Tag Archive for: Asked

Brazilian Hacker Claims Bolsonaro Asked Him to Hack Into the Voting System Ahead of 2022 Vote

/in


A Brazilian hacker claimed at a congressional hearing Thursday that then-President Jair Bolsonaro wanted him to hack into the country’s electronic voting system to expose its alleged weaknesses ahead of the 2022 presidential election.

Walter Delgatti Neto did not provide any evidence for his claim to the parliamentary commission of inquiry. But his detailed testimony raises new allegations against the former far-right leader, who is being investigated for his role in the Jan. 8 riots in the capital city of Brasilia.

Delgatti told lawmakers he met in person with Bolsonaro on Aug. 10, 2022, for between 90 minutes and two hours at the presidential residence. He said he told the leader he could not hack into the electronic voting system because it wasn’t connected to the internet.

Bolsonaro’s lawyers said in a statement they will take judicial action against Delgatti, who they accused of “bringing false information and allegations, without any evidence.”

The lawyers acknowledged the hacker met with the former president and said the far-right leader ordered his defense minister to open investigations on the country’s electoral system based on claims he had heard from the hacker.

Creomar de Souza, founder of political risk consultancy Dharma Politics, said Delgatti’s testimony “is yet another brick in a wall of problems around Bolsonaro and some of his allies.” De Souza said the former president is in deeper legal trouble because his base in congress wanted the congressional inquiry to become a platform for his defense — and it has instead put him deeper in hot water.

Bolsonaro’s political nemesis, leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, won the Oct. 30, 2022, presidential election with just 50.9% of the votes.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

Delgatti said Bolsonaro wanted the attempted hack to show voters that Brazil’s voting system was not reliable.

He said that after he explained why he could not hack into the electoral system, the Bolsonaro campaign asked him to tamper with a borrowed voting machine to make it appear, less than a month before the election’s first round, that the machine had been successfully hacked and results could be compromised….

Source…

65% Of Surveyed Executives And Employees Have Been Asked By Hackers To Help In Ransomware Attacks

/in


Ransomware attacks, which were a growing problem last year, are expected to increase this year. But the cyberattacks, which people assumed were coming from outside their organizations, have also become internal threats.

A new poll from identity protection company Hitachi ID Systems found that 65% of surveyed IT and security executives or their employees have been approached to assist in these cyberattacks. This represents a 17% increase from a similar survey last November.

  • Overall, 57% of respondents reported that they or their employees were offered cash or Bitcoins worth less than $500,000. Ransomware attackers primarily contacted executives and employees through email (59%). 
  • Of the 65% who said they had been approached to assist in a ransomware attack, 49% ended up a victim of ransomware attack.
  • Although many (55%) consider themselves moderately or very prepared to defend against ransomware, more than half (51%) rely mostly or exclusively on perimeter defense.

26% Paid Ransom Demands

In the new poll, most people said they consulted an external party before responding to a ransomware attack and were advised not to pay the ransom. But 26% said they did pay—the demands ranged between $300,000 and $600,000.

Hitachi ID warned that, “To combat this rising threat, businesses must take a proactive offensive approach to cybersecurity or face financial and reputational damage.” 

The company surveyed 100 IT and security executives between December 7 2021 and January 4, 2022 about how hackers are approaching employees, how ransomware is impacting an organization’s cybersecurity approach and how prepared businesses are to combat these attacks.

Other Survey Results

Victim Of Attacks

  • 38% of respondents say their company has been a victim of a ransomware attack.
  • Of those who said they had been approached to assist in a ransomware attack, 49% ended up a victim of…

Source…

Pakistan Telecom Authority asked to suspend mobile phone services in Islamabad as security measure for OIC meeting | Indiablooms

/in


Islamabad/IBNS: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has been directed to suspend cellular services in certain areas of Islamabad city ahead of the   Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) conference from Dec 17 to 19, according to media reports.

Moreover, the capital administration on the recommendation of the Foreign Office may announce a local holiday on Monday (Dec 20), reports Dawn News.

The interior ministry has asked the PTA to suspend mobile phone service and it is likely that the service will be suspended around routes the delegates will be using and adjacent to areas where they will be staying, the newspaper reported.

The Red Zone will remain sealed as a security measure for the conference.

Officials of the local administration and police told Dawn News that the Red Zone will be sealed for foolproof security of visiting delegates from 62-member states of the OIC.

Well-equipped policemen along with personnel of paramilitary troops and army are being deployed to the entry points of the Red Zone, they added.

Source…

Adam Silver Reveals The Chinese Government Asked Him To Fire Daryl Morey

/in

We’ve been taken on something of a journey over the past several weeks by China and their thin-skinned government’s attempt to pressure everyone into forgetting that Hong Kong exists. Specifically, it seems that Beijing is quite afraid of any person with a platform showing any support for the ongoing protests in Hong Kong, which much of the world sees as an attempt to stave off an authoritarian government with a history of human rights abuses. While much of the eSports gaming world has taken the cowardly step to self-censor — going so far as to punish those competing in a fairly hamfisted manner — there is also this NBA…thing.

That front of this Orwellian war began when Daryl Morey, GM of the Houston Rockets, tweeted fairly benign support for the protests. The Rockets are quite popular in China, as is the NBA, and China took an opportunity to ape extreme offense at Morey’s tweet. This, despite the fact that Twitter is effectively banned and blocked on the Chinese mainland. Despite that fact, the NBA first made unfortunate noises in apologizing to the Chinese government, before Commissioner Adam Silver eventually walked that back after a public backlash. Silver instead came out in support of players and team officials speaking their minds and attempted to retrieve the NBA’s one-time position as one of the most progressive and “woke” professional sports leagues in America.

It seems that Beijing really wasn’t playing around, however, as Silver revealed in a recent interview that China actually asked him to fire Morey.

In case you cannot watch the video, Silver revealed that China asked him to fire Morey and that he refused. He then went on to note that his recent trip to China in the wake of this controversy was conducted at least in part to give Beijing a firm understanding that his league would not again kneel at the altar of their ginned up hurt feelings. The Deadspin rightly calls this what it is: domestic damage control.

“These American values—we are an American business—travel with us wherever we go,” Silver said. “And one of those values is free expression. We wanted to make sure that everyone understood we were supporting free expression.”

Silver does deserve credit for not firing Morey on the spot, and the NBA certainly has caught more flak despite doing less to mollify China than the scores of other, larger companies who have happily rolled over and shown the Chinese government their bellies. Today’s comments are damage control—not with the Chinese officials he has been dealing with for a week now, but with American fans who are pissed at the league and its most prominent player for playing China’s game.

Indeed. And, while it can be difficult for a money-making organization to show some spine against an adversary wielding the world’s second largest economy, stories like this are evidence for exactly what will happen if lines in the sand are not drawn. China, and authoritarian regimes, will demand more and more influence over American companies that should at least pretend to have American values.

Is the NBA some knight on a white horse here? Hell no. But the NBA’s reaction to public pressure in America is certainly something that would be welcome in the eSports industry.

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story

Techdirt.