As many as 500 million guests <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/shanghai-temporarily-closes-marriott-website-in-china-after-questionnaire-gaffe-29230">Marriott International hotels may </a>have been victims of a hack of the chain's reservation database, the company announced Friday.

Marriott said it was alerted on September 8 that there had been an attempt to hack their reservation database in the United States.

The company discovered "that there had been unauthorised access to the Starwood network since 2014" which compromised personal and financial information.

The probe found "an unauthorised party had copied and encrypted information and took steps towards removing it."

After decrypting the information, the company found on November 19 "that the contents were from the Starwood guest reservation database."

Hotel brands in the Starwood network include Sheraton, Westin, Four Points and W Hotels.

"We deeply regret this incident happened," Marriott chief Arne Sorenson said in a statement. "We fell short of what our guests deserve and what we expect of ourselves."

Marriott said hackers accessed information like names, addresses and dates of birth from most of the affected customers but could not rule out that they were able to access some encrypted credit card information.

The company said it would reach out to victims of the hack and is offering support to those affected including free, one-year enrollment in WebWatcher a service which monitors internet sites where personal data is shared.

Marriott also is working with law enforcement and security experts to tighten security on its system.

"Finally, we are devoting the resources necessary to phase out Starwood systems and accelerate the ongoing security enhancements to our network," Sorenson said.

It is the latest case of massive breaches that compromise personal data and can cause years of headaches for victims, who often face serious legal and financial repercussions. 
&nbsp;

As many as 500 million guests Marriott International hotels may have been victims of a hack of the chain's reservation database, the company announced Friday. Marriott said it was alerted on September 8 that there had been an attempt to hack their reservation database in the United States.

As many as 500 million guests Marriott International hotels may have been victims of a hack of the chain's reservation database, the company announced Friday. Marriott said it was alerted on September 8 that there had been an attempt to hack their reservation database in the United States. The company discovered "that there had been unauthorised access to the Starwood network since 2014" which compromised personal and financial information. The probe found "an unauthorised party had copied and encrypted information and took steps towards removing it." After decrypting the information, the company found on November 19 "that the contents were from the Starwood guest reservation database." Hotel brands in the Starwood network include Sheraton, Westin, Four Points and W Hotels. "We deeply regret this incident happened," Marriott chief Arne Sorenson said in a statement. "We fell short of what our guests deserve and what we expect of ourselves." Marriott said hackers accessed information like names, addresses and dates of birth from most of the affected customers but could not rule out that they were able to access some encrypted credit card information. The company said it would reach out to victims of the hack and is offering support to those affected including free, one-year enrollment in WebWatcher a service which monitors internet sites where personal data is shared. Marriott also is working with law enforcement and security experts to tighten security on its system. "Finally, we are devoting the resources necessary to phase out Starwood systems and accelerate the ongoing security enhancements to our network," Sorenson said. It is the latest case of massive breaches that compromise personal data and can cause years of headaches for victims, who often face serious legal and financial repercussions.

Reservation database hacked, 500 million guests affected: Marriott hotel

Facebook vice president <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/facebooks-zuckerberg-says-he-is-not-considering-resigning-178571">Richard Allen today told an international</a> parliamentary committee hosted at the House of Commons in UK on disinformation and fake news that the social media giant had “damaged public trust through some of the actions we’ve taken.”

The company is being investigated after a British consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica obtained the personal data of 87 million Facebook users igniting worldwide condemnation.

The committee comprising of members belonging to Canada, Ireland, Brazil, France including twenty-four representatives from nine countries grilled the Facebook vice-president as he answered a barrage of questions put forth by the members.

Lawmakers criticised Zuckerberg for not being present at the hearing.

Canadian lawmaker Charlie Angus said: "Mr Zuckerberg's decision not to appear here at Westminster (Britain's parliament) to me speaks volumes."

Allen apologised to members for founder Mark Zuckerberg's absence. “Our intent is to be there to answer the questions that you have for us, and for some appearances, Mr Zuckerberg has made himself available but not for every appearance and apologise for that.”

"We've never seen anything quite like Facebook, where, while we were playing on our phones and apps, our democratic institutions ... seem to have been upended by frat-boy billionaires from California," Canadian lawmaker Charlie Angus said.

Canadian MP Bob Zimmer pointed out that the public had lost its trust on the company and that it could not be trusted to police itself to which Allen said: "I’m not going to disagree with you that we’ve damaged public trust through some of the actions we’ve taken."

"Just for the record, on the issue of the hiring of this outside firm [Definers Public Affairs], Mr Zuckerberg himself said it was not what he expected of us and he was not personally responsible for the hiring.”

On the question posed by committee chairman Bob Zimmer on Russians allegedly pulling down huge amount of data from the platform, Allen said he would get back to the committee with the answers.

Damian Collins, chair of the culture committee alleged that a Facebook engineer had "notified the company in October 2014 that entities with Russian IP addresses have been using a Pinterest API key to pull over 3 billion data points a day."

Allan said the documents were "a partial set of information that was obtained by a hostile litigant."

"Any information that you have seen that's contained within that cache of emails is at best partial and at worst potentially misleading," he said.

Facebook in a statement said: "the engineers who had flagged these initial concerns subsequently looked into this further and found no evidence of specific Russian activity".

Facebook vice president Richard Allen today told an international parliamentary committee hosted at the House of Commons in UK on disinformation and fake news that the social media giant had “damaged public trust through some of the actions we’ve taken.

Facebook vice president Richard Allen today told an international parliamentary committee hosted at the House of Commons in UK on disinformation and fake news that the social media giant had “damaged public trust through some of the actions we’ve taken.” The company is being investigated after a British consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica obtained the personal data of 87 million Facebook users igniting worldwide condemnation. The committee comprising of members belonging to Canada, Ireland, Brazil, France including twenty-four representatives from nine countries grilled the Facebook vice-president as he answered a barrage of questions put forth by the members. Lawmakers criticised Zuckerberg for not being present at the hearing. Canadian lawmaker Charlie Angus said: "Mr Zuckerberg's decision not to appear here at Westminster (Britain's parliament) to me speaks volumes." Allen apologised to members for founder Mark Zuckerberg's absence. “Our intent is to be there to answer the questions that you have for us, and for some appearances, Mr Zuckerberg has made himself available but not for every appearance and apologise for that.” "We've never seen anything quite like Facebook, where, while we were playing on our phones and apps, our democratic institutions ... seem to have been upended by frat-boy billionaires from California," Canadian lawmaker Charlie Angus said. Canadian MP Bob Zimmer pointed out that the public had lost its trust on the company and that it could not be trusted to police itself to which Allen said: "I’m not going to disagree with you that we’ve damaged public trust through some of the actions we’ve taken." "Just for the record, on the issue of the hiring of this outside firm [Definers Public Affairs], Mr Zuckerberg himself said it was not what he expected of us and he was not personally responsible for the hiring.” On the question posed by committee chairman Bob Zimmer on Russians allegedly pulling down huge amount of data from the platform, Allen said he would get back to the committee with the answers. Damian Collins, chair of the culture committee alleged that a Facebook engineer had "notified the company in October 2014 that entities with Russian IP addresses have been using a Pinterest API key to pull over 3 billion data points a day." Allan said the documents were "a partial set of information that was obtained by a hostile litigant." "Any information that you have seen that's contained within that cache of emails is at best partial and at worst potentially misleading," he said. Facebook in a statement said: "the engineers who had flagged these initial concerns subsequently looked into this further and found no evidence of specific Russian activity".

We damaged public trust, admits Facebook vice president as Zuckerberg avoids international parliamentary panel

Apple Inc's top security officer told Congress on Sunday that it had found no sign of suspicious transmissions or other evidence that it had been penetrated in a sophisticated attack on its supply chain.

Apple Vice President for Information Security George Stathakopoulos wrote in a letter to the Senate and House commerce committees that the company had repeatedly investigated and found no evidence for the main points in a Bloomberg Businessweek article published on Thursday, including that chips inside servers sold to Apple by Super Micro Computer Inc allowed for backdoor transmissions to China.

"Apple’s proprietary security tools are continuously scanning for precisely this kind of outbound traffic, as it indicates the existence of malware or other malicious activity. Nothing was ever found," he wrote in the letter provided to Reuters.

Stathakopoulos repeated Apple's statements to the press that it never found malicious chips or vulnerabilities purposely planted in any server or been contacted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) about such concerns. He said he would be available to brief Congressional staff on the issue this week.

The letter follows statements on Friday by Britain's National Cyber Security Centre and on Saturday by the US&nbsp;Department of Homeland Security that those agencies have no reason to doubt denials from Apple and Amazon.com Inc that they had discovered backdoored chips.

Bloomberg said on Friday it stood by its story, which was based on 17 anonymous sources. Some allegations were based on fewer accounts or even a single unnamed source, Apple noted in its letter.

A Bloomberg spokeswoman did not immediately respond to questions sent on Sunday.

Apple Inc's top security officer told Congress on Sunday that it had found no sign of suspicious transmissions or other evidence that it had been penetrated in a sophisticated attack on its supply chain.

Apple Inc's top security officer told Congress on Sunday that it had found no sign of suspicious transmissions or other evidence that it had been penetrated in a sophisticated attack on its supply chain. Apple Vice President for Information Security George Stathakopoulos wrote in a letter to the Senate and House commerce committees that the company had repeatedly investigated and found no evidence for the main points in a Bloomberg Businessweek article published on Thursday, including that chips inside servers sold to Apple by Super Micro Computer Inc allowed for backdoor transmissions to China. "Apple’s proprietary security tools are continuously scanning for precisely this kind of outbound traffic, as it indicates the existence of malware or other malicious activity. Nothing was ever found," he wrote in the letter provided to Reuters. Stathakopoulos repeated Apple's statements to the press that it never found malicious chips or vulnerabilities purposely planted in any server or been contacted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) about such concerns. He said he would be available to brief Congressional staff on the issue this week. The letter follows statements on Friday by Britain's National Cyber Security Centre and on Saturday by the US Department of Homeland Security that those agencies have no reason to doubt denials from Apple and Amazon.com Inc that they had discovered backdoored chips. Bloomberg said on Friday it stood by its story, which was based on 17 anonymous sources. Some allegations were based on fewer accounts or even a single unnamed source, Apple noted in its letter. A Bloomberg spokeswoman did not immediately respond to questions sent on Sunday.

Apple tells Congress it found no signs of hacking attack

Russia in middle of cyber attack scandal; accused of hacking high-profile firms 

The United States imposed sanctions on Friday on 10 Iranians and an Iranian company for alleged hacking hundreds of universities in the US and abroad and the theft of &quot;valuable intellectual property and data.&quot;

The Mabna Institute engaged in &quot;the theft of personal identifiers and economic resources for private financial gain&quot; and for the benefit of Iran&#39;s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the US Treasury Department said.

The two founders of the Mabna Institute are among the 10 people whose assets are subject to US seizure, it said. Nine of the 10 were indicted separately for conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and other charges.

The United States imposed sanctions on Friday on 10 Iranians and an Iranian company for alleged hacking hundreds of universities in the US and abroad and the theft of 'valuable intellectual property and data'

The United States imposed sanctions on Friday on 10 Iranians and an Iranian company for alleged hacking hundreds of universities in the US and abroad and the theft of "valuable intellectual property and data." The Mabna Institute engaged in "the theft of personal identifiers and economic resources for private financial gain" and for the benefit of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the US Treasury Department said. The two founders of the Mabna Institute are among the 10 people whose assets are subject to US seizure, it said. Nine of the 10 were indicted separately for conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and other charges.

US imposes sanctions on Iranians for hacking

The official Twitter handle of Air India was hacked on Thursday&nbsp;morning.

The cyber attack was carried out by suspected Turkish hackers with the cover picture showing image of Turkish Airline with tweets in Turkish language.

Pro-Turkish tweets were also seen in the account.

One of the retweets claimed that the Air India account has been hacked by the Turkish cyber army Ayyildiz Tim.

The profile of the page reads, &quot;Ayyildiz Tim Ozel&nbsp;Tim.Your DM correspondence and important data have been captured.&quot;

Later, however, all the malicious content posted on the handle was removed and the official handle restored, officials said.

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Tweets on Air India&#39;s Twitter handle (Others)
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Pro-Turkish tweets were also seen in the account.

The official Twitter handle of Air India was hacked on Thursday morning. The cyber attack was carried out by suspected Turkish hackers with the cover picture showing image of Turkish Airline with tweets in Turkish language. Pro-Turkish tweets were also seen in the account. One of the retweets claimed that the Air India account has been hacked by the Turkish cyber army Ayyildiz Tim. The profile of the page reads, "Ayyildiz Tim Ozel Tim.Your DM correspondence and important data have been captured." Later, however, all the malicious content posted on the handle was removed and the official handle restored, officials said. Tweets on Air India's Twitter handle (Others) ×

Air India's Twitter handle hacked

Cyber crimes are increasing and devices are becoming more vulnerable than ever before. But there are a few things that you can do all by yourself to stay digitally safe. On Safer Internet Day, we bring you some of those simple tips that can reduce your chances of being hacked.

Tip 1: Be cautious of who you share your phone with

It can take less than a minute for someone to hack into your phone. So, be a little careful when you give your phone to someone - in an emergency or in any other situation. Take it back if you find that someone is unnecessary fiddling with your phone.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Tip 2: Don&rsquo;t click on every link that you receive

We receive a lot of links on the WhatsApp, Facebook, or in emails. But don&rsquo;t click on any link as you spot it. Hold on, and verify the link first. See if the link starts with https.

&nbsp;

Tip 3: Never change your password on public wifi networks

Never change your password to online services on open wifi networks. Because this is one trick that hackers use to steal your online details. They come on the same wifi network and create a situation that you would be forced to generate a new password. And as you change your password, they get an access too. Also, we suggest you not to make online transactions on public wifis.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Tip 4: Keep your phone light

Avoid sensitive information on your phone. Keep taking frequent backups of your data and keep removing the same from your phone. So God forbid, if someday a hacker broke into your phone, there would be fewer chances for him to steal your confidential data.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Tip 5: Be wary of attachments in e-mails

Never download an attachment if you are not confident about it. Most of the times, your Gmail auto scans those attachments, but some viruses manage to bypass even those security measures.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Tip 6: Disable mobile data if not in use

If your phone is always connected to the Internet, it increases chances for hackers to get through your phone and install an app remotely. So if your mobile data is not in use, we advise you to disable it.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Tip 7: Read app permissions before downloading an app

Some of you may be in the habit of reading app permissions before downloading an app,&nbsp; but a majority of smartphone users actually accept the permissions without giving it a read. We advise you to always read them so that you know what all developers are getting access to on your phone. If you find that you are not comfortable in sharing some details with a third party developer, take a call to not install that particular app. It&rsquo;s better to not use an app than increasing your chances of falling for a cybercrime.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Tip 8: Increase security layers on your phone

Lock code for your phone is fine but that provides you with only one level of security. And, therefore, you are advised to use app locks and protect apps that include sensitive information.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Tip 9: Turn off Bluetooth when not in use

If the Bluetooth on your phone or laptop is not in use, turn it off. Because an always-on Bluetooth increases chances for hackers to break into your devices.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Tip 10: Never install an app from unverified sources

If you want to download a new app, visit official app sources and install them from there. Avoid installations from unverified sources.

&nbsp;

Security is never foolproof. But these simple tips can definitely help you protect better.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)&nbsp;&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Hackers have found new ways to break into your devices. But if you keep your digital doors locked, it reduces your chances of becoming a cybercrime victim.

Cyber crimes are increasing and devices are becoming more vulnerable than ever before. But there are a few things that you can do all by yourself to stay digitally safe. On Safer Internet Day, we bring you some of those simple tips that can reduce your chances of being hacked. Tip 1: Be cautious of who you share your phone with It can take less than a minute for someone to hack into your phone. So, be a little careful when you give your phone to someone - in an emergency or in any other situation. Take it back if you find that someone is unnecessary fiddling with your phone. Tip 2: Don’t click on every link that you receive We receive a lot of links on the WhatsApp, Facebook, or in emails. But don’t click on any link as you spot it. Hold on, and verify the link first. See if the link starts with https. Tip 3: Never change your password on public wifi networks Never change your password to online services on open wifi networks. Because this is one trick that hackers use to steal your online details. They come on the same wifi network and create a situation that you would be forced to generate a new password. And as you change your password, they get an access too. Also, we suggest you not to make online transactions on public wifis. Tip 4: Keep your phone light Avoid sensitive information on your phone. Keep taking frequent backups of your data and keep removing the same from your phone. So God forbid, if someday a hacker broke into your phone, there would be fewer chances for him to steal your confidential data. Tip 5: Be wary of attachments in e-mails Never download an attachment if you are not confident about it. Most of the times, your Gmail auto scans those attachments, but some viruses manage to bypass even those security measures. Tip 6: Disable mobile data if not in use If your phone is always connected to the Internet, it increases chances for hackers to get through your phone and install an app remotely. So if your mobile data is not in use, we advise you to disable it. Tip 7: Read app permissions before downloading an app Some of you may be in the habit of reading app permissions before downloading an app, but a majority of smartphone users actually accept the permissions without giving it a read. We advise you to always read them so that you know what all developers are getting access to on your phone. If you find that you are not comfortable in sharing some details with a third party developer, take a call to not install that particular app. It’s better to not use an app than increasing your chances of falling for a cybercrime. Tip 8: Increase security layers on your phone Lock code for your phone is fine but that provides you with only one level of security. And, therefore, you are advised to use app locks and protect apps that include sensitive information. Tip 9: Turn off Bluetooth when not in use If the Bluetooth on your phone or laptop is not in use, turn it off. Because an always-on Bluetooth increases chances for hackers to break into your devices. Tip 10: Never install an app from unverified sources If you want to download a new app, visit official app sources and install them from there. Avoid installations from unverified sources. Security is never foolproof. But these simple tips can definitely help you protect better. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Opinion: On Safer Internet Day, 10 tips to prevent hacking

US&nbsp;tech firms such as Facebook Inc and Twitter Inc should be more aggressive in tackling extremism and political misinformation if they want to avoid government action, a report from the World Economic Forum said on Monday.

The study from the Swiss nonprofit organization adds to a chorus of calls for Silicon Valley to stem the spread of violent material from Islamic State militants and the use of their services by alleged Russian propagandists.

Facebook, Twitter and Alphabet Inc&#39;s Google will go under the microscope of US&nbsp;lawmakers on Tuesday and Wednesday when their general counsels will testify before three US&nbsp;congressional committees on alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US&nbsp;presidential election.

The report from the World Economic Forum&#39;s human rights council warns that tech companies risk government regulation that would limit freedom of speech unless they &quot;assume a more active self-governance role.&quot;

It recommends that the companies conduct more thorough internal reviews of how their services can be misused and that they put in place more human oversight of content.

The German parliament in June approved a plan to fine social media networks up to 50 million euros if they fail to remove hateful postings promptly, a law that Monday&#39;s study said could potentially lead to the takedown of massive amounts of content.

The study from the Swiss nonprofit organization adds to a chorus of calls for Silicon Valley to stem the spread of violent material.

US tech firms such as Facebook Inc and Twitter Inc should be more aggressive in tackling extremism and political misinformation if they want to avoid government action, a report from the World Economic Forum said on Monday. The study from the Swiss nonprofit organization adds to a chorus of calls for Silicon Valley to stem the spread of violent material from Islamic State militants and the use of their services by alleged Russian propagandists. Facebook, Twitter and Alphabet Inc's Google will go under the microscope of US lawmakers on Tuesday and Wednesday when their general counsels will testify before three US congressional committees on alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election. The report from the World Economic Forum's human rights council warns that tech companies risk government regulation that would limit freedom of speech unless they "assume a more active self-governance role." It recommends that the companies conduct more thorough internal reviews of how their services can be misused and that they put in place more human oversight of content. The German parliament in June approved a plan to fine social media networks up to 50 million euros if they fail to remove hateful postings promptly, a law that Monday's study said could potentially lead to the takedown of massive amounts of content.

Tech firms must do more on extremism: World Economic Forum

A 29-year-old&nbsp;British&nbsp;hacker&nbsp;was handed a suspended jail sentence by a German court on Friday for a massive cyber attack against Deutsche Telekom last year.

The regional court in the western city of Cologne said it would suspend the sentence of one year and eight months against the defendant, Daniel Kaye, following pleas to this effect by both prosecutors and the defence.

The convicted hacker, who used the online alias &quot;Spiderman&quot;, among other names, also faces criminal charges in Britain, where authorities have requested his extradition.

The British man last week described as &quot;the worst mistake of my life&quot; the attack that knocked more than one million German households offline in November, carried out for money on behalf of a Liberian client.

He was detained in February at London&#39;s Luton airport on a European arrest warrant for attempted computer sabotage and extradited to Germany.

German police said the goal of the attack was to infect users&#39; computers with a &quot;botnet&quot; - a network of web-connected machines that can be manipulated with malware and used to assault other online targets.

Kaye told the court he was paid $10,000 by a Liberian telecom company which wanted to use the botnet to damage a local rival.

Deutsche Telekom, Germany&#39;s largest telecom company, had said the attack caused internet outages for as many as 900,000 of its customers, or about 4.5 percent of its 20 million fixed-line customers, but that it was thwarted before it could spread, Reuters reported.

The attack, which the company said caused about two million euros of damage, ended when it advised customers to disconnect their routers and restart them after a software update.

The large-scale strike fuelled concerns over cyber security in Germany and officials have warned that more online assaults are possible ahead of a general election in September.

Although he will not face jail-time in Germany, Britain has opened probes against Kaye for alleged involvement in other hacking attacks and bank blackmail cases, German news agency DPA reported.

(Inputs: AFP &amp; Reuters)

The British man described as "the worst mistake of my life" the attack that knocked more than one million German households offline in November.

A 29-year-old British hacker was handed a suspended jail sentence by a German court on Friday for a massive cyber attack against Deutsche Telekom last year. The regional court in the western city of Cologne said it would suspend the sentence of one year and eight months against the defendant, Daniel Kaye, following pleas to this effect by both prosecutors and the defence. The convicted hacker, who used the online alias "Spiderman", among other names, also faces criminal charges in Britain, where authorities have requested his extradition. The British man last week described as "the worst mistake of my life" the attack that knocked more than one million German households offline in November, carried out for money on behalf of a Liberian client. He was detained in February at London's Luton airport on a European arrest warrant for attempted computer sabotage and extradited to Germany. German police said the goal of the attack was to infect users' computers with a "botnet" - a network of web-connected machines that can be manipulated with malware and used to assault other online targets. Kaye told the court he was paid $10,000 by a Liberian telecom company which wanted to use the botnet to damage a local rival. Deutsche Telekom, Germany's largest telecom company, had said the attack caused internet outages for as many as 900,000 of its customers, or about 4.5 percent of its 20 million fixed-line customers, but that it was thwarted before it could spread, Reuters reported. The attack, which the company said caused about two million euros of damage, ended when it advised customers to disconnect their routers and restart them after a software update. The large-scale strike fuelled concerns over cyber security in Germany and officials have warned that more online assaults are possible ahead of a general election in September. Although he will not face jail-time in Germany, Britain has opened probes against Kaye for alleged involvement in other hacking attacks and bank blackmail cases, German news agency DPA reported. (Inputs: AFP & Reuters)

British 'Spiderman' convicted over cyber attack in Germany

Two-thirds of those caught up in the past week&#39;s global ransomware attack were running Microsoft&#39;s Windows 7 operating system without the latest security updates, a survey for Reuters by security ratings firm BitSight found.

Researchers are struggling to try to find early traces of WannaCry, which remains an active threat in hardest-hit China and Russia, believing that identifying &quot;patient zero&quot; could help catch its criminal authors.

They are having more luck dissecting flaws that limited its spread.

Security experts warn that while computers at more than 3,00,000 internet addresses were hit by the ransomware strain, further attacks that fix weaknesses in WannaCry will follow that hit larger numbers of users, with more devastating consequences.

&quot;Some organisations just aren&#39;t aware of the risks; some don&#39;t want to risk interrupting important business processes; sometimes they are short-staffed,&quot; said Ziv Mador, vice president of security research at Israel&#39;s SpiderLabs Trustwave.

&quot;There are plenty of reasons people wait to patch and none of them are good,&quot; said Mador, a former long-time security researcher for Microsoft.

WannaCry&#39;s worm-like capacity to infect other computers on the same network with no human intervention appear tailored to Windows 7, said Paul Pratley, head of investigations &amp; incident response at UK consulting firm MWR InfoSecurity.

Data from BitSight covering 160,000 internet-connected computers hit by WannaCry, shows that Windows 7 accounts for 67 per cent of infections, although it represents less than half of the global distribution of Windows PC users.

Computers running older versions, such as Windows XP used in Britain&#39;s NHS health system, while individually vulnerable to attack, appear incapable of spreading infections and played a far smaller role in the global attack than initially reported.

In laboratory testing, researchers at MWR and Kyptos say they have found Windows XP crashes before the virus can spread.

Windows 10, the latest version of Microsoft&#39;s flagship operating system franchise, accounts for another 15 per cent, while older versions of Windows including 8.1, 8, XP and Vista, account for the remainder, BitSight estimated.

Computer basics

Any organisation which heeded strongly worded warnings from Microsoft to urgently install a security patch it labelled &ldquo;critical&rdquo; when it was released on March 14 on all computers on their networks are immune, experts agree.

Those hit by WannaCry also failed to heed warnings last year from Microsoft to disable a file sharing feature in Windows known as SMB, which a covert hacker group calling itself Shadow Brokers had claimed was used by NSA intelligence operatives to sneak into Windows PCs.

&quot;Clearly people who run supported versions of Windows and patched quickly were not affected&quot;, Trustwave&#39;s Mador said.

Microsoft has faced criticism since 2014 for withdrawing support for older versions of Windows software such as 16-year-old Windows XP and requiring users to pay hefty annual fees instead. The British government cancelled a nationwide NHS support contract with Microsoft after a year, leaving upgrades to local trusts.

Seeking to head off further criticism in the wake of the WannaCry outbreak, the US&nbsp;software giant last weekend released a free patch for Windows XP and other older Windows versions that it previously only offered to paying customers.

Microsoft declined to comment for this story.

On Sunday, the US&nbsp;software giant called on intelligence services to strike a better balance between their desire to keep software flaws secret - in order to conduct espionage and cyber warfare - and sharing those flaws with technology companies to better secure the internet.

Half of all internet addresses corrupted globally by WannaCry are located in China and Russia, with 30 and 20 per cent respectively. Infection levels spiked again in both countries this week and remained high through Thursday, according to data supplied to Reuters by threat intelligence firm Kryptos Logic.

By contrast, the United States accounts for 7 per cent of WannaCry infections while Britain, France and Germany each represent just 2 per cent of worldwide attacks, Kryptos said.

Dumb and sophisticated

The ransomware mixes copycat software loaded with amateur coding mistakes and recently leaked spy tools widely believed to have been stolen from the US&nbsp;National Security Agency, creating a vastly potent class of crimeware.

&quot;What really makes the magnitude of this attack so much greater than any other is that the intent has changed from information stealing to business disruption&quot;, said Samil Neino, 32, chief executive of Los Angeles-based Kryptos Logic.

Last Friday, the company&#39;s British-based 22-year-old data breach research chief, Marcus Hutchins, created a &quot;kill-switch&quot;, which security experts have widely hailed as the decisive step in halting the ransomware&#39;s rapid spread around the globe.

WannaCry appears to target mainly enterprises rather than consumers: Once it infects one machine, it silently proliferates across internal networks which can connect hundreds or thousands of machines in large firms, unlike individual consumers at home.

An unknown number of computers sit behind the 3,00,000 infected internet connections identified by Kryptos.

Because of the way WannaCry spreads sneakily inside organisation networks, a far larger total of ransomed computers sitting behind company firewalls may be hit, possibly numbering upward of a million machines. The company is crunching data to arrive at a firmer estimate it aims to release later Thursday.

Liran Eshel, chief executive of cloud storage provider CTERA Networks, said: &quot;The attack shows how sophisticated ransomware has become, forcing even unaffected organisations to rethink strategies.&quot;

Escape route

Researchers from a variety of security firms say they have so far failed to find a way to decrypt files locked up by WannaCry and say chances are low anyone will succeed.

However, a bug in WannaCry code means the attackers cannot use unique bitcoin addresses to track payments, security researchers at Symantec found this week. The result: &quot;Users unlikely to get files restored&quot;, the company&#39;s Security Response team tweeted.

The rapid recovery by many organisations with unpatched computers caught out by the attack may largely be attributed to back-up and retrieval procedures they had in place, enabling technicians to re-image infected machines, experts said.

While encrypting individual computers it infects, WannaCry code does not attack network data-backup systems, as more sophisticated ransomware packages typically do, security experts who have studied WannaCry code agree.

These factors help explain the mystery of why such a tiny number of victims appear to have paid ransoms into the three bitcoin accounts to which WannaCry directs victims.

Less than 300 payments worth around $83,000 had been paid into WannaCry blackmail accounts by Thursday (1800 GMT), six days after the attack began and one day before the ransomware threatens to start locking up victim computers forever.

The Verizon 2017 Data Breach Investigations Report, the most comprehensive annual survey of security breakdowns, found that it takes three months before at least half of organisations install major new software security patches.

WannaCry landed nine weeks after Microsoft&#39;s patch arrived.

&quot;The same things are causing the same problems. That&#39;s what the data shows,&quot; MWR research head Pratley said.

&quot;We haven&#39;t seen many organisations fall over and that&#39;s because they did some of the security basics,&quot; he said.

(Reuters)

Researchers are struggling to try to find early traces of WannaCry

Two-thirds of those caught up in the past week's global ransomware attack were running Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system without the latest security updates, a survey for Reuters by security ratings firm BitSight found. Researchers are struggling to try to find early traces of WannaCry, which remains an active threat in hardest-hit China and Russia, believing that identifying "patient zero" could help catch its criminal authors. They are having more luck dissecting flaws that limited its spread. Security experts warn that while computers at more than 3,00,000 internet addresses were hit by the ransomware strain, further attacks that fix weaknesses in WannaCry will follow that hit larger numbers of users, with more devastating consequences. "Some organisations just aren't aware of the risks; some don't want to risk interrupting important business processes; sometimes they are short-staffed," said Ziv Mador, vice president of security research at Israel's SpiderLabs Trustwave. "There are plenty of reasons people wait to patch and none of them are good," said Mador, a former long-time security researcher for Microsoft. WannaCry's worm-like capacity to infect other computers on the same network with no human intervention appear tailored to Windows 7, said Paul Pratley, head of investigations & incident response at UK consulting firm MWR InfoSecurity. Data from BitSight covering 160,000 internet-connected computers hit by WannaCry, shows that Windows 7 accounts for 67 per cent of infections, although it represents less than half of the global distribution of Windows PC users. Computers running older versions, such as Windows XP used in Britain's NHS health system, while individually vulnerable to attack, appear incapable of spreading infections and played a far smaller role in the global attack than initially reported. In laboratory testing, researchers at MWR and Kyptos say they have found Windows XP crashes before the virus can spread. Windows 10, the latest version of Microsoft's flagship operating system franchise, accounts for another 15 per cent, while older versions of Windows including 8.1, 8, XP and Vista, account for the remainder, BitSight estimated. Computer basics Any organisation which heeded strongly worded warnings from Microsoft to urgently install a security patch it labelled “critical” when it was released on March 14 on all computers on their networks are immune, experts agree. Those hit by WannaCry also failed to heed warnings last year from Microsoft to disable a file sharing feature in Windows known as SMB, which a covert hacker group calling itself Shadow Brokers had claimed was used by NSA intelligence operatives to sneak into Windows PCs. "Clearly people who run supported versions of Windows and patched quickly were not affected", Trustwave's Mador said. Microsoft has faced criticism since 2014 for withdrawing support for older versions of Windows software such as 16-year-old Windows XP and requiring users to pay hefty annual fees instead. The British government cancelled a nationwide NHS support contract with Microsoft after a year, leaving upgrades to local trusts. Seeking to head off further criticism in the wake of the WannaCry outbreak, the US software giant last weekend released a free patch for Windows XP and other older Windows versions that it previously only offered to paying customers. Microsoft declined to comment for this story. On Sunday, the US software giant called on intelligence services to strike a better balance between their desire to keep software flaws secret - in order to conduct espionage and cyber warfare - and sharing those flaws with technology companies to better secure the internet. Half of all internet addresses corrupted globally by WannaCry are located in China and Russia, with 30 and 20 per cent respectively. Infection levels spiked again in both countries this week and remained high through Thursday, according to data supplied to Reuters by threat intelligence firm Kryptos Logic. By contrast, the United States accounts for 7 per cent of WannaCry infections while Britain, France and Germany each represent just 2 per cent of worldwide attacks, Kryptos said. Dumb and sophisticated The ransomware mixes copycat software loaded with amateur coding mistakes and recently leaked spy tools widely believed to have been stolen from the US National Security Agency, creating a vastly potent class of crimeware. "What really makes the magnitude of this attack so much greater than any other is that the intent has changed from information stealing to business disruption", said Samil Neino, 32, chief executive of Los Angeles-based Kryptos Logic. Last Friday, the company's British-based 22-year-old data breach research chief, Marcus Hutchins, created a "kill-switch", which security experts have widely hailed as the decisive step in halting the ransomware's rapid spread around the globe. WannaCry appears to target mainly enterprises rather than consumers: Once it infects one machine, it silently proliferates across internal networks which can connect hundreds or thousands of machines in large firms, unlike individual consumers at home. An unknown number of computers sit behind the 3,00,000 infected internet connections identified by Kryptos. Because of the way WannaCry spreads sneakily inside organisation networks, a far larger total of ransomed computers sitting behind company firewalls may be hit, possibly numbering upward of a million machines. The company is crunching data to arrive at a firmer estimate it aims to release later Thursday. Liran Eshel, chief executive of cloud storage provider CTERA Networks, said: "The attack shows how sophisticated ransomware has become, forcing even unaffected organisations to rethink strategies." Escape route Researchers from a variety of security firms say they have so far failed to find a way to decrypt files locked up by WannaCry and say chances are low anyone will succeed. However, a bug in WannaCry code means the attackers cannot use unique bitcoin addresses to track payments, security researchers at Symantec found this week. The result: "Users unlikely to get files restored", the company's Security Response team tweeted. The rapid recovery by many organisations with unpatched computers caught out by the attack may largely be attributed to back-up and retrieval procedures they had in place, enabling technicians to re-image infected machines, experts said. While encrypting individual computers it infects, WannaCry code does not attack network data-backup systems, as more sophisticated ransomware packages typically do, security experts who have studied WannaCry code agree. These factors help explain the mystery of why such a tiny number of victims appear to have paid ransoms into the three bitcoin accounts to which WannaCry directs victims. Less than 300 payments worth around $83,000 had been paid into WannaCry blackmail accounts by Thursday (1800 GMT), six days after the attack began and one day before the ransomware threatens to start locking up victim computers forever. The Verizon 2017 Data Breach Investigations Report, the most comprehensive annual survey of security breakdowns, found that it takes three months before at least half of organisations install major new software security patches. WannaCry landed nine weeks after Microsoft's patch arrived. "The same things are causing the same problems. That's what the data shows," MWR research head Pratley said. "We haven't seen many organisations fall over and that's because they did some of the security basics," he said. (Reuters)

WannaCry: Security experts find clues to ransomware worm's lingering risks

Governments turned their attention to a possible new wave of cyber threats after the group that leaked US&nbsp;hacking tools used to launch the global WannaCry &quot;ransomware&quot; attack warned it would release more malicious code.

The fast-spreading cyber extortion campaign, which has infected more than 3,00,000 computers worldwide since Friday, eased for second day on Tuesday, but the identity and motive of its creators remain unknown.

The attack includes elements that belong to the US&nbsp;National Security Agency and were leaked online last month.

Shadow Brokers, the group that has taken credit for that leak, threatened on Tuesday to release more recent code to enable hackers to break into the world&#39;s most widely used computers, software and phones.

A blog post written by the group promised from June to release tools every month to anyone willing to pay for access to some of the tech world&#39;s biggest commercial secrets.

It also threatened to dump data from banks using the SWIFT international money transfer network and from Russian, Chinese, Iranian or North Korean nuclear and missile programs. &quot;More details in June,&quot; it promised.

The spread of the WannaCry attack - which encrypts a user&#39;s data and demands a &quot;ransom&quot; be paid electronically to free it up again - slowed to a trickle on Tuesday, with few, isolated examples being reported.

In Canada, the Universite de Montreal was hit, with 120 of the French-language university&rsquo;s 8,300 computers affected, according to a university spokeswoman.

There were no new, major incidents in the United States. Fewer than 10 US&nbsp;organisations have reported attacks to the Department of Homeland Security since Friday, a US&nbsp;official told reporters on Tuesday.

The attack has caused most damage in Russia, Taiwan, Ukraine and India, according to Czech security firm Avast.

The United States likely avoided greater harm as the attack targeted older versions of Microsoft&#39;s Windows operating system, and more US&nbsp;users have licensed, up-to-date, patched versions of the software, compared to other regions of the world.

The Department of Homeland Security began an &quot;aggressive awareness campaign&quot; to alert the tech industry to the importance of installing the patch that Microsoft issued in March that protected users from the vulnerability exploited by the attack, a US&nbsp;official working on the attack told Reuters.

Microsoft said on Tuesday it was aware of Shadow Brokers&#39; most recent claim and that its security teams monitor potential threats in order to &quot;help us prioritise and take appropriate action.&quot;

Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith said earlier this week the WannaCry attack used elements stolen from the NSA. The US&nbsp;government has not commented directly on the matter.

North Korea link probed

Cyber security researchers around the world have said they have found evidence that could link North Korea with the WannaCry cyber attack.

A researcher from South Korea&#39;s Hauri Labs said on Tuesday their own findings matched those of Symantecand Kaspersky, who said on Monday that some code in an earlier version of the WannaCry software had also appeared in programs used by the Lazarus Group, identified by some researchers as a North Korea-run hacking operation.

&quot;It is similar to North Korea&#39;s backdoor malicious codes,&quot; said Simon Choi, a senior researcher with Hauri who has done extensive research into North Korea&#39;s hacking capabilities and advises South Korean police and National Intelligence Service.

Both Symantec and Kaspersky said it was too early to tell whether North Korea was involved in the attacks, based on the evidence that was published on Twitter by Google security researcher Neel Mehta.

FireEye, another large cyber security firm, said it was also investigating, but it was cautious about drawing a link to North Korea.

&quot;The similarities we see between malware linked to that group and WannaCry are not unique enough to be strongly suggestive of a common operator,&quot; FireEye researcher John Miller said.

US&nbsp;and European security officials told Reuters on condition of anonymity that it was too early to say who might be behind the attacks, but they did not rule out North Korea as a suspect.

The Lazarus hackers, acting for impoverished North Korea, have been more brazen in their pursuit of financial gain than others, and have been blamed for the theft of $81 million from the Bangladesh central bank, according to some cyber security firms. The United States accused it of being behind a cyber attack on Sony Pictures in 2014.

North Korea has denied being behind the Sony and banking attacks. North Korean officials were not immediately available for comment and its state media has been quiet about the matter.

No information to share

In China, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she had no information to share, when asked about the origin of the attack and whether North Korea might be connected.

Several Asian countries have been affected by the malware, although the impact has not been as widespread as some had feared.

In Malaysia, cyber security firm LE Global Services said it identified 12 cases so far, including a large government-linked corporation, a government-linked investment firm and an insurance company. It did not name any of the entities.

&quot;We may not see the real picture yet, as companies are not mandated to disclose security breaches to authorities in Malaysia,&quot; said LE Global CEO Fong Choong Fook.

&quot;The real situation may be serious. In one of the cases, the attack was traced back to early April.&quot;

Vietnam&#39;s state media said on Tuesday more than 200 computers had been affected, but one of the country&#39;s leading anti virus companies, Bkav, later put the figure at 1,900.

Taiwan Power said that nearly 800 of its computers were affected, although these were used for administration, not for systems involved in electricity generation.

(Reuters)

The fast-spreading cyber extortion campaign has infected more than 300,000 computers worldwide

Governments turned their attention to a possible new wave of cyber threats after the group that leaked US hacking tools used to launch the global WannaCry "ransomware" attack warned it would release more malicious code. The fast-spreading cyber extortion campaign, which has infected more than 3,00,000 computers worldwide since Friday, eased for second day on Tuesday, but the identity and motive of its creators remain unknown. The attack includes elements that belong to the US National Security Agency and were leaked online last month. Shadow Brokers, the group that has taken credit for that leak, threatened on Tuesday to release more recent code to enable hackers to break into the world's most widely used computers, software and phones. A blog post written by the group promised from June to release tools every month to anyone willing to pay for access to some of the tech world's biggest commercial secrets. It also threatened to dump data from banks using the SWIFT international money transfer network and from Russian, Chinese, Iranian or North Korean nuclear and missile programs. "More details in June," it promised. The spread of the WannaCry attack - which encrypts a user's data and demands a "ransom" be paid electronically to free it up again - slowed to a trickle on Tuesday, with few, isolated examples being reported. In Canada, the Universite de Montreal was hit, with 120 of the French-language university’s 8,300 computers affected, according to a university spokeswoman. There were no new, major incidents in the United States. Fewer than 10 US organisations have reported attacks to the Department of Homeland Security since Friday, a US official told reporters on Tuesday. The attack has caused most damage in Russia, Taiwan, Ukraine and India, according to Czech security firm Avast. The United States likely avoided greater harm as the attack targeted older versions of Microsoft's Windows operating system, and more US users have licensed, up-to-date, patched versions of the software, compared to other regions of the world. The Department of Homeland Security began an "aggressive awareness campaign" to alert the tech industry to the importance of installing the patch that Microsoft issued in March that protected users from the vulnerability exploited by the attack, a US official working on the attack told Reuters. Microsoft said on Tuesday it was aware of Shadow Brokers' most recent claim and that its security teams monitor potential threats in order to "help us prioritise and take appropriate action." Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith said earlier this week the WannaCry attack used elements stolen from the NSA. The US government has not commented directly on the matter. North Korea link probed Cyber security researchers around the world have said they have found evidence that could link North Korea with the WannaCry cyber attack. A researcher from South Korea's Hauri Labs said on Tuesday their own findings matched those of Symantecand Kaspersky, who said on Monday that some code in an earlier version of the WannaCry software had also appeared in programs used by the Lazarus Group, identified by some researchers as a North Korea-run hacking operation. "It is similar to North Korea's backdoor malicious codes," said Simon Choi, a senior researcher with Hauri who has done extensive research into North Korea's hacking capabilities and advises South Korean police and National Intelligence Service. Both Symantec and Kaspersky said it was too early to tell whether North Korea was involved in the attacks, based on the evidence that was published on Twitter by Google security researcher Neel Mehta. FireEye, another large cyber security firm, said it was also investigating, but it was cautious about drawing a link to North Korea. "The similarities we see between malware linked to that group and WannaCry are not unique enough to be strongly suggestive of a common operator," FireEye researcher John Miller said. US and European security officials told Reuters on condition of anonymity that it was too early to say who might be behind the attacks, but they did not rule out North Korea as a suspect. The Lazarus hackers, acting for impoverished North Korea, have been more brazen in their pursuit of financial gain than others, and have been blamed for the theft of $81 million from the Bangladesh central bank, according to some cyber security firms. The United States accused it of being behind a cyber attack on Sony Pictures in 2014. North Korea has denied being behind the Sony and banking attacks. North Korean officials were not immediately available for comment and its state media has been quiet about the matter. No information to share In China, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she had no information to share, when asked about the origin of the attack and whether North Korea might be connected. Several Asian countries have been affected by the malware, although the impact has not been as widespread as some had feared. In Malaysia, cyber security firm LE Global Services said it identified 12 cases so far, including a large government-linked corporation, a government-linked investment firm and an insurance company. It did not name any of the entities. "We may not see the real picture yet, as companies are not mandated to disclose security breaches to authorities in Malaysia," said LE Global CEO Fong Choong Fook. "The real situation may be serious. In one of the cases, the attack was traced back to early April." Vietnam's state media said on Tuesday more than 200 computers had been affected, but one of the country's leading anti virus companies, Bkav, later put the figure at 1,900. Taiwan Power said that nearly 800 of its computers were affected, although these were used for administration, not for systems involved in electricity generation. (Reuters)

WannaCry: Cyber attack eases, but hacking group threatens to sell code

Chinese local authorities from traffic police to industry regulators were hobbled on Monday by a massive global ransomware attack, but the spread of the WannaCry worm in the country appeared less aggressive than initially feared. &nbsp;(<a href="http://http://www.wionews.com/science-tech/wannacry-what-is-ransomware-and-how-to-protect-yourself-from-it-15608">Also Read: WannaCry: What is ransomware and how to protect yourself from it</a>)

Dozens of local Chinese authorities said they had suspended some of their services due to the attack that has disrupted operations at car factories, hospitals, shops and schools around the world.

However, officials and security firms said the spread was starting to slow in the country, which has the world&#39;s largest number of Internet users.

&quot;The growth rate of infected institutions on Monday has slowed significantly compared to the previous two days,&quot; said Chinese Internet security company Qihoo 360.

&quot;Previous concerns of a wide-scale infection of domestic institutions did not eventuate.&quot;

Qihoo has previously said the attack had infected close to 30,000 organizations by Saturday evening. Of that, over 4,000 were educational institutions.

An official from Cybersecurity Administration China (CAC) told local media on Monday that while the ransomware was still spreading and had affected industry and government computer systems, the spread was slowing.

China remained a major source of attack from infected computers, at least during the Asian day, said Michael Gazeley, managing director of Network Box, a Hong Kong-based cybersecurity firm.

At about noon (0400 GMT), nearly 47 per cent of attacks on Network Box&#39;s clients came from China. This would change, Gazeley said, as Europe and US computers are turned on, but it indicated the scale of the problem there.

Chinese government bodies from transport, social security, industry watchdogs and immigration said they had suspended services ranging from processing applications to traffic crime enforcement.

It&#39;s not clear whether the services were suspended due to attacks or for emergency patching to prevent infection. Even then, adding a patch was no simple task, experts said.

&quot;If a system supports some kind critical processes those systems typically are very hard to patch... We don&#39;t have a precedent from something of this scale (in China),&quot; said Marin Ivezic, a cybersecurity expert at PwC in Hong Kong.

Affected bodies included a social security department in the city of Changsha, the exit-entry bureau in Dalian, a housing fund in Zhuhai and an industry watchdog in Xuzhou.

The ransomware, which has locked up over 200,000 computers in more than 150 countries, has been mainly spread by e-mail, and in China has hit schools and colleges, energy giant PetroChina&#39;s &nbsp;payment systems and local government.

Security experts say most infected computers appear to be systems running out-of-date operating systems, or machines that are hard to patch without affecting crucial operations in areas like healthcare or manufacturing.

Beijing has said previously it is a victim of hacking, although the United States has accused it of cyber attacks on US government computer systems.

China is also set to implement a tougher new cyber security law from June 1, designed to strengthen critical infrastructure, even as many global tech firms and lobbies say that its cyber rules skew the playing field against foreign firms.

(Reuters)

China: Cyber attack hits government, schools, but spread slows

Chinese local authorities from traffic police to industry regulators were hobbled on Monday by a massive global ransomware attack, but the spread of the WannaCry worm in the country appeared less aggressive than initially feared. (Also Read: WannaCry: What is ransomware and how to protect yourself from it) Dozens of local Chinese authorities said they had suspended some of their services due to the attack that has disrupted operations at car factories, hospitals, shops and schools around the world. However, officials and security firms said the spread was starting to slow in the country, which has the world's largest number of Internet users. "The growth rate of infected institutions on Monday has slowed significantly compared to the previous two days," said Chinese Internet security company Qihoo 360. "Previous concerns of a wide-scale infection of domestic institutions did not eventuate." Qihoo has previously said the attack had infected close to 30,000 organizations by Saturday evening. Of that, over 4,000 were educational institutions. An official from Cybersecurity Administration China (CAC) told local media on Monday that while the ransomware was still spreading and had affected industry and government computer systems, the spread was slowing. China remained a major source of attack from infected computers, at least during the Asian day, said Michael Gazeley, managing director of Network Box, a Hong Kong-based cybersecurity firm. At about noon (0400 GMT), nearly 47 per cent of attacks on Network Box's clients came from China. This would change, Gazeley said, as Europe and US computers are turned on, but it indicated the scale of the problem there. Chinese government bodies from transport, social security, industry watchdogs and immigration said they had suspended services ranging from processing applications to traffic crime enforcement. It's not clear whether the services were suspended due to attacks or for emergency patching to prevent infection. Even then, adding a patch was no simple task, experts said. "If a system supports some kind critical processes those systems typically are very hard to patch... We don't have a precedent from something of this scale (in China)," said Marin Ivezic, a cybersecurity expert at PwC in Hong Kong. Affected bodies included a social security department in the city of Changsha, the exit-entry bureau in Dalian, a housing fund in Zhuhai and an industry watchdog in Xuzhou. The ransomware, which has locked up over 200,000 computers in more than 150 countries, has been mainly spread by e-mail, and in China has hit schools and colleges, energy giant PetroChina's payment systems and local government. Security experts say most infected computers appear to be systems running out-of-date operating systems, or machines that are hard to patch without affecting crucial operations in areas like healthcare or manufacturing. Beijing has said previously it is a victim of hacking, although the United States has accused it of cyber attacks on US government computer systems. China is also set to implement a tougher new cyber security law from June 1, designed to strengthen critical infrastructure, even as many global tech firms and lobbies say that its cyber rules skew the playing field against foreign firms. (Reuters)

Asian governments and businesses reported some disruptions from the WannaCry ransomware worm on Monday but cybersecurity experts warned of a wider impact as more employees turned on their computers and checked e-mails.

The ransomware that has locked up more than 200,000 computers in more than 150 countries has been mainly spread by e-mail, hitting factories, hospitals, shops and schools worldwide.

&quot;Most of the attacks are arriving via e-mail, so there are many &#39;landmines&#39; waiting in people&#39;s in-boxes,&quot; said Michael Gazeley, managing director of Network Box, a Hong Kong-based cybersecurity company.

In China, the world&#39;s second-largest economy, energy giant PetroChina said payment systems at some of its petrol stations were hit, although it had been able to restore most of the systems. Several Chinese government bodies, including police and traffic authorities, reported they had been impacted by the hack, according to posts on official microblogs.

The official China Daily newspaper, citing Chinese tech firm Qihoo 360, said that at least 200,000 computers had been affected in China, with schools and colleges particularly hard-hit.

A spokesman for the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, one of the region&#39;s biggest bourses, said all systems were so far working normally. &quot;We remain highly vigilant,&quot; he said.

Companies have warned users and staff not to click on attachments or links. One school in South Korea barred its pupils from using the internet. Taiwan&#39;s government appeared to have escaped major infection, possibly because regulations there require all departments to install software updates as soon as they are available.

South Korea&#39;s presidential Blue House office said nine cases of ransomware were found in the country, but did not provide details on where the cyber attacks were discovered.

In Australia, Dan Tehan, the government minister responsible for cybersecurity, said just three businesses had been hit by the bug, despite worries of widespread infection. There were no reported cases in New Zealand.

Brief respite

Cyber security experts said the spread of the ransomware had slowed since its appearance on Friday but that the respite might only be brief.

For one thing, the attackers or copycat attackers may have developed new versions of the worm, although a British-based security researcher who thwarted an earlier version of the worm told Reuters most of these reports had been proven false.

In Hong Kong, Gazeley said his team had found a new version of the worm that didn&#39;t use e-mail to lure victims.

Instead, it loaded scripts onto hacked websites where users who clicked on a malicious link would be infected directly. He said it was too early to tell how many websites had been affected.

Gazeley added that several major companies in Asia had been hit by the ransomware, but &quot;the last thing they want to do is come out in public and admit it.&quot; He declined to elaborate.

In a blog post on Sunday, Microsoft President Brad Smith appeared to tacitly acknowledge what researchers had already widely concluded: The ransomware attack leveraged a hacking tool built by the US&nbsp;National Security Agency, that leaked online in April.

The non-profit US&nbsp;Cyber Consequences Unit research institute estimated that total losses would range in the hundreds of millions of dollars, but not exceed $1 billion.

Most victims were quickly able to recover infected systems with backups, said the group&#39;s chief economist, Scott Borg.

Infected computers appear to largely be out-of-date devices that organisations deemed not worth the price of upgrading or, in some cases, machines involved in manufacturing or hospital functions that proved too difficult to patch without possibly disrupting crucial operations, security experts said.

Microsoft released patches last month and on Friday to fix a vulnerability that allowed the worm to spread across networks, a rare and powerful feature that caused infections to surge on Friday.

(Reuters)

WannaCry ransomeware affects Asian business; wider impact expected

Asian governments and businesses reported some disruptions from the WannaCry ransomware worm on Monday but cybersecurity experts warned of a wider impact as more employees turned on their computers and checked e-mails. The ransomware that has locked up more than 200,000 computers in more than 150 countries has been mainly spread by e-mail, hitting factories, hospitals, shops and schools worldwide. "Most of the attacks are arriving via e-mail, so there are many 'landmines' waiting in people's in-boxes," said Michael Gazeley, managing director of Network Box, a Hong Kong-based cybersecurity company. In China, the world's second-largest economy, energy giant PetroChina said payment systems at some of its petrol stations were hit, although it had been able to restore most of the systems. Several Chinese government bodies, including police and traffic authorities, reported they had been impacted by the hack, according to posts on official microblogs. The official China Daily newspaper, citing Chinese tech firm Qihoo 360, said that at least 200,000 computers had been affected in China, with schools and colleges particularly hard-hit. A spokesman for the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, one of the region's biggest bourses, said all systems were so far working normally. "We remain highly vigilant," he said. Companies have warned users and staff not to click on attachments or links. One school in South Korea barred its pupils from using the internet. Taiwan's government appeared to have escaped major infection, possibly because regulations there require all departments to install software updates as soon as they are available. South Korea's presidential Blue House office said nine cases of ransomware were found in the country, but did not provide details on where the cyber attacks were discovered. In Australia, Dan Tehan, the government minister responsible for cybersecurity, said just three businesses had been hit by the bug, despite worries of widespread infection. There were no reported cases in New Zealand. Brief respite Cyber security experts said the spread of the ransomware had slowed since its appearance on Friday but that the respite might only be brief. For one thing, the attackers or copycat attackers may have developed new versions of the worm, although a British-based security researcher who thwarted an earlier version of the worm told Reuters most of these reports had been proven false. In Hong Kong, Gazeley said his team had found a new version of the worm that didn't use e-mail to lure victims. Instead, it loaded scripts onto hacked websites where users who clicked on a malicious link would be infected directly. He said it was too early to tell how many websites had been affected. Gazeley added that several major companies in Asia had been hit by the ransomware, but "the last thing they want to do is come out in public and admit it." He declined to elaborate. In a blog post on Sunday, Microsoft President Brad Smith appeared to tacitly acknowledge what researchers had already widely concluded: The ransomware attack leveraged a hacking tool built by the US National Security Agency, that leaked online in April. The non-profit US Cyber Consequences Unit research institute estimated that total losses would range in the hundreds of millions of dollars, but not exceed $1 billion. Most victims were quickly able to recover infected systems with backups, said the group's chief economist, Scott Borg. Infected computers appear to largely be out-of-date devices that organisations deemed not worth the price of upgrading or, in some cases, machines involved in manufacturing or hospital functions that proved too difficult to patch without possibly disrupting crucial operations, security experts said. Microsoft released patches last month and on Friday to fix a vulnerability that allowed the worm to spread across networks, a rare and powerful feature that caused infections to surge on Friday. (Reuters)

McDonald&#39;s apologised Thursday after it briefly posted on Twitter a blast criticising President Donald Trump, which the company blamed on a hack from an external source.

The quickly deleted tweet offered an uncharitable appraisal of Trump, saying, &quot;You are actually a disgusting excuse of a President and we would love to have Barack Obama back, also you have tiny hands.&quot;

The tweet was removed mid-morning Thursday soon after being posted to one of McDonald&#39;s official Twitter feeds, but not before being retweeted more than a thousand times and garnering plenty of attention in political and media circles.

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<h5>The quickly deleted tweet offered an uncharitable appraisal of Trump, saying, &#39;You are actually a disgusting excuse of a President and we would love to have Barack Obama back, also you have tiny hands&#39;</h5>
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&quot;Based on our investigation, we have determined that our Twitter account was hacked by an external source,&quot; said McDonald&#39;s spokeswoman Terri Hickey in a statement.

&quot;We took swift action to secure it, and we apologise this tweet was sent through our corporate McDonald&#39;s account.&quot;

Hacking has been a persistent problem in recent years with the growing influence of Twitter and other social media sites.&nbsp;

In April 2013, a hack of the Associated Press resulted in an erroneous post that the White House had been attacked, briefly sending US stocks markets down in a panic.

(AFP)

McDonald's blamed the tweet on a hack by an 'external source'

McDonald's apologised Thursday after it briefly posted on Twitter a blast criticising President Donald Trump, which the company blamed on a hack from an external source. The quickly deleted tweet offered an uncharitable appraisal of Trump, saying, "You are actually a disgusting excuse of a President and we would love to have Barack Obama back, also you have tiny hands." The tweet was removed mid-morning Thursday soon after being posted to one of McDonald's official Twitter feeds, but not before being retweeted more than a thousand times and garnering plenty of attention in political and media circles. The quickly deleted tweet offered an uncharitable appraisal of Trump, saying, 'You are actually a disgusting excuse of a President and we would love to have Barack Obama back, also you have tiny hands' × "Based on our investigation, we have determined that our Twitter account was hacked by an external source," said McDonald's spokeswoman Terri Hickey in a statement. "We took swift action to secure it, and we apologise this tweet was sent through our corporate McDonald's account." Hacking has been a persistent problem in recent years with the growing influence of Twitter and other social media sites. In April 2013, a hack of the Associated Press resulted in an erroneous post that the White House had been attacked, briefly sending US stocks markets down in a panic. (AFP)

McDonald's apologises after tweet calling Trump 'disgusting excuse of a president'

WhatsApp and Telegram patched flaws in their popular instant messaging applications after security researchers showed that they could seize control of user accounts.

<a href="http://blog.checkpoint.com/2017/03/15/check-point-discloses-vulnerability-whatsapp-telegram">Researchers with Check Point Software Technologies discovered</a> problems with the way the two apps process some types of files without verifying that they do not contain active code that could be malicious.

Flaws in popular instant messaging applications are less common than traditional desktop software. The apps are often used because of their heavy encryption, which has been criticised by some in laws enforcement.

They were able to send files to the web-based versions of the products with malicious code while making it seem to be something else, such as a picture.

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Check Point Software Technologies shows how hackers can break into WhatsApp and Telegram accounts. (Others)
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In WhatsApp&#39;s case, once opened by the recipient, the code allowed the researchers to get into the local storage of the user and then access the user&#39;s account. From there, they could have sent the same malicious attack to all of the users&#39; contacts.

Telegram&#39;s flaw was much more subtle and required &quot;very unusual&quot; behaviour by the victim, such as right-clicking on a video and opening a new tab, said spokesman Markus Ra.

There is no evidence that any similar attacks were actually used in the wild against either company&#39;s products, he said.

&quot;When Check Point reported the issue, we addressed it within a day and released an update of WhatsApp for web,&quot; said Anne Yeh, a spokeswoman for that Facebook unit.

&quot;To ensure that you are using the latest version, please restart your browser.&rdquo;

(Reuters)

Researchers with Check Point Software Technologies discovered severe vulnerabilities in both WhatsApp and Telegram

WhatsApp and Telegram patched flaws in their popular instant messaging applications after security researchers showed that they could seize control of user accounts. Researchers with Check Point Software Technologies discovered problems with the way the two apps process some types of files without verifying that they do not contain active code that could be malicious. Flaws in popular instant messaging applications are less common than traditional desktop software. The apps are often used because of their heavy encryption, which has been criticised by some in laws enforcement. They were able to send files to the web-based versions of the products with malicious code while making it seem to be something else, such as a picture. Check Point Software Technologies shows how hackers can break into WhatsApp and Telegram accounts. (Others) × In WhatsApp's case, once opened by the recipient, the code allowed the researchers to get into the local storage of the user and then access the user's account. From there, they could have sent the same malicious attack to all of the users' contacts. Telegram's flaw was much more subtle and required "very unusual" behaviour by the victim, such as right-clicking on a video and opening a new tab, said spokesman Markus Ra. There is no evidence that any similar attacks were actually used in the wild against either company's products, he said. "When Check Point reported the issue, we addressed it within a day and released an update of WhatsApp for web," said Anne Yeh, a spokeswoman for that Facebook unit. "To ensure that you are using the latest version, please restart your browser.” (Reuters)

WhatsApp, Telegram fix security flaws in instant messaging applications

The diplomatic spat between Turkey and the Netherlands spread online on Wednesday when a large number of Twitter accounts, many with no apparent connection to the dispute, were hijacked and replaced with anti-Nazi messages in Turkish.

The attacks, which appeared to be simply a form of political vandalism and used the hashtags #Nazialmanya or #Nazihollanda, took over accounts of high-profile CEOs, publishers, government agencies, politicians and also some regular Twitter users.

The account hijackings took place as the Dutch began voting on Wednesday in national elections seen as a test of anti-establishment and anti-immigrant sentiment held in the midst of a diplomatic spat with Turkey.

President Tayyip Erdogan has suspended high-level diplomatic ties with the Netherlands and branded the country&#39;s citizens &quot;Nazi remnants&quot; for preventing his ministers at the weekend from addressing rallies of Turks living there.

Hijacked accounts featured tweets with Nazi symbols, a variety of hashtags and the phrase &quot;See you on April 16&quot;, an apparent reference to the date of Turkey&#39;s planned referendum to grant Erdogan more powers.

The Twitter accounts hijacked included those of the European Parliament and the personal profile of French politician Alain Juppe. They also included the UK Department of Health and BBC North America, both of which subsequently appear to have recovered, along with the profile of Marcelo Claure, the chief executive of US telecoms operator Sprint Corp, which remains hijacked.

Other accounts included publishing sites for Die Welt and Forbes and several non-profit agencies including Amnesty International and UNICEF USA as well as Duke University.

The Twitter profile of BBC North America noted: &quot;Hi everyone - we temporarily lost control of this account, but normal service has resumed&quot;.

A Twitter spokesman said the company was aware the service was hacked and that it had begun to investigate: &quot;We quickly located the source which was limited to a third party app. We removed its permissions immediately,&quot; the statement said. It added that no additional accounts are affected.

At least some of the hijacked tweets appear to have been hooked up to Twitter Counter, a Netherlands-based Twitter audience statistics company. In a tweet on the company&#39;s own twitter profile, it acknowledged the service had been hacked.

&quot;We&#39;re aware that our service was hacked and have started an investigation into the matter. We&#39;ve already taken measures to contain such abuse,&quot; it said, including the ability to post tweets through the Twitter Connect app.

Twitter Counter also was the target of a hack attack in mid-November that led some of the high-profile Twitter accounts linked to the company&#39;s app to spew out spam tweets, including those of soccer star Lionel Messi and gaming sites Sony Playstation and Microsoft Xbox. At the time, it said it counted 2 million users.

The latest attacks appeared unrelated to low-level denial of service attacks against the websites of a Dutch web hosting company and the Rotterdam airport by a Turkish hacking group called Aslan Neferler Tim (Lion Soldiers Team). 
The same hacking group appears to have been responsible for temporary outages in August and September last year of the sites of Austrian institutions including the Vienna airport, the national parliament and Central Bank last year.

Those attacks occurred in the midst of a diplomatic row that followed Austria&#39;s calls for European Union accession talks with Turkey to be dropped.

(Reuters)

Hijacked accounts featured tweets with Nazi symbols, a variety of hashtags and the phrase 'See you on April 16'

The diplomatic spat between Turkey and the Netherlands spread online on Wednesday when a large number of Twitter accounts, many with no apparent connection to the dispute, were hijacked and replaced with anti-Nazi messages in Turkish. The attacks, which appeared to be simply a form of political vandalism and used the hashtags #Nazialmanya or #Nazihollanda, took over accounts of high-profile CEOs, publishers, government agencies, politicians and also some regular Twitter users. The account hijackings took place as the Dutch began voting on Wednesday in national elections seen as a test of anti-establishment and anti-immigrant sentiment held in the midst of a diplomatic spat with Turkey. President Tayyip Erdogan has suspended high-level diplomatic ties with the Netherlands and branded the country's citizens "Nazi remnants" for preventing his ministers at the weekend from addressing rallies of Turks living there. Hijacked accounts featured tweets with Nazi symbols, a variety of hashtags and the phrase "See you on April 16", an apparent reference to the date of Turkey's planned referendum to grant Erdogan more powers. The Twitter accounts hijacked included those of the European Parliament and the personal profile of French politician Alain Juppe. They also included the UK Department of Health and BBC North America, both of which subsequently appear to have recovered, along with the profile of Marcelo Claure, the chief executive of US telecoms operator Sprint Corp, which remains hijacked. Other accounts included publishing sites for Die Welt and Forbes and several non-profit agencies including Amnesty International and UNICEF USA as well as Duke University. The Twitter profile of BBC North America noted: "Hi everyone - we temporarily lost control of this account, but normal service has resumed". A Twitter spokesman said the company was aware the service was hacked and that it had begun to investigate: "We quickly located the source which was limited to a third party app. We removed its permissions immediately," the statement said. It added that no additional accounts are affected. At least some of the hijacked tweets appear to have been hooked up to Twitter Counter, a Netherlands-based Twitter audience statistics company. In a tweet on the company's own twitter profile, it acknowledged the service had been hacked. "We're aware that our service was hacked and have started an investigation into the matter. We've already taken measures to contain such abuse," it said, including the ability to post tweets through the Twitter Connect app. Twitter Counter also was the target of a hack attack in mid-November that led some of the high-profile Twitter accounts linked to the company's app to spew out spam tweets, including those of soccer star Lionel Messi and gaming sites Sony Playstation and Microsoft Xbox. At the time, it said it counted 2 million users. The latest attacks appeared unrelated to low-level denial of service attacks against the websites of a Dutch web hosting company and the Rotterdam airport by a Turkish hacking group called Aslan Neferler Tim (Lion Soldiers Team). The same hacking group appears to have been responsible for temporary outages in August and September last year of the sites of Austrian institutions including the Vienna airport, the national parliament and Central Bank last year. Those attacks occurred in the midst of a diplomatic row that followed Austria's calls for European Union accession talks with Turkey to be dropped. (Reuters)

High profile Twitter accounts hijacked in Turkish-Dutch protest

Tech companies must rapidly step up information-sharing to protect users from prying eyes, a security software executive said on Wednesday after WikiLeaks released a trove of data purporting to show that the CIA can hack all manner of devices.

Dozens of firms rushed to contain the damage from possible security weak points following the anti-secrecy organisation&#39;s revelations, although some said they needed far more information on what the US intelligence agency was up to before they could thwart suspected but previously hidden attacks.

Sinan Eren, vice president of Czech anti-virus software maker Avast, called on mobile software makers Apple and Google to supply security firms with privileged access to their devices to offer immediate fixes to known bugs.

&quot;We can prevent attacks in real time if we are given the hooks into the mobile operating system,&quot; Eren said in a phone interview from Silicon Valley, where he is located.

&quot;If we can drive a paradigm shift where mobile platforms don&#39;t shut off access, we&#39;ll be better able to detect when hackers are hiding in a mobile (phone)&quot;, he said.

Avast, which counts more than 400 million users of its anti-virus software worldwide, was named in the WikiLeaks documents as one of the security vendors targeted by the CIA in a leaked page labelled &quot;secret&quot; but lacking further details.

The leaks - which WikiLeaks described as the biggest in the Central Intelligence Agency&#39;s history - had enough technical details for security experts and product vendors to recognise that widespread compromises exist. However, they provided few specifics needed to offer quick fixes.

Reuters could not immediately verify the validity of the published documents, but several contractors and private cyber security experts said the materials appeared to be legitimate. The 8,761 leaked documents list a wealth of security attacks on Apple and Google Android smartphones carried by billions of consumers, as well as top computer operating systems - Windows, Linux and Apple Mac - and six of the world&#39;s main web browsers.

Apple said in a statement that nearly 80 per cent of iPhone users run its current iOS software with the latest security patches. &quot;Many of the issues leaked were already patched in the latest iOS; we will continue work to rapidly address any identified vulnerabilities,&quot; Apple said on Tuesday. The statement made no reference to attacks on its computer software.

Google declined to comment, while a Microsoft spokeswoman said: &quot;We&#39;re aware of the report and are looking into it.&quot; 
Widely-used routers from Silicon Valley-based Cisco were listed as targets, as were those supplied by Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE and Taiwanese supplier Zyxel for their devices used in China and Pakistan.

Cisco security team members said in a blog post that because WikiLeaks has not released any of the actual hacking exploits, &quot;the scope of action that can be taken by Cisco is limited&quot;.

Omar Santos, a principal engineer in Cisco&#39;s security response unit, said malware appears to be targeting whole families of Cisco devices but is designed to remain hidden so as to steal data unnoticed. He said Cisco assumes WikiLeaks will eventually disclose the hacks, allowing it to fix them.

Huawei declined to comment. ZTE and Zyxel were not immediately available to respond.

Stay of execution

Messaging apps protected by full software encryption also appear to be vulnerable to hacking of the smartphones themselves, communications app provider Telegram said in a blog post. But one positive outcome may be that device and software makers will be able to close up these holes, it said.

&quot;This is not an app issue. It is relevant on the level of devices and operating systems like iOS and Android,&quot; Telegram stated, adding: &quot;The good news is that for the moment all of this is irrelevant for the majority of Telegram users. If the CIA is not on your back, you shouldn&#39;t start worrying just yet.&quot;

The WikiLeaks collection contains a mix of copious data and empty files marked &quot;secret&quot; that promised more details to come on attacks against more than 15 security software firms.

US cyber security expert Robert Graham said WikiLeaks provided enough detail to recognise some known vulnerabilities.

&quot;One anti-virus researcher has told me that a virus they once suspected came from the Russians or Chinese can now be attributed to the CIA, as it matches the description perfectly to something in the leak,&quot; Graham said in a blog post.

Some security experts said the CIA&#39;s possible use of tools from other spy agencies raised the risk of false attribution for targeted cyber attacks by the US intelligence agency.&nbsp; He said CIA cyber spying efforts could be set back years.

The CIA and White House declined to comment. &quot;We do not comment on the authenticity or content of purported intelligence documents,&quot; CIA spokesman Jonathan Liu said in a statement.

WikiLeaks said it aims to provoke a political and legal debate about the CIA&#39;s cyber arsenal. However, it was holding back, for now, much of the technical documentation that would allow other hackers and cyber criminals to exploit the hacks - while putting vendors on notice to expect further revelations.

The organisation said in a statement it is &quot;avoiding the distribution of &#39;armed&#39; cyber weapons until a consensus emerges on the technical and political nature of the CIA&#39;s program and how such &#39;weapons&#39; should be analysed, disarmed and published&quot;.

It described sophisticated tools for targeting the devices of individual users, in contrast to the revelations by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden of mass data collection on millions of web and phone users worldwide.

(Reuters)

Dozens of tech firms rush to contain the damage from possible security weak points following the anti-secrecy organisation's revelations

Tech companies must rapidly step up information-sharing to protect users from prying eyes, a security software executive said on Wednesday after WikiLeaks released a trove of data purporting to show that the CIA can hack all manner of devices. Dozens of firms rushed to contain the damage from possible security weak points following the anti-secrecy organisation's revelations, although some said they needed far more information on what the US intelligence agency was up to before they could thwart suspected but previously hidden attacks. Sinan Eren, vice president of Czech anti-virus software maker Avast, called on mobile software makers Apple and Google to supply security firms with privileged access to their devices to offer immediate fixes to known bugs. "We can prevent attacks in real time if we are given the hooks into the mobile operating system," Eren said in a phone interview from Silicon Valley, where he is located. "If we can drive a paradigm shift where mobile platforms don't shut off access, we'll be better able to detect when hackers are hiding in a mobile (phone)", he said. Avast, which counts more than 400 million users of its anti-virus software worldwide, was named in the WikiLeaks documents as one of the security vendors targeted by the CIA in a leaked page labelled "secret" but lacking further details. The leaks - which WikiLeaks described as the biggest in the Central Intelligence Agency's history - had enough technical details for security experts and product vendors to recognise that widespread compromises exist. However, they provided few specifics needed to offer quick fixes. Reuters could not immediately verify the validity of the published documents, but several contractors and private cyber security experts said the materials appeared to be legitimate. The 8,761 leaked documents list a wealth of security attacks on Apple and Google Android smartphones carried by billions of consumers, as well as top computer operating systems - Windows, Linux and Apple Mac - and six of the world's main web browsers. Apple said in a statement that nearly 80 per cent of iPhone users run its current iOS software with the latest security patches. "Many of the issues leaked were already patched in the latest iOS; we will continue work to rapidly address any identified vulnerabilities," Apple said on Tuesday. The statement made no reference to attacks on its computer software. Google declined to comment, while a Microsoft spokeswoman said: "We're aware of the report and are looking into it." Widely-used routers from Silicon Valley-based Cisco were listed as targets, as were those supplied by Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE and Taiwanese supplier Zyxel for their devices used in China and Pakistan. Cisco security team members said in a blog post that because WikiLeaks has not released any of the actual hacking exploits, "the scope of action that can be taken by Cisco is limited". Omar Santos, a principal engineer in Cisco's security response unit, said malware appears to be targeting whole families of Cisco devices but is designed to remain hidden so as to steal data unnoticed. He said Cisco assumes WikiLeaks will eventually disclose the hacks, allowing it to fix them. Huawei declined to comment. ZTE and Zyxel were not immediately available to respond. Stay of execution Messaging apps protected by full software encryption also appear to be vulnerable to hacking of the smartphones themselves, communications app provider Telegram said in a blog post. But one positive outcome may be that device and software makers will be able to close up these holes, it said. "This is not an app issue. It is relevant on the level of devices and operating systems like iOS and Android," Telegram stated, adding: "The good news is that for the moment all of this is irrelevant for the majority of Telegram users. If the CIA is not on your back, you shouldn't start worrying just yet." The WikiLeaks collection contains a mix of copious data and empty files marked "secret" that promised more details to come on attacks against more than 15 security software firms. US cyber security expert Robert Graham said WikiLeaks provided enough detail to recognise some known vulnerabilities. "One anti-virus researcher has told me that a virus they once suspected came from the Russians or Chinese can now be attributed to the CIA, as it matches the description perfectly to something in the leak," Graham said in a blog post. Some security experts said the CIA's possible use of tools from other spy agencies raised the risk of false attribution for targeted cyber attacks by the US intelligence agency. He said CIA cyber spying efforts could be set back years. The CIA and White House declined to comment. "We do not comment on the authenticity or content of purported intelligence documents," CIA spokesman Jonathan Liu said in a statement. WikiLeaks said it aims to provoke a political and legal debate about the CIA's cyber arsenal. However, it was holding back, for now, much of the technical documentation that would allow other hackers and cyber criminals to exploit the hacks - while putting vendors on notice to expect further revelations. The organisation said in a statement it is "avoiding the distribution of 'armed' cyber weapons until a consensus emerges on the technical and political nature of the CIA's program and how such 'weapons' should be analysed, disarmed and published". It described sophisticated tools for targeting the devices of individual users, in contrast to the revelations by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden of mass data collection on millions of web and phone users worldwide. (Reuters)

WikiLeaks' CIA hacking revelations: How Apple, Google and other tech firms rush to protect user privacy

US President Barack Obama on Friday said he warned Russian President Vladimir Putin to &quot;cut it out&quot; after Democratic Party emails were hacked.&nbsp;

During a pre-Christmas press briefing, Obama said in the sidelines of the G 20 meetings held in China he asked Putin to stop interefering in US politics.&nbsp;

He added that after the warning there was no more evidence of Russian hacking.&nbsp;

Russia&nbsp;denied the accusations.&nbsp;

&quot;The intelligence that I&#39;ve seen gives me great confidence in their assessment that the Russians carried out this hack,&quot; Obama said refering to the latest evidence by CIA that Russia meddled in the November 8 presidential election.

Obama also said he hoped Trump would be concerned over Russia and that this must not become a &quot;political football&quot; between Democrats and Republicans.&nbsp;

He cautioned Trump that change in US policy towards Taiwan will have consequences from China.

&quot;For China, the issue of Taiwan is as important as anything on their docket.&quot;

&nbsp;&quot;The idea of one China is at the heart their conception as a nation and so if you are going to upend this understanding, you have to have thought through what the consequences are.&quot;

&#39;United in horror&#39; 
Obama said the world was &quot;united in horror&quot; at the battle in Aleppo and that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his allies were responsible for atrocities committed against the people in Syria.&nbsp;

&quot;Responsibility for this brutality lies in one place alone: with the Assad regime and its allies Russia and Iran. And this blood and these atrocities are on their hands.&quot;

The President also defended US involvement in Syria saying he understood the need to take action against what was happening but&nbsp;&quot;Unless we were all in and willing to take over Syria, we were going to have problems.&quot; &nbsp;Adding it would need &quot;putting large numbers of US&nbsp;troops on the ground, uninvited, without any international law mandate.&quot;

(WION with inputs from Reuters)

&nbsp;

Obama said the intelligence gives him 'great confidence' that Russians carried out the hack

US President Barack Obama on Friday said he warned Russian President Vladimir Putin to "cut it out" after Democratic Party emails were hacked. During a pre-Christmas press briefing, Obama said in the sidelines of the G 20 meetings held in China he asked Putin to stop interefering in US politics. He added that after the warning there was no more evidence of Russian hacking. Russia denied the accusations. "The intelligence that I've seen gives me great confidence in their assessment that the Russians carried out this hack," Obama said refering to the latest evidence by CIA that Russia meddled in the November 8 presidential election. Obama also said he hoped Trump would be concerned over Russia and that this must not become a "political football" between Democrats and Republicans. He cautioned Trump that change in US policy towards Taiwan will have consequences from China. "For China, the issue of Taiwan is as important as anything on their docket." "The idea of one China is at the heart their conception as a nation and so if you are going to upend this understanding, you have to have thought through what the consequences are." 'United in horror' Obama said the world was "united in horror" at the battle in Aleppo and that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his allies were responsible for atrocities committed against the people in Syria. "Responsibility for this brutality lies in one place alone: with the Assad regime and its allies Russia and Iran. And this blood and these atrocities are on their hands." The President also defended US involvement in Syria saying he understood the need to take action against what was happening but "Unless we were all in and willing to take over Syria, we were going to have problems." Adding it would need "putting large numbers of US troops on the ground, uninvited, without any international law mandate." (WION with inputs from Reuters)

Warned Putin to stop cyber attacks, says Obama

According to a new report by <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/u-s-hackers-ready-hit-back-if-russia-disrupts-election-n677936">NBC</a>, US military hackers have already penetrated Russia&#39;s electric grid, telecommunications network and the Kremlin&#39;s command systems, making them susceptible to an attack by secret American cyber weapons if the US feels it is necessary. This revelation was provided bya senior intelligence official and by top-secret documents NBC reviewed.

The Clinton campaign has stated&nbsp;that Russia is behind the hacks of Demorat outlets, despite the assertions of WikiLeaks founder, <a href="http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/304243-dnc-hack-investigator-despite-assanges-comments-attack-was-russan">Julian Assange</a>. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has asked Russia to hack and release Clinton&#39;s emails. A presidential candidate calling on a foreign goverment to spy on another presidential candidate and disrupt the election process has been called &quot;treasonous&quot;.

But the purpose of this latest cyber infiltration appears to be different.

American officials have stated&nbsp;publicly that Russia, China and other countries&nbsp;have penetrated&nbsp;and left hidden malware on parts of US critical infrastructure&nbsp;for cyber attacks that could turn out the lights, or turn off the internet across major cities, NBC reports.

It&#39;s been widely assumed that the US&nbsp;has done the same thing to its adversaries. The documents reviewed by NBC News,&nbsp;along with remarks by a senior US&nbsp;intelligence official,&nbsp;confirm that&nbsp;in the case of Russia.

US&nbsp;officials have warned lately that Russia will disrupt the 2016&nbsp;presidential election via cyber attacks. NBC reports that American intelligence officials don&#39;t expect Russia to go so far as to attack critical infrastructure, which could be interpreted as an act of war, but do expect &quot;cyber mischief&quot;.&nbsp;This includes&nbsp;the possible release of fake documents and bogus social media accounts meant to spread misinformation, NBC reports.

On Friday the hacker known as &quot;Guccifer 2.0&quot;,&nbsp;which US&nbsp;officials say is a front for Russian intelligence,&nbsp;tweeted a threat to monitor the US&nbsp;elections &quot;from inside the system&quot;.

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I&#39;ll be an independent observer at the U.S. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Elections2016?src=hash">#Elections2016</a> 
I call on other hackers to monitor the elections from inside the system
&mdash; GUCCIFER 2.0 (@GUCCIFER_2) <a href="https://twitter.com/GUCCIFER_2/status/794575269604589568">November 4, 2016</a></blockquote>
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The US&nbsp;government is&nbsp;combatting the threat in a way that is without precedent for a presidential election. NBC reports that the cyber weapons would only be deployed in the unlikely event the US&nbsp;was first attacked in a significant way, they quote officials as saying.

(WION)

US military hackers have already penetrated Russia's electric grid, telecommunications network and the Kremlin's command systems

According to a new report by NBC, US military hackers have already penetrated Russia's electric grid, telecommunications network and the Kremlin's command systems, making them susceptible to an attack by secret American cyber weapons if the US feels it is necessary. This revelation was provided bya senior intelligence official and by top-secret documents NBC reviewed. The Clinton campaign has stated that Russia is behind the hacks of Demorat outlets, despite the assertions of WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has asked Russia to hack and release Clinton's emails. A presidential candidate calling on a foreign goverment to spy on another presidential candidate and disrupt the election process has been called "treasonous". But the purpose of this latest cyber infiltration appears to be different. American officials have stated publicly that Russia, China and other countries have penetrated and left hidden malware on parts of US critical infrastructure for cyber attacks that could turn out the lights, or turn off the internet across major cities, NBC reports. It's been widely assumed that the US has done the same thing to its adversaries. The documents reviewed by NBC News, along with remarks by a senior US intelligence official, confirm that in the case of Russia. US officials have warned lately that Russia will disrupt the 2016 presidential election via cyber attacks. NBC reports that American intelligence officials don't expect Russia to go so far as to attack critical infrastructure, which could be interpreted as an act of war, but do expect "cyber mischief". This includes the possible release of fake documents and bogus social media accounts meant to spread misinformation, NBC reports. On Friday the hacker known as "Guccifer 2.0", which US officials say is a front for Russian intelligence, tweeted a threat to monitor the US elections "from inside the system". I'll be an independent observer at the U.S. #Elections2016 I call on other hackers to monitor the elections from inside the system — GUCCIFER 2.0 (@GUCCIFER_2) November 4, 2016 × The US government is combatting the threat in a way that is without precedent for a presidential election. NBC reports that the cyber weapons would only be deployed in the unlikely event the US was first attacked in a significant way, they quote officials as saying. (WION)

US ready to hack Kremlin if Russia interferes with presidential election: NBC

The US government on Friday formally accused Russia of a cyber attack campaign against Democratic Party organisation ahead of the&nbsp;November 8&nbsp;presidential polls.

&quot;We believe, based on the scope and sensitivity of these efforts, that only Russis&rsquo;s senior-most officials could have authorized these activities,&quot; a US government statement said on Friday about hacking of political groups, Reuters reported.

&quot;These thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the US election process,&quot; the statement added.

Kremlin has however denied the allegations, with a spokesperson calling the US claims &ldquo;rubbish&rdquo;, the Interfax news agency reported.

&quot;This is again some sort of rubbish,&quot; Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agency Interfax.

&quot;Every day (President Vladimir) Putin&rsquo;s website gets attacked by several tens of thousand of hackers. A lot of these attacks are traced to the territory of the USA, but we do not blame the White House or Langley each time.&quot; Peskov said.

The Obama administration&#39;s decision to blame Russia for the attacks is yet another blow to Washington&rsquo;s relations with Moscow, which are under strain over Russia&rsquo;s actions in Syria and Ukraine.

Until Friday, the administration had refrained from &nbsp;formally naming Russia in connection with the mounting civilian deaths in Syria or the cyber attacks.

The initial statement by the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not blame the Russian government for hacking attempts against state election systems, but instead said that &nbsp;&quot;scanning and probing&quot; of those systems originated in most cases from servers operated by a Russian company.

However, a Department of Homeland Security spokesman told Reuters that US officials have concluded that the hacking attacks or probes of state voter registration systems are &quot;consistent with Russian motivations.&quot;

 
Adding to this, the US secretary of state John Kerry on Friday said Russian and Syrian actions in the Syrian civil war, including bombings of hospitals, &quot;beg for&quot; a war crimes investigation. 
 
Clinton&rsquo;s campaign chairman, John Podesta, told Reuters that publicly naming Russia &nbsp;for the hacks left only question remaining,&quot;why Donald Trump continues to make apologies for the Russians.&rdquo; 
&nbsp;

Trump had earlier expressed doubt about Russia&rsquo;s involvement and in July had suggested that Russia should attempt to retrieve and publish emails from Clinton&rsquo;s private server.

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

(WION with inputs from agencies) 
 
 
 
&nbsp;

US has formally accused Russia of political cyber attacks in yet another blow to the strained ties between the two countries

The US government on Friday formally accused Russia of a cyber attack campaign against Democratic Party organisation ahead of the November 8 presidential polls. "We believe, based on the scope and sensitivity of these efforts, that only Russis’s senior-most officials could have authorized these activities," a US government statement said on Friday about hacking of political groups, Reuters reported. "These thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the US election process," the statement added. Kremlin has however denied the allegations, with a spokesperson calling the US claims “rubbish”, the Interfax news agency reported. "This is again some sort of rubbish," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agency Interfax. "Every day (President Vladimir) Putin’s website gets attacked by several tens of thousand of hackers. A lot of these attacks are traced to the territory of the USA, but we do not blame the White House or Langley each time." Peskov said. The Obama administration's decision to blame Russia for the attacks is yet another blow to Washington’s relations with Moscow, which are under strain over Russia’s actions in Syria and Ukraine. Until Friday, the administration had refrained from formally naming Russia in connection with the mounting civilian deaths in Syria or the cyber attacks. The initial statement by the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not blame the Russian government for hacking attempts against state election systems, but instead said that "scanning and probing" of those systems originated in most cases from servers operated by a Russian company. However, a Department of Homeland Security spokesman told Reuters that US officials have concluded that the hacking attacks or probes of state voter registration systems are "consistent with Russian motivations." Adding to this, the US secretary of state John Kerry on Friday said Russian and Syrian actions in the Syrian civil war, including bombings of hospitals, "beg for" a war crimes investigation. Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta, told Reuters that publicly naming Russia for the hacks left only question remaining,"why Donald Trump continues to make apologies for the Russians.” Trump had earlier expressed doubt about Russia’s involvement and in July had suggested that Russia should attempt to retrieve and publish emails from Clinton’s private server. (WION with inputs from agencies)

US accuses Russia of cyber attacks, Russia 'rubbishes' claim

Apple Inc on Thursday issued a patch to fix the security flaw with its iPhones&nbsp;and iPads following an attempt to hack the phone of a United Arab Emirates&nbsp;(UAE) dissident. 
 
Human rights activist Ahmed Mansoor had received a text asking him to click&nbsp;on a link. Mansoor instead of clicking the link forwarded the message to&nbsp;researchers at the University of Toronto&#39;s Citizen Lab. 
 
The hack was found to be capable of remotely taking over a fully updated&nbsp;iPhone 6. 
 
&quot;Once infected, Mansoor&rsquo;s phone would have become a digital spy in his&nbsp;pocket, capable of employing his iPhone&rsquo;s camera and microphone to snoop on&nbsp;activity in the vicinity of the device, recording his WhatsApp and Viber calls,&nbsp;logging messages sent in mobile chat apps, and tracking his movements,&quot;&nbsp;Citizen Lab wrote in a report released on Thursday. 
 
The company has now developed a fix and distributed it as an automatic update&nbsp;to iPhone 6 owners. 
 
The attack softwarre was attributed to a private seller of monitoring systems,&nbsp;NSO Group, an Israeli company. 
 
NSO spokesman Zamir Dahbash said that the company &quot;cannot confirm the&nbsp;specific cases&quot; covered in the Citizen Lab and Lookout reports. 
 
Citizen Lab did not directly accuse UAE of carrying out the attack on Mansoor&nbsp;but it said that other NSO attacks on critics of the regime were connected to&nbsp;the government. 
 
It also said that a Mexican journalist and a minority party politician in Kenya&nbsp;had been targeted with NSO software too and that domain names set up for&nbsp;other attacks referred to entities in Uzbekistan, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Turkey,&nbsp;and other nations. 
 
The market for government hacking tools has come under increased scrutiny&nbsp;recently. 
 
(WION with inputs from agencies)

Human rights activist Ahmed Mansoor had received a text asking him to click?on a link

Apple Inc on Thursday issued a patch to fix the security flaw with its iPhones and iPads following an attempt to hack the phone of a United Arab Emirates (UAE) dissident. Human rights activist Ahmed Mansoor had received a text asking him to click on a link. Mansoor instead of clicking the link forwarded the message to researchers at the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab. The hack was found to be capable of remotely taking over a fully updated iPhone 6. "Once infected, Mansoor’s phone would have become a digital spy in his pocket, capable of employing his iPhone’s camera and microphone to snoop on activity in the vicinity of the device, recording his WhatsApp and Viber calls, logging messages sent in mobile chat apps, and tracking his movements," Citizen Lab wrote in a report released on Thursday. The company has now developed a fix and distributed it as an automatic update to iPhone 6 owners. The attack softwarre was attributed to a private seller of monitoring systems, NSO Group, an Israeli company. NSO spokesman Zamir Dahbash said that the company "cannot confirm the specific cases" covered in the Citizen Lab and Lookout reports. Citizen Lab did not directly accuse UAE of carrying out the attack on Mansoor but it said that other NSO attacks on critics of the regime were connected to the government. It also said that a Mexican journalist and a minority party politician in Kenya had been targeted with NSO software too and that domain names set up for other attacks referred to entities in Uzbekistan, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and other nations. The market for government hacking tools has come under increased scrutiny recently. (WION with inputs from agencies)

Apple fixes security flaw after UAE dissident's iPhone targeted

China leads the world in connecting everyday devices to the internet, but is creating huge hacking vulnerabilities for itself and others by doing so, renegade American software pioneer John McAfee warned today. 
 
Hackers had already been able to gain control of devices such as safes and heating controls, and take over the computer systems of automobiles and aeroplanes, he said. 
 
&ldquo;China is taking the lead in putting intelligence into devices, from refrigerators to smart thermostats, and this is our weakest link in cybersecurity,&rdquo; he said in Beijing. 
 
&quot;I am hoping that in the short time I am here I can raise a warning flag that we have to take security of these devices even more importantly than our large computers or our smart phones,&quot; he told a conference of internet security professionals. 
 
&quot;Because there are so many more of these devices, and the more that are connected, then the higher the risk of a potential hack becomes.&quot; 
 
McAfee, 70, is the colourful founder of an antivirus software company who once fled Belize after police sought to question him in a murder case. 
 
He has since returned to the United States, where he announced he was running for president. 
 
He amassed an estimated $100 million fortune during the early days of the internet in the 1990s, but lost most of it to bad investments and the financial crisis. 
 
He was living with a 17-year-old girl in Belize when police came looking for him to discuss the killing of his neighbour -- a crime of which he maintains his innocence. He was briefly incarcerated and fled the Central American country. 
 
McAfee&#39;s at times dire and alarming speech in Beijing came as his new company MGT Capital prepares to launch cybersecurity products later this year.&nbsp; 
 
&#39;Not an alarmist&#39;&nbsp; 
 
&quot;Our species has never before faced a threat of this magnitude. And we have not noticed it by and large,&quot; he said. 
 
&quot;You may thinking I am exaggerating, that I am an alarmist. I am friends with many of the hackers who have the capability to do enormous damage if they so chose.&quot; 
 
Chinese companies such as Xiaomi have been praised for innovation in adding internet connectivity to a variety of devices including air purifiers and rice cookers, allowing users to switch them on from work or on their way home. 
 
Such connections create serious new weaknesses that could leave users&#39; networks especially vulnerable to hacking, McAfee said. 
 
But in a briefing with reporters, he also commended Beijing&#39;s protection of its domestic internet, which is heavily censored and blocks many foreign websites, for its seeming security against the large-scale breaches seen recently in the US. 
 
&ldquo;You may notice that last year America suffered hundreds of major hacks from all around the world,&rdquo; he said, and added that he had &ldquo;heard nothing&rdquo; of similar hacks on China. 
 
&ldquo;Now perhaps that&#39;s the government&#39;s control of the press, I don&#39;t know,&quot; he said. &quot;But I do know that within certain industries of China, the awareness of cybersecurity threats is far greater than our awareness in America.&rdquo; 
 
(AFP) 
 
 
&nbsp;

Hackers had already been able to gain control of safes and take over the computer systems of cars & planes, he said

China leads the world in connecting everyday devices to the internet, but is creating huge hacking vulnerabilities for itself and others by doing so, renegade American software pioneer John McAfee warned today. Hackers had already been able to gain control of devices such as safes and heating controls, and take over the computer systems of automobiles and aeroplanes, he said. “China is taking the lead in putting intelligence into devices, from refrigerators to smart thermostats, and this is our weakest link in cybersecurity,” he said in Beijing. "I am hoping that in the short time I am here I can raise a warning flag that we have to take security of these devices even more importantly than our large computers or our smart phones," he told a conference of internet security professionals. "Because there are so many more of these devices, and the more that are connected, then the higher the risk of a potential hack becomes." McAfee, 70, is the colourful founder of an antivirus software company who once fled Belize after police sought to question him in a murder case. He has since returned to the United States, where he announced he was running for president. He amassed an estimated $100 million fortune during the early days of the internet in the 1990s, but lost most of it to bad investments and the financial crisis. He was living with a 17-year-old girl in Belize when police came looking for him to discuss the killing of his neighbour -- a crime of which he maintains his innocence. He was briefly incarcerated and fled the Central American country. McAfee's at times dire and alarming speech in Beijing came as his new company MGT Capital prepares to launch cybersecurity products later this year. 'Not an alarmist' "Our species has never before faced a threat of this magnitude. And we have not noticed it by and large," he said. "You may thinking I am exaggerating, that I am an alarmist. I am friends with many of the hackers who have the capability to do enormous damage if they so chose." Chinese companies such as Xiaomi have been praised for innovation in adding internet connectivity to a variety of devices including air purifiers and rice cookers, allowing users to switch them on from work or on their way home. Such connections create serious new weaknesses that could leave users' networks especially vulnerable to hacking, McAfee said. But in a briefing with reporters, he also commended Beijing's protection of its domestic internet, which is heavily censored and blocks many foreign websites, for its seeming security against the large-scale breaches seen recently in the US. “You may notice that last year America suffered hundreds of major hacks from all around the world,” he said, and added that he had “heard nothing” of similar hacks on China. “Now perhaps that's the government's control of the press, I don't know," he said. "But I do know that within certain industries of China, the awareness of cybersecurity threats is far greater than our awareness in America.” (AFP)

Software maverick McAfee warns China of hacking weakness

A Chinese businessman who pleaded guilty in March to conspiring to hack into the computer networks of Boeing and other major US defence&nbsp;contractors was sentenced on Wednesday to nearly four years in prison, prosecutors said. 
 
Su Bin, 51, was charged with taking part in a years-long scheme by Chinese military officers to obtain sensitive military information. In addition to the 46-month prison term, a judge in US District Court in Los Angeles also ordered Su to pay a $10,000 fine. 
 
&quot;Su Bin&#39;s sentence is a just punishment for his admitted role in a conspiracy with hackers from the People&#39;s Liberation Army Air Force to illegally access and steal sensitive US military information,&quot; John Carlin, assistant attorney general for national security, said in a statement. 
 
&quot;Su assisted the Chinese military hackers in their efforts to illegally access and steal designs for cutting-edge military aircraft that are indispensable to our national defence,&quot; the statement said. 
 
In an August 2014 indictment, prosecutors said Su travelled to the United States at least 10 times between 2008 and 2014 and worked with two unidentified co-conspirators based in China to steal the data. 
 
The trio were accused of stealing plans relating to the C-17 military transport plane and F-22 and F-35 fighter jets, and attempting to sell them to Chinese companies.&nbsp; 
 
According to prosecutors, in pleading guilty Su admitted sending emails to his co-conspirators telling them which persons, companies and technologies to target with their hacking and translating the stolen material from English to Chinese. 
 
Su admitted taking part in the crime for financial gain, prosecutors said.&nbsp;The Chinese government has repeatedly denied any involvement in hacking.&nbsp;Su was arrested in Canada in 2014 and ultimately consented to US extradition. 
 
He pleaded guilty in March to one count of conspiring to gain unauthorised access to a protected computer and to violate the Arms Export Control Act. 
 
(Reuters)

While the Chinese government has denied any involvement in the hack, SU Bin?admitted to taking part in the crime for financial gain

A Chinese businessman who pleaded guilty in March to conspiring to hack into the computer networks of Boeing and other major US defence contractors was sentenced on Wednesday to nearly four years in prison, prosecutors said. Su Bin, 51, was charged with taking part in a years-long scheme by Chinese military officers to obtain sensitive military information. In addition to the 46-month prison term, a judge in US District Court in Los Angeles also ordered Su to pay a $10,000 fine. "Su Bin's sentence is a just punishment for his admitted role in a conspiracy with hackers from the People's Liberation Army Air Force to illegally access and steal sensitive US military information," John Carlin, assistant attorney general for national security, said in a statement. "Su assisted the Chinese military hackers in their efforts to illegally access and steal designs for cutting-edge military aircraft that are indispensable to our national defence," the statement said. In an August 2014 indictment, prosecutors said Su travelled to the United States at least 10 times between 2008 and 2014 and worked with two unidentified co-conspirators based in China to steal the data. The trio were accused of stealing plans relating to the C-17 military transport plane and F-22 and F-35 fighter jets, and attempting to sell them to Chinese companies. According to prosecutors, in pleading guilty Su admitted sending emails to his co-conspirators telling them which persons, companies and technologies to target with their hacking and translating the stolen material from English to Chinese. Su admitted taking part in the crime for financial gain, prosecutors said. The Chinese government has repeatedly denied any involvement in hacking. Su was arrested in Canada in 2014 and ultimately consented to US extradition. He pleaded guilty in March to one count of conspiring to gain unauthorised access to a protected computer and to violate the Arms Export Control Act. (Reuters)

Chinese man to serve US prison term for hacking military  defence contractors

An Illinois man accused of breaking into the Apple iCloud and Gmail accounts of celebrities to obtain their private photos and videos has agreed to plead guilty to a felony computer hacking charge, prosecutors said on Friday. 
 
Edward Majerczyk, 28, facing up to five years in prison, is the second man charged in a federal investigation into the leaks of nude photos of several Hollywood actresses, including Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence, in September 2014. 
 
According to a plea agreement signed by Majerczyk, he illegally accessed Apple iCloud&nbsp;and Google Gmail&nbsp;accounts belonging to more than 300 people, using an email &quot;phishing&quot; ploy to obtain their user names and passwords. 
 
Through this scheme, Majerczyk was able to access full iCloud backups belonging to numerous victims, including at least 30 celebrities, many of whom reside in the Los Angeles area, the plea agreement stated. 
 
&quot;Many of these backups contained sensitive and private photographs and videos,&quot; it said. 
 
Under his deal with federal prosecutors, Majerczyk, a Chicago resident, will formally plead guilty in US District Court in Illinois to a felony violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, according to the US Attorney&#39;s Office in Los Angeles. 
 
A 36-year-old Pennsylvania man, Ryan Collins, pleaded guilty in March to the same offence in a case stemming from the same investigation. 
 
Like Collins, federal authorities said they had found no evidence linking Majerczyk to actual public circulation of any of the photos to which he gained access. 
 
While no victims were named in court documents, the investigation began after Lawrence and other celebrities, including actresses Kirsten Dunst and Gabrielle Union and model Kate Upton, complained in interviews about having their private photos end up publicly disseminated online. 
 
It was not the first time celebrity nude photos obtained through computer intrusions led to a criminal prosecution. 
 
A Florida man was sentenced in 2012 to 10 years in prison for hacking into email accounts of Scarlett Johansson, Mila Kunis and Christina Aguilera to leak private information and explicit photos. Pop star Taylor Swift said her Twitter and Instagram accounts were hacked in January 2015. 
 
More recently, a Bahamian man in New York pleaded guilty in May to charges of hacking into celebrities&#39; email accounts to steal unreleased movies and television scripts. 
 
And a Filipino man was charged last month in New Jersey with running a scheme to hack into the bank and credit card accounts of celebrities. 
 
(Reuters)

Federal authorities say they have no evidence that Majerczyk circulated any of the pictures he acquired illegally

An Illinois man accused of breaking into the Apple iCloud and Gmail accounts of celebrities to obtain their private photos and videos has agreed to plead guilty to a felony computer hacking charge, prosecutors said on Friday. Edward Majerczyk, 28, facing up to five years in prison, is the second man charged in a federal investigation into the leaks of nude photos of several Hollywood actresses, including Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence, in September 2014. According to a plea agreement signed by Majerczyk, he illegally accessed Apple iCloud and Google Gmail accounts belonging to more than 300 people, using an email "phishing" ploy to obtain their user names and passwords. Through this scheme, Majerczyk was able to access full iCloud backups belonging to numerous victims, including at least 30 celebrities, many of whom reside in the Los Angeles area, the plea agreement stated. "Many of these backups contained sensitive and private photographs and videos," it said. Under his deal with federal prosecutors, Majerczyk, a Chicago resident, will formally plead guilty in US District Court in Illinois to a felony violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, according to the US Attorney's Office in Los Angeles. A 36-year-old Pennsylvania man, Ryan Collins, pleaded guilty in March to the same offence in a case stemming from the same investigation. Like Collins, federal authorities said they had found no evidence linking Majerczyk to actual public circulation of any of the photos to which he gained access. While no victims were named in court documents, the investigation began after Lawrence and other celebrities, including actresses Kirsten Dunst and Gabrielle Union and model Kate Upton, complained in interviews about having their private photos end up publicly disseminated online. It was not the first time celebrity nude photos obtained through computer intrusions led to a criminal prosecution. A Florida man was sentenced in 2012 to 10 years in prison for hacking into email accounts of Scarlett Johansson, Mila Kunis and Christina Aguilera to leak private information and explicit photos. Pop star Taylor Swift said her Twitter and Instagram accounts were hacked in January 2015. More recently, a Bahamian man in New York pleaded guilty in May to charges of hacking into celebrities' email accounts to steal unreleased movies and television scripts. And a Filipino man was charged last month in New Jersey with running a scheme to hack into the bank and credit card accounts of celebrities. (Reuters)

Illinois man agrees to plead guilty in celebrity hacking case

US Assistant Attorney General John Carlin said on Tuesday that Chinese hacking activity appears to have declined since the Chinese government vowed last September to stop supporting the hacking of US trade secrets. 
 
The assertion supports findings released earlier this month from cyber security firm FireEye that breaches attributed to China-based groups had plunged by 90 per cent in the past two years. 
 
(Reuters) 
 
 
 
&nbsp;

The reported decline comes nine months after China vowed to stop supporting hacking of US trade secrets

US Assistant Attorney General John Carlin said on Tuesday that Chinese hacking activity appears to have declined since the Chinese government vowed last September to stop supporting the hacking of US trade secrets. The assertion supports findings released earlier this month from cyber security firm FireEye that breaches attributed to China-based groups had plunged by 90 per cent in the past two years. (Reuters)

Chinese economic cyber-espionage on decline, says US official

The United States is pleased to see progress has been made with China on information sharing about cyber threats, said a senior US official on Tuesday during the latest round of cyber security talks between the two countries. 
 
Cyber security has long been an irritant in relations between China and the United States, the world&#39;s two largest economies. 
 
China and the US signed an anti-hacking accord in September last year, brokered during Chinese President Xi Jinping&#39;s state visit to Washington, including a pledge that neither country would knowingly carry out hacking for commercial advantages. 
 
The agreement marked an ongoing effort to repair relations after China withdrew from a working group in 2014 in response to the US indictment of five members of its military on charges it hacked six US companies. 
 
Meeting in Beijing, US Department of Homeland Security Under secretary Suzanne Spaulding said the focus on the talks was to make sure both sides fulfilled commitments made by the two presidents. 
 
&quot;We look forward to discussing the commitments we made with regards to not engaging in IP theft of trade secrets and confidential business information,&quot; she told reporters. 
 
A key element of the agreement is information sharing and establishing mechanisms. 
 
She said the two sides had been setting up email addresses to share information. 
 
&quot;We are very pleased to have temporary email addresses and very much appreciate&quot; working to set up permanent addresses, said Spaulding. 
 
Chinese Minister of Public Security Guo Shengkun said that China highly valued the talk. 
 
&quot;We want to bring the discussions from policies on paper to actual implementation,&quot; said&nbsp;Guo. 
 
&quot;Both sides will continue to cooperate on cyber cases. I believe the leadership on both sides places emphasis on the issue and values participation. Xi Jinping has personally been involved,&quot; he further added. 
 
China, Russia and Iran are among what the United States believes are its most prolific and sophisticated hacking adversaries. 
 
US officials have privately blamed Beijing for a massive hack on federal employee records last year, which exposed sensitive personal information of more than 22 million current and former government workers.

Washington and Beijing pledge to keep refraining from political hacking and corporate espionage

The United States is pleased to see progress has been made with China on information sharing about cyber threats, said a senior US official on Tuesday during the latest round of cyber security talks between the two countries. Cyber security has long been an irritant in relations between China and the United States, the world's two largest economies. China and the US signed an anti-hacking accord in September last year, brokered during Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Washington, including a pledge that neither country would knowingly carry out hacking for commercial advantages. The agreement marked an ongoing effort to repair relations after China withdrew from a working group in 2014 in response to the US indictment of five members of its military on charges it hacked six US companies. Meeting in Beijing, US Department of Homeland Security Under secretary Suzanne Spaulding said the focus on the talks was to make sure both sides fulfilled commitments made by the two presidents. "We look forward to discussing the commitments we made with regards to not engaging in IP theft of trade secrets and confidential business information," she told reporters. A key element of the agreement is information sharing and establishing mechanisms. She said the two sides had been setting up email addresses to share information. "We are very pleased to have temporary email addresses and very much appreciate" working to set up permanent addresses, said Spaulding. Chinese Minister of Public Security Guo Shengkun said that China highly valued the talk. "We want to bring the discussions from policies on paper to actual implementation," said Guo. "Both sides will continue to cooperate on cyber cases. I believe the leadership on both sides places emphasis on the issue and values participation. Xi Jinping has personally been involved," he further added. China, Russia and Iran are among what the United States believes are its most prolific and sophisticated hacking adversaries. US officials have privately blamed Beijing for a massive hack on federal employee records last year, which exposed sensitive personal information of more than 22 million current and former government workers.

US sees progress in latest cyber talks with China

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