FBI

Microsoft adds voice to calls for federal cybersecurity agency

Software giant Microsoft has added its voice to a growing chorus calling for the creation of a federal cybersecurity agency to coordinate the U.S. government’s response to nation-state and cyber criminal threats. 

North Korea

US Government Warns of Hidden Cobra North Korea Cyber Threat

A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Alert released on Tuesday warns the public about a campaign of hacking by the government of North Korea it has code-named “Hidden Cobra.”

Mr Robot

Hacking Back Reconsidered and the Guy who makes Mr. Robot’s Hacking Scenes Look So Good

In this week’s podcast, we talk with Gadi Evron of Cymmetria, which released Mazehunter, a targeted hack-back tool this week about going on offense and staying on the right side of the law. Also: Ryan Kazanciyan of Tanium is one of the talented hackers who help design Mr. Robot’s hacking scenes. We talk with him about bringing realistic hacks alive on the small screen. And: when Uncle Sam dishes the dirt on a state sponsored campaign against critical infrastructure, what are companies supposed to do with the information? Mark Durfresne of the firm Endgame and Itzik Kotler of the firm Safebreach give us their thoughts.

crowdstrike energetic bear

FBI and Homeland Security dish Dirt on Critical Infrastructure Attacks

A new joint FBI-DHS report dishes the dirt on recent sophisticated attacks targeting the US energy grid and critical infrastructure, saying third party firms and web sites to gain access to energy and other critical infrastructure networks. It also names a sophisticated hacking group believed to be linked to the government of Russia. 

It’s the Corruption, Stupid: why Russians aren’t the biggest threat to Election Security

In-brief: Russian hackers aren’t the biggest threat to the security and integrity of elections says Bev Harris of Black Box Voting. Instead, it’s a more common enemy: run of the mill political corruption, mostly at the local level. Also: Eric Hodge of CyberScout talks about the challenges of helping states secure their election systems. Problem number one: recalcitrant voting machine makers.