Items tagged with United States
It appears that REvil, the threat actor group behind attacks on JBS Global and Kaseya, among others, has gone dark. While this could be a good thing, it may not be worth holding your breath as there are other explanations for REvil “disappearing” in the short term. Prior to the July 4th holiday in the United States, REvil executed an attack on Kaseya, a management software company based out of Florida. This led to upwards of 1,500 businesses downstream having their files encrypted and held for ransom by the threat actor group’s ransomware. With this rise in attacks, the Biden administration has seemingly put cybersecurity as a priority. Less than a day ago, BleepingComputer’s...
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The United States and People’s Republic of China have been engaged in a trade war for the last few years. The US is reportedly about to take this battle to the next level. President Trump will likely sign an executive order this week that would prohibit telecommunications companies from using equipment from companies such as Huawei. Three anonymous officials insisted that an upcoming executive order would ban telecommunications providers from using products from other companies that have been deemed a threat to national security. It is no secret that the United States believes that Chinese telecommunications company Huawei is a threat. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) recently confirmed...
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As was expected, Huawei on Thursday announced that it has filed a lawsuit against the United States government over a provision (Section 889) to the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that effectively bans all US government agencies from using products manufactured by the company (as well as ZTE), over spying concerns. The ban on Huawei and ZTE underscores the tensions that exist between the US and China, and efforts to stay one step ahead in today's cybersecurity landscape. On multiple occasions, US intelligence agencies have warned that Huawei and ZTE present a security threat and could be spying on users at the behest of China's government. Huawei has repeatedly denied the...
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Perhaps feeling as though it has been backed into a corner, Chinese telecom Huawei is preparing to sue the United States government over a defense bill that would further dissuade domestic companies from doing business with the company. The bill is the latest move in an ongoing effort to encourage businesses to distance themselves from Huawei over concerns that it is spying on users for the benefit of China. At issue here is an amendment to the US National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that was signed in 2018. The new language further blocks certain US agencies from using equipment by Huawei and also ZTE, another Chinese company that security officials have previously said could be spying...
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The United States is currently trying to persuade its allies to ban all Huawei devices. Government officials are concerned that Huawei and other Chinese telecommunication companies are a cybersecurity threat. The United States fears that the devices could be used to spy on users and could be easily controlled by the Chinese intelligence agencies. This past August, President Trump attempted to prohibit government use of devices from Huawei and fellow Chinese telecommunications company ZTE. Australia quickly followed in the United States’ footsteps and banned both companies from supplying 5G technology. The United States is now particularly concerned that these devices could be used against...
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As tension continues to build between Russia and the US over alleged cyber attacks, the US has begun contemplating issuing its own set of cyber attacks against the Kremlin. As we covered last weekend, the US government has formally accused Russia of being responsible for breaking into official servers and walking away with a trove of emails relating to the DNC. While as of last weekend, we were unaware of what counter-action the US might take, the picture this week has just become a little clearer. According to officials close to the matter, the US government is in the planning stages of deciding what kind of retaliation is suitable against Russia, while weighing the risk of potential backlash....
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As if relations between US and Russia governments weren't sensitive enough, both the Department of Homeland Security and Office of the Director of National Intelligence have officially accused Russia of being responsible for breaking into official government servers and stealing more than 19,000 emails relating to the DNC this past summer. While some US government officials, including Hillary Clinton, have already made their own accusations towards the Kremlin, this is the first time the US government as a whole has directed blame specifically. It's unclear at this time whether or not this accusation will result in new sanctions between the two countries. Meanwhile, Russia is sticking to its...
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The United States Justice Department has brought forth criminal charges against several members of Unit 61398 of the Chinese military, alleging that these members hacked into computer systems of six American businesses, including Alcoa Inc., United States Steel Crop, Allegheny Technologies Inc, Westinghouse Electric Co, and SolarWorld AG. What makes this especially significant is that it's the first time the U.S. has gone public with cyber spying charges. "In the past, when we brought concerns such as these to Chinese government officials, they responded by publicly challenging us to provide hard evidence of their hacking that could stand up in court. Well today, we are," the U.S. Justice Department...
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It's no surprise to anyone that Apple is doing well, but it may be surprising to many that the company is doing better financially than its own home country. Latest figures from the US Treasury Department show that the country has an operating cash balance of $73.7 billion, while Apple's most recent postings show a balance of $76.4 billion. Apple's good news comes at a critical time for the U.S.: the US House of Representatives is currently languishing over a coming vote on a bill to raise the country's debt ceiling, which will allow it to borrow more money to cover spending commitments. If the current limit of $14.3 trillion is not extended, the federal government could find itself struggling...
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We frequently hear from our Canadian friends about how much they are reamed for their cell phone plans. The New American Foundation's Open Technology Initiative (OTI) has done a study and confirmed that. The U.S. is second most expensive, but trails by quite a bit. The report's conclusion, unsurprisingly, is that those countries with the most regulation and the most competition have the lowest rates. A cell phone package that includes text, data, and voice would cost users in Canada $67.50 (in USD), the study showed. The U.S. was second, with users paying at least $59.99. On the low end, India and Hong Kong came in with the cheapest complete plans, at $12.90 and $13.50 respectively. In terms...
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While many have griped, complained (you name it) over the sad state of U.S. broadband, particularly when compared with other countries, some have said it's all a bunch of "hooey." A report released by economic consulting firm LECG, commissioned by Nokia Siemens Networks would tend to agree with that, putting the U.S. at #1 in broadband --- with caveats. This placement assumes you use the so-called "Connectivity Scorecard," which measures a number of items unrelated to broadband as part of its ranking system. If you look at the report (.PDF), you can see on page 39 the methodology followed in the rankings. Some of the questionable inclusions: Monthly SMS usage per capitaAdjusted software spending...
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