Just days before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, thousands of people in Canada joined a truckers’ protest movement called the “freedom convoy” to oppose government health measures. To support the protest movement organizers launched a fundraising campaign on the GoFundMe platform. However, the social funding platform seized the approximately $10 million in donations that were…

Seven internet domains used by Strontium, a Russian state-sponsored hacking group, were seized by Microsoft last week. This has been part of a years-long investigation into the Russian hacker group, which has allegedly been conducting a series of cyberattacks on Ukraine since the Russian-led invasion started nearly two months ago. Strontium has ties to Russia’s military…

Russian military hackers tried and failed to attack Ukraine’s energy infrastructure last week, the country’s government and a major cybersecurity company said Tuesday. The attack was designed to infiltrate computers connected to multiple substations, then delete all files, which would shut that infrastructure down, according to Ukraine’s summary of the incident. ESET, a Slovakia-based cybersecurity company working…

A new variant of the Industroyer malware, used to great effect against the Ukrainian energy sector by Russia’s Sandworm or Voodoo Bear advanced persistent threat (APT) group in 2016, has been identified by researchers from ESET, working in tandem with Ukraine’s national Computer Emergency Response Team, CERT-UA. Predictably dubbed Industroyer2, it was used in an attempted…

Russia’s war with Ukraine will slow the world economy’s nascent rebound from the pandemic, reduce goods trade and potentially lead to a broader splintering of global commerce, the World Trade Organization said. The Geneva-based trade body lowered its projection for growth in merchandise trade this year to 3%, down from its previous projection of 4.7%. The…

The European Union on Friday targeted crypto wallets, banks, currencies and trusts in its fifth package of sanctions on Russia in a bid to close potential loopholes which could allow Russians to move money abroad. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, EU-based crypto exchanges were already required to apply sanctions that bar transactions from…

A group of hackers with ties to the Belarusian government broke into the Facebook accounts of Ukrainian military officials and posted videos calling on the Ukrainian army to surrender. According to Facebook’s parent company, Meta, the posts appeared as if they were coming from the legitimate account owners. The group of hackers, known in the security…

Russia on Monday demanded Google take immediate steps to remove “threats” against Russians after it said Google Translate had offered some users the option to translate the phrase “dead Russians” instead of “dear Russians”. Russia’s communications regulator said it had demanded Google “immediately take measures to exclude statements of threats against Russian users”. The regulator…

Need additional evidence that private organizations are playing a defining role in curbing and preventing nation-state cyberattacks? Just look at the actions Microsoft recently took to disrupt Russian GRU-connected Strontium’s attacks on Ukrainian targets. Tom Burt, Microsoft corporate vice president of customer service, wrote in a blog post that the tech giant had obtained a court…

The chief technology officer of $US50 billion ($67 billion) cybersecurity giant CrowdStrike has warned that Russia is still likely to launch large-scale cyberattacks against the West in response to sanctions and accusations of war crimes. Although doomsday predictions about Russian retaliation have so far proved wide of the mark, Australian Mike Sentonas said cyberwarfare had still…

U.S. private equity giant Thoma Bravo has acquired SailPoint in an all-cash deal worth about $6.9 billion, the cybersecurity company announced Monday. Thoma Bravo’s deal to take the company private highlights the growing demand for enterprise security software. Several companies are still operating remotely due to the pandemic, and the Russia-Ukraine war has further sparked fears…

Hacker groups believed linked to China have launched cyberattacks against Ukraine following Russia’s invasion, according to U.S. security companies. The groups may be trying to gather information on Ukrainian refugees, including the families of Ukrainian dignitaries. Experts say it is still unclear whether the groups support Russia. On March 22, CERT-UA — Ukraine’s cyber defense unit — issued…

Russia’s communications watchdog said on Thursday it was taking steps to punish Google, including a ban on advertising the platform and its information services, for violating Russian law. The measures will apply to Google Search, the Google Play app store, YouTube, YouTube Music, Google Chat and Gmail. Roskomnadzor accused Google’s YouTube video-sharing platform, which has shut…

Cyberattacks from Russia continued to increase in late March, mostly through attempts to gather information from, and spread malware to, Ukrainian critical infrastructure, Ukraine cyber officials said. The same group of Russia-linked hackers that targeted local government agencies in Ukraine with compromised emails also sent malicious emails to Latvian authorities, said Victor Zhora, deputy chief of…

The United States said on Wednesday that it had secretly removed malware from computer networks around the world in recent weeks, a step to pre-empt Russian cyberattacks and send a message to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. The move, made public by Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, comes as U.S. officials warn that Russia could…

My recent conversations with the supply chain practitioners are dominated by supply chain risk — specifically geopolitical risks in light of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. Even companies that serve markets and rely on supply chains that are not directly affected by the conflict are starting to feel the effects of the war. Some…

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, commonly referred to as CZ, believes Russia cannot use cryptocurrencies to circumvent western sanctions. He said this during a recent interview with Richard Quest, the host of CNN’s Quest Means Business. According to him, crypto is too traceable, a trait that makes it unsuitable for dodging sanctions. Zhao pointed out that governments…

The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Tuesday on a prominent Russia-based darknet market site and a cryptocurrency exchange that it said operates primarily out of Moscow and St. Petersburg. The sanctions against Hydra and currency exchange Garantex, published on the Treasury Department’s website, “send a message today to criminals that you cannot hide on…

On the dark web, the takedown of yet another cryptocurrency-based black market for drugs has become almost a semiannual routine, with plenty of competitors ready to fill the shoes of any market law enforcement manages to bust. But the seizure of the Russian-language dark-web site Hydra may have ripple effects that go further than most:…

Welcome to the scary world of new age hybrid warfare where cyber attacks are sine-qua-non to any military exercise. Ever wondered what the following hacker groups have in common? -FancyBear, SandWorm, Conti, Turla; all Russian and allegedly responsible for hacking Presidential elections in Ukraine and launching ‘NotPetya’ attacks causing mayhem on the critical infrastructure of Ukraine. – Groups…

As Russia’s war against Ukraine escalates and sanctions by the U.S. and other countries intensify, so does their impact on supply chains around the world. “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is an invasion of the global supply chain,” according to Jennifer Bisceglie, founder and CEO of Interos, a supply chain risk management company. She said her firm’s data…