Russian hackers stole NSA cyber tools via that pesky Kaspersky anti-virus software. The NSA contract employee “had taken classified material home to work on it on his computer, and his use of Kaspersky Lab antivirus software enabled Russian hackers to see his files,” ... “The case, which dates to 2015 and has not been made public, remains under investigation by federal prosecutors.”
The highly classified material involved the agency’s techniques for breaking into foreign computer networks to collect intelligence, the officials said.
“The employee involved was a U.S. citizen born in Vietnam and had worked at Tailored Access Operations, the elite hacking division of the NSA that develops tools to penetrate computers overseas to gather foreign intelligence … He was removed from the job in 2015, but was not thought to have taken the materials for malicious purposes such as handing them to a foreign spy agency,” according to officials
Contractors account for close to 30 percent of agency staff, and 60 percent of their budgets. He sees the three recent breaches as evidence that those massive payouts aren’t accompanied by proper oversight. “They’re leaving way too much authority to the contractors to police themselves and it’s clear that system is failing,” Shorrock says. “There needs to be some kind of mechanism to police the contractors.”
Several former agency officers said the breach might not necessarily require complicity on the part of Kaspersky Lab. Antivirus software routinely scans files to hunt for malware and even uploads files to the cloud for particular study. By redirecting data between the employee’s computer and Kaspersky back to their own servers, via a “man in the middle attack,” or hacking Kaspersky’s software and adding a back door, Russian operators could have potentially downloaded the employee’s files without Kaspersky’s knowledge.
“Antivirus software could totally be used for espionage,” said Jake Williams, a former officer at the agency and the founder of Rendition Infosec, a cybersecurity contractor. “It looks damning for Kaspersky, but we don’t yet know the whole story.”
The concerns about Kaspersky Lab date back many years, in part because its founder, Eugene Kaspersky, attended a K.G.B. technical college and served in military intelligence. Tim Evans, a former National Security Agency lawyer, said that in 2008 he was dispatched by the agency to the United States Patent Office to retrieve every patent application filed by Kaspersky so that the agency could study the names of its employees for known officers of the F.S.B., the K.G.B.’s successor.“There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again.”
― George W. Bush
Capability 10 years ago (included decryption capability) ...
Pentagon: We’ll Keep Buying Software That Russian Spies have Looked Through
In June, Reuters reported that several defense contractors, including IBM, Cisco, and Germany’s SAP, had allowed the FSB to inspect key aspects of the source code for various software products. In October, Reuters added to the list an HP Enterprise product called ArcSight, described as “a cybersecurity nerve center for much of the U.S. military, alerting analysts when it detects that computer systems may have come under attack.” Reuters quoted a former senior Commerce Department official saying, “It’s something we have a real concern about.”
Concerns aside, the Pentagon says there was no specific policy or rule to prohibit buying consumer-of-the-shelf equipment or products inspected by the FSB, according to Pentagon spokesman Army Maj. Jamie Davis. “There is no plan at this time for a review or investigation, and there is also no plan at this time to require that contractors reveal the source code they have shared,” Davis said.
WH Chief of Staff John Kelly's Personal Cellphone Was Compromised, White House Believes
White House tech support discovered the suspected breach after Kelly turned his phone in to tech support staff this summer.
The discovery raises concerns that hackers or foreign governments may have had access to data on Kelly’s phone while he was secretary of Homeland Security and after he joined the West Wing.
Kelly told the staffers the phone hadn’t been working properly for months, according to the officials.
Murdoch’s News Group Admits Benefiting from Hacking of Army Officer's Emails
LONDON (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch’s British newspaper group said on Friday one of its titles had hacked the computer of a former intelligence officer, an admission which critics said showed why his takeover of European broadcaster Sky should be blocked.
In a hearing at London’s High Court, Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers admitted “vicarious liability” for the hacking of computers belonging to Ian Hurst, who worked for British military intelligence.
Latvia’s Cellphones Stopped Working. Russia’s War Games may be to Blame.
BRUSSELS — Latvia’s intelligence services are examining a partial disruption of the nation’s cellular network and emergency-services hotline that may have been a fresh example of Russia’s electronic-warfare capabilities, Latvian and NATO officials said.
The break in cellphone service in western Latvia and the 16-hour outage of the country’s equivalent of 911 came around the time of recent major Russian war exercises that were a powerful demonstration of the Kremlin’s ability to wage modern war. A communications jammer aimed towards Sweden from Russia’s Baltic outpost Kaliningrad may also have been used.
“If confirmed as attacks, the electronic breakdowns would show another capability in the Kremlin’s arsenal…the capacity to disrupt civilian communications remotely” ... Such a tool could severely hamper Western authorities’ ability to organize a quick civilian response in case of war.
"All your base are belong to us. You have no chance to survive make your time."