Tag: Cyber attacks

Qatar’s state news agency hacked by ‘unknown entity’

DOHA, Qatar (AFP) — Qatar said Wednesday its official state news agency was hacked and subsequently carried a “false statement” on sensitive regional topics attributed to the country’s Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani. Among the issues allegedly addressed by the Qatari ruler were the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, strategic relations with Iran, and comments about Hamas. There were also alleged negative comments about Qatar’s relationship with the new administration of US President Donald Trump. Doha though […]

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China issues warning for new ransomware virus

BEIJING, China (AFP) — China has urged Windows users to protect themselves against a new ransomware virus similar to the WannaCry bug that wreaked havoc worldwide last week. “UIWIX” encrypts and renames files through a bug in the Windows operating system, China’s National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center (CVERC) warned in a public announcement Wednesday, telling users to install the latest Microsoft update. The warning comes on the heels of the “WannaCry” cyberattack, which has hit […]

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Twitter confirms hacking after pro-Turkey attacks

PARIS, France (AFP) — Twitter confirmed Wednesday a major hacking attack which has seen a number of high-profile accounts defaced by pro-Turkey supporters with a message condemning “Nazi Germany” and “Nazi Holland”. “We are aware of an issue affecting a number of account holders this morning,” a Twitter spokesperson said, adding the source of the attack had been tracked to a third party app whose permissions had been removed. © Agence France-Presse

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NATO working on de-escalating tensions with Russia

  (Reuters) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday (February 17) that the Western alliance is seeing progress on encouraging Moscow to be more open about its military exercises that he says are unpredictable, after holding talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Munich. But disagreements remained, he said, over the crisis in Ukraine, where the West accuses the Kremlin of arming separatist rebels in a conflict that has killed 10,000 people since […]

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Cyber attacks cripple Twitter, Netflix, other websites

    by Glenn Chapman SAN FRANCISCO, United States | AFP | — Cyber attacks pounded the underpinnings of the internet Friday, crippling Twitter, Netflix and other major websites with the help of once-dumb devices made smart with online connections. Waves of attacks incapacitated a crucial piece of internet infrastructure, hampering or outright blocking access to popular online venues. “When I see something like this, I have to think state actor,” said Carbon Black national […]

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South Korea suspects North Korea may have attempted cyber attacks

South Korea said on Wednesday (January 27) it suspected North Korea of attempting cyber attacks against targets in the South, following a nuclear test by the North this month that defied United Nations sanctions. South Korea has been on heightened military and cyber alert since the January 6 test, which Pyongyang called a successful hydrogen bomb test, although U.S. officials and experts doubt that it managed such a technological advance. “At this point, we suspect […]

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Pentagon says U.S. needs to beef up ability to deter cyber attacks

The U.S. military needs to improve its ability to deter attacks on its computer networks, and is working to make them more costly for U.S. adversaries, top U.S. military and intelligence officials told a Senate hearing on Tuesday (September 29). In the hearing, officials also expressed skepticism about a recent agreement with China to stop cyber attacks, and said more is needed to combat the Islamic State’s online recruitment. U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert […]

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