Cyber-Security Report Shows Links Between Russian Hacking, Military

Booz Allen Hamilton, the largest private contractor for the U.S. intelligence community, has published a comprehensive report detailing 15 years (2004 to 2019) of cyber operations carried out by Russia's military hackers. The report is a rarity in the cyber-security community because it focuses on the bigger picture of how Russia's military uses its hacking units to support its foreign policy all over the globe.

Google's Warnings for Government-Backed Hacking Drop 25 Percent

Google’s threat analysis group, which counters targeted and government-backed hacking against the company and its users, sent account holders almost 40,000 warnings in 2019, with government officials, journalists, dissidents, and geopolitical rivals being the most targeted, team members said. The number of warnings declined almost 25 percent from 2018, in part because of new protections designed to curb cyberattacks on Google properties.

Quarantines Increase Demand for Internet, Creating Slower Speeds

Quarantines around the world have made people more reliant on the internet to communicate, work, learn and stay entertained. But as the use of YouTube, Netflix, Zoom videoconferencing, Facebook calls and videogaming has surged to new highs, the stress on internet infrastructure is starting to show in Europe and the United States — and the traffic is probably far from its peak.

FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center Warns of Coronavirus Relief Scams

Hackers and scammers online have ramped up attacks to take advantage of the coronavirus pandemic, and that could mean targeting the US' COVID-19 relief effort next, the FBI has warned. In a warning from the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, the agency explained that the US government would never send an email out asking for people's personal information to get federal aid.

  • Read the article: CNET

European Governments Track Coronavirus, Raising Privacy Concerns

Governments across Europe are turning to technology to track the spread of the coronavirus and monitor people under quarantine, an approach that seeks to learn from Asia but is also putting the region’s privacy rules to the test. From Helsinki to Madrid, applications are being developed for people to report their symptoms to doctors and researchers; to trace and model the spread of the flu-like virus; and ensure that those under quarantine stay at home.

Facebook Removes Accounts for Northwest Front Supremacist Group

Facebook Inc. has removed dozens of user accounts plus other Pages and Groups on its social network associated with the Northwest Front, a group pushing for a white nation-state in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. The company doesn’t allow groups that “proclaim hateful and violent missions,” according to a statement on Wednesday from Brian Fishman, Facebook’s policy director for counter-terrorism and dangerous organizations.

State Attorneys General Crack Down on Online Price-Gouging

A bipartisan group of state attorneys general sent letters to major retailers urging them crack down on price gouging on their online platforms amid the spread of coronavirus. The 34 AGs recommended for Amazon, Craigslist, eBay, Facebook and Walmart to build tools to detect price spikes and create landing pages for people to report cases of price gouging.

South Korean Police Seek to Indict Man for Blackmail Over Sex Videos

The South Korean police on asked prosecutors to indict a 24-year-old man on charges he blackmailed dozens of young women, including at least 16 minors, into making sexually explicit video clips that he sold online through encrypted chat rooms. The case has galvanized nationwide attention to what women’s rights advocates have called a growing problem in South Korea: a network of clandestine online chat rooms that lure young women with promises of high-paying jobs online and then exploit them sexually.

Racist Posts Target Asians Online as Coronavirus Spreads

As COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus, spreads, Asians have become the target of hateful, racist and xenophobic remarks on social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok. None of these companies seems fully prepared to handle the burst in bigotry, and all are struggling to balance their rules against hate speech with their support of free expression.

  • Read the article: CNET

Hackers Increasingly Target Health Care Organizations Amid Pandemic

Hackers targeting health care organizations have compromised computer networks and disrupted patient care — in one case hobbling the Czech Republic’s second-biggest hospital for almost two weeks — as the new coronavirus pandemic already tests the limits of health-care systems around the globe. The recent activity is targeting critical health care facilities and systems amid an unprecedented global health crisis, as the world tries to cope with the fallout of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Instagram to Stop Recommending Coronavirus-Related Content

Facebook Inc’s Instagram said it would remove coronavirus-related content and accounts from recommendations and its “explore” option, unless posted by or belonging to credible health organizations. “We will also start to downrank content in feed and Stories that has been rated false by third-party-fact checkers,” the photo-sharing platform added.

Justice Department Takes Action Against Website Selling Fake Vaccine Kits

The Justice Department announced that it has filed an enforcement action against a website fraudulently offering vaccine kits for the novel coronavirus and seeking to profit from the health crisis. The civil complaint against the operators of coronavirusmedicalkit.com says the website claims to sell World Health Organization vaccine kits, even though there is no vaccine for the virus.

Twitter Won't Delete Chinese Officials' Misleading Coronavirus Tweets

Misinformation about the coronavirus spread by Chinese government officials does not violate Twitter's policies, a spokesperson for the company told The Hill. In particular, tweets from Lijian Zhao, an official spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, insinuating that the U.S. military may have spread the coronavirus to Wuhan, China, will remain up.

U.S. Trade Officials Approve Apple's Request to Exempt Tariffs on Watch

U.S. trade officials removed tariffs on the Apple Watch, the latest Apple device to avoid the United States-China trade war that had once looked like a dire threat to the company’s business. The U.S. trade representative’s office said in a letter that it had granted Apple’s request that the Apple Watch, which is assembled in China, be exempt from tariffs.

Facebook Reduces Streaming Quality in Latin America, Europe

Facebook Inc. will lower video streaming quality on its platform and on Instagram in Latin America, replicating measures adopted in Europe, to ease network congestion in a region that is starting to feel the grip of the coronavirus. The world’s largest social network followed the steps of Netflix, Alphabet Inc’s YouTube, Amazon and Walt Disney in response to a call by the European Union to stave off internet gridlock as thousands of people work from home due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Microsoft Says Attackers Exploiting 'Critical' Security Flaw in Windows

Microsoft says attackers are exploiting a previously undisclosed security vulnerability found in all supported versions of Windows, including Windows 10. But the software giant said there is currently no patch for the vulnerability. The security flaw, which Microsoft deems “critical” — its highest severity rating — is found in how Windows handles and renders fonts, according to the advisory.

Appeals Court Won't Revisit Decision Against Trump Blocking Twitter Users

A federal appeals court in New York let stand a ruling that prevents President Trump from blocking critical voices from the Twitter account he uses to communicate with the public. The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit denied the Trump administration’s request to revisit an earlier holding that Trump violated the First Amendment when he blocked individual Twitter users who were critical of the president or his polices.

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The GigaLaw Firm helps companies of all sizes protect their brands online, using domain name dispute policies – such as the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) – and other legal tools available to copyright and trademark owners on the Internet.