Seriously, Washington Post?
"Hacking group that leaked the NSA’s secrets claims it has data on foreign nuclear programs" by Brian Fung Washington Post May 16, 2017
The hacking group that helped enable last week’s global ransomware attack is threatening to make public even more computer vulnerabilities in the coming weeks — including ‘‘compromised network data’’ pertaining to the nuclear missile programs of China, Iran, Russia, and North Korea, and secret exploits affecting Windows 10, which is run by millions of computers around the world.
OMG!
They are all ENEMIES of the UNITED STATES!!!
A spokesman for the group, which calls itself the Shadow Brokers, claimed in a blog post Tuesday that some of those computer bugs may be released on a monthly basis as part of a new subscription-based business model that attempts to mimic what has proven successful for companies such as Spotify, Netflix, Blue Apron, and many more.
Since when does my pre$$ care about what they call fake news?
This is all a massive psy-op on the public and world!
‘‘Is being like wine of month club,’’ said the blog post, which is written in broken English. ‘‘Each month peoples can be paying membership fee, then getting members only data dump each month.’’
HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!
Yeah, that convinces us all it some foreign entity!
The move highlights the growing commercial sophistication of groups such as the Shadow Brokers, which has already demonstrated a fearsome technical ability to compromise the world’s top intelligence agencies. And it underscores the way much of the underground trade for computer bugs resembles a real-world commercial market.
OMG!
That is where they got the tools, from the very same intel agencies!!
How "fearsome!"
Security specialists experts have been analyzing the blog post for clues about the Shadow Brokers’ intentions and capabilities.
Marcy Wheeler, a longtime independent researcher, said in a blog post Tuesday the Shadow Brokers’ post ‘‘brings the hammer’’ down both on Microsoft, whose products could be affected by any further leaks, and the National Security Agency, whose information the Shadow Brokers leaked in April. That leak led indirectly to the creation of WannaCry and the subsequent crisis, security specialists said.
‘‘Simply by threatening another leak after leaking two sets of Microsoft exploits, Shadow Brokers will ratchet up the hostility between Microsoft and the government,’’ Wheeler wrote.
Microsoft didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. In a blog post Sunday, the company criticized the NSA for stockpiling digital weapons. The tech industry at large opposes efforts by the government to weaken the security of its products, while national security advocates say it could help combat terrorism.
Although specialists say the Shadow Brokers do not appear to have been directly involved in the WannaCry crisis, leaking the exploit in the first place was a major step toward facilitating the attack.
WTF do you mean it wasn't them?
The group’s new claim that it possesses information on the nuclear programs of state governments is extremely worrisome, said Joseph Lorenzo Hall, chief technologist for the Center for Democracy and Technology, a Washington think tank.
Well, the way they are going the next thing they will tell us is Iran is secretly developing a nuclear weapon.
‘‘While they don’t seem to have the most amazing PR department,’’ he said, ‘‘they’ve already proved that they had some pretty serious access. The nuke facility stuff is particularly concerning, [speaking] as a former physicist.’’
That is how you know it is a government-run operation, and he knows those towers don't collapse at free-fall speed because of jet fuel fires, right?
The tactic of distributing computer vulnerabilities for a monthly fee reflects a change in approach that could result in those bugs being spread far and wide, he added.
Previously, the group had merely sought to sell its hacking tools to the highest bidder. Few buyers came forward, the group said in its blog post. But now, the monthly subscription model might mean the bugs will find their way into the hands of more people, said Hall.
The pre$$ is believing blog posts now, and no mention of bitcoins or where the monthly fee is going!
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Related: Shadow Broker Bull$h**
Time to wipe clean:
"Cyberattack could cost billions, but so far US has been mostly spared" by Hiawatha Bray Globe Staff May 16, 2017
There is your first clue as to where it originated.
The accounts receiving the ransoms are now being scrutinized by every major police organization on the planet.
As of Monday afternoon, researcher Ethan Heilman, a doctoral student in computer science at Boston University, who is working with BU professor Sharon Goldberg to develop a truly anonymous version of bitcoin, said, “Bitcoin is anonymous as long as you don’t use it or spend it.”
?????????????
I must be losing my mind.
If the criminals were smart, Heilman said, they’d have asked for payment in the form of gift cards from retail stores. Many cybercriminals do this because gift card numbers can be easily traded for cash in the criminal underground, and the transactions aren’t a matter of public record.
“The use of bitcoin in this ransomware attack suggests . . . they don’t know what they’re doing,” Heilman said."
HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!
And they outwitted all the cybersecurity and government agencies tasked with watching them?
HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!
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That's all the studying I had to do, HA-HA-HA-HA!
You know, it would be funny were they not laying the groundwork for a possible nuclear false flag. Wounded and cornered globe-kickers get desperate.
Looks like it might have been the Ukrainians covered by Shadow.
And you know who will get the blame for the bomb, right?
"US military flailing in online fight against Islamic State" by Desmond Butler and Richard Lardner Associated Press January 31, 2017
TAMPA — A counter-propaganda program aimed at thwarting Islamic State recruiting over social media is plagued by incompetence, cronyism, and skewed data, an Associated Pres investigation has found.
Known as ‘‘WebOps,’’ the program was launched several years ago by a small group of civilian contractors and military officers assigned to the information operations division at US Central Command’s headquarters in Tampa.
But internal documents and interviews with more than a dozen people knowledgeable about WebOps suggest a program that appears aimed more at enriching contractors than thwarting terrorism.
No kidding?
I thought we had come a long way from 2003 and Iraq. Apparently not. It's the $ame old record over and over again.
The people interviewed by the AP requested anonymity because they are prohibited from speaking publicly about WebOps due to the sensitive nature of the work and they fear professional repercussions.
WebOps relies on dozens of Arabic-speaking analysts who scour Twitter and other social media platforms for people whose postings suggest they are vulnerable to the Islamic State’s siren call. Using fictitious identities, the civilian analysts then reach out to these potential recruits and urge them not to join the extremists.
OMG!
But current and former WebOps employees cite examples of analysts who had scant experience in counter-propaganda, couldn’t speak Arabic fluently, and had so little understanding of Islam that they were no match for the Islamic State’s online recruiters. The program ran into problems at times when the online targets noticed the lack of linguistic skills, the employees said.
‘‘One of the things about jihadis: They are very good in Arabic,’’ said an Arabic specialist who previously worked on WebOps.
Four current or former workers told the AP that they had witnessed WebOps data being manipulated to create the appearance of success and that many other employees were aware of the problem. Yet the companies carrying out the program for Central Command have dodged attempts to implement independent oversight and assessment of the data.
The information operations division that runs WebOps is the command’s epicenter for firing back at the Islamic State’s online propaganda machine, using the Internet to sway public opinion in a swath of the globe that stretches from Central Asia to the Horn of Africa.
Early last year, the government opened the bidding on a new counter-propaganda contract — separate from WebOps — that is worth as much as $500 million. Months after the AP started reporting about the bidding process, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service told the AP it had begun an investigation. NCIS spokesman Ed Buice said the service is investigating a whistle-blower’s ‘‘allegations of corruption’’ stemming from how the contract was awarded.
The WebOps program is run by the Alabama-based Colsa Corp., which uses specialized software that mines social media accounts. Colsa referred questions about the program to Central Command.
I wonder where they got it.
Central Command spokesman Andy Stephens declined repeated requests for information about WebOps and the new contract, and did not respond to detailed questions the AP sent on Jan. 10.
The whistle-blower’s complaint alleges multiple conflicts of interest that included division officers being treated to lavish dinners paid for by a contractor. The complaint also alleges routine drinking at the office where classified work is conducted. The drinking was confirmed by multiple contractors, who spoke to the AP.
One of the most damning accusations leveled by the whistle-blower is against Army Colonel Victor Garcia, who led the information operations division until July 2016, when his tour at Central Command ended.
The whistle-blower alleges that Garcia used his influence to steer the contract to a team of vendors that included a close friend’s firm. The AP obtained a screengrab from a Facebook page that shows Garcia and the friend at a tiki bar in Key Largo two weeks before the winning team was officially announced.
Garcia, a West Point graduate and decorated officer, denied any wrongdoing, describing the complaint as ‘‘character assassination.’’
Woa!
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Congre$$ is now probing the problem.
