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Security worker during monitoring. Video surveillance system.

The Cybercriminal Isn’t Necessarily Who You Think…

Chances are, the “human data collector” is just someone who works for a company that makes money collecting data about you

Veteran software developer David A. Kruger offered some thoughts on computer security recently at Expensivity and we appreciate the opportunity to republish them here as a series. Yesterday’s discussion focused on ruining cybercriminals’ lives by making their businesses unprofitable. And now, let’s look at who the cybercriminal typically is… it’s more complicated than his iconic hoodie. And it’s way worse too. Close Encounters of the Third Kind We have been taught to think of cyberattackers as being one of two kinds, criminal cyberattackers who gain control of others’ data to make money, or military/terroristic cyberattackers who gain control of others’ data to project military or political power. There is a third kind: Software makers who systematically destroy privacy, so they can gain control Read More ›

Symbol of law and justice with China Flag on laptop. Studio shot.

Chinese Communist Party Called Out For Cyber Attacks

The DOJ has indicted members of state-backed hacker group APT40 for cyber crimes dating back to 2009

On the same day that several countries formally accused the Chinese government of malicious cyber behavior, the U.S. Department of Justice made public its indictment of four Chinese hackers who are part of the hacker group, APT40.* Deng Xiaoyang, Chen Qingmin, and Zhu Yunmin are associated with the Hainan providential arm of China’s Ministry of State Security, and Wu Shurong is a private contractor in Hainan. They are charged with Conspiracy to Damage Protected Computers, Conspiracy to Commit Economic Espionage, and Criminal Forfeiture. The unsealed grand jury indictment outlines cybercrimes dating back to July 2009 and continuing through September 2018.  From the indictment: The object of the conspiracy was to install malware and hacking tools on protected computers and to leverage such Read More ›

twitter handle with care.jpg
Twitter handle with care

What’s the Main Thing We Should Learn from the Big Twitter Hack?

Yes, Twitter got control of its platform back but not before its credibility in security matters was significantly weakened

As we reported at the time, on July 15, hackers gained control of a number of Twitter “Blue Checkmark” accounts. Twitter hands out Blue Checkmarks to accounts that exert heavy influence and have verified identities. That status permits many parody accounts to operate without generating confusion over who is really tweeting, the account or the parody. In any case, on Twitter, the Blue Checkmarks have quite a bit of power. They get access to analytics on their posts so they can measure (and manipulate) their engagement with their followers. Many influencers look for “Blue Checkmark” status to see if an account is worth engaging with. Twitter even allows the “Blue Checkmarks” to filter their conversations so as to limit them Read More ›