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Showing posts from November 1, 2020

Dragon’s cyber hacking operations: State sponsored game-plan

In the last few years, countless cyber-attacks were reported globally that were linked to the People’s Republic of China. The Chinese cyber-hackers, who target the foreign networks and websites are sponsored by the Chinese government. They are highly trained and have acquired abilities not only to exploit common vulnerabilities but also to discover and even create new vulnerabilities. The US National Security Agency’s in-depth report of 23rd October points out that one of the greatest threats to the US National Security Systems, Defence Industrial Base and Department of Defence information networks is the “Chinese state sponsored malicious cyber activity”. The report underlines that the Chinese hackers exploit “computer networks of interest that hold sensitive intellectual property, economic, political, and military information.” In July 2020, US had ordered the closure of the Chinese consulate in Huston, when it discovered that the Chinese officials there were involved in the intellec

Kabul attack shows why India needs own Afghanistan plan, no matter who wins in US

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The next US president will need to set his own house in order before it can help India or frame a South Asia policy. New Delhi can’t wait for it. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar meets Zalmay Khalildad, US Special Representative on Afghanistan Reconciliation, at MEA, in September | Twitter | @DrSJaishankar  Text Size: I t’s not just China, the next US administration, whether led by Joe Biden or Donald Trump, must also focus on what’s going on in Afghanistan, where ISIS-affiliated gunmen recently  attacked  Kabul University, killing 22 people. The Pakistan-brokered deal with Taliban in the Afghan peace talks does not seem to be effective as far as reducing violence is concerned. So, are we Indians on our own? In such a scenario, India will have to develop an independent policy for dealing with the situation after the US withdraws from Afghanistan. The policy framework will also have to take into consideration the change of guard in the White House. Biden may prefer to go soft on

UAE relaxes Islamic laws, criminalises honor crimes for personal freedoms

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced on Saturday a major overhaul of the country's Islamic personal laws, allowing unmarried couples to cohabitate, loosening alcohol restrictions and criminalisng so-called "honor killings." The broadening of personal freedoms reflects the changing profile of a country that has sought to bill itself as a Westernized destination for tourists, fortune-seekers and businesses despite its Islamic legal code that has previously triggered court cases against foreigners and outrage in their home countries. The reforms aim to boost the country's economic and social standing and "consolidate the UAE's principles of tolerance," state-run WAM news agency reported. The announcement follows a historic U.S.-brokered deal to normalize relations between the UAE and Israel, which is expected to bring an influx of Israeli tourists and investment. The changes also reflect the efforts of the Emirates' rulers to keep pace with a rapidl

Chinese agents in Pakistan, Turkey target Uyghurs overseas, alleges scholar

Delaware [US], November 7 (ANI): Chinese national security personnel frequently operate in Pakistan, Dubai, Turkey, and Cairo and retaliate against Uyghur Muslims living overseas, revealed an Uyghur scholar Abduweli Ayup. In an interview with Radio Free Asia, Ayup, a scholar living in Norway, has exposed the Chinese government network which targets Uyghurs living outside China. Ayup's friend Yusufjan Amet, an Uyghur who claims he was forced to spy on members of his ethnic group living in exile in Turkey for China's government, was assassinated by a gunman in Istanbul on Monday. Ayup revealed that he had known Amet for many years. Amet told him about his experience of being forced to serve as a Chinese spy, so he encouraged Amet to break the news to the media. In 2018, he introduced Al Jazeera reporters to interview Amet. Unexpectedly, just after the the program was broadcast in January last year, Amet told him that he had been intimidated by the former boss of the Chinese Commu

6,000 fingerprints, 15 states — A 9-month NIA probe of theft on INS Vikrant ends at OLX

Theft of sensitive defence equipment sparked fears of enemy sabotage but the NIA probe found it was committed by 2 painters who sold the equipment on OLX   New Delhi:   In September last year, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) was thrown into a tizzy — critical and “sensitive defence infrastructure” had gone missing from the indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC), INS Vikrant, which is under construction at the Cochin Shipyard in Kochi, Kerala.  The agency suspected that they were stolen with the “intention of threatening the security of India”. What followed was a painstaking nine-month probe. Over 6,000 palm and fingerprints were collected from across 15 states and there was on-ground verification of over 1,000 employees. Moreover, a layered voice analysis (LVA) of suspects, which helps detect stress and other emotions by analysis of the human voice was conducted, along with analysis of mobile tower dumps of the scene of crime and the call detail records of employees. The breakthrou

Is Israel downplaying the number of successful cyberattacks against it?

Israeli government entities are hacked and invaded with ransomware just like in the US, but “defense agencies in Israel conceal this from the citizenry,”  cybersecurity  firm Monstercloud CEO Zohar Pinhasi has told  The Jerusalem Post  in an interview.   Pinhasi, who worked in the IDF in information security, does not back up this controversial statement with a concrete case, perhaps leaving his claim open to question.   But he does back it up with broad data, a record of saving even US law enforcement from ransomware attacks, and with the reputation of a partner, John Pistole, who used to be deputy chief of the FBI.   In addition, Pinhasi says, “We assist the FBI in cyber intelligence. They reach out to us. We write reports to the FBI very often… which the FBI relies on… if they need a report in a specific case.”   In one case, “we had very specific [cyber] intelligence which they needed – we handed over the intelligence… The attack came through an information technology vendor in Ala

Top six cyber security threats to watch out for

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  (Image credit: Pixabay) Cybercrimes are estimated to cost the world $6 trillion annually by 2021, up from $3 trillion in 2015. Data breaches cost companies heavily. This has forced businesses of all sizes to consider data protection seriously and implement robust cyber security defenses. Also, the threat landscape is continuously evolving and attackers are leaving no stone unturned to take advantage of vulnerabilities. This has resulted in sophisticated phishing, ransomware, and malware attacks. To tackle this challenge, businesses need to work with experienced IT companies that can help establish strict cyber security best practices, provide cyber security training to employees, and conduct continuous monitoring to build an effective defense strategy. Though attackers are always on the lookout for new ways to defraud companies, a few types of threats remain the most prevalent. As seasoned managed IT service providers, we have consolidated them here. The best online security suite of

'Pakistan PM Imran Khan did not have legal or constitutional right to grant provincial status to Gilgit-Baltistan'

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  Abbas Butt, Chairman of Kashmir National Party, in a virtual interaction with Dr Shabir Choudhry in programme  London [UK], November 6 (ANI): Condemning Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for declaring provisional provincial status to Gilgit-Baltistan, Abbas Butt, chairman of Kashmir National Party, said that Khan did not have legal or constitutional right to do so as per the Pakistan constitution. Speaking during a virtual online programme "My Voice", he said that the Indian government ended the Article 370 and 35A under the constitution but the Pakistan constitution has clearly stated that "you cannot make a province in this region nor make any changes and yet Khan did it." "India followed the law while ending Article 370 and 35A and Pakistan illegally did it. While the Pakistan constitution clearly states that you cannot make a province in this region nor make any changes and yet Khan did it," he told Dr Shabir Choudhry, who is President of Foreign Af

Data-Exfiltrating Ransomware Gangs Pedal False Promises

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Thieves Not Honoring 'Pay Us to Delete Stolen Data' Guarantees, Investigators Warn The average ransom payment, when a victim pays, continues to increase (Source: Coveware) Victims of crypto-locking malware who pay a ransom to their attackers are paying, on average, more than ever before. But ransomware incident response firm Coveware reports that when victims pay for a guarantee that data stolen during an attack - before systems got encrypted - will get deleted, they're often paying for false promises. See Also:   10 Essential Capabilities of a Modern SOC Ransomware continues to be wildly profitable. Coveware reports that from July through September, the average ransom payment - when a victim paid - was $233,817, which was an increase of 31% from the previous quarter (see:   Ransomware Payday: Average Payments Jump to $178,000 ). The firm says those statistics are based on thousands of cases that it worked on during Q3. "The dramatic increase in ransom amounts may impl