Cybersecurity
Critical infrastructure cyberattacks pushed NSA to unmask thousands of U.S. identities through spying law
The number of U.S. identity unmaskings NSA conducted in response to requests from other agencies through Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act tripled in 2023 compared to the prior year.
Critical infrastructure blueprint gets long-awaited update but maintains status quo on key sectors
The memorandum reaffirms the statutory authority of America’s top cyber agency, but doesn’t update the primary list of critical sectors that can be targeted in cyberattacks, notably leaving out space infrastructure
FCC fines major wireless carriers $200M for illegally selling customer location data
The wireless providers said they plan to appeal the fine.
VA is warning veterans about Change Healthcare cyberattack, secretary says
“There’s no confirmation yet” that veterans’ data was leaked by the ransomware attack, according to the VA secretary, but the department is proactively alerting millions of veterans and beneficiaries to be safe.
Change Healthcare attack did not result in harm to veteran care, VA says
The Department of Veterans Affairs said the ransomware attack impacted just over 40,000 veterans’ prescription orders but that it moved to quickly fill the requests.
CISA to issue list of software products critical to agency security by end of September
The software offerings are crucial for federal cybersecurity because of certain privileges and controls they enable, as defined by NIST.
House passes bill barring spy agencies, law enforcement from buying Americans’ personal data
The measure doesn’t have support from the Biden administration, which argues it threatens national security and worsens Americans’ privacy protections.
Russian hackers breached, sabotaged Texas water treatment plant, cyber firm says
If confirmed by U.S. officials, it would add Moscow to the list of American adversaries that have infiltrated water infrastructure in the past year.
Hackers tried to breach, disable widely used open-source Java tools, groups warn
The alert comes just after a possible nation state entity attempted to hijack an open-source Linux tool last month.
New bill would create a governing body for water system cyber standards
The legislation comes after the Biden administration rescinded a memorandum that would have tied water sector cyber reviews to existing sanitation surveys.
HHS removed Login from its grantee payment system after funding theft
Hackers used data from a federal contracting hub to steal funding from seven grantee organizations in an HHS breach that occurred last year. Both HHS and GSA say that Login.gov was not compromised or connected to the theft.
Russian hackers accessed U.S. government emails in Microsoft breach, CISA says
The alert comes a week after Microsoft was faulted in a DHS report for fostering a security culture that enabled a similar China-backed cyberattack last year.
Exclusive
Some Volt Typhoon victims ‘won’t know they’re impacted,’ Mandiant CEO says
The efforts of the Beijing-linked Volt Typhoon hacking group represent the “natural progression” of Chinese espionage, according to Kevin Mandia.
Featured eBooks
