Chinese Hackers Using Never-Before-Seen Tactics for Critical Infrastructure Attacks – TheHackerNews - June 2023

The newly discovered Chinese nation-state actor known as Volt Typhoon has been observed to be active in the wild since at least mid-2020, with the hacking crew linked to never-before-seen tradecraft to retain remote access to targets of interest.

The findings come from CrowdStrike, which is tracking the adversary under the name Vanguard Panda.

"The adversary consistently employed ManageEngine Self-service Plus exploits to gain initial access, followed by custom web shells for persistent access, and living-off-the-land (LotL) techniques for lateral movement,"

Falcon Complete MDR Thwarts VANGUARD PANDA Tradecraft – CrowdStrike - June 2023

#VoltTyphoon #VanguarPanda #China #espionage #spyware #malware

The Hungarian Civil Liberties Union and its coordinated fight against the use of Pegasus spyware - Media Defence – June 2023

The main problem is that Hungarian national security laws permit the government and its officials to use spyware tools to monitor citizens – without any judicial oversight. Even though it has been revealed by investigative journalists that Pegasus was used against journalists, we still know very little about this use. Decision-makers are able to keep everything secret.

People who were spied on with Pegasus could not access any information about their surveillance. They also could not find out the reasons that they were targeted. Another important issue is that there are no judicial procedures to provide remedies for those who have been targeted by the spyware. Under Hungarian law it seems impossible to achieve justice.

#Pegasus #NSO #Hungary #spyware

The Former Israeli Spies Working in Top Jobs at Google, Facebook and Microsoft – MintPress - June 2023

AMintPress study has found that hundreds of former agents of the notorious Israeli spying organization, Unit 8200, have attained positions of influence in many of the world’s biggest tech companies, including Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon.

The Israeli Defense Forces’ (IDF) Unit 8200 is infamous for surveilling the indigenous Palestinian population, amassing kompromat on individuals for the purposes of blackmail and extortion. Spying on the world’s rich and famous, Unit 8200 hit the headlines last year, after the Pegasus scandal broke. Former Unit 8200 officers designed and implemented software that spied on tens of thousands of politicians and likely aided in the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

#NSO #Pegasus #Israel #Unit8200 #ProjectNimbus #Google #Meta #Facebook #Microsoft #Intel #spyware #surveillance

edri@eupolicy.social - 1/2 📨 #OpenLetter: 80 civil society, media, publishers and broadcasters organisations, and trade unions are calling on @EP_Justice to BAN #spyware deployment against journalists without exceptions in the European #MediaFreedom Act

The recently adopted @EUCouncil  approach to the EMFA would permit the use of intrusive spware against journalists on the basis of 'national security' reasons

✊🏾We are urging @EP_Justice  MEPs to oppose this and ensure that the EMFA meaningfully protects journalists.

edri@eupolicy.social - 2/2 As @EP_Justice  negotiations on EMFA reach a critical point, we're calling on MEPs to:

✅ eliminate national security exception
✅ restrict the list of crimes allowing repressive measures against journalists
✅  include strong legal safeguards to protect free & independent press

Read the open letter: https://edri.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Open-Letter-Council-Protection-of-Journalists-Against-Spyware-in-EMFA.pdf

The U.S. government has banned European commercial spyware manufacturers Intellexa and Cytrox - BleepingComputer - July 2023

The U.S. government has banned European commercial spyware manufacturers Intellexa and Cytrox, citing risks to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests.

The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) added four commercial entities to its Entity List: Intellexa S.A. from Greece, Intellexa Limited from Ireland, Cytrox Holdings Zrt from Hungary, and Cytrox AD from North Macedonia.

This decision was motivated by the four companies' involvement in trafficking cyber exploits used to gain unauthorized access to the devices of high-risk individuals worldwide, threatening their security and privacy

#Intellexa #Cytrox #Greece #Macedonia #Hungary #Ireland #EU #US #Spyware

#Predator

China identifies the culprits behind cyberattack on Wuhan Earthquake Monitoring Center; a secretive US global reconnaissance system to be exposed - Global Times –

Investigation into a cyberattack incident targeting the Wuhan Earthquake Monitoring Center affiliated to the city's Emergency Management Bureau, after a joint investigation team formed by the National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center (CVERC) and Chinese cybersecurity company 360 discovered malicious backdoor software that exhibits characteristics of US intelligence agencies, the Global Times learned on Monday. Chinese authorities will publicly disclose a highly secretive global reconnaissance system of the US government, which poses a serious security threat to China's national security and world peace.

#China #Wuhan #NSA #USA #Spyware #backdoor

Israeli Shin Bet opposes Pegasus probe, cites security concerns | Al Mayadeen English – August 2023

The Israeli internal security agency, the Shin Bet, told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the "National Security Council" that it opposed Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin's proposal to grant an investigative committee the authority to probe the Pegasus spyware, according to I24news Israeli Website.

Levin is set to propose to the government on Sunday to grant the committee the authority to look into the Pegasus spyware scandal.

The Shin Bet informed Netanyahu and the security council of its opposition to Levin's proposal for several reasons, most notably the exposure of its capabilities to the Israeli public, which may lead to secrets being exposed.

#Pegasus #NSO #Israel #SinBet
#spyware

New Flaw in Apple Devices Led to Spyware Infection, Researchers Say

Researchers at digital watchdog group Citizen Lab said on Thursday they found #spyware they linked to Israeli firm #NSO that exploited a newly discovered flaw in #Apple (AAPL.O) devices.

While inspecting the Apple device of an employee of a Washington-based civil society group last week, Citizen Lab said it found the flaw had been used to infect the device with NSO's Pegasus spyware, it said in a statement.

🔗Source: Reuters

Substack | Twitter | Minds

📡 Follow:
@G3News

Citizen Lab (@citizenlab): "🚨🚨WE URGE EVERYONE TO UPDATE THEIR APPLE DEVICES AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. We have found an actively exploited #zero #click vulnerability that was used to deliver #NSO group’s #Pegasus #spyware. https://citizenlab.ca/2023/09/blastpass-nso-group-iphone-zero-click-zero-day-exploit-captured-in-the-wild/" | nitter – https://nitter.net/citizenlab/status/1699873620070191520#m