Secure Our World: Simple ways to protect yourself, your family and your business from online threats.

Staying Safe Online is Easier Than You Think. 

Every day we are more and more connected—whether messaging family and friends, shopping online or ordering supplies for our small businesses. It’s important to take steps to stay safe when using our phones, laptops and smart devices. We Can Secure Our World by taking simple actions each day when connected. See how Max and Kevin Secure Our World below!...

https://www.cisa.gov/secure-our-world

Hackers steal call records from cell providers in ‘massive-scale’ espionage - The Verge

The attackers are believed to be state-backed
https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/25/18744020/operation-softcell-hack-call-detail-records-apt10-cybersecurity-cell-network-providers

Microsoft says it found another Russian operation targeting prominent think tanks - The Washington Post

Microsoft said it had found and attempted to disrupt a "spear-phishing" attack by Russian intelligence aimed at groups that had criticized Russia...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/02/20/microsoft-says-it-has-found-another-russian-operation-targeting-prominent-think-tanks/

North Korea has launched 'sophisticated cyber espionage campaign' on US: report - Raw Story

North Korea has launched a "sophisticated cyber espionage campaign" against the United States, cybersecurity experts told Bloomberg News. ....
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/12/north-korea-launched-sophisticated-cyber-espionage-campaign-us-report/

The White House just squashed a bipartisan Senate bill to stop election interference - Vox

The Senate considered a bill to stop Russia, Iran, and others from interfering in US elections. The White House blocked it. ....
https://www.vox.com/2018/8/23/17774296/2018-election-security-cyberattacks-white-house-russia-iran

An 11-year-old changed Florida’s presidential vote at the world’s largest hacking conference - BuzzFeed News

Veteran hackers have tried for years to get the world to notice flaws in voting machines. Now that they've got it, they have to wrestle with scaring people away from voting. ....
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kevincollier/voting-hackers-defcon-failures-manufacturers-ess

The Midterm Elections Are in Serious Danger of Being Hacked, Thanks to Trump – Mother Jones

On July 12, 2016, Matthew Emmons, an IT technician, was settling into a quiet workday when a colleague approached his cubicle in the Springfield strip-mall office of the Illinois State Board of Elections. Servers holding the personal information of more than 7.5 million voters had ground to a halt, and there was something he had to see.....

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/07/the-midterm-elections-are-in-serious-danger-of-being-hacked-thanks-to-trump/

Voting Rights Roundup: GOP blocks Democratic effort to protect election systems from Russian hackers - Daily Kos

Last week's bombshell indictments of 12 Russian nationals by special counsel Robert Mueller laid bare the threat to American election security: Russia did indeed hack various Democratic Party organizations and state election systems in an attempt to swing the 2016 elections to both Trump and the congressional GOP. ....
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/1782233

Cyber War (Pod Save the World podcast)

Tommy talks with New York Times reporter David Sanger about the new world of cyber warfare. From North Korea’s attack on Sony to the targeting of Iran’s nuclear program and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, cyber attacks are increasingly used first in war even though there are no rules of engagement and little public debate.
Interview:
https://crooked.com/podcast/cyber-war/

New fears over Chinese espionage grip Washington - The Hill

Lawmakers fear Beijing is stealing sensitive U.S. military and tech secrets. ....
http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/393741-new-fears-over-chinese-espionage-grip-washington

DHS mounted an ‘inadequate’ response to Russian election interference, Senate report says - The Washington Post

It's the first of four interim reports the panel is expected to produce in its probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, before releasing a final report in the fall. ...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/senate-intelligence-committee-releases-interim-report-on-election-security/2018/05/08/4b33d992-531e-11e8-9c91-7dab596e8252_story.html

U.S. and Britain warn businesses worldwide of Russian campaign to hack routers - Los Angeles Times

The U.S. and British governments on Monday accused Russia of conducting a massive campaign to compromise computer routers and firewalls around the world — from home offices to internet service providers — for espionage and possibly sabotage purposes.....
http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-routers-russia-20180416-story.html

Russian hackers hunt hi-tech secrets, exploiting US weakness

Russian cyberspies pursuing the secrets of military drones and other sensitive U.S. defense technology tricked key contract workers into exposing their email to theft, an Associated Press investigation has found. What ultimately may have been stolen is uncertain, but the hackers clearly exploited a national vulnerability in cybersecurity: poorly protected email and barely any direct notification to victims....
https://www.apnews.com/cc616fa229da4d59b230d88cd52dda51

Dutch intelligence spied on Russian hacking group Cozy Bear - The Washington Post

The Dutch domestic intelligence service AIVD had access to the infamous Russian hacking group Cozy Bear for at least a year starting in mid-2014, local media outlets reported Thursday. According to the reports, the Dutch government alerted the United States to Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election after Netherlands-based officials watched the hacking of the Democratic National Committee and other operations by the Russians, including a 2014 State Department hack.....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/01/26/dutch-media-reveal-country-to-be-secret-u-s-ally-in-war-against-russian-hackers/

Frustrated senators demand cyber war strategy from Trump -- The Hill

The issue has gained greater attention in the wake of Russia's interference in the election. ....
http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/356269-frustrated-senators-demand-cyber-war-strategy-from-trump

Hollywood's 'Committee to Investigate Russia' goes off-script -- ThinkProgress.org

Morgan Freeman wants us to know the U.S. is at war. It's not a war against cancer or poverty. It's not a war against the remnants of the Taliban, or even against ISIS militants in Syria and Iraq. This war, said Freeman earlier this week, is instead against another nation-state: Russia. ...
https://thinkprogress.org/morgan-freeman-russia-video-b51870701f1b/

Russian Bots Are Descending Upon the Republican Party | Alternet

Major targets include National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and House Speaker Paul Ryan.
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/russian-bots-are-descending-upon-republican-party

Google Finds and Blocks Spyware Linked to Cyberarms Group -- WIRED

A new, targeted malware called Lipizzan could completely take over an Android device until Android Security shut it down ...
https://www.wired.com/story/lipizzan-android-malware-nation-state

The Global Cyberattack Challenge (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

Are we naked now against massive cyberattack? Last week’s global cyber rumble suggests maybe so. Thousands of global targets in 65 countries. Hospitals, Chernobyl, government agencies, shipping lines, a drug giant. Ukraine specifically. By cyber weapons stolen from our own NSA, run amuck. Warnings of a cyber Pearl Harbor are back on the table. This hour On Point: Our real cyber vulnerability now. Plus, President Trump’s latest Twitter rampage on the press. -- Tom Ashbrook
Interview:
http://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2017/07/03/the-global-cyberattack-challenge

Is Donald Trump a traitor? His path to the White House suggests a pattern of profound disloyalty (Salon)

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Republican nominee Donald Trump urged a foreign power, Russia, to interfere in the American election in order to undermine his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. Russia complied. The American intelligence community, including the CIA and FBI, has reached a "strong consensus" that the Russians interfered with the presidential election in order to help Donald Trump win.

It has also been reported that Russian president Vladimir Putin personally directed this espionage operation. So serious was Russian interference in the American presidential election that the Obama administration warned Putin that it was tantamount to “armed conflict.”
http://www.salon.com/2016/12/22/is-donald-trump-a-traitor-his-path-to-the-white-house-suggests-a-pattern-of-profound-disloyalty/