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U.S. Treasury breached by hackers backed by foreign government – sources

reuters.com

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Re: U.S. Treasury breached by hackers backed by foreign government – sources

#21

Post by mr_overalls »

peter_retief wrote: post #2

How do they know it was backed by a foreign government? I would immediately suspect China or North Korea but that seems too obvious and a bit of a setup?

Attribution is tricky, but nation-state actors have resources that no other threat type (organized crime, hacktivists, etc.) can muster: multiple 0-days, advanced tools, obviously deep field of programming talent, inside info about targeted networks/apps, etc.

Not to mention, that forensic analysis of tactics, tools, etc. often clearly point to borrowing/surveiling of other APTs.

Re: U.S. Treasury breached by hackers backed by foreign government – sources

#23

Post by ardit33 »

breakingcups wrote: post #18

It's always a nation state. A great way to increase defence budgets and not have to admit incompetence.

I have seen a couple of corporate hacks (not publicized) who happened to be Russian groups hosted in Syria....

By state 'sponsored' it can mean many things, even if the countries just let them be and some officials get bribed to not do anything.

In this case it was in Syria, which is a fundamental mess, but the fact that it was Russian groups and they have military presence there, it is enough to put it 'state sponsored' label...

..

Edit: This was a purely commercial/blackmail type of thing, so I doubt it was the Russian government/Putin involved directly, but it could just be a side hustle of the same people that do try to hack government targets.

If they have the facilities and the state protection, might as well make some money on the side.

Re: U.S. Treasury breached by hackers backed by foreign government – sources

#24

Post by lgessler »

Yajirobe wrote: post #22
Merman_Mike wrote: post #12

Does the US conduct offensive cyber operations like this? I feel like we never hear about them in the news.

Nah, the US couldn't do such an awful thing towards other nations

This is sarcasm right

Re: U.S. Treasury breached by hackers backed by foreign government – sources

#25

Post by uoaei »

peter_retief wrote: post #2

How do they know it was backed by a foreign government? I would immediately suspect China or North Korea but that seems too obvious and a bit of a setup?

It's a good way to get the people banging war drums and funding defense budgets.

Re: U.S. Treasury breached by hackers backed by foreign government – sources

#26

Post by Merman_Mike »

fabianhjr wrote: post #15
Merman_Mike wrote: post #12

Does the US conduct offensive cyber operations like this? I feel like we never hear about them in the news.

The United States has admitted to perpetrating coups to get a us-friendly dictator in otherwise democratic societies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2khAmMTAjI

Curious how this is connected at all to my question?

I know "America Bad" is trendy now, but I don't see the connection.

Re: U.S. Treasury breached by hackers backed by foreign government – sources

#27

Post by dan-robertson »

‘Nation state’ is such a stupid term for them to use as two of the usual suspects, Iran and Russia, are not nation states but rather multiethnic states. If they don’t have a clue who it is, it seems unlikely they would rule out these two states specifically and do so in this subtle way.

For some reason it is very common amongst people who are interested in cybersecurity (or national security in the US).

Re: U.S. Treasury breached by hackers backed by foreign government – sources

#28

Post by qz2 »

jkelleyrtp wrote: post #3

> The hack involves the NTIA’s office software, Microsoft’s Office 365. Staff emails at the agency were monitored by the hackers for months, sources said. > The hackers are “highly sophisticated” and have been able to trick the Microsoft platform’s authentication controls, according to a person familiar with the incident, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to the press. > “This…

Unexpected cloud security benefit, for foreign government!

Re: U.S. Treasury breached by hackers backed by foreign government – sources

#29

Post by fabianhjr »

Merman_Mike wrote: post #26
fabianhjr wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The United States has admitted to perpetrating coups to get a us-friendly dictator in otherwise democratic societies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2khAmMTAjI

Curious how this is connected at all to my question? I know "America Bad" is trendy now, but I don't see the connection.

Espionage is less aggressive and overt than perpetrating coups in democratic societies.

Re: U.S. Treasury breached by hackers backed by foreign government – sources

#30

Post by dang »

Yajirobe wrote: post #22
Merman_Mike wrote: post #12

Does the US conduct offensive cyber operations like this? I feel like we never hear about them in the news.

Nah, the US couldn't do such an awful thing towards other nations

Please don't post unsubstantive comments here.
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