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[link=https://thehill.com/homenews/media/576824-missouri-calls-journalist-hacker-for-flagging-security-flaws-on-state-website][b]Missouri education department calls journalist ‘hacker’ for flagging security flaws on state website[/b]

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The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has labeled a journalist a hacker with Gov. [link=https://thehill.com/person/mike-parson]Mike Parson[/link] (R) threatening legal action after the journalist warned the department there were security flaws on their website.
 
A journalist from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch [link=https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/missouri-teachers-social-security-numbers-at-risk-on-state-agencys-website/article_f3339700-ece0-54a1-9a45-f300321b7c82.html]alerted the education department[/link] to a security flaw on their website that showed more than 100,000 teachers social security numbers.
 
The DESE said a hacker stole  the records of at least three educators who would be contacted shortly, according to the Post-Dispatch. The statement was not immediately available as the department’s website is currently down. 

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[link=https://twitter.com/RonWyden/status/1448733737856888840]https://twitter.com/RonWy…us/1448733737856888840[/link]

Ron Weyden: Journalism isn’t a crime. Cybersecurity research isn’t either. Real leaders don’t unleash their attack dogs on the press when they expose government failures, they roll up their sleeves and fix the problem.
 

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[link=https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/02/politics/china-hackers-espionage-defense-contractors/index.html][b]Suspected Chinese hackers breach more US defense and tech firms[/b]

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 A suspected Chinese hacking campaign has breached four more US defense and technology companies in the last month, and hundreds more US organizations are running the type of vulnerable software that the attackers have exploited, according to research shared with CNN.

The apparent espionage activity, which the National Security Agency helped investigate when it emerged in recent months, is more extensive than previously known and has seen the hackers steal passwords from targeted organizations with a goal of intercepting sensitive communications.

Globally, at least 13 organizations total in sectors such as defense, health care, energy and transportation are now confirmed to have been breached, cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks will warn in a report to be published Thursday.
 

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[ul] [link=https://thehill.com/homenews/585014-lawmakers-mull-way-forward-on-cyber-after-its-cut-from-defense-bill]Lawmakers mull way forward on cybersecurity after Republican Objections force cut from defense bill[/link]

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The plan to include a clause in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) mandating that critical infrastructure groups and other key organizations report major cyberattacks to the federal government in a set time frame saw widespread support in both the House and Senate.
 
But after last-minute objections from a set of key Senate Republicans slowed down negotiations, the language slipped out of the defense package, leaving members of Congress on both sides of the aisle deeply frustrated and mulling next steps.

I think its a shame and I dont really understand it. Everybody has told us how important this is; this was an opportunity. Apparently one or two senators blocked it for reasons that arent clear to me. Its a compromise of national security, Sen. [link=https://thehill.com/people/angus-king]Angus King[/link] (I-Maine), the co-chair of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission and a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told The Hill Wednesday.

[ul] [/ul]  

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[h1][b]U.S. Says Financial Website Zero Hedge Spreads Russian Propaganda[/b][/h1]  
U.S. intelligence officials on Tuesday accused a conservative financial news website with a significant American readership of amplifying Kremlin propaganda and alleged five media outlets targeting Ukrainians have taken direction from Russian spies, the [link=https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-coronavirus-pandemic-health-moscow-media-ff4a56b7b08bcdc6adaf02313a85edd9]AP[/link] reports.
 
The officials said Zero Hedge, which has 1.2 million Twitter followers, published articles created by Moscow-controlled media that were then shared by outlets and people unaware of their nexus to Russian intelligence.
 

[kaldridgewv2211]

Different reports that Ukraine banks and military sites are being hacked.

So is that step one of things popping off. Maybe?

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[h1][b]U.S. Says It Secretly Preempted Russian Cyberattacks[/b][/h1] [link=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/06/us/politics/us-russia-malware-cyberattacks.html]New York Times[/link] 
 
The United States said that it had secretly removed malware from computer networks around the world in recent weeks, a step to pre-empt Russian cyberattacks and send a message to President Vladimir Putin.
 
The move, made public by Attorney General Merrick Garland, comes as U.S. officials warn that Russia could try to strike American critical infrastructure including financial firms, pipelines and the electric grid in response to the crushing sanctions that the United States has imposed on Moscow over the war in Ukraine.
 
The malware enabled the Russians to create botnets networks of private computers that are infected with malicious software and controlled by the G.R.U., the intelligence arm of the Russian military.
 

[kaldridgewv2211]

we really need to get our crap together with cyber security.  Anything infrastructure related should be completely air gapped from internet access.

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[b]Russian Hackers Targeted U.S. Nuclear Scientists[/b][/h1]  
 
 
A Russian hacking team known as Cold River targeted three nuclear research laboratories in the United States this past summer, [link=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-hackers-targeted-us-nuclear-scientists-2023-01-06/]Reuters[/link] reports.

 

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[h2][link=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/04/16/russia-disinformation-discord-leaked-documents/]Russians boasted that just 1% of fake social profiles are caught, leak shows[/link][/h2]
An analysis of Russias effectiveness at boosting propaganda on social media platforms is part of a trove of documents recently leaked on the chat app Discord.

The undated analysis of Russias effectiveness at boosting propaganda on Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, Telegram and other social media platforms cites activity in late 2022 and was apparently[b] [/b]presented to U.S. military leaders in recent months. It is part of a trove of documents circulated in a Discord chatroom and obtained by The Washington Post. Air National Guard technician Jack Teixeira [link=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/04/14/jack-teixeira-military-leaks-court-appearance/?itid=lk_inline_manual_9]was charged Friday[/link] with taking and transmitting the classified papers, charges for which he faces 15 years in prison.

The revelations about Russias improved[b] [/b]misinformation abilities come as Twitter owner Elon Musk and some Republicans in Congress have accused the federal government of [link=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/02/08/house-republicans-twitter-files-collusion/?itid=lk_inline_manual_11]colluding [/link]with the tech companies to suppress right-wing and independent views by painting too many accounts as Russian attempts at foreign influence. A board set up to coordinate U.S. government policy on disinformation [link=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/05/18/disinformation-board-dhs-nina-jankowicz/?itid=lk_inline_manual_11]was disbanded last year[/link] after questions were raised about its purpose and a coordinated campaign aimed at the person who had been selected to lead it.
 
Twitter employees also say they worry that Musks cutbacks have hurt the platforms ability to fight influence operations. [link=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/01/14/twitter-moderation-cutbacks-impact/?itid=lk_inline_manual_12]Propaganda campaigns[/link] and [link=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/01/18/hate-speech-antisemitism-antigay-twitter/?itid=lk_inline_manual_12]hate speech[/link] have increased since Musk took over the site in October, according to employees and outside researchers. Russian misinformation promoters [link=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/02/22/russian-propagandists-said-buy-twitter-blue-check-verifications/?itid=lk_inline_manual_12]even bought Musks new blue-check[/link] verifications.

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[link=https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/us-citizens-and-russian-intelligence-officers-charged-conspiring-use-us-citizens-illegal]https://www.justice.gov/o…se-us-citizens-illegal[/link]

[b]U.S. Citizens and Russian Intelligence Officers Charged with Conspiring to Use U.S. Citizens as Illegal Agents of the Russian Government[/b]
 
 
Defendants Sought to Sow Discord, Spread Pro-Russia Propaganda and Interfere in Elections Within the United States

Russias foreign intelligence service allegedly weaponized our First Amendment rights freedoms Russia denies its own citizens to divide Americans and interfere in elections in the United States, said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Departments National Security Division. The department will not hesitate to expose and prosecute those who sow discord and corrupt U.S. elections in service of hostile foreign interests, regardless of whether the culprits are U.S. citizens or foreign individuals abroad.
 
Efforts by the Russian government to secretly influence U.S. elections will not be tolerated, said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Departments Criminal Division. As todays announcement demonstrates, the Criminal Division is committed to eradicating foreign malign influence from the U.S. political system and helping ensure the integrity of our elections.
 
Todays announcement paints a harrowing picture of Russian government actions and the lengths to which the FSB will go to interfere with our elections, sow discord in our nation and ultimately recruit U.S citizens to their efforts, said Acting Assistant Director Kurt Ronnow of the FBIs Counterintelligence Division. All Americans should be deeply concerned by the tactics employed by the FSB and remain vigilant to any attempt to undermine our democracy. The FBI remains committed to confronting this egregious behavior and ultimately disrupting our adversaries and those who act on their behalf.

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