This post was created on 09/20/2018.

The U.S. military has initiated a more aggressive way of dealing with malicious cyber activity. The Pentagon calls it the “defend forward” strategy and will try to stop any malicious cyber activity at its source. This new strategy emphasizes the fact that the U.S. military wants to build a more lethal force of hackers to use against enemy forces. This essentially just gives the U.S. military more freedom to do what it wants, even against friendly countries.

Now this, of course, has caused some people to be extremely concerned as to what the U.S. military will be able to do with these more “loose” rules of cyber-security.  Jason Healey, a senior research scholar at Columbia University and former George W. Bush White House cyber official, has stated that “If you loosen the rules of engagement, sometimes you’re going to mess that up.” Even if the U.S. military does try to use this new tactic as ethically as possible, there is inevitably going to be human error that will slip through and cause problems.

This new tactic could be used in a variety of ways, both good and bad. This new tactic could be used to try and stop any election meddling and try and stop the Russians from targeting the U.S. infrastructure. It could also be used in more malicious ways, let’s say the U.S. military believes there are hackers in France and decide to take down an entire network of computers in France. They could do this before but they would have had to get permission from the NSA, but under these new rules they don’t have to get permission from the NSA, now they can just do it.

This new strategy is going to be more aggressive towards those who use hacking or any use of malicious cyber attacks. This could potentially cause problems in the future if the U.S. military is abusive with it, but it could also prevent a lot of cyber sabotage over the free internet. There is inevitably going to be a mistake made with this “defense forward” strategy, but if it keeps hackers from meddling with our infrastructure, then maybe it’ll do some good.

Source: US military given more authority to launch preventative cyberattacks

This blog post was made on 09/13/2018.

Atlanta’s Government has been infected by ransomware that demands that the government officials pay around $51,000 in Bitcoin. This attack was caused by A malware called SamSam, and this isn’t the first time it has been used on government property before.

This SamSam ransomware has knocked over 400 necessary programs offline until the ransomware debt is paid. The ransomware has effected court documents, police cam footage, and has knocked out over 10 years of documents. This SamSam ransomware attack is going to cost the government millions to try and fix with no end currently in sight.

This is a very unfortunate incident that just shows we are just moving into an age where cyber attacks are coming all the more common. The fact that this has been used against the government and that the government can’t do that much about it tells us maybe it’s time we start to take cybersecurity more seriously. The government really needs to start beefing up their cybersecurity department, because in the future there is going to be way more vicious cyber-attacks, with more extreme consequences.

Perhaps if the government had more “cyber-defense” against the “cyber-attacks” than maybe we could have avoided this situation entirely. If the government doesn’t do more to beef up their cybersecurity anytime soon, then there is going be more incidents like this one that could be far worse.

Source: Atlanta ransomware attack may cost another $9.5 million to fix