Just when we thought that the woes of The Hacking Team might be letting up, word comes that an older version of the Italian company’s malware has been used in attacks against Western targets including the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The news surfaced in a new white paper issued by F-Secure, an IT security vendor based in Finland. A group dubbed “Callisto” has been … [Read more...]
Elbit Systems’ CYBERBIT: Not Your Father’s Lawful Intercept
When Israel's Elbit Systems purchased the Cyber and Intelligence Division of NICE Systems last year, Elbit's mission was to leverage the new asset to elevate its CYBERBIT subsidiary into a global powerhouse in two areas: cyber security for the enterprise, and lawful interception for government agencies and police. They've succeeded at both, and in remarkable ways. On the law … [Read more...]
Equation Group and the TAO of Advanced Persistent Threat
In August 2016 the Equation Group, aka the Tailored Access Operations (TAO) division of the NSA, attracted unwanted headlines with reports that anonymous attackers had hacked into the group and made off with critical intelligence plus high-end malware. The purported hackers, known as “The Shadow Brokers,” made their success known by publishing 300 megabytes of unencrypted data … [Read more...]
Automated Cybersecurity: Machines Still Have a Long Way To Go
With summer 2016 coming to an end it is fitting to recap one of the season's signature events that, while now largely forgotten, may portend breakneck change in the years to come: DARPA's Cyber Grand Challenge, the world's first attempt at automated cybersecurity in the never ending war against bugs, viruses, Zero Days and malware. Nearly 30 months after announcing … [Read more...]
Can Hacking Team and FinFisher Skirt Tougher Export Rules?
"Qualcuno qui parla italiano?" The clock is ticking on the European Commission's expected adoption of stricter export licensing requirements for malware and other surveillance technologies. The EC is expected to issue rules this month. Late July 2016 saw the leak of the draft EC proposal. It was none too favorable to the ISS community. Whether vendors such as The Hacking … [Read more...]