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United States China Security

US Disabled Chinese Hacking Network Targeting Critical Infrastructure (reuters.com) 24

The U.S. government in recent months launched an operation to fight a pervasive Chinese hacking operation that successfully compromised thousands of internet-connected devices, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing two Western security officials and another person familiar with the matter. From the report: The Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation sought and received legal authorization to remotely disable aspects of the Chinese hacking campaign, the sources told Reuters. The Biden administration has increasingly focused on hacking, not only for fear nation states may try to disrupt the U.S. election in November, but because ransomware wreaked havoc on Corporate America in 2023.

The hacking group at the center of recent activity, Volt Typhoon, has especially alarmed intelligence officials who say it is part of a larger effort to compromise Western critical infrastructure, including naval ports, internet service providers and utilities. While the Volt Typhoon campaign initially came to light in May 2023, the hackers expanded the scope of their operations late last year and changed some of their techniques, according to three people familiar with the matter. The widespread nature of the hacks led to a series of meetings between the White House and private technology industry, including several telecommunications and cloud commuting companies, where the U.S. government asked for assistance in tracking the activity.

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US Disabled Chinese Hacking Network Targeting Critical Infrastructure

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  • Isn't the better option to plug the vulnerabilities being used (including a prudent disclosure schedule), rather than go on the offensive?
    • by Lanforod ( 1344011 ) on Tuesday January 30, 2024 @12:38PM (#64200782)

      Isn't the better option to plug the vulnerabilities being used (including a prudent disclosure schedule), rather than go on the offensive?

      No, the better option is to do both. If there is no consequences for bad actors, they'll just find another way.

    • Which vulnerabilities? The ones you know about or the ones you don't know about?

      There will always be more vulnerabilities to exploit. No mater how many we patch.

  • > The Biden administration has increasingly focused on hacking, not only for fear nation states may try to disrupt the U.S. election in November

    Why the fuck is any election related hardware on the net?

    • Why aren't elections fully auditable?

      Why do voter roles contain addresses (of voters) that do not exist or have no dwellings?

      Why do we have signature matching system in place that doesn't bother to match signatures?

      • Why aren't elections fully auditable?

        They are. That's why we save the paper ballots for example, and the paper records created when you vote with a machine.

        Why do voter roles contain addresses (of voters) that do not exist or have no dwellings?

        Voter rolls can have errors, people can falsely register, people can think they have a right to register when they don't, etc.

        Why do we have signature matching system in place that doesn't bother to match signatures?

        For the same reason we save all that other information, so that it can be audited if there are credible claims of fraud. When we go looking for voter fraud, we a) find very little [cbsnews.com] and b) the worst of what we find is by Republicans [captimes.com]. Republican politicians shout about

    • Election supervisors need to look at Chaum's Verified Voting as a way to do elections "right" and have innate tamper-resistance built into the systerm.

  • I really didn't know the US had that many disabled Chinese hackers, but it's good that they're getting to work if they want to!

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