Spyware Maker NSO Group Is Paving a Path Back Into Trump’s America

The Israeli spyware maker, still on the US Commerce Department’s “blacklist,” has hired a new lobbying firm with direct ties to the Trump administration, a WIRED investigation has found...

U.S. Proposes Ban on Connected Vehicles Using Chinese and Russian Tech

The U.S. Department of Commerce DoC said it's proposing a ban on the import or sale of connected vehicles that integrate software and hardware made by foreign adversaries, particularly that of the People's Republic of China PRC and Russia. "The proposed rule focuses on hardware and software...

Kaspersky Exits U.S. Market Following Commerce Department Ban

Russian security vendor Kaspersky has said it's exiting the U.S. market nearly a month after the Commerce Department announced a ban on the sale of its software in the country citing a national security risk. News of the closure was first reported by journalist Kim Zetter. The company is expected...

U.S. Treasury Sanctions 12 Kaspersky Executives Amid Software Ban

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control OFAC imposed sanctions against a dozen individuals serving executive and senior leadership roles at Kaspersky Lab, a day after the Russian company was banned by the Commerce Department. The move "underscores our commitment to...

U.S. Bans Kaspersky Software, Citing National Security Risks

The U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security BIS on Thursday announced a "first of its kind" ban that prohibits Kaspersky Lab's U.S. subsidiary from directly or indirectly offering its security software in the country. The blockade also extends to the cybersecurity company's...

U.S. Government Agencies' Emails Compromised in China-Backed Cyber Attack

An unnamed Federal Civilian Executive Branch FCEB agency in the U.S. detected anomalous email activity in mid-June 2023, leading to Microsoft's discovery of a new China-linked espionage campaign targeting two dozen organizations. The details come from a joint cybersecurity advisory released by th...

China Bans U.S. Chip Giant Micron, Citing "Serious Cybersecurity Problems"

China has banned U.S. chip maker Micron from selling its products to Chinese companies working on key infrastructure projects, citing national security risks. The development comes nearly two months after the country's cybersecurity authority initiated a probe in late March 2023 to assess potenti...

NSO Group spyware found on iPhones of US State Department employees

iPhones of at least nine US State Department employees are said to have been hacked using the Pegasus spyware developed by the Israeli technology company, NSO Group. Pegasus is a proprietary and sophisticated spyware capable of the remote surveillance of smartphones. The employees targeted by an...

Israel Bans Sales of Hacking and Surveillance Tools to 65 Countries

Israel's Ministry of Defense has dramatically restricted the number of countries to which cybersecurity firms operating in the nation are allowed to sell offensive hacking and surveillance tools to, cutting off 65 nations from the export list. The revised list, details of which were first reporte...

US Sanctions Pegasus-maker NSO Group and 3 Others For Selling Spyware

The U.S. Commerce Department on Wednesday added four companies, including Israel-based spyware companies NSO Group and Candiru, to a list of entities engaging in "malicious cyber activities." The agency said the two companies were added to the list based on evidence that "these entities developed...

New York Times Journalist Hacked with NSO Spyware

Citizen Lab is reporting that a New York Times journalist was hacked with the NSO Groups spyware Pegasus, probably by the Saudis. The world needs to do something about these cyberweapons arms manufacturers. This kind of thing isnt enough; NSO Group is an Israeli company...

U.S. Government Bans Sale of Hacking Tools to Authoritarian Regimes

The U.S. Commerce Department on Wednesday announced new rules barring the sales of hacking software and equipment to authoritarian regimes and potentially facilitate human rights abuse for national security NS and anti-terrorism AT reasons. The mandate, which is set to go into effect in 90 days,...

Pipeline Update: Biden Executive Order, DarkSide Detailed and Gas Bags

Colonial Pipeline Co. may have turned off the tap following Friday’s ransomware attack, but the news about the devastating assault keeps gushing. In the wake of the DarkSide cyberattack, President Biden signed an executive order Wednesday aimed at bolstering the federal government’s cyber defense...

Did Someone at the Commerce Dept. Find a SolarWinds Backdoor in Aug. 2020?

On Aug. 13, 2020, someone uploaded a suspected malicious file to VirusTotal, a service that scans submitted files against more than five dozen antivirus and security products. Last month, Microsoft and FireEye identified that file as a newly-discovered fourth malware backdoor used in the sprawlin...

White House Wants Wassenaar Renegotiation

The White House, lawmakers said yesterday, wants to renegotiate the divisive U.S. implementation of the Wassenaar Arrangement rules as they relate to intrusion software. A draft of the rules was pulled off the table in July by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security BIS followin...

'Prohibition Era' Of Security Research May Be Ahead

LAS VEGAS–Export controls have become a dirty phrase in the security community, especially among researchers, pen testers, and others who rely on vulnerability information and exploits to do their jobs. And if the Wassenaar Arrangement rules proposed by the United States aren’t modified...

Government Takes Second Look at US Wassenaar Rules

In spite of self-congratulatory pats on the back from several corners of the security world, this week’s decision from the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security BIS to rewrite the proposed U.S. implementation of the Wassenaar Arrangement rules was an expected outcome—albeit an...

Stakeholders Argue Against Restrictive Wassennaar Proposal

The commenting period regarding the Wassenaar Arrangement expired on Monday but the echo chamber around the largely maligned proposal continues to reverberate. Several stakeholders implicated in the proposal added their voices to that chamber on Friday morning, urging the government to revise...

Proposed U.S. Wassenaar Rules on Intrusion Software

Two things worth noting from yesterday’s unveiling of the Bureau of Industry and Security’s proposed Wassenaar rules for the U.S. that weren’t so overt: a The U.S. generally leads the way in implementing Wassenaar changes, and this time it’s been beaten by the EU by almost 18 months; and b reques...

White House Creates Cyber Governance Unit Within OMB

With the framework explained for a number of government cybersecurity-related initiatives, now it’s time to talk money. The White House anted up strong in 2015 with proposals for a new data breach notification standard, as well as plans to facilitate information-sharing between the public and...