"CCleaner Hacked With Data-Stealing Malware: What to Do Now"

"Fortunately, the impact of this affected [5.33] version of CCleaner may be mitigated by more than its lack of automatic updates. The Floxif malware appears to infect only 32-bit Windows systems, and most PCs sold in the last 5 years run 64-bit Windows.

As to who is behind this attack and how they infected the official versions of CCleaner, Talos hasn't released anything yet, and Yung isn't providing any other details.

UPDATED Sept. 21: Further analysis of the malware injected into the CCleaner updater, and the malware's command-and-control servers, strongly indicates that the CCleaner hack was an attempt at industrial espionage. 

If a machine was infected by CCleaner, a new Cisco report says, the command-and-control server would check whether the infected machine happened to on the internal network of any one of the technology companies on a target list that included Google, Cisco, Samsung, Sony, Epson, D-Link, HTC, Linksys and others. The server would then deliver a "backdoor" to the infected machine for further exploitation.

No Chinese or Russian companies were on the target list."

https://www.tomsguide.com/us/ccleaner-utility-malware-infected,news-25851.html

ISIS hackers release hit list of 3,600

"Police have been making attempts to contact the individuals to inform them of the threat by Caliphate Cyber Army, which includes names, home and email addresses."

The list reportedly targets government employees within the state department and security, but the details of regular people have also been leaked.

Intelligence experts believe the 3,600 names may have been chosen at random because they are several years old, according to ABC7 News.

Elsewhere, the Russians continue to harass our military planes... "Defense official: Russians buzzed a U.S. plane in Baltic Sea"

The aircraft flew along the U.S. aircraft and then did a 'barrel roll' over the top of the aircraft, closing within 100 feet of the RC-135 plane, the official said, who was not authorized to speak publicly on the incident.

The United States has expressed concerns of these dangerous maneuvers because they can lead to mishaps or lead to heightened escalations between the two forces.

"After computer hack, L.A. hospital pays $17,000 in bitcoin ransom to get back medical records"

Washington Post: Not too long ago, taking the nation’s wild, messy, unreliable system of medical records online seemed like a worthy goal.

“To improve the quality of our health care while lowering its cost, we will make the immediate investments necessary to ensure that, within five years, all of America’s medical records are computerized,” President Obama said. “This will cut waste, eliminate red tape and reduce the need to repeat expensive medical tests.”

While the shift Obama and many others pushed may have improved care, electronic medical records led to quite the unique hostage situation in Los Angeles this week. There, a hospital fell prey to a cyberattack — and the hospital has escaped its plight by paying hackers a $17,000 ransom. (read more)   Via Instapundit

National Ransom 

"Hackers trace ISIS Twitter accounts back to internet addresses linked to Department of Work and Pensions."

Mirror: Hackers have claimed that a number of Islamic State supporters' social media accounts are being run from internet addresses linked to the Department of Work and Pensions.

A group of four young computer experts who call themselves VandaSec have unearthed evidence indicating that at least three ISIS-supporting accounts can be traced back to the DWP's London offices.

"Don't you think that's strange?" one of the hackers asked Mirror Online. "We traced these accounts back to London, the home of the British intelligence services." ...when Mirror Online traced the IP addresses obtained by VandaSec, we found they actually pointed to a series of unpublicised transactions between Britain and Saudi Arabia.

The Cabinet Office has now admitted to selling the IP addresses on to Saudi Telecom and the Saudi-based Mobile Telecommunications Company earlier this year as part of a wider drive to get rid of a large number of the DWP's IP addresses.

It said the British government can have no control over how these addresses are used after the sale.

What are the best computer hackers able to do right now that most people are unaware of?

Top voted Reddit comments..

One thing most people don't suspect is Rogue Access Points, for wifi you set up an access point using your own insecure protocols and you put it at a mall and call it "Free wifi" or "Starbucks" and people when connect you can steal session cookies, personal information etc.
Most people just connect to any wifi point with the strongest signal or unprotected.

I got a "cyber security" briefing back in the day, two things that caught my attention.First was a guy did a real life demonstration where he hacked a car company manufacturer, and made it so a car's brakes would fail at a specified future time.
The second was a guy who figured out how to hack a pacemaker. that's even scarier IMHO.

"Hacker Threatens To Sell Hillary Clinton’s ENTIRE UNRELEASED Private Emails For $500K"

"Promising to give the trove of the former Secretary of State’s emails to the highest bidder, the specialist is showing subject lines as proof of what appear to be legitimate messages."

“Hillary or someone from her camp erased the outbox containing her emails, but forgot to erase the emails that were in her sent box,” an insider reveals to Radar of the Presidential contender’s latest nightmare.

Radar has learned that some of the topics discussed in the email appear to include everything from Benghazi to the Algerian hostage crisis — with subject lines such as:

“H Libya security latest. Sid” (with attachment)
“H FYI, best analysis so far of hearing Sid,’ about the latest security
in Libya”
“H Algeria latest French Intel on Algeria hostage Sid”
“H Latest French Intel in Algeria hostage Sid” (with attachment)
“H Latest Libya intel internal govt discussions high level” (with
attachment)
“H HIGHLY IMPORTANT! Comprehensive Intel Report on (with attachment)”

Via Drudge

Ashley Madison Hack Blues

"Islamic preacher Hamza Tzortzis 'found' on leaked list"

Link to video

"How the U.S. thinks Russians hacked the White House"

"Russian hackers behind the damaging cyber intrusion of the State Department in recent months used that perch to penetrate sensitive parts of the White House computer system, according to U.S. officials briefed on the investigation."

To get to the White House, the hackers first broke into the State Department, investigators believe.

The State Department computer system has been bedeviled by signs that despite efforts to lock them out, the Russian hackers have been able to reenter the system. One official says the Russian hackers have "owned" the State Department system for months and it is not clear the hackers have been fully eradicated from the system.

As in many hacks, investigators believe the White House intrusion began with a phishing email that was launched using a State Department email account that the hackers had taken over, according to the U.S. officials.

I wander. Is this story an attempt to rescue Hillary from her e-mail troubles?

Claim: Hacker accessed Secretary of State Clinton "non-governmental" emails

"The disclosure that Hillary Clinton used a non-governmental e-mail address while she was Secretary of State originally came courtesy of “Guccifer,” the Romanian hacker now serving time in a Bucharest prison for his online attacks against scores of public figures."

While he rummaged through Blumenthal’s e-mail account, “Guccifer” sorted mail sent to Clinton’s hdr22@clintonemail.com address. He then took a screen grab showing more than two dozen e-mails sent over a two-month period ending in mid-February 2013.

Along with Valentine’s Day greetings and a mention of Clinton “walking in my neighborhood,” the subject lines of those Blumnethal e-mails include repeated references to “intel” shared with the Secretary of State. Other subject lines refer to “Q you raised” and “got your message a few days ago; I’m around whenev…” A February 17 e-mail included the subject line, “H: fyi, will continue to send relevant intel. Sid.” (4 pages)

Damn if you do, Damn if you don't

Who really wants to go and see The Interview?

Sony hacked emails show Maureen Dowd is a hack?

"Leaked emails from Sony suggest that New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd promised to show Sony Pictures co-chair Amy Pascal’s husband, Bernard Weinraub, — a former Times reporter — a version of a column featuring Pascal before publication."

The end result was a column that painted Pascal in such a good light that she engaged in a round of mutual adulation with Dowd over email after its publication. It also scored Pascal points back at the studio, with Sony’s then-communications-chief calling the column “impressive.”

The column, published after the Academy Awards earlier this year, lamented how “Oscar voters and industry top brass are still overwhelmingly white, male and middle-aged.”

What does it mean and will anybody care?

Biden 'Gates of Hell' Hacked

"A hacker broke into part of the HealthCare.gov insurance enrollment website in July and uploaded malicious software, according to federal officials."

Investigators found no evidence that consumers’ personal data was taken in the breach, federal officials said. The hacker appears only to have accessed a server used to test code for HealthCare.gov. The Department of Health and Human Services discovered the attack last week...

Taken with recent data thefts from J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Home Depot Inc., and celebrities’ iPhones, the HealthCare.gov hack further underscores that large organizations haven’t yet mastered how to secure the troves of data they collect from consumers. 

LifeHaker: How To Rip A DVD To Your Computer

 

Say you have a movie on DVD, but you want to watch it on your phone, tablet, somewhere else. You can "rip" that DVD—or turn it into a movie file on your computer—to play it wherever you want.

Via LifeHaker.com

"State Dept. whistleblower has email hacked, deleted"

The personal e-mail account of a State Department whis­tle­­blower was hacked, and four years worth of messages — some detailing alleged wrongdoing at the agency — were deleted, The Post has learned.

The computer attack targeted the Gmail account of Diplomatic Security Service criminal investigator Richard Higbie, his lawyer, Cary Schulman, confirmed.

Higbie has asked the FBI in Dallas, where he lives, to investigate the hacking, which occurred this month.

Higbie played a key role in helping fellow whistleblower Aurelia Fedenisn, a former investigator for the department’s inspector general, reveal in June a pattern of alleged coverups by top department officials.

The alleged coverups included keeping quiet separate IG investigations that found that members of then-Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton’s security detail had engaged hookers and that the Belgian ambassador had solicited underage prostitutes.

These were among a string of investigations by the service, responsible for protecting dignitaries and investigating crimes within the department, that were allegedly derailed by senior officials, including one instance of interference by Clinton Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills.

Astute observers connect the timing of the NYT Benghazi article to the possibility that something else, more sinister, is being kept under wraps. In other words, it's a "wag the dog" maneuver, made notorious by Hillary's husband Bill Clinton, back when he was president. "It's like deja vu all over again." Back to Higbie...

"Hackers break into Washington Post servers"

"Hackers broke into The Washington Post’s servers and gained access to employee user names and passwords, marking at least the third intrusion over the past three years, company officials said Wednesday."

"The extent of the loss of company data was not immediately clear, although officials planned to ask all employees to change their user names and passwords on the assumption that many or all of them may have been compromised. Although company passwords are stored in encrypted form, hackers in some cases have shown the ability to decode such information."

Washington Post

Spying On You?

Most laptop computers, pads, and the monitors that come with desk top computers have a built-in camera.  It's that little thing above the top of the screen, and sometimes there is a small light source and microphone near it.  The camera is a handy thing if you use Skype.  The people with whom you are skyping appear on your screen and your face appears on theirs.  It's a remarkable way of seeing people who are hundreds or thousands of miles away.

It's also a remarkable way for the FBI and hackers to spy on you.

The US government has been able to secretly spy on its citizens through their computer’s webcams for several years, it has been revealed.
The FBI has long been able to activate a computer’s camera without triggering the ‘recording light’ to let the owner know the webcam is on, a former assistant director of its tech division has said.

 The FBI uses the same technique to gain access to your computers that hackers use: Phishing.

The FBI team use the same technique as ratters, by infecting the computer with a malicious software – ‘malware – through phishing.  By sending an email with a link, which could be to a website, an image or a video, the user is tricked into downloading a small piece of software onto their machine.

Once installed, the malware allows the FBI to take control of the computer and the webcam at any time, working similarly to the system large corporations use to update software and fix IT problems.

We have rights to protect our privacy, right?  The FBI needs to obtain a warrant, the same as it has to do if it wants to place a tap on a telephone.

‘We have transitioned into a world where law enforcement is hacking into people’s computers, and we have never had public debate,’ Christopher Soghoian, principal technologist for the American Civil Liberties Union told the Post.  ‘Judges are having to make up these powers as they go along.’

Non-governmental hackers are called Rats.  Ratting is the hacking of people's computers in order to capture photographs of them, and then enslave them into sending more photos, or face having their photos made public.

Slaves can be male or female, but since the majority hackers looking for slaves seem to be heterosexual males, the slaves themselves tend to be young women.  These slaves have no idea they're being tracked, watched, and followed any time they are online.

We take out laptops everywhere these days.  Hell, I know I had mine in the bathroom as I showered and got ready on several occasions.

People have no idea that they are being watched by someone around the corner, or around the world.  And that there is a market for what can be seen through your camera.

They sell the youngest slaves to the pedophiles, the men to the gay crowd, and there's a market for those outliers.  For instance, cops. There's always a buyer

 Here's a simple, low-tech way of preventing your computer camera from spying on you for a cost of less than five cents: Place a small piece of black electrical tape over your computer's camera.  Threat neutralized.

By the way, the hacking isn't limited to computers.  If your habit is to listen to music over your cell phone while you're getting dressed, you are vulnerable to the same kind of hacking.