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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsGroup of (Russian)hackers called the Shadow Brokers have just dumped a treasure trove of NSA data.
A group of hackers called the Shadow Brokers has just released a new dump of data from the National Security Agency. This is plausibly the most extensive and important release of NSA hacking tools to date. Its likely to prove awkward for the U.S. government, not only revealing top-secret information but also damaging the governments relationships with U.S. allies and with big information technology firms. That is probably the motivation behind the leak: The Shadow Brokers are widely assumed to be connected with the Russian government. Heres what the dump means.
What information has been released?
The release is only the most recent in a series of Shadow Broker dumps of information. However, it is by far the most substantial, providing two key forms of information. The first is a series of zero-day exploits for Microsoft Windows software. Zero-day exploits are attacks that take advantage of unknown vulnerabilities in a given software package. Exploits against commonly used software such as Windows are highly valuable indeed, there is a clandestine international market where hackers sell exploits (sometimes through middlemen) to intelligence agencies and other interested parties, often for large sums of money. Intelligence services can then use these exploits to compromise the computers of their targets.
Second, information in the dump seems to show that the NSA has penetrated a service provider for SWIFT, an international financial messaging service. Specifically, it appears to have penetrated a SWIFT Service Bureau that provides support for a variety of banks in the Middle East.
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MUCH MORE!:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/04/15/shadowy-hackers-have-just-dumped-a-treasure-trove-of-nsa-data-heres-what-it-means/?utm_term=.4e3a0f3c2e9c
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)have Cyber Security on the Cheap.
grantcart
(53,061 posts)I doubt that you can create a defensive security apparatus that won't be compromised in time.
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)funding for Cyber Security,now we no why.
TheBlackAdder
(28,211 posts).
It doesn't take a brainchild to see that those same access points, giving them the ability to instantly hack into a million computers with one warrant, can be compromised and used by hackers to gain access to all of our systems, without a trace. In the effort to allow the US government to access our systems, we've given the keys to the kingdom away to the world. Prior to Obama leaving office, the FBI was granted the ability to access up to one million machines, allowing them to read, edit, copy and place code on them.
The technology not only exists, it is imbedded within much of the firmware and software we use. This was done to make it easier for the government to access endpoints. Just as Windows, Azure, and other SUSE Linux platforms are subject to intrusion, most of the mainboards, routers (including Cisco), cameras, and cell phones have methods to gain remote entry, whether the owner tries to prevent it or not. Other firms add secret backdoors into their systems to ease diagnostics, and these will get disassembled and published in the dark web for future exploit. It is not about as much the extreme intelligence as the desire and time to learn the tools and operating system nuances. A good hacker does not leave footprints. So, when you hear talk of inspecting system logs, that is only to catch the most basic of hacker.
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nikibatts
(2,198 posts)Demsrule86
(68,638 posts)They are trying once more to help Trump by discrediting intel...and how does it help the war on terror to know that the US can look at certain banks...a pox on these Russian intelligence officers.
Achilleaze
(15,543 posts)freaking republicans will not lift a finger to defend the USA against russia's Acts of War against America.
deplorable
... "If, as many observers believe, the Shadow Brokers are a catspaw or false identity for the Russian government, it is interesting to speculate on why they released this information and why now. It is not only damaging for the United States, but it is likely to prove enraging to many U.S. intelligence and security officials."
alittlelark
(18,890 posts)X,Y,Z.....etc.....