Russia’s Hacking Frenzy Is a Reckoning(wired.com)
wired.com
Russia’s Hacking Frenzy Is a Reckoning
https://www.wired.com/story/russia-hack-supply-chain-reckoning/
13 comments
> well-made software and security-in-depth policies make it impossible to enter.
#1 fallacy in IT security, even in mother russia
#1 fallacy in IT security, even in mother russia
It is well known that China produces an enormous number of electronic devices and has access to most of the embedded firmware installed, yet it seems that Russia is always the accused target of these alleged attacks.
Almost as if Russia and the US are being pitted against each other, ignoring the other major hacking nation-state.
More than half of all visits to my website are from a single Asian country. Extra points to you if you can guess it. Visits from Russia and other ex-Soviet block countries amount to about 2%.
More than half of all visits to my website are from a single Asian country. Extra points to you if you can guess it. Visits from Russia and other ex-Soviet block countries amount to about 2%.
What worries me even more than information that has been exfiltrated is what backdoors have been left behind. Even when the hatch is closed, how can you be totally sure that there is nothing left behind on the accessed systems?
Could someone who is more familiar with security comment on this?
Could someone who is more familiar with security comment on this?
You cannot, in an attack of this scale.
They'll re-image or replace hardware. Or so they say.
They'll re-image or replace hardware. Or so they say.
Wow. That's what I was afraid of. If done properly that's going to be a very long and tedious process.
Unfortunately it may be later than sooner. So far Trump is downplaying the severity of the hack and implying China was behind the attack instead of Russia via a tweet. The White House hasn't even released a statement yet and so far refuses to acknowledge Russia was behind the attack.
https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/13403336186910023...
>The Cyber Hack is far greater in the Fake News Media than in actuality. I have been fully briefed and everything is well under control. Russia, Russia, Russia is the priority chant when anything happens because Lamestream is, for mostly financial reasons, petrified of....
>....discussing the possibility that it may be China (it may!). There could also have been a hit on our ridiculous voting machines during the election, which is now obvious that I won big, making it an even more corrupted embarrassment for the USA.
https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/13403336186910023...
>The Cyber Hack is far greater in the Fake News Media than in actuality. I have been fully briefed and everything is well under control. Russia, Russia, Russia is the priority chant when anything happens because Lamestream is, for mostly financial reasons, petrified of....
>....discussing the possibility that it may be China (it may!). There could also have been a hit on our ridiculous voting machines during the election, which is now obvious that I won big, making it an even more corrupted embarrassment for the USA.
You presume he's wrong. Is it because of who he is, and you'd trust a different person? That wouldn't be fair, plus he has access to non-public information that could make the situation clear.
Before even hearing his opinion, my thought was China. The attack has all the markings of China. I would put Russia as 3rd or 4th most likely.
Before even hearing his opinion, my thought was China. The attack has all the markings of China. I would put Russia as 3rd or 4th most likely.
Well this would be a good time to present evidence of said claims which contradicts the evidence we have so far.
"The methods used to carry out the cyberhack are consistent with Russian cyber operations."
-Senator Marco Rubio | Acting chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee
"This was a very significant effort and I think it's the case that now we can say pretty clearly that it was the Russians that engaged in this activity."
Mike Pompeo | US Secretary of State
Russian State-Sponsored Advanced Persistent Threat Actor Compromises U.S. Government Targets - Alert (AA20-296A) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
https://us-cert.cisa.gov/ncas/alerts/aa20-296a
"The methods used to carry out the cyberhack are consistent with Russian cyber operations."
-Senator Marco Rubio | Acting chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee
"This was a very significant effort and I think it's the case that now we can say pretty clearly that it was the Russians that engaged in this activity."
Mike Pompeo | US Secretary of State
Russian State-Sponsored Advanced Persistent Threat Actor Compromises U.S. Government Targets - Alert (AA20-296A) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
https://us-cert.cisa.gov/ncas/alerts/aa20-296a
No, it would not be a good time to present evidence. It could be classified. The evidence may need to be locked away for 40 years. Satisfying your demand is not enough reason to expose the means by which evidence has been gathered. At they said in WWII, loose lips sink ships.
Imagine yourself in WWII, demanding evidence of something that had been determined by cracking the Purple or Enigma cipher. No, you don't get to see that evidence. Sorry. You aren't trusted to keep that from the enemy.
Also note: neither Rubio nor Pompeo presented any evidence! Why would you demand evidence from Trump, but not from them?
Rubio has his motives. He has never liked the president. Pompeo is harder to pin down, but may be likewise. Either one could be pushing the increasing anti-Russian sentiment for political gain or worse.
In any case, attribution is difficult. Countries purposely misdirect. This does however have a very Chinese feel.
Imagine yourself in WWII, demanding evidence of something that had been determined by cracking the Purple or Enigma cipher. No, you don't get to see that evidence. Sorry. You aren't trusted to keep that from the enemy.
Also note: neither Rubio nor Pompeo presented any evidence! Why would you demand evidence from Trump, but not from them?
Rubio has his motives. He has never liked the president. Pompeo is harder to pin down, but may be likewise. Either one could be pushing the increasing anti-Russian sentiment for political gain or worse.
In any case, attribution is difficult. Countries purposely misdirect. This does however have a very Chinese feel.
I missed the evidence in your comment.
If we can exploit it, it means the systems are badly designed, plain and simple.
In other words, a well-designed system should not permit unauthorized access.
It's not the same as breaking into the house because you can - well-made software and security-in-depth policies make it impossible to enter. And if the software is not well made, it can fail at critical stages, intentionally and unintentionally, it can and will be exploited, not just by us, but by anyone.
Case in point: Boeing 747 max software. I would rather have hackers show that the system is crap, than to have it fail by itself.
So in other words, Russian hackers are uncovering incompetences (or negligence) of US developers. Which is fair game, pushes technology forward IMO.
And let's not forget, that security is one of those "hygienic" factors, rather than a motivational factor.
In other words, better security doesn't increase amount of users, doesn't make software ship faster, doesn't raise user satisfaction, until the disaster strikes.
So it just exposes natural tendency for people to take the path of least resistance + asymmetry of information (principal agent theory), since the software looks ready on the surface, but inside of it is a rotten mess.
In other words, guys, if we can get into your government systems, you have bigger structural problems. It's only a symptom. Blame government servants, not us.
The only hacking that I'd consider to be fully non-ethical is phishing, since it involves deception, than exploitation of the algorithms. But seriously, gov't employees are so stupid to click on a phishing link? What does it say about the rest of their abilities?