Tech Giants Won't Help the Feds Hack You, Your Business

Microsoft, Facebook, and 30 other technology companies have vowed to never help governments launch cyber attacks on civilians and enterprises.

On Tuesday, 34 companies signed the tech accord in an effort to stop government-sponsored cyber attacks from spiraling out of control.

At the RSA security conference, Microsoft President Brad Smith said the need for the tech accord was underscored by two massive ransomwareoutbreaks last year—WannaCry and NotPetya—which the US has blamed on North Korea and Russia, respectively.

"We saw governments attacking civilians in a time of peace," Smith said, pointing to how the outbreaks infected Windows systems owned by private businesses and hospitals, particularly in the UK and Ukraine.

Both WannaCry and NotPetya also rapidly spread thanks to leaked hacking tools that appear to have come from the US National Security Agency. Tuesday's tech accord essentially draws a line between the tech industry and governments on developing cyber weapons.

The agreement states that signers will protect their technology products from tampering and exploitation. Signers also vowed to protect customers from cyberattacks, no matter the hacker's motive, "whether criminal or geopolitical."

In addition to Microsoft and Facebook, ARM, Cisco, LinkedIn and Oracle signed Tuesday's tech accord. But missing are several big names including Apple, Google, and Intel.

Smith announced the tech accord as he's been urging governments to adopta digital "Geneva Conventions" that'd make cyber attacks on civilian-owned computers illegal.

"As we've all seen so clearly, we need governments to do more," Smith said at the RSA conference. "We're living in a world where the most serious cyber attacks are no longer by individuals or criminal groups. They are by nations."

Hack the Pentagon: Vulnerability Disclosure and Bug Bounty Programs in the US Military and Beyond

Lisa Wiswell as an accomplished leader in the security space with a decade of programmatic and cyberware experience is a Principal at GRIMM and an advisor to HackerOne. Previously, she worked for the Defense Digital Service and was appointed Special Assistant to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy in the Office of the Secretary of Defense where she supports senior DoD leaders by formulating and implementing policies and strategies to improve DoD’s ability to operate in cyberspace. In this capacity she created the Hack the Pentagon program – the Federal Government’s first Bug Bounty program, and helped implement the Vulnerability Disclosure Policy for the entire Department of Defense. Prior to serving in the Obama Administration, she served as Technology Portfolio Manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency overseeing a portfolio of cyber initiatives directly contributing to national security including its flagship cyberwarfare program, Plan X. Prior to supporting the DoD, Lisa worked on Capitol Hill for her home Member of Congress.

She holds a BA in History and Political Science from the Maxwell School of Public Citizenship at Syracuse University and a Master's program in Technology Management from Georgetown University. Lisa is a privacy rights and STEM outreach advocate. She’s a member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Women in Technology, and the Military Cyber Professionals Association, and was awarded the Federal Computer Weekly’s 2016 “Rising Star,” the SANS 2016 “Difference Maker,” and a 2017 AFCEA 40 Under 40.

Alex Rice is a founder and chief technology officer at HackerOne, the leading bug bounty and vulnerability disclosure platform. Alex is responsible for developing the HackerOne technology vision, driving engineering efforts, and counseling customers as they build world-class security programs. Alex was previously at Facebook, where he founded the product security team, built one of the industry’s most successful security programs, and introduced new transport layer encryption used by more than a billion users. Alex also serves on the board of the Internet Bug Bounty, a nonprofit organization that enables and encourages friendly hackers to help build a more secure internet.

115: The worst thing you can do to your students - Hack Learning Uncut

Mark shares the worst thing he did to his students and how you may be doing the same thing right now. Then, he provides one simple hack to avoid doing it again.

View the archive at http://hacklearningpodcast.com
Browse books at http://hacklearningbooks.com

US, British governments warn businesses worldwide of Russian campaign to hack routers

The U.S. and British governments on Monday accused Russia of conducting a massive campaign to compromise computer routers and firewalls around the world - from home offices to internet providers - for espionage and possibly sabotage purposes.

The unusual public warning from the White House, U.S. agencies and Britain's National Cyber Security Center follows a years-long effort to monitor the threat. The targets number in the millions, officials say, and include "primarily government and private-sector organizations, critical infrastructure providers, and the internet service providers (ISPs) supporting these sectors."

It was the two countries' first such joint alert.

"We have high confidence that Russia has carried out a coordinated campaign to compromise . . . routers, residential and business - the things you and I have in our home," said Rob Joyce, the White House cybersecurity coordinator.

"We condemn the actions and hold the Kremlin responsible for the malicious activities," said Jeanette Manfra, the chief cybersecurity official for the Department of Homeland Security.

The warning is unrelated to the administration's recent military strikes on suspected chemical weapons facilities in Syria, action Russia condemned. Rather, it is part of a broader ongoing effort by the U.S. government to call out bad behavior in cyberspace and impose costs as a deterrent.

Monday's announcement is the latest in a series of related moves by the Trump administration, which in recent months has publicly blamed Russia for launching the NotPetya worm that has been characterized as the costliest and most destructive cyberattack in history. It also recently announced that Russia had targeted the U.S. energy grid with computer malware, and it slapped fresh sanctions on Russian hackers for illicit cyber activity.

The U.S. government also has obtained indictments against Iranian hackers, and accused North Korea of being behind the WannaCry computer worm that affected more than 230,000 computers around the world.

The U.S. and British governments jointly tracked the latest campaign, which has targeted millions of machines globally, said Ciaran Martin, chief executive of Britain's NCSC, the government's central cybersecurity agency.

The aim seems to be to "seize control" of the machines that connect networks to the internet, and in the case of internet providers, to gain access to their customers, for espionage or other purposes, he said.

These network devices make "ideal targets," said Manfra, Homeland Security's assistant secretary for cybersecurity and communications. Most traffic within a company or between organizations traverses them. So a hacker can monitor, modify or disrupt it, she said. And they're usually not secured at the same level as a network server.

"Once you own the router, you own the traffic that's traversing the router," she said.

The agencies, which include the FBI, do not know precisely how many routers, firewalls and switches have been compromised and to what extent. They are seeking the cooperation of home office and private-sector business owners in sharing information if they determine their networks have been compromised.

In its alert Monday, DHS described the hackers' techniques, from scanning internet address spaces to exploiting routers, switches and network intrusion-detection devices.

U.S. officials said this year that Russian military hackers compromised routers in South Korea in January and deployed new malware when the Olympics began in February. It was not clear Monday whether that compromise was part of the same campaign.

Russia accused of global net hack attacks

State-sponsored Russian hackers are actively seeking to hijack essential internet hardware, US and UK intelligence agencies say.

The UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), the FBI and the US Department of Homeland Security issued a joint alert warning of a global campaign.

The alert details methods used to compromise the networking equipment used to move traffic across the net.

This could be used be used to mount a future offensive, it warned.

In a press conference about the alert, White House cyber-security co-ordinator Rob Joyce said the US and its allies had "high confidence" that Russia was behind the "broad campaign".

Intelligence gathered by the US and UK suggested that millions of machines directing data around the net were being targeted, he said.

Compromised devices were used to look at data passing through them, added Mr Joyce. Attackers also sought to undermine the firewalls and intrusion detection systems organisations used to spot malicious traffic before it reached users.

In addition, Mr Joyce said, many different organisation had come under attacks for months at a time in a bid to scoop up valuable intellectual property, business information or to get at their customers.

"When we see malicious cyber-activity, whether Kremlin or other nation state actors, we are going to push back," said Mr Joyce.

Ciaran Martin, head of the UK's NCSC, said the issuing of the alert marked a "significant moment" as the two powers had never before given joint advice on how to deal with attacks.

"Many of the techniques used by Russia exploit basic weaknesses in network systems," said Mr Martin.

The principal targets of the global campaign were internet service providers, firms running critical infrastructure, government departments and large companies, the alert stated.

And it contained detailed information about attack methods, the signs left when hardware has been compromised, and how networks change when they have been breached.

The advice given to firms has included ways to configure their systems correctly and how to apply patches to address hardware vulnerabilities.

Mr Martin said GCHQ, NCSC's parent organisation, had tracked the threat posed by Russian cyber-gangs for more than 20 years. Further intelligence about the attacks had been added by "multiple" cyber-security organisations and companies, he added.

The UK was working with America, its other allies and the technology industry to "expose Russia's unacceptable cyber-behaviour, so they are held accountable for their actions", said Mr Martin.

After Detailing Russian Hack, White House Cyber 'Czar' Announces Departure

The Trump administration's cybersecurity coordinator, Rob Joyce, said Monday that he will leave his post — an announcement that comes just a week after the exit of his boss, Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert.

The announcement of the departure of Joyce — who is acting homeland security adviser after Bossert's departure — followed by hours a joint U.S., U.K. and Australia statement condemning Russia for a cyberattack last year that apparently targeted government and corporate networks for the purposes of economic and political espionage.

Joyce said he was leaving to return to the National Security Agency.

"Serving as the White House's cybersecurity coordinator for the last 14-months has been a tremendous opportunity to work on some of our nation's most important cyber challenges," Joyce said in a statement, according to The Washington Post. "I look forward to continuing to serve our nation at the agency I've called home for the last 27 years."

While Bossert's departure has been attributed to new National Security Adviser John Bolton, a White House official quoted by Reuters characterized Joyce's move as voluntary, saying he was "three months past his detail of a year."

The Post reports, "Joyce, a career federal employee, will stay on as needed to facilitate the transition to his eventual replacement, White House officials said. He is currently also serving as the acting deputy homeland security adviser, which includes coordinating responses to natural disasters and monitoring terrorism threats."

According to Wired, the loss of Bossert and Joyce in quick succession "will slow the ability of the US to think about big-picture cybersecurity concerns. And replacing them may not be easy."

Wired writes that "Bossert's purview extended beyond cybersecurity specifically, but America's security from digital threats has nonetheless been an area of particular focus for him since he served as deputy homeland security advisor in George W. Bush's second term." It says "Joyce, meanwhile, brought serious hacker bona fides to the White House earned after years of running the NSA's elite hacking team known as Tailored Access Operations."

In October, the White House declined to allow Joyce to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee citing executive privilege and past precedent, briefly parking talk of a subpoena that never materialized.

Earlier Monday, the U.S. and Britain publicly blamed Russia for a global cyberattack last year that quietly hit government and corporate networks. Later, Australia joined in the statement.

The August 2017 attack reportedly involved planting malware on Cisco routers used by government agencies and companies to steal secrets and possibly "lay the foundation for future offensive cyberattacks," according to Reuters.

A joint statement by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and the U.K.'s National Cyber Security Centre, said the Russian attack targeted "government and private-sector organizations and infrastructure, and internet providers supports these sectors."

"Victims were identified through a coordinated series of actions between U.S. and international partners," according to an alert issued at the same time by the U.S. Computer Emergency Response Team (US-CERT).

"When we see malicious cyberactivity, whether Kremlin or other nation state actors, we are going to push back," Joyce said in a call with journalists hours before he announced his departure.

The joint statement said the Russian hack was specifically directed at "network infrastructure devices worldwide such as routers, switches, firewalls, network intrusion detection system."

"Russian state-sponsored actors are using compromised routers to conduct spoofing 'man-in-the-middle' attacks to support espionage, extract intellectual property, maintain persistent access to victim networks and potentially lay a foundation for future offensive operations," the statement said.

Reuters reports that "The Kremlin on Tuesday said it did not understand the basis for British and U.S. allegations ..."

BLOCKED OUT Minecraft players warned over terrifying hack that could wipe your computer

Don't download any Minecraft skins from the game's website as they may pack a malicious virus that could lay waste to your computer.

AROUND 50,000 Minecraft players have been exposed to a computer virus that wipes a machine's hard drive and deletes backup data and programs.

The malicious software is attached to the downloadable "skins" that can change the look of a player's character in the game.

These add-ons are available on the Minecraft website, potentially putting the game's entire user base of 74million players in harm's way.

Cyber-security software-maker Avast told The Sun that it's been in touch with Minecraft developer Mojang, and is working to fix the exploit.

The company says it blocked 14,500 infection attempts in the last ten days alone.

Avast notes that Minecraft's largest demographic of 15 to 21-year-old players (who account for 43 per cent of its user base) are particularly susceptible to the hac

A Flower Delivery Hack That Will Guarantee They Look Amazing

There are plenty of trendy online flower delivery services we love and highly recommend, not to mention tons of amazing florists. But here's the thing: Flowers are expensive. So despite there being more reliable options, sometimes you'll find yourself on the line with a customer service rep at 1-800-Flowers and paralyzed by indecision: How in the world can I guarantee that they'll make and send a nice-looking arrangement? You might feel the same way if you're ordering flowers from an old-school, brick-and-mortar florist that you haven't worked with before—who is to say you'll like the bouquet they come up with? Well, there's a way to always get what you want: Just ask for the simplest possible arrangement, i.e., one flower type in abundance. Here's a script:

What's the simplest vessel you've got? Repeat after us: A round glass hurricane is a hundred times better looking than a square one—but either will do in a pinch. Steer clear of any specialty vases—read: colorful glassware, kitschy ceramics, or dubious trends like a faux-rustic Mason jar—that they might suggest instead. Let the flowers do the talking.

I'd like just a single flower type—no mixing flowers. You know what always looks good? One kind of flower, all the same color, spilling over the sides of a vase. An all-tulip arrangement will never go out of style, and you might even be able to choose the tulip color (yellow is a classic but purple is pretty incredible). Ask what other flowers they offer for single-variety arrangements: hydrangeas, sunflowers, calla lilies, freesia, and ranunculus all look great in uniform bunches. If you want to upgrade the arrangement, just ask for more of the same: 15 tulips are lovely, but 50 says I really, really love you.