Hackers Attack NSA, Take Advantage of Linux Flaw and Post House Democrats’ Personal Details

Tammy54/Shutterstock.com

Just another week in ThreatWatch, our regularly updated index of noteworthy data breaches.

In case you missed our coverage this week in ThreatWatchNextgov’s regularly updated index of cyber breaches:

Shadow Brokers vs. NSA

Did the National Security Agency get hacked?

That’s the big question of the week, which people started asking Aug. 13 when a group calling itself the Shadow Brokers kicked off a bitcoin auction for what it called were cyber weapons from the NSA-linked Equation Group.

As security experts dig through the data dump that accompanied the auction, they’re finding ties to NSA and its Tailored Access Operations Unit. The exploits show a high-level of sophistication and target Fortinet, Cisco, Juniper, TopSec and other network security systems. Some of the code names for hacking techniques that appear in documents leaked by Edward Snowden also pop up.

“Circumstantial evidence and conventional wisdom indicates Russian responsibility,” wrote Snowden on Twitter. He’s not the only one: James Lewis, a computer expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told The New York Times the incident was “probably some Russian mind game.”

Though NSA has yet to comment publicly, WikiLeaks weighed in, tweeting it has copies of NSA’s cyber weapons and plans to release a “pristine copy in due course.”

Linux Flaw Exposes 1.4 Billion Android Devices to Spying

A huge number of Android users are vulnerable to a flaw that allows attackers to intercept communications and—if unencrypted—inject malicious code or content, according to a mobile security company.

“We can estimate then that all Android versions running the Linux Kernel 3.6 (approximately Android 4.4 KitKat) to the latest are vulnerable to this attack or 79.9 percent of the Android ecosystem,” says a Lookout blog post.

The recently discovered Linux flaw lets hackers anywhere online to detect when two parties are communicating over a transmission control protocol connection, such as web mail, news feeds or direct messages. At the Usenix Security Symposium, researchers demonstrated how they could shut down connections and, in the case of a legit but unencrypted USA Today web page, insert JavaScript to collect usernames and passwords.

Until a patch is issued, the Lookout blog suggests encrypting traffic, using HTTPS with transport layer security and using a virtual private network.

Hacker Publishes House Democrats’ Personal Cell Numbers, Emails

A hacker reportedly connected to Russian intelligence groups posted the personal cellphone numbers and emails of most of the Democrats in the House of Representatives Aug. 12.

Guccifer 2.0 posted the information as part of a document dump, which the hacker said was stolen from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. The dump also included information about House races, DCCC event memos and committee passwords, according to Politico.

“All of you may have heard about the DCCC hack,” Guccifer 2.0 wrote in a blog post. “As you see I wasn’t wasting my time! It was even easier than in the case of the [Democratic National Committee] breach.”

Guccifer 2.0 claims to be Romanian, but other evidence links the hacker to Russian state-sponsored actors, including the group FANCY BEAR, also known as APT28.

NEXT STORY: Yup! NSA Got Hacked

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.