When it comes to sophisticated international hacking, the US, Russia and China take the prize right? Not so fast. There’s a hacking group in the Middle East that’s causing concern everywhere.
A group called the Yemen Cyber Army hacked a Saudi Arabian news website called Al Hayet. Not only did they infiltrate, they threatened Saudi Arabia over the continued violence and unrest in Yemen. That was back in April, and Yemen Cyber Army has gotten stronger ever since. On May 20, they used Twitter accounts to hack the Saudi foreign ministry. The next day, Iran’s state run news blamed Yemen Cyber Army for this attack, which led to the leak of foreign ministry employees’ personal information. Now, Wikileaks is announcing the release of around a million records from the Saudi foreign ministry. Wikileaks didn’t say the exposed documents were given to them by Yemen Cyber Army. But Wikileaks did credit them for breaching the Saudi Foreign Ministry. This cyber group has no spokesperson. It’s not verified they’re even based in Yemen. Some of them claim to be from Yemen. But yet they won’t speak Arabic or give away their location. In fact, an Israeli cyber security group called ClearSky believes Iran’s government is behind the group. They discovered malware deployed against 550 different targets throughout the Middle East. Half of those targets are against Saudi Arabia.
Whether the Yemen Cyber Army is made up of Yemen or Iranian hackers, or both, one thing should be clear. Cyber conflicts around the world show no signs of slowing down. In fact, I expect them to only intensify. Unfortunately, the Internet seems to be a new way for individuals, corporations, and whole nations to attack and attempt to destroy each other. Obviously, there’s a lot of good the Internet does. In fact, there’s more good than harm. But ClearSky has a valid point. With all the turmoil in Yemen, I’m convinced the Yemen Cyber Army is getting a lot of help from outside Yemen, though I do believe some are from Yemen. Iran is just one of the nations helping them. Are there others?
Recently, the tech community has been center stage of many issues, from net neutrality to major mergers. Now a showdown between the feds and telecommunications unfolds.
The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) plans to fine telecommunication conglomerate AT&T $100 million. The FCC accuses AT&T of deliberately misleading their customers and slowing down the data of those who have unlimited data plans. They also said AT&T didn’t notify customers of the data slow down. When I say slow down, I’m talking as bad as 20x slower than normal. This would be a violation of the 2010 Open Internet Transparency Rule. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said customers deserve what they paid for. AT&T has 30 days to fight this fine, and they are. In a statement, AT&T said, “We will vigorously dispute the FCC’s assertions.?We have been fully transparent with our customers, providing notice in multiple ways and going well beyond the FCC’s disclosure requirements.” But insiders say there’s deeper meaning to this beef. Some insiders say the FCC is using this as an opportunity to fight for the little guys aka the consumer. They know mega tech mergers are going on, virtually on a daily basis. Insiders believe this is the FCC’s way of reminding tech companies the Feds will be watching.
One hundred million dollars is a heck of a reminder. I know AT&T is one of the richest, most successful conglomerates of all-time, but $100 million dollars is a lot for anybody. I get it. I don’t trust these tech companies merging. These merges could easily lead to monopoly. And when a company is too big to fail, they’re often too big to care. But I’m not exactly buying the FCC’s ‘we’re fighting for the little guy’ rhetoric either. Remember the NSA revelations of 2013? Is this an opportunity for the Feds to get yet more control? Who can I trust in this dispute? Can I trust anybody?
Remember the Office of Personal Management breach in Washington DC last week? This breach seems to be the dubious gift that keeps on giving.
According to a federal employee union called American Federation of Government Employment, last week’s hack attack was worse than originally reported. These hackers, allegedly from China, got into SF-86 forms. What’s so special about SF-86 forms, you ask? These documents contain personal and sensitive information about federal government employees and their families, even interactions with foreign visitors and nationals. You see, SF-86 forms are needed for background checks for every federal employee. So imagine the many social security numbers, birthdays, addresses, emails, phone numbers, spouse info, child info, and mothers’ maiden names the potential cyber crooks would have. It turns out their Einstein security system isn’t so hot either. It took months for the hack to be discovered. To this day, not even President Obama himself really knows who pulled the breach off. If Einstein is top of the line security, then why did it take so long for the breach to be revealed? And why don’t we know who the culprits are and where they came from? Back to these SF-86 forms. These forms contain psychology evaluations, financial information, credit reports, criminal records, even marriage/relationship/sexual history. Can you say blackmail?
This is what makes this, and other hacks like this, dangerous. This and the fact that nobody has been held accountable. Still not concerned? This may not be the work of a geek thief in momma’s basement. This could be the work of an international government that doesn’t like us very much. I guess this is how we have to treat hacking, or any cyber crime these days. I‘m just glad this issue is getting the press it deserves. It’s on every major network and Internet site now. Will this press lead to action?
US law officials suspect Chinese hackers compromised four million people by breaking into their business computers. If such suspicions turn out to be true, then this would be one of the biggest government breaches of all-time.
The FBI believes the victims are employees of the Office of Personnel Management. They’re responsible for the federal government’s human resources, background checks and job training, among other things. It’s unclear what was stolen, but the cyber attacks began in April and May 2015. The Chinese Foreign Ministry has all but denied these allegations, claiming China opposes all forms of hacking. The Office of Personnel Management was allegedly hacked last year; it’s believed this is a different incident. The White House and other government entities often urge private companies to do a better fighting hacks. But this isn’t the first time the government has struggled with it’s own data security issues. The Department of Homeland Security said they discovered the breach through a data system called Einstein, a system known for identifying cyber intruders, especially on the Federal level. Office of Personnel Management insists they’re taking steps to improve their security so such breaches don’t keep happening. But Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) sums up what most Americans are already thinking: We expect federal agencies to be among the most protected.
In the past several years, China and the US have been beefing over cyber security issues for several years now. Not only that, there’s been an intense conflict of words over the South China Seas. With these events, China could very well be a prime suspect. If you’re buying China’s stance against hacking, I have some oceanfront property in Kansas I’d like to sell you. But Rep. Schiff has a great point. Think about how much sensitive data comes through government servers on a daily basis. Now think about if this sensitive gets into the wrong hands. I shutter to think what our enemies could do with this. The US needs to do a far better job protecting their agencies and their employees. This is why I’m considering starting a petition and sending it to my local representatives addressing this critical issue. If the Feds can’t protect their own computer systems, what hope is there for the rest of us?
Sometimes ‘I told you so’ doesn’t do justice. A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about the June 1 expiration of surveillance aspects of the Patriot Act of 2001. That prediction has come true.
Because Washington couldn’t come up with a reform agreement, these surveillance powers expired at midnight Eastern Standard Time June 1, 2015. Even those who are pro NSA surveillance say there needs to be reform. Ever since Edward Snowden‘s exposure of bulk surveillance in 2013, we learned ?how the federal government can read every social media post, every email, every instant message, and how they can listen to every smartphone conversation. Many political leaders have called for a stop to this kid of surveillance. There’s hope for new legislation called the USA Freedom Act. This would ban the NSA from collecting bulk telephone conversations and restrict other areas of surveillance. But as for now, the Feds can’t use bulk telephone records, or business records relating to Internet use. This debate has turned Republican against Republican, even fellow Kentucky Senators Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell. Senator McConnell is opposed to any surveillance reform. Senator Paul is a staunch opponent of NSA surveillance. He even believes this new USA Freedom Act doesn’t go far enough in fighting surveillance abuses. Rand Paul is running for US President in 2016 under the Republican ticket, but is popular among civil libertarians.
With Memorial Day vacation and June 1 shortly after, and politicians hardly agreeing on anything these days, I knew the old NSA surveillance wouldn’t be renewed. But I have hope for the USA Freedom Act. On one hand, it would ban unnecessary privacy abuses. On the other hand, this act will help keep us safe. Some say a resolution should happen by the end of this week. Do you think our elected officials will put differences aside and put our privacy and security first?
As many as you know, the international soccer governing agency FIFA is facing the worst scandal in it’s history. Within hours, twenty FIFA executives between the US and Switzerland were arrested on charges of corruption?. But what are the technological implications?
Since the mid 1990s, FIFA’s soccer video games have been a staple in the gaming community. The FIFA soccer video game franchise is now available in over 50 countries and sold over 100 million copies. It’s the most successful sports game franchise of all-time. In fact, FIFA ’12 sold over 3.2 million copies and made $186 million…in one week! That’s an all-time record for any video game. Despite the scandal, it looks like FIFA gaming isn’t slowing down. EA Sports is releasing trailers for FIFA ’16. It’s expected to be released in September 2015. It will be on all the major systems: XBox 360, Playstation 4, and on your PC. This year, women will appear in the game. This is a first. There’s a You Tube promotional video called “Women’s National Teams Are In The Game”. The FIFA 2016 game will feature women’s team from Brazil, Germany, USA, China, Mexico, and several other nations. And it will include the best women players ever, like England’s Steph Houghton. Of course, the scandal wasn’t mentioned, but they’re plenty of spoofs all over social media.
I’m going to stop talking about FIFA 16 now because I don’t want you to get the game! Sure, it’s a great concept bringing women teams to the game. That’s not the issue. The issue is when you purchase a FIFA game, you’re supporting one of the most corrupt institutions of our lifetime. We’re talking about an institution that leaves nations bankrupt, like they did Brazil. We’re talking about an institution that makes people build stadiums in 120 degree Fahrenheit heat, with little food, water or rest breaks. And thanks to cahoots with the Qatar government, they won’t even let documented workers leave. Why would I want to support an organization like that? And since governments are struggling to put them in their place, our buying power will! ?The week of FIFA 2016’s release, I’d like to see only 32 copies sold. If we shut FIFA down economically, do you think they’ll get the message?
