 Trump seeks gathering with Big Tech firms this months Washington (AFP) Oct 2, 2018 - President Donald Trump has called for a meeting this month at the White House with major US technology companies as well as some critics of Silicon Valley, economic advisor Larry Kudlow said Tuesday. Kudlow told reporters the president wants to hold the session with "the big internet companies, the big social media companies, search companies, and some who are dissatisfied with those companies." Kudlow said no date had been set but that he expects the session in mid-October. Asked if Google, Facebook and Twitter would be included, the Trump aide said, "That is our hope." The news comes after a series of claims by Trump and his allies that Big Tech firms were biased against conservatives and suppressing conservative voices. Google, Twitter and Facebook have all denied using their platforms for political purposes and have noted that many conservatives including Trump have a strong presence on social media. Following Trump's criticism, the US Justice Department said it would meet with state officials to discuss competition concerns and the "stifling (of) the free exchange of ideas." The Justice Department offered no specifics but its statement suggested officials were considering an antitrust investigation or some form of regulatory action. Trump last month said in a tweet that "Social Media Giants are silencing millions of people." Days later, he wrote: "Google & others are suppressing voices of Conservatives and hiding information and news that is good. They are controlling what we can & cannot see. This is a very serious situation-will be addressed!" Tech industry analysts say there is little evidence internet firms are filtering content for political reasons, but that the companies would have constitutional protections against any government effort to regulate their algorithms.
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The United States is expected to make its offensive cyber warfare capabilities available to NATO, officials said Wednesday, as the alliance seeks to strengthen its defences against Russian electronic attacks.
Britain and Denmark have already publicly committed cyber resources to NATO, and Washington is expected to announce that it will follow suit on Thursday at a meeting of defence ministers in Brussels.
Alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg said cyber attacks on NATO countries were becoming "more frequent... more sophisticated... more coercive" and any contribution of cyber capabilities was welcome.
"We see cyber being used to meddle in domestic political processes, attacks against critical infrastructure, and cyber will be an integral part of any future military conflict," Stoltenberg said.
The three Baltic states -- Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia -- say they come under near-daily cyber assault, with government departments, banking systems and the power grid coming in for attack, and point the finger at former Soviet ruler Russia.
Moscow is also blamed for interfering in various European elections through campaigns of disinformation on social media.
Most recently, Washington accused Russia of leading a disinformation campaign in Macedonia through social media to discourage voters from taking part in last weekend's referendum on changing the country's name.
The name change is crucial to Macedonia's hopes of joining NATO -- a step Moscow opposes.
Elite N.Korean hacker group tied to bank attacks: researchers
Washington (AFP) Oct 3, 2018 - An elite group of North Korean hackers has been identified as the source of a wave of cyberattacks on global banks that has netted "hundreds of millions" of dollars, security researchers said Wednesday.
A report by the cybersecurity firm FireEye said the newly identified group dubbed APT38 is distinct from but linked to other North Korean hacking operations, and has the mission of raising funds for the isolated Pyongyang regime.
FireEye researchers said APT38 is one of several hacking cells within an umbrella group known as "Lazarus," but with unique skills and tools that have helped it carry out some of the world's largest cyber heists.
"They are a cybercriminal group with the skills of a cyberespionage campaign," said Sandra Joyce, FireEye's vice president of intelligence, in a briefing with journalists in Washington.
Joyce said one of the characteristics of APT38 is that it takes several months, sometimes nearly two years, to penetrate and learn the workings of its targets before its attacks, which have sought to illegally transfer more than $1 billion from victimized banks.
"They take their time to learn the intricacies of the organization," Joyce said.
Once they succeed, she added, "they deploy destructive malware on their way out" to hide their traces and make it more difficult for victims to find out what happened.
- Sense of urgency -
Joyce said FireEye decided to go public about the threat out of a "sense of urgency" because the group appears to still be operating and is "undeterred by any diplomatic efforts."
The group has compromised more than 16 organizations in at least 11 different countries since at least 2014, according to the FireEye report.
Some of the known attacks have targeted the Vietnam TP Bank in 2015, Bangladesh Bank in 2016, Far Eastern International Bank of Taiwan in 2017 and Bancomext of Mexico and Banco de Chile in 2018.
Joyce said the group appears to have "the scope and resources of a nation-state" but offered no specific figures on how many people it uses.
Nalani Fraser, a member of the FireEye research team, said APT38 attacks sought at least $1.1 billion since 2014 and have managed to steal "hundreds of millions of dollars based on data that we can confirm."
FireEye said there appears to be some sharing of resources between hacker groups in North Korea, including those involved in espionage and those in other kinds of attacks.
- Focused mission -
Some of the information about APT38 was revealed in a US criminal complaint unsealed last month against Park Jin Hyok, charged in connection with WannaCry ransomware outbreak and the attack on Sony Pictures.
But Park likely played only a peripheral role in APT38,which "has a focused mission to steal money to fund the North Korean regime," according to Joyce.
FireEye's new report was based in part on forensic analysis it conducted for the FBI in the investigation into Park, but also from other data the security firm has gathered from its global client base.
The researchers said APT38 used techniques including "phishing" emails to gain access to credentials and using "watering holes" -- hijacked websites that appear normal but which contain malware that enable hackers to gather more data and access.
As part of the scheme, the hackers created fake identities within known nongovernmental organizations or foundations to help move the stolen money, in some cases manipulating the global interbank transfer system known as SWIFT.
The report is the latest highlighting a vast and increasingly sophisticated cyber campaign by North Korea for both political and financial ends.
In September, a 176-page criminal complaint against Park outlined what officials called "a vast and audacious scheme by the North Korean government to utilize computer intrusions as a means to support the varied goals of their regime."
On Tuesday, the US Department of Homeland Security warned that North Korea is likely behind malware used to hack into and steal money from bank teller machines.
The bulletin said officials believe the "Hidden Cobra" malware enabled North Korea to illegally get cash from bank machines in at least 30 countries, mainly in Asia and Africa, since 2016.
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