We'll get to the rest of this week's security news in just a second, but before all that you need to carve out a little chunk of your day to read WIRED senior writer Andy Greenberg's profile of Marcus Hutchins , the hacker who stopped the berserking WannaCry ransomware three years ago. No spoilers! But you'll be glad you gave it a read. (Bonus: It's not about Covid-19.)
In more timely news, the US called out China this week for Covid-19-related hacking that DHS and the FBI jointly said could disrupt vaccine production. It's unclear why the agencies specified China when pretty much every country is doing the same, but the episode raises the question of what exactly is considered "in-bounds" espionage during pandemic.
Other things to check out:
Privacy Tip #239 – Hackers Know How to Embarrass You | Robinson+Cole Data Privacy + Security
There have been numerous examples of how hackers can get hold of sensitive and deeply personal information and use it against individuals to embarrass and extort them into sending money or compromising pictures to the hackers to prevent the information from being posted on the web.
These examples include cyberbullying, online love scams, blackmail through the compromise of sexually explicit content or photographs, or pretending to be someone the user trusts. Once they get this sensitive personal content, knowing that people don’t want their family or friends to find out about it, they hit the user with a ransom demand. This has been going on for a very long time.
The Dark Secrets of Hacking Hero Marcus Hutchins | WIRED
This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED senior writer Andy Greenberg joins us to talk about Hutchins' remarkable story. In the second half of the show, Andy gives us an update on the efforts to set up a contact tracing system to monitor the spread of the coronavirus.
* * *
Lauren Goode : Hi, everyone. Welcome to Gadget Lab. I'm Lauren Goode, a senior writer at WIRED, and I'm joined remotely by my cohost, WIRED senior editor Michael Calore. Hey, Mike.
Supercomputers hacked across Europe to mine cryptocurrency | ZDNet
Multiple supercomputers across Europe have been infected this week with cryptocurrency mining malware and have shut down to investigate the intrusions.
Security incidents have been reported in the UK, Germany, and Switzerland, while a similar intrusion is rumored to have also happened at a high-performance computing center located in Spain.
The credentials appear to have been stolen from university members given access to the supercomputers to run computing jobs. The hijacked SSH logins belonged to universities in Canada, China, and Poland.
While you're here, how about this:
Hackers demand ransom from A-list law firm | National and World | dailylocal.com
Hackers are demanding $42 million from a New York entertainment attorney in exchange for stolen files relating to his celebrity clients. Should he pay?
COVID-19: Hackers keep hacking | The Colorado Springs Business Journal
Law firm hackers threaten to release dirt on Trump
The cyber criminal gang behind the ReVIL or Sodinokibi ransomware attack on New York celebrity law firm Grubman, Shire, Meiselas and Sacks (GSMS) have doubled their ransom demand to $42m and threatened to publish compromising information on US president Donald Trump, according to reports.
In a statement seen by entertainment news website Page Six , the Sodinokibi group – which has also gone by the name Gold Southfield – said they had found "a ton of dirty laundry" on Trump.
Air Force to Host Satellite Hacking Event Virtually
The Air Force will host a virtual satellite hacking challenge this summer to expose cybersecurity issues and vulnerabilities in space assets and ground control systems, a top service official said May 14.
“We've got a lot to learn from the hacker community,” said Will Roper, the Air Force’s assistant secretary for acquisition, technology and logistics.
Happening on Twitter
Hackers Claim To Have Trump's Dirty Laundry And Demand $42 Million To Keep Quiet via @forbes https://t.co/vHSzalGlyK Alyssa_Milano (from Los Angeles) Sat May 16 05:22:28 +0000 2020
A notorious hacking group has claimed to have "dirty laundry" on President Trump and has threatened to publish it n… https://t.co/RKkLGUxM0h TheDemCoalition (from Washington, DC) Sat May 16 09:55:50 +0000 2020
Hackers claim to have dirt that could end Trump's campaign. After all we know, what the hell could that be? https://t.co/zjsykhJVpC MotherJones Fri May 15 22:36:47 +0000 2020
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