Tag Archive for: boston

FBI Boston helps crack Russian cyber hackers

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The FBI in Boston has helped crack a Russian-backed “Moobot” malware hack intended to steal government and corporate secrets.

The FBI reported Thursday that a tip from Ukrainian allies, among others, helped unravel the Russian ruse.

The Russian GRU Military Unit 26165 — who pose as government and international organizations — travel and enter computer systems via routers where they “conceal and otherwise enable a variety of crimes,” the FBI said.

The hackers hunt for credentials while seeking intelligence the Russian covet. The Moobot malware was installed on Ubiquiti Edge OS routers, the agency added, turning the computer networks into a “global cyber espionage platform.”

Firewalls were updated to block the malware to limit the damage, the FBI said.

“Operation Dying Ember was an international effort led by FBI Boston to remediate over a thousand compromised routers belonging to unsuspecting victims here in the United States and around the world that were targeted by malicious, nation state actors in Russia to facilitate their strategic intelligence collection,” said Special Agent in Charge Jodi Cohen of the FBI Boston Division.

This all comes as Russia has obtained a “troubling” emerging anti-satellite weapon, the White House announced Thursday.

“We’re not talking about a weapon that can be used to attack human beings or cause physical destruction here on Earth,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said, according to the Associated Press.

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Russian tech tycoon heads to trial in Boston over alleged insider trading and hacking scheme

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Between 2018 and 2020, prosecutors allege, Klyushin and his co-conspirators viewed the earnings reports of dozens of companies — including Tesla, Hubspot, Datadog, and Snap — before they were made public, and used that information to make stock trades that led to millions of dollars in illegal profits.

“This is sort of like insider trading on steroids,” said attorney Robert Fisher, a former federal prosecutor, adding that insider trading cases generally involve information related to one company or a sliver of an industry. Hacking into a vendor with access to multiple companies is rarer and much more lucrative, he said; an SEC complaint filed in federal court in Boston alleges the conspirators raked in $82.5 million.

Now, Klyushin, a married father of five, is set to go to trial Monday in federal court in Boston on charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, unauthorized access to computers, and securities fraud, in a case that will be closely watched in diplomatic circles in the United States and Russia, according to legal experts. Klyushin owns a Moscow-based technology company, M-13, that provides media monitoring and cybersecurity testing for private and public entities, including the Russian Federation, and has “significant ties to the Russian government, and, more specifically, to parts of the Russian government engaged in defense and counter-espionage,” prosecutors said in court filings.

In response to defense concerns about whether Klyushin will receive a fair trial, US District Judge Patti B. Saris has agreed to question potential jurors about whether they feel any bias toward Russian nationals, but rejected a request to ask them about their feelings on the war in Ukraine. She also ruled that prosecutors may not mention Putin’s name during the trial.

Klyushin was first arrested in March 2021 after he arrived via a chartered jet in Switzerland, where a helicopter was waiting on the tarmac to whisk him and his family to a nearby luxury ski resort for a planned vacation. Local police swooped in at the request of US authorities. His codefendants were in Russia, a country with no extradition treaty with the United States; Swiss authorities extradited Klyushin to the United…

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Bristol Community College, Swansea School Ransomware Cyberattacks – NBC Boston

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Ransomware attacks have hit a community college and a school district in Massachusetts’ Bristol County, interrupting classes as officials work to regain total control over their internet networks.

Ransomware attacks involve someone taking over a computer system or network and demanding payment, often in the form of cryptocurrency, to release it.

Online services, including email, at Bristol Community College have been affected for over a week. The cyberattack was discovered Dec. 23, though classes have continued.

“We would like to thank you for your patience and flexibility over the past week as we navigate the impact of what we now know to be a criminal cyberattack, which is an attempt by hackers to damage the college’s computer network,” the college said in a statement last week. “This has been a very difficult time for the college and we are grateful for your understanding. Winter classes are in session and we continue to move forward with our plans for the Spring semester.”

A message about the service disruption was still on the college’s website Wednesday.

Lynette Owens of Trend Micro joins us to talk about the threat of ransomware attacks at school and how to keep kids safe online.

Across the Taunton River in Swansea, school was closed for primary and secondary students Wednesday because the district’s internet network was being held ransom, its superintendent said.

The ransomware attack was being worked on Wednesday, after Swansea Public Schools Superintendent John Robidoux announced the closure Tuesday. He didn’t give a timeline on when schools would reopen.

It wasn’t immediately clear if the two ransomware attacks were connected. NBC10 Boston was reaching out to the FBI to see if they were assisting in either investigation.

Other school districts have been…

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Mass. Correction Officer Attacked by Inmate at MCI-Shirley – NBC Boston

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Free weights should be removed from maximum and medium security prisons in the Bay State, after a correction officer was “violently assaulted” with gym equipment last week, the Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union Executive Board said Tuesday.

Correction Officer Matthew Tidman is on life support after being assaulted by an inmate with a 10-15 pound piece of lead gym equipment last Wednesday at MCI-Shirley, according to the union. The attack was unprovoked, the union said, and happened while the officer was monitoring the gym area. The officer was knocked to the floor, where the inmate allegedly struck him in the head several more times.

The correction officer had to be med flighted to a hospital, after other officers were able to subdue the inmate, the news release said.

The executive board of the union wants the inmate to face prosecution “to the fullest extent of the law to include attempted murder” by the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, which the union is pushing to conduct a full investigation of the incident alongside Massachusetts State Police.

Additionally, the union’s executive board wants to see an investigation into how “such a violent criminal” was in a medium security prison. Union leaders also want to see free weights removed from medium and maximum security prisons immediately.

MCI-Shirley is a medium and minimum security prison that holds male inmates.

Tidman’s family has released a statement asking for privacy and thanking everyone for the support they’ve received through the ordeal.

“We are so thankful for the attentive and kindhearted hospital staff working day and night to support Matt, as he remains in critical condition fighting for his life,” the statement read, in part.

“Matt’s correctional officer brothers and sisters have shown how they are a united force who supports their own.
Anyone who knows Matt, knows he is a fighter and will never give up. He is the one to always have your back. Aside from being a character that puts a smile on your face, he is a loving son, brother and uncle.”

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