Iran has cyber attacked every Israeli citizen multiple times during the June war

Bad news! The Islamic Republic in combat action while the Iranian population sinks deeper into poverty and suffers from severe drought!

How vulnerable are Western countries to cyber attacks?

"Iran used cyber weapons to try to attack every citizen in Israel multiple times during the 12-day June war, Israel National Cyber Directorate (INCD) Yossi Karadi said in his first public speech since taking office in March. ...

there were 1,200 social engineering hacking operations with each separately targeting thousands and thousands of Israelis.

The INCD chief revealed that during the June war, Tehran hacked into parking and other road cameras to "track the movements of Israeli VIPs, with the aim of building operations to target and harm them." ...

Islamic Republic struck Weitzmann University with a ballistic missile during the June war, that it had taken control of a street camera watching the building just before the missile struck.

In addition, to augment the psychological impact of the missile attack, Iran sent threatening emails to workers at the targeted university departments prior to the attack. ...

In addition, Karadi announced that Israel is about to sign a new strategic agreement with Germany to "develop the next generation of national cyber defense." ..."

Karadi: Iran tried to cyber-attack every Israeli during war | The Jerusalem Post "Tehran hacked into parking and other road cameras to "track the movements of Israeli VIPs, with the aim of building operations to target and harm them," Karadi said."

The Real Story of Stuxnet, the cyberattack That Destroyed Iran's Centrifuges in 2010

A timely reminder! Like the exploding electronic devices that killed Hezbollah terrorists in September 2024.

"... These latest attacks come 15 years after Israel mounted an intelligence operation that inserted a worm, called Stuxnet, into the software at Natanz that controlled the centrifuge cascades. The operation destroyed approximately 1,000 centrifuges at the facility. Stuxnet is regarded as the first cyberweapon that succeeded in destroying industrial infrastructure in an intelligence operation. ..."

The Real Story of Stuxnet - IEEE Spectrum "How Kaspersky Lab tracked down the malware that stymied Iran’s nuclear-fuel enrichment program"

Meet the Chinese communist hackers preparing for war against the US

More on the new Cold War and the future of warfare!

One has to distinguish between espionage and sabotage! Espionage is used by both sides and is acceptable to some degree. Carrying out or preparing to commit sabotage is an entirely different matter.

Is the placing of remote sabotage capabilities within the critical infrastructure of a country by a potential future adversary an act of war (casus belli)? 

In the not so distant past, there would have been little doubt about the answer this question. It would clearly have been in the affirmative!

Communist leader Xi Jinping is playing a dangerous game!

Always remember The Art of War by Sun Tzu.

"Of the cybersecurity risks facing the United States today, few loom larger than the potential sabotage capabilities posed by China-backed hackers, which top U.S. officials have described as an “epoch-defining threat.”

In recent months, U.S. intelligence officials said Chinese government-backed hackers have been burrowing deep into the networks of U.S. critical infrastructure, including water, energy and transportation providers. The goal, officials say, is to lay the groundwork for potentially destructive cyberattacks in the event of a future conflict between China and the U.S., such as over a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan. ...

In January, the U.S. disrupted “Volt Typhoon,” a group of China government hackers tasked with setting the stage for destructive cyberattacks. Later in September, the feds hijacked a botnet run by another Chinese hacking group called “Flax Typhoon,” which masquerades as a private company in Beijing and whose role was to help conceal the activities of China’s government hackers. Since then, a new China-backed hacking group called “Salt Typhoon” emerged, capable of gathering intelligence on Americans — and potential targets of U.S. surveillance — by compromising the wiretap systems of U.S. phone and internet providers. ..."

Meet the Chinese 'Typhoon' hackers preparing for war | TechCrunch

Ukrainian government Hackers Cripple Russian Infrastructure in Massive Cyberattack

Good news! The future of warfare has arrived! Forget about tanks, fighter jets, and aircraft carriers etc.

As a Ukrainian hacker I could not resist the urge to completely erase all existing records of Putin the Terrible! Wipe him off as if he never existed! 😊

In an extreme scenario, one may not have to fire a single shot to subdue or defeat an aggressor!

"Computer specialists from Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) carried out cyberattacks against more than 800 servers in various regions of the Russian Federation between Monday, Sept. 23 to Thursday, Sept. 26, military intelligence sources told Kyiv Post. ...

According to one of the news site’s contacts, HUR’s cyber corps completely destroyed documents and data stored on the affected servers belonging to military, administrative, and financial institutions that support Russia's operations against Ukraine. ..."

HUR Hackers Cripple Russian Infrastructure in Massive Cyberattack "Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) cyber specialists attacked 800+ Russian servers, destroying critical military and financial data, halting operations and crippling infrastructure."

Ukraine Delivers One of Largest Cyberattacks in History on Russia lasting one week affecting millions of users and many businesses and government agencies

Good news! Bravo! When will the lethargic, slavish Russian people finally have enough of the megalomaniac and war criminal Putin the Terrible!

"On the evening of Tuesday, July 30, hackers from Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) completed one of the largest Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDOS) attacks in history, derailing Russia’s internet infrastructure, hitting critical resources and gaining access to a vast array of confidential data, sources in Ukrainian intelligence told the Kyiv Post on Wednesday morning.

According to a Ukrainian intelligence source, the attack lasted continuously for a week. It affected the online services of all major Russian banks, including the Central Bank, telecommunications service providers, national payment systems, social networks and messengers, government resources, and dozens of other services. ...

Millions of users in virtually every region of Russia felt the effects of the cyber operation, many of them unable to use internet services, the source said.

The affected financial entities included VTB Bank, Alfa Bank, SberBank, Raiffeisen Bank, RSHB Bank, Ak Bars Bank, Rosbank, Gazprombank, Tinkoff Bank, iBank, Dom.RF Bank, and the Bank of Russia. On the last day of the attack, the resources of the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Federal Tax Service were also affected. ..."

Ukraine Delivers One of Largest Cyberattacks in History, Source Says Ukrainian HUR cyber specialists carried out a massive DDOS attack on Russia, paralyzing banks, government websites, telecommunications, and social networks.

US charges Russian civilian for allegedly helping GRU spies target Ukrainian government systems with data-destroying malware

Was this done in preparation of the Russian invasion of the Ukraine in early 2022?

Putin the Terrible at work!

"The Department of Justice has charged a Russian civilian with conspiracy to destroy Ukrainian government computer systems as part of a widespread hacking effort by Russia ahead of its illegal invasion of Ukraine. 

U.S. prosecutors in Maryland said Wednesday that Amin Stigal, 22, is wanted for helping to set up servers used by Russian government hackers that were used to launch destructive cyberattacks on Ukraine government ministries in January 2022, a month before the Kremlin ordered tanks and troops to cross Ukraine’s borders.

The cyberattack campaign, known as “WhisperGate,” relied on so-called wiper malware that masqueraded as ransomware but deliberately and irreversibly scrambled the data on infected devices. ...

Stigal is also accused of helping the hackers working for Russia’s military intelligence unit — known as the GRU — to target allies of Ukraine, including the United States, according to the indictment against Stigal that was unsealed on Wednesday. ..."

US charges Russian civilian for allegedly helping GRU spies target Ukrainian government systems with data-destroying malware | TechCrunch

Russian hackers Deploy New 'Kapeka' Backdoor in Eastern European Attacks

Bad news! How close is the enemy (or the megalomaniac and war criminal Putin the Terrible)

"A previously undocumented "flexible" backdoor called Kapeka has been "sporadically" observed in cyber attacks targeting Eastern Europe, including Estonia and Ukraine, since at least mid-2022.

The findings come from Finnish cybersecurity firm WithSecure, which attributed the malware to the Russia-linked advanced persistent threat (APT) group tracked as Sandworm (aka APT44 or Seashell Blizzard). Microsoft is tracking the same malware under the name KnuckleTouch. ...

"

Russian APT Deploys New 'Kapeka' Backdoor in Eastern European Attacks

Cybersecurity Threats From Online Gaming

The world has fast become a global village thanks to the Internet, satellites, undersea cables and so on. 

Anytime connectivity of all things and all people across the globe is becoming reality and that is great great! The possibilities and opportunities are endless only limited by our ability to imagine! However!

Idiom: The two sides of a coin. Or the two faced Roman Janus who presides over peace and war!

I strongly believe this intense battle or arms race between good and evil can be won to the great benefit of humanity! Human ingenuity will do it as time goes on! Criminals, bad actors, or government agencies will mostly  loose! It is only a matter of time!

Potentially, in a a few years or in 1-2 decades we could possibly make global elections possible. Global direct democracy is on the horizon! We should thank the gamers! 😊

"From the emergence of the video game “Pong” in 1972 to the release of “Hogwart’s Legacy” in 2023, the video gaming industry has come a long way. With a revenue of over US$227 billion in 2022, gaming is no longer the niche industry it was once thought to be. The number of gamers in the world is expected to reach a figure of 3.32 billion by 2024. This recent surge in growth has, in a large part, been a result a of the COVID-19 pandemic when the market expanded by about 26 percent between 2019 and 2021.

However, this popular form of recreation has also imperilled cybersecurity. There has been a surge in cyberattacks on the gaming sector, with an increase of 167 percent in web application attacks in 2021 alone. In 2022, the gaming industry became the biggest target of Distributed Denial of Service attacks, accounting for about 37 percent of all such attacks. Account takeovers, cheating mods, credit card theft, and fraud are all issues faced by gamers on a regular basis. The most alarming development, however, was the leaking of secret documents in April 2023 containing confidential US Intelligence on a videogame chat server, in what has come to be described as the worst Pentagon leak in years. This just goes to show how ignorance of this threat could have unforeseen and potentially catastrophic consequences, even from a national security perspective. ..."

Cybersecurity Threats From Online Gaming – Analysis – Eurasia Review

Russian hackers' lack of success against Ukraine shows that strong cyber defences work, says UK cybersecurity chief

Putin the Terrible terribly miscalculated with his war of aggression against the Ukraine. Plus, his air force can not deliver robust air superiority. His cyber warfare is anemic! The Russian people are protesting against or dodging the draft and they are mourning their mounting casualties etc.

The days of Putin the Terrible are counted! Hallelujah! The world will be so much better! The world does not need such megalomaniacs!

"... "Try as they might, Russian cyberattacks simply have not had the intended impact," said Lindy Cameron, CEO of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) – the cyber arm of GCHQ – speaking at Chatham House in London. ...
In the run-up to and since the invasion of Ukraine, the country has been hit by a series of cyberattacks that have been attributed to Russia. These include distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks against the Ukranian government and financial sector, as well as wiper malware campaigns designed to destroy systems by rendering them unusable. ..."

Russian hackers' lack of success against Ukraine shows that strong cyber defences work, says cybersecurity chief | ZDNET In the face of the 'most sustained and intensive cyber campaign on record', Ukraine shows that a sound cybersecurity strategy can protect assets in even the most trying circumstances, says NCSC boss.

Russia-Ukraine cyberwar creates new malware threats

There is a distinct possibility that the intense cyberwarfare activities surrounding the Russo-Ukrainian war will have repercussions far beyond.

Can a cyberwar be contained among the warring parties? We will find out.

"... According to Fortinet’s semiannual Global Threat Landscape Report released today, the war in Ukraine has contributed to an uptick in disk-wiping malware. Researchers discovered at least seven new major wiper variants used in targeted campaigns against government, military and private organizations in Ukraine.

The report also found that ransomware variants have grown almost 100% over the past year, from 5,400 to 10,666, as the ransomware-as-a-service economy continues to grow.  

While these attacks were mainly used to target entities affiliated with Ukraine, these techniques can also be used internationally. ..."

Russia-Ukraine cyberwar creates new malware threats  | VentureBeat

Microsoft describes in some detail the Russian cyber warfare related to its war of aggression against the Ukraine

Recommendable! What the report apparently does not cover e.g. are the reported  considerable international cyber attacks conducted in support of the Ukraine against Russia.

These are very dangerous times! Pray that this war in the Ukraine does not become a World War III and that no ABC weapons are used. How far will it escalate?

"... At Microsoft we’ve detected Russian network intrusion efforts on 128 organizations in 42 countries outside Ukraine. While the United States has been Russia’s number one target, this activity has also prioritized Poland, where much of the logistical delivery of military and humanitarian assistance is being coordinated. Russian activities have also targeted Baltic countries, and during the past two months there has been an increase in similar activity targeting computer networks in Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Turkey. We have also seen an increase in similar activity targeting the foreign ministries of other NATO countries.  ..."

Defending Ukraine: Early Lessons from the Cyber War - Microsoft On the Issues

Fake Social Media Accounts Attempt To Thwart Mining Efforts In Us Canada That Would Hurt China and Russia

Western countries would be well advised to seriously investigate these kind of activities. And these subversive activities go well beyond mining.

The Open Society and its Enemies!

Fake Social Media Accounts Attempt To Thwart Mining Efforts In Us Canada That Would Hurt China - TheBlaze

Israel Defense Forces stopped hackers from hitting US power plants - Unit 8200 official

Cyber warfare and crime are all too real! Clandestine activities well hidden from public view! You wonder what else is going on.

The U.S. - Israel alliance is very special!

"The deputy chief of IDF Unit 8200, “Col. U.,” on Wednesday [6/29/2022] said that his intelligence agency warned the United States of attempts to hack the country's power plants in time to thwart the cyberattack. ...

Although this was not the first time these warnings to the US have been made public, it was the first time a Unit 8200 official had discussed sensitive cyber intelligence in public.

The most well-known example was Israel’s 2017 warning to the US about Russia’s Kaspersky antivirus software being used as a way to backdoor spy on them or plant malware. ..."

IDF stopped hackers from hitting US power plants - Unit 8200 official - Israel News - The Jerusalem Post This is the first time a current Unit 8200 official, deputy chief of IDF Unit 8200, “Col. U.,” discussed such sensitive cyber intelligence sharing in public.

The officers face is blurred (not by me) even though he speaks at a conference at the Tel Aviv University

Russian hackers tried to bring down Ukraine's power grid to help the invasion

No war is ever the same!

"Targeted attack: Russian hackers targeted the Ukrainian power grid and attempted to cause a blackout that would have hit 2 million people, according to Ukrainian government officials and the Slovakian cybersecurity firm ESET. The hackers tried to destroy computers at a Ukrainian energy company using malware specifically designed to demolish systems by erasing data and rendering them useless.

Russian support: The impact remains unclear. Ukrainian officials say they thwarted the attack, which they claim was intended to support Russian military operations in eastern Ukraine. If successful, the hack would have caused the biggest cyber-induced blackout ever.

Successful infiltration: According to a Ukrainian government document that was shared with international partners in recent weeks, Russian hackers did recently break into a Ukrainian power company and temporarily shut down nine electric substations. ..."

Russian hackers tried to bring down Ukraine's power grid to help the invasion | MIT Technology Review As Russia’s ground war stalls, hackers attempted to cause a blackout for two million people.

Ukraine destroys five Russian bot farms that were spreading 'panic' among citizens

Modern warfare! Every war is different! 

More and more news and reports are coming out how the Ukraine defense uses latest technologies to defeat the Russian military invasion! 

"The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has destroyed five "enemy" bot farms engaged in activities to frighten Ukrainian citizens. 

In a March 28 release, the SBU said that the bot farms had an overall capacity of at least 100,000 accounts spreading misinformation and fake news surrounding Russia's invasion of Ukraine ...

According to the security service, the bot farms have "tried to inspire panic among Ukrainian citizens and destabilize the socio-political situation in various regions."

The SBU has accused Russia of operating the farms for conducting "large-scale information sabotage." The farms were found in areas including Kharkiv, Cherkasy, Ternopil and Zakarpattia. 

The bots used social media accounts to spread "distorted news" and propaganda related to the invasion. 

SBU investigators raided several bot farms and seized items including over 100 GSM gateway devices, close to 10,000 SIM cards, laptops, and other computing equipment. Photos shared by the Ukrainian agency also appear to show the seizure of mobile phones, USB drives, and weaponry.  ..."

Ukraine destroys five bot farms that were spreading 'panic' among citizens | ZDNet Over 100,000 fake accounts were allegedly used to spread misinformation about Russia's invasion.

DDoS attack was 'largest' ever in Ukraine, Russia suspected

Are these the Russian opening shots of a war between Russia and Ukraine?
Is Russia trying to soften up the Ukraine before invasion or annexation?
Putin the Terrible is playing with fire!

Or is this a provocation by a third party to trigger a such a war?

"The distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack Tuesday [2/15/2022] against military and financial institutions in Ukraine was the “largest DDoS attack in the country’s history,” a Ukrainian government agency said.
Ukraine “successfully stopped” the attack, the State Service of Special Communication and Information Protection of Ukraine said in a statement posted online. The DDoS attack affected targets including the websites of the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as the web services of Privatbank and Oschadbank. ..."

DDoS attack was 'largest' ever in Ukraine, Russia suspected | VentureBeat

Cyber War Will Not Take Place! Really!

So the title of a book (published 2012) by a professor and often quoted subject matter expert! Someone sitting in an ivory tower?

The author is Thomas Rid, professor for strategic studies Johns Hopkins University/School of Advanced International Studies.

You better not listen to this fool!

Cyber warfare is a very real threat. Any power that can cripple the infrastructure or military operations of the enemy by using this new weapon surely has a serious advantage. What about surprise effect and first mover advantage?

Cyber warfare may also be used to constantly harass the enemy and to affect public opinion. This is actually already happening for some years! Western democracies are much more susceptible to this kind of attack than authoritarian regimes, which are, in turn, vulnerable to other factors.

 

Russischer Hacker wird von der Schweiz an die USA ausgeliefert

Das könnte ein sehr interessanter, sogar brisanter Fall sein! Wieviele von den cyber Attacken auf westliche Unternehmen oder Infrastruktur gehen auf Kriminelle zurück oder auf staatliche Akteure von Russland, China, Iran usw.?  Sind wir schon mitten in einem cyber war?

Russischer Hacker wird von der Schweiz an die USA ausgeliefert: Ist Wladislaw Kljuschin ein einfacher Wirtschaftskrimineller, wie das die USA in ihrem Auslieferungsgesuch geltend machen? Oder arbeitete der IT-Spezialist für eine Sondereinheit des russischen Geheimdiensts mit Operationen auch in der Schweiz?

To defeat adversaries in cyberspace, America must go on offense

Recommendable! Is there a (secret) war going on and we don't know much about it? Quite possible! Is it only a matter of intensity? What is low-level cyberwar?

Are Russia and China jointly taking the West for a ride? It has the appearance!

"Following our humiliating Afghanistan retreat, America’s rivals will amplify their assaults on our credibility and defenses. China could attack Taiwan; Russia might further encroach against Ukraine; Iran or North Korea may seek more extortion over their nuclear programs. It’s also possible that adversaries will launch their first jabs where America is most vulnerable: cyberspace.

... This contradictory approach [by the demented and senile 78 old 46th President] fails to notice that Beijing and Moscow have exploited the international order by coopting key institutions in their low-intensity cyberwar against the United States. ...
To make good on his promise to curb cyberattacks, Biden should adopt a strategy of deterrence rather than of international cooperation. Today, the most effective path forward for the United States is retaliation. ...
Cybercrime costs the United States billions of dollars, generates funds for criminals and derails critical infrastructure. To protect the nation, the administration must strengthen, and even use, its offensive cyber capabilities. ...
While some in the defense community want to improve network security instead, defensive capabilities are expensive and imperfect. Offense, by contrast, comes cheaply and easily. ...
International law remains vague on cyberwarfare. Yes, diplomats and scholars have tried to adapt conventional laws of war to cyber conflict in a document known as the Tallinn Manual. But while these rules may dominate the discussion in academe, they don’t bind states — certainly not Russia and China. ...

And while Washington has signed the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, an international agreement governing hacking and other cybercrimes, Russia, China, North Korea and Iran have refused to do so. NATO, for its part, seems content to simply declare that international law should apply in cyberspace without taking public measures to respond to foreign hacking.

Meanwhile, Russia and China are developing their own international legal schemes to regulate cyberspace. In recent years, Moscow and Beijing signed bilateral agreements on information-security cooperation, attempted to take over the United Nation’s International Telecommunications Union and extended a cooperation treaty with the goal of destroying the global free flow of online information.

With Chinese support, the Kremlin has also manipulated the United Nations so that Russia, a sponsor of cybercrimes, is leading efforts to draft a new international cyber treaty. Any cyber treaty developed by Moscow and Beijing would allow their hacker proxies to continue operating while granting political cover to authoritarians who repress online free speech. It’s as if Congress invited the Mafia to draft laws against racketeering and extortion. ..."

To defeat adversaries in cyberspace, America must go on offense | American Enterprise Institute - AEI

The Darkside of Putin the Terrible

I presume the so called Darkside hacking group operates out of Russia.

Putin the Terrible is infamous for asymmetric warfare and cyber warfare! Hackers like Darkside have assumed a nice cover up by claiming they are purely after extortion money or as Wikipedia describes they are sort of a Robin Hood operation.

I bet these hackers do not attack any businesses or infrastructure facilities located in Russia! How much is Putin the Terrible supporting these hackers? 

Is Putin the Terrible even bothering to prosecute hackers like Darkside?

Has Putin the Terrible denounced that Darkside are not hackers operating out of Russia? Has Putin the Terrible offered any serious and credible cooperation to track down these hackers?