The US Justice Department has said the five Chinese hackers who were charged targeted Indian government's networks and "compromised foreign government computer networks".

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/chinese-hacker-group-apt41-dupe-companies-in-malaysia-and-china-328339">Also Read: Chinese hacker group, APT41, dupe companies in Malaysia and China</a>

Deputy US Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen has charged five Chinese nationals with computer hacking and charged two Malaysians for helping them.

Justice Department statement said the Malaysian nationals were arrested but the Chinese nationals were still at large.

"In about 2019, the conspirators compromised government of lndia websites, as well as virtual private networks and database servers supporting the government of India. The conspirators used VPS PROVIDER servers to connect to an Open VPN network owned by the government of India," the indictment said.

The conspirators had installed "Cobalt strike" malware on Indian government-protected computers, it added.

"In one notable instance, the defendants conducted a ransomware attack on the network of a non-profit organization dedicated to combating global poverty," it said.

The indictment against Zhang and Tan charged the defendants with "two counts" of conspiracy to commit computer fraud which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

The US government alleged that the hackers targeted "over 100 victim companies in the United States and abroad, including software development companies, computer hardware manufacturers, telecommunications providers, social media companies, video game companies, non-profit organizations, universities, think tanks, and foreign governments, as well as pro-democracy politicians and activists in Hong Kong."

"The intrusions, which security researchers have tracked using the threat labels “APT41,” “Barium,” “Winnti,” “Wicked Panda,” and “Wicked Spider,” it said.

“The scope and sophistication of the crimes in these unsealed indictments is unprecedented. The alleged criminal scheme used actors in China and Malaysia to illegally hack, intrude and steal information from victims worldwide,” Michael R. Sherwin, acting US attorney for the District of Columbia, said.

The US Justice Department has said the five Chinese hackers who were charged targeted Indian government's networks and "compromised foreign government computer networks".

The US Justice Department has said the five Chinese hackers who were charged targeted Indian government's networks and "compromised foreign government computer networks". Also Read: Chinese hacker group, APT41, dupe companies in Malaysia and China Deputy US Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen has charged five Chinese nationals with computer hacking and charged two Malaysians for helping them. Justice Department statement said the Malaysian nationals were arrested but the Chinese nationals were still at large. "In about 2019, the conspirators compromised government of lndia websites, as well as virtual private networks and database servers supporting the government of India. The conspirators used VPS PROVIDER servers to connect to an Open VPN network owned by the government of India," the indictment said. The conspirators had installed "Cobalt strike" malware on Indian government-protected computers, it added. "In one notable instance, the defendants conducted a ransomware attack on the network of a non-profit organization dedicated to combating global poverty," it said. The indictment against Zhang and Tan charged the defendants with "two counts" of conspiracy to commit computer fraud which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. The US government alleged that the hackers targeted "over 100 victim companies in the United States and abroad, including software development companies, computer hardware manufacturers, telecommunications providers, social media companies, video game companies, non-profit organizations, universities, think tanks, and foreign governments, as well as pro-democracy politicians and activists in Hong Kong." "The intrusions, which security researchers have tracked using the threat labels “APT41,” “Barium,” “Winnti,” “Wicked Panda,” and “Wicked Spider,” it said. “The scope and sophistication of the crimes in these unsealed indictments is unprecedented. The alleged criminal scheme used actors in China and Malaysia to illegally hack, intrude and steal information from victims worldwide,” Michael R. Sherwin, acting US attorney for the District of Columbia, said.

Chinese hackers compromised Indian government websites: US Justice Department

The United States Department of Energy&nbsp;on Thursday unveiled what it believes is a "virtually unhackable" internet which was put in motion by the Trump administration in 2018 when it&nbsp;passed&nbsp;the National Quantum Initiative Act.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/uk-us-and-canada-accuse-russia-of-vaccine-research-hacking-314318">Also Read:&nbsp;UK, US and Canada accuse Russia of vaccine research hacking</a>

The National Quantum Initiative Act was passed to establish the "goals and priorities for a 10-year plan to accelerate the development of quantum information science and technology applications."

Watch:

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-chinese-hackers-the-next-big-security-threat-315244/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

Through the act, the United States intends to "use of the laws of quantum physics for the storage, transmission, manipulation, or measurement of information." The United States hopes to use laws of quantum mechanics to transmit information more securely than the existing unsecured networks.

According to the US Energy Department, "one of the hallmarks of quantum transmissions is that they are exceedingly difficult to eavesdrop on as information passes between locations". "Scientists plan to use that trait to make virtually unhackable networks," it added.

"Eventually, the use of quantum networking technology in mobile phones could have broad impacts on the lives of individuals around the world," the US energy department said. The project with US government funding would pave the way for "quantum internet".

Earlier, DOE and researchers at the University of Chicago had created a "quantum loop" - an 83-kilometre land-based network which allowed&nbsp;a secure network through the transmission of sub-atomic particles.

The quantum transmissions make it virtually impossible for hackers to eavesdrop with early adopters set to be in banking and health services and aircraft communications which require a secure network&nbsp;to operate.

The quantum sensors would reportedly allow engineers to predict earthquakes or search for underground oil and gold which has been a time consuming and at most times an impossible task.

The United States Department of Energy on Thursday unveiled what it believes is a "virtually unhackable" internet which was put in motion by the Trump administration in 2018 when it passed the National Quantum Initiative Act.

The United States Department of Energy on Thursday unveiled what it believes is a "virtually unhackable" internet which was put in motion by the Trump administration in 2018 when it passed the National Quantum Initiative Act. Also Read: UK, US and Canada accuse Russia of vaccine research hacking The National Quantum Initiative Act was passed to establish the "goals and priorities for a 10-year plan to accelerate the development of quantum information science and technology applications." Watch: Through the act, the United States intends to "use of the laws of quantum physics for the storage, transmission, manipulation, or measurement of information." The United States hopes to use laws of quantum mechanics to transmit information more securely than the existing unsecured networks. According to the US Energy Department, "one of the hallmarks of quantum transmissions is that they are exceedingly difficult to eavesdrop on as information passes between locations". "Scientists plan to use that trait to make virtually unhackable networks," it added. "Eventually, the use of quantum networking technology in mobile phones could have broad impacts on the lives of individuals around the world," the US energy department said. The project with US government funding would pave the way for "quantum internet". Earlier, DOE and researchers at the University of Chicago had created a "quantum loop" - an 83-kilometre land-based network which allowed a secure network through the transmission of sub-atomic particles. The quantum transmissions make it virtually impossible for hackers to eavesdrop with early adopters set to be in banking and health services and aircraft communications which require a secure network to operate. The quantum sensors would reportedly allow engineers to predict earthquakes or search for underground oil and gold which has been a time consuming and at most times an impossible task.

'Quantum' leap: United States unveils blueprint for virtually 'unhackable internet'

Almost 10 universities in the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Canada have been hit by a malware in their cloud computing provider, Blackbaud.

Blackbaud is one of the largest providers of&nbsp;education administration, fundraising, and financial management software in the world.

The hackers focused on information about&nbsp;students and/or alumni. Sensitive information such as&nbsp;phone numbers, donation history and events attended were stolen. However, payment details such as credit card numbers were not exposed, according to BBC.

Mails asking for donation for the universities were sent out to alumni. However, in few of the cases, the threat was extended to&nbsp;staff, existing students and other supporters.

The company, Blackbaud, is being criticised for the way the whole whole situation&nbsp;as handled in their end. The hackers targeted the company in May, but the universities were informed in July.

"In May of 2020, we discovered and stopped a ransomware attack. Prior to our locking the cyber-criminal out, the cyber-criminal removed a copy of a subset of data from our self-hosted environment," Blackbaud said in a statement on their website.

It was further criticised for paying off the hackers ransom amount that has not been disclosed, without talking to the universities or the authorities.&nbsp;Blackbaud claims that paying off the ransom helped them get a&nbsp;"confirmation that the copy [of data] they removed had been destroyed".

While this is not illegal, the universities have not appreciated this step as they claim to have been kept in the dark about this whole situation.

Blackbaud has also claimed that majority of its customers were not affected. However, it has declined to give a complete list of affected universities, claiming that it wants to respect the privacy of its customers.

As of now the aconfirmed list of affected universities is:&nbsp;University of York, Oxford Brookes University, Loughborough University, University of Leeds, University of London, University of Reading, University College&nbsp;(Oxford), Ambrose University in Alberta (Canada), Human Rights Watch Young Minds, Rhode Island School of Design in the US and the University of Exeter.

The universities have now sent out an email apologising to the students and the alumni who were affected by the hacking activity.

"My main concern is how reassuring - impossibly so, in my opinion - Blackbaud were to the university about what the hackers have obtained," commented Rhys Morgan, a cyber-security specialist and former student at Oxford Brookes University, whose data was involved.

"They told my university that there is 'no reason to believe that the stolen data was or will be misused'. I can't feel reassured by this at all. How can they possibly know what the attackers will do with that information?"

"I doubt that my university has many details that aren't pretty easily available, but I am more concerned about giving in to the blackmail and blithely accepting the word of the blackmailer that all the data has now been destroyed," Matthew Scott, one of the recipients who received the email&nbsp;told the BBC.

After the whole situation was revealed to the universities,&nbsp;Leeds University said, in a statement: "We want to reassure our alumni that, since being informed by Blackbaud of this incident, we have been working tirelessly to investigate what has happened, in order to accurately inform those affected. No action is required by our alumni community at this time, although, as ever, we recommend that everyone remains vigilant."

Blackbaud will have to participate in investigations for the UK and Canada data authorities&nbsp;as the concernned authorities were informed last weekend, which is weeks after the company noticed the breach in the systems.

UK's Information Commissioner's Office [ICO] said, "Blackbaud has reported an incident affecting multiple data controllers to the ICO. We will be making enquiries to both Blackbaud and the respective controllers, and encourage all affected controllers to evaluate whether they need to report the incident to the ICO individually."

Almost 10 universities in the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Canada have been hit by a malware in their cloud computing provider, Blackbaud. Blackbaud is one of the largest providers of education administration, fundraising, and financial management software in the world.

Almost 10 universities in the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Canada have been hit by a malware in their cloud computing provider, Blackbaud. Blackbaud is one of the largest providers of education administration, fundraising, and financial management software in the world. The hackers focused on information about students and/or alumni. Sensitive information such as phone numbers, donation history and events attended were stolen. However, payment details such as credit card numbers were not exposed, according to BBC. Mails asking for donation for the universities were sent out to alumni. However, in few of the cases, the threat was extended to staff, existing students and other supporters. The company, Blackbaud, is being criticised for the way the whole whole situation as handled in their end. The hackers targeted the company in May, but the universities were informed in July. "In May of 2020, we discovered and stopped a ransomware attack. Prior to our locking the cyber-criminal out, the cyber-criminal removed a copy of a subset of data from our self-hosted environment," Blackbaud said in a statement on their website. It was further criticised for paying off the hackers ransom amount that has not been disclosed, without talking to the universities or the authorities. Blackbaud claims that paying off the ransom helped them get a "confirmation that the copy [of data] they removed had been destroyed". While this is not illegal, the universities have not appreciated this step as they claim to have been kept in the dark about this whole situation. Blackbaud has also claimed that majority of its customers were not affected. However, it has declined to give a complete list of affected universities, claiming that it wants to respect the privacy of its customers. As of now the aconfirmed list of affected universities is: University of York, Oxford Brookes University, Loughborough University, University of Leeds, University of London, University of Reading, University College (Oxford), Ambrose University in Alberta (Canada), Human Rights Watch Young Minds, Rhode Island School of Design in the US and the University of Exeter. The universities have now sent out an email apologising to the students and the alumni who were affected by the hacking activity. "My main concern is how reassuring - impossibly so, in my opinion - Blackbaud were to the university about what the hackers have obtained," commented Rhys Morgan, a cyber-security specialist and former student at Oxford Brookes University, whose data was involved. "They told my university that there is 'no reason to believe that the stolen data was or will be misused'. I can't feel reassured by this at all. How can they possibly know what the attackers will do with that information?" "I doubt that my university has many details that aren't pretty easily available, but I am more concerned about giving in to the blackmail and blithely accepting the word of the blackmailer that all the data has now been destroyed," Matthew Scott, one of the recipients who received the email told the BBC. After the whole situation was revealed to the universities, Leeds University said, in a statement: "We want to reassure our alumni that, since being informed by Blackbaud of this incident, we have been working tirelessly to investigate what has happened, in order to accurately inform those affected. No action is required by our alumni community at this time, although, as ever, we recommend that everyone remains vigilant." Blackbaud will have to participate in investigations for the UK and Canada data authorities as the concernned authorities were informed last weekend, which is weeks after the company noticed the breach in the systems. UK's Information Commissioner's Office [ICO] said, "Blackbaud has reported an incident affecting multiple data controllers to the ICO. We will be making enquiries to both Blackbaud and the respective controllers, and encourage all affected controllers to evaluate whether they need to report the incident to the ICO individually."

Several universities in UK, US and Canada hit by malware attack; data lost

Russian spies hacked a Ukrainian energy company at the centre of the impeachment trial of US President <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/bernie-sanders-said-no-woman-could-beat-donald-trump-in-2020-elizabeth-warren-274125">Donald Trump</a>, a cybersecurity firm said Monday.

Russia's GRU spy agency launched a "<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/north-korea-linked-hackers-stole-sensitive-information-microsoft-271217">phishing</a>" attack in November to access the email of Burisma Holdings employees, California cyber firm Area 1 Security said in a report.

"The timing of the GRU's campaign in relation to the 2020 US elections raises the spectre that this is an early warning of what we have anticipated since the successful cyberattacks undertaken during the 2016 US elections," Area 1 co-founders Oren J. Falkowitz and Blake Darche said in the eight-page document.

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Here's a link to the <a href="https://twitter.com/Area1Security?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Area1Security</a> report on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/phishing?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#phishing</a> of Burisma Holdings by the GRU <a href="https://t.co/oTEvMwmsjs">https://t.co/oTEvMwmsjs</a> <a href="https://t.co/XEmXumrww8">pic.twitter.com/XEmXumrww8</a>
— Oren J. Falkowitz (@orenfalkowitz) <a href="https://twitter.com/orenfalkowitz/status/1216874240848228352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 14, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Trump was impeached in December over allegations that he improperly pressured Ukraine to announce an investigation into Burisma and its links to former board member Hunter Biden, the son of the president's election rival Joe Biden.

The <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/russian-government-linked-hackers-targeting-anti-doping-authorities-sports-organizations-microsoft-258571">GRU</a> figured heavily in the Mueller report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign, which concluded that Russia hacked the Democratic Party and <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/shameful-for-uk-not-to-publish-russia-meddling-probe-clinton-261520">Hillary Clinton's</a> campaign to help Trump.

The president triggered wide alarm in Washington in July 2018 after he met President <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/pm-modi-and-russias-putin-discuss-regional-global-issues-in-telephonic-conversation-274090">Vladimir Putin</a> in Helsinki and appeared to take at face value Putin's denials of Russian meddling.

In a July 2019 phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/ukraine-demands-punishment-compensation-for-airliner-downed-by-iran-273583">Volodymyr Zelensky</a>, Trump pushed for Kiev to investigate a debunked Kremlin conspiracy theory that Biden, one of the Democrats most likely to challenge Trump for the White House in November, had tried to quash a graft probe of Burisma to protect his son.&nbsp;

The GRU, a military intelligence unit, got into the servers of Burisma Holdings, Area 1 said, although it is not clear what they found or what they were looking for.

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The Russians appear to be at it again. According to a new report, they’re hacking information that could be a prelude to more election interference in 2020. 
 
And again, it appears aimed to help Trump. 
 
We must reject foreign meddling. 
 
Americans should decide American elections. <a href="https://t.co/ipFsqq5yJz">https://t.co/ipFsqq5yJz</a>
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepAdamSchiff/status/1216921237009633281?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 14, 2020</a></blockquote>
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"The Russians appear to be at it again," tweeted <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/i-am-prepared-to-testify-in-trump-impeachment-trial-john-bolton-272608">Adam Schiff</a>, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee who led Trump's impeachment investigation for the Democrats.

"According to a new report, they're hacking information that could be a prelude to more election interference in 2020. And again, it appears aimed to help Trump."

The report was released with Trump expected to stand trial in the Senate as early as this week on two articles of impeachment, abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

Russian spies hacked a Ukrainian energy company at the centre of the impeachment trial of US President Donald Trump, a cybersecurity firm said Monday. Russia's GRU spy agency launched a "phishing" attack in November to access the email of Burisma Holdings employees, California cyber firm Area 1 Security said in a report.

Russian spies hacked a Ukrainian energy company at the centre of the impeachment trial of US President Donald Trump, a cybersecurity firm said Monday. Russia's GRU spy agency launched a "phishing" attack in November to access the email of Burisma Holdings employees, California cyber firm Area 1 Security said in a report. "The timing of the GRU's campaign in relation to the 2020 US elections raises the spectre that this is an early warning of what we have anticipated since the successful cyberattacks undertaken during the 2016 US elections," Area 1 co-founders Oren J. Falkowitz and Blake Darche said in the eight-page document. Here's a link to the @Area1Security report on #phishing of Burisma Holdings by the GRU https://t.co/oTEvMwmsjs pic.twitter.com/XEmXumrww8 — Oren J. Falkowitz (@orenfalkowitz) January 14, 2020 × Trump was impeached in December over allegations that he improperly pressured Ukraine to announce an investigation into Burisma and its links to former board member Hunter Biden, the son of the president's election rival Joe Biden. The GRU figured heavily in the Mueller report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign, which concluded that Russia hacked the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton's campaign to help Trump. The president triggered wide alarm in Washington in July 2018 after he met President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki and appeared to take at face value Putin's denials of Russian meddling. In a July 2019 phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump pushed for Kiev to investigate a debunked Kremlin conspiracy theory that Biden, one of the Democrats most likely to challenge Trump for the White House in November, had tried to quash a graft probe of Burisma to protect his son. The GRU, a military intelligence unit, got into the servers of Burisma Holdings, Area 1 said, although it is not clear what they found or what they were looking for. The Russians appear to be at it again. According to a new report, they’re hacking information that could be a prelude to more election interference in 2020. And again, it appears aimed to help Trump. We must reject foreign meddling. Americans should decide American elections. https://t.co/ipFsqq5yJz — Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) January 14, 2020 × "The Russians appear to be at it again," tweeted Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee who led Trump's impeachment investigation for the Democrats. "According to a new report, they're hacking information that could be a prelude to more election interference in 2020. And again, it appears aimed to help Trump." The report was released with Trump expected to stand trial in the Senate as early as this week on two articles of impeachment, abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

Russian spies hacked Ukrainian energy firm at center of Trump impeachment

Twitter shares fell almost 7 per cent after the company said it was investigating unusual traffic that might be from state-sponsored hackers and, in what appeared to be an unrelated issue, a security firm said hackers used the platform to try to steal user data.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/business-economy/wall-street-stocks-crash-dow-sp-fall-over-2-per-cent-184917">Also read:&nbsp;Wall Street stocks crash; Dow, S&amp;P fall over 2 per cent</a>

Twitter said in a blog that it discovered suspicious traffic to a customer-support forum while investigating a security bug that exposed data, including users' phone country codes and details on locked accounts. It said the bug was fixed November 16.

Twitter observed a large amount of traffic to the customer support site coming from individual internet IP addresses in China and Saudi Arabia.

"While we cannot confirm intent or attribution for certain, it is possible that some of these IP addresses may have ties to state-sponsored actors," the blog said.

"We continue to err on the side of full transparency in this area and have updated law enforcement on our findings," it said.

A company spokesman declined to elaborate as Twitter shares posted their biggest drop in more than two months.

Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter blamed the decline on concerns that news of a breach could hurt growth and user engagement.

"Clearly, a breach like this impairs user trust in the platform," he said.

Separately, security software maker Trend Micro Inc said in a blog earlier on Monday that attackers sent out two tweets in October in a bid to steal data from previously infected machines.

The hackers hid instructions in tweeted memes that secretly ordered infected devices to send information, including usernames, screen images and other content, Trend Micro said.

The Twitter spokesman declined to comment on the Trend Micro report.

Twitter shares fell almost 7 per cent after the company said it was investigating unusual traffic that might be from state-sponsored hackers and, in what appeared to be an unrelated issue, a security firm said hackers used the platform to try to steal user data.

Twitter shares fell almost 7 per cent after the company said it was investigating unusual traffic that might be from state-sponsored hackers and, in what appeared to be an unrelated issue, a security firm said hackers used the platform to try to steal user data. Also read: Wall Street stocks crash; Dow, S&P fall over 2 per cent Twitter said in a blog that it discovered suspicious traffic to a customer-support forum while investigating a security bug that exposed data, including users' phone country codes and details on locked accounts. It said the bug was fixed November 16. Twitter observed a large amount of traffic to the customer support site coming from individual internet IP addresses in China and Saudi Arabia. "While we cannot confirm intent or attribution for certain, it is possible that some of these IP addresses may have ties to state-sponsored actors," the blog said. "We continue to err on the side of full transparency in this area and have updated law enforcement on our findings," it said. A company spokesman declined to elaborate as Twitter shares posted their biggest drop in more than two months. Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter blamed the decline on concerns that news of a breach could hurt growth and user engagement. "Clearly, a breach like this impairs user trust in the platform," he said. Separately, security software maker Trend Micro Inc said in a blog earlier on Monday that attackers sent out two tweets in October in a bid to steal data from previously infected machines. The hackers hid instructions in tweeted memes that secretly ordered infected devices to send information, including usernames, screen images and other content, Trend Micro said. The Twitter spokesman declined to comment on the Trend Micro report.

Twitter shares fell 7 per cent on concerns about hacking activity

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