Czechs Blame China for Cyber Attack Against Foreign Ministry
Chinese hackers were behind an attack against the Czech Republic's foreign ministry, according to the ministry's head Jan Lipavsky.
'China is interfering in our society - through manipulation, propaganda and cyberattacks,' he said on X on Wednesday.
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35 minutes ago
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In wake of Good Friday cyberattack, city of Abilene replacing all desktops, laptops
The city of Abilene is still in recovery mode after a cyberattack from foreign hackers was discovered over six weeks ago, city officials said in a statement Monday. Recovery efforts mean replacing the city's network infrastructure including all desktops and laptops. Hackers encrypted and deleted city data in the ransomware attack, demanding the city ante up to get its information back, according to the statement. The city has no intention of paying a ransom. On April 18, city officials detected that city servers were unresponsive and began investigating the outage, city officials said in the statement. After the city's information technology department determined a foreign actor had compromised the city computer systems, the full network was shut down around 7 a.m. April 18 to prevent any further intrusion or data loss, the statement said. 'They encrypted data and deleted data off our servers," Troy Swanson, IT director, said. Swanson said the hacking group compromised the city's network and accessed administrative credentials. They also attempted to uninstall antivirus software and remove other protective measures. The city was given a deadline of May 27 to pay a ransom to restore the stolen data, an estimated 477 gigabytes. According to the statement, 477 gigabytes is equivalent to around 238.5 million pages of PDFs or 48 hours of 4K streaming on Netflix. A article noted that Russia-based ransomware group Qilin claimed responsibility for the cyberattack, the Abilene Reporter-News reported May 20. Qilin 'runs a ransomware-as-a-service business in which affiliates pay to use Qilin's malware to launch attacks and collect ransoms,' the May 19 Comparitech article said. In city officials' statement Monday, they stated communication was made with the suspect hacking group claiming responsibility to understand the nature of the information taken. The city statement did not name Qilin. City officials determined they will not aid or abet the perpetrators otherwise and will not pay the ransom, the statement said. The city statement on Monday did not state the dollar amount of the ransomware the hackers sought. More: The city of Abilene says it will not pay ransom to cyberattackers 'I was involved in the acquisition of our cyber insurance because of my role in overseeing risk management,' Mike Perry, director of the city's office of professional standards, said. 'Fortunately for us, we increased our insurance coverage last year.' Perry has assisted in the investigation with his background in law enforcement and in his role as a city administrator to work with the cybersecurity team hired by the city's insurance company to mitigate damage and help with recovery efforts, the statement said. When threat actors attack a network, Perry said they encrypt data so it's hidden from the entity it belongs to. Then perpetrators ask for a ransom to unencrypt and recover the data. While the data may be valuable, 'we're also not going to bow down to a criminal organization' as there is no guarantee the data will be recovered or not sold on the "Dark Web," said Perry, who was an Abilene assistant chief of police for 12 years. As of May 28, there have been no indications Abilene's information has been misused or residents' information has been used or released, Perry said. He said the amount of data taken appears to be relatively small compared to the city's total storage capacity. 'We're currently in this pattern of waiting to see if and when they're going to publish the data,' Perry said. 'There's not a lot more dialogue to be had because we've told them we're not going to pay the ransom.' The investigation is ongoing and the exact information taken by the hackers is unclear, Perry said. City employees and Abilene residents are asked to actively monitor their credit card and other accounts for data breaches and to report anything suspicious, the statement said. As network functionality is restored, the city will release periodic updates until all functions and points of access are fully operational, the city statement said. Information will be released by the city as needed and with limits to ensure the ongoing investigation is not compromised, the city statement said. Swanson said staff are in the process of replacing all network infrastructure, including servers, storage, phones, desktops and laptops. They were able to restore core services quickly after the attack. "By doing so, we will create a new cyber secure environment that we can assure is set up for the future and not able to be compromised," he said. The main push has been to supply city employees with desktops and laptops so they can perform their functions, Swanson said. There have been interim measures taken so employees can perform work, he said. While there still will be hurdles to overcome, residents and employees should expect the majority of day-to-day functionality to be restored soon, he said. The city hopes to be fully functioning in a few months, Swanson said. Citing the cyber attack discovered April 18, the city of Abilene filed a catastrophe notice and then an extension to enable it to temporarily suspend the requirement to provide public information under state law, according to a Texas Attorney General's Office database. In total, local officials tapped into a state measure allowing the city to forego responding to citizens' open records requests from April 22 through May 5, according to an April 29 report from ARN. Cyberattacks are an ongoing threat in the digital landscape and have become a new type of emergency which organizations must endure, Swanson said. Cities and municipalities recently affected by cyberattacks include the Texas cities of Mission, Richardson and Killeen, city officials said. Other cities targeted by cyber attacks include Baltimore, Maryland; Cleveland, Ohio; White Lake Township, Michigan; Arkansas City, Kansas; and El Cerrito, California, city officials said. Early or on Election Day: What to know about voting in Abilene City Council runoff race Development Corporation of Abilene seeks approval for $3.5 million Project Surf incentive This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: City of Abilene in full network shutdown after cyber attack, ransom demand
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Four killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine as Moscow continues to retaliate for Kyiv's drone strike
At least four people were killed in eastern Ukraine and more than two dozen were injured, including a baby and a 14-year-old, after Russia launched drone-and-missile and bomb attacks Saturday, Ukraine officials said. Russia launched 215 missiles and drones on Kharkiv, the war-torn nation's second-largest city, in the early hours of Saturday, killing three people and wounding more than 40 others, Ukrainian officials said. Later in the day, Russia dropped bombs on Kharkiv's city center, killing at least one more person and injuring five. "What the Russians want is the complete destruction of life," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday after the attacks. Trump Suggests Taking A Step Back From Ukraine Peace Talks "In more than 11 years of Russia's war against Ukraine, they have brought only one new thing to our land, the most widespread Russian 'legacy,' ruins and death," Zelenskyy added. "We must continue resisting this. I thank everyone around the world who is helping. The Russians are preparing to continue the war and are ignoring all peace proposals. They must be held accountable." Read On The Fox News App Zelenskyy said Ukraine would work to strengthen its air defense, adding, "We urgently need positive signals from the United States regarding air defense systems. We are still waiting for a response to our request to purchase systems that can help." He also thanked other European countries for sending supplies. "We must also achieve results in joint production of air defense systems and missiles. This is absolutely essential for our whole Europe," he added. "Only time separates us from that result, and what matters most is shortening that time." "This is another savage killing," he wrote on X along with graphic photos of some of the injured. "Aerial bombs were dropped on civilians in the city — there is even a children's railway nearby. This makes no military sense." He called the attack "pure terrorism. And this has been going on for more than three years of the full-scale war. This cannot be ignored. This cannot be turned a blind eye to. And this is not some kind of game. Every day, we lose our people only because Russia feels it can act with impunity. Russia must be firmly forced into peace." Russia Launches Largest Aerial Attack Of Ukraine War, Killing At Least 12 Last Sunday, Ukraine launched a surprise drone attack on Russian territory that destroyed 40 Russian planes, according to Kyiv. In his evening address, Zelenskyy said 117 drones had been used in the operation. He claimed the operation was headquartered out of an office next to the local FSB, the Russian intelligence agency. On Friday, Russia launched another drone attack on six territories in Ukraine that killed six people, including a baby, and injured 80, according to Ukraine officials. The attack came after President Donald Trump had a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin in which the Russian leader said he planned to retaliate. Trump responded to the attacks Friday, telling reporters on Air Force One, "Well, they gave Putin a reason to go in and bomb the hell out of them last night. … When I saw it, I said, 'Here we go, now it's going to be a strike.'" On Thursday, Trump also compared the Russia-Ukraine war to children. "Sometimes you see two young children fighting like crazy. They hate each other, and they're fighting in a park, and you try and pull them apart, they don't want to be pulled," Trump said in the Oval Office. "Sometimes you're better off letting them fight for a while and then pulling them apart." Ukraine and Russia have so far held two rounds of peace talks with few tangible article source: Four killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine as Moscow continues to retaliate for Kyiv's drone strike
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Rep. Adam Smith: The President is 'doing this parade so people can kiss up to him'
Democratic Congressman Adam Smith, the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, weighs in on the Russia-Ukraine war and the military parade scheduled for next Saturday.
