Microsoft: Russia-linked hackers Using Windows Flaw in Attacks

A hacking group earlier connected to the Russian government and U.S. political hacks was responsible for recent cyber attacks that manipulated a newly exposed Windows security flaw, Microsoft Corp said on Tuesday.

The software developer in an advisory on its website named the hacking group as “Strontium”. It is more famously known as “Fancy Bear” or APT 28 and used “spear phishing” emails in some attacks. However, the company did not identify any victims.

Microsoft’s revelation of the current attacks and the connection to Russia came after Washington accused Moscow of unleashing an unprecedented hacking campaign. These attacks were intended for discrediting and disrupting the upcoming U.S. election.

Last month, The U.S. government formally accused the Russian government of the election-season cyber attack of Democratic Party emails. The Russians were also blamed for the emails’ ensuing release thru WikiLeaks and other entities. Russia has denied those accusations.

A patch to safeguard Windows users against the recently discovered threat will be released on Nov. 8, Election Day, Microsoft said. Nevertheless, it was unclear whether the Windows vulnerability had been exploited in any of the recent U.S. political hacks.

Representatives of the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI could not immediately be reached for comment.

A U.S. intelligence specialist on Russian cyber activity said that Fancy Bear principally works for or on behalf of the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence agency. According to U.S. intelligence officials, the GRU was responsible for hacks of Democratic Party emails and databases.

In spear phishing, an attacker sends targeted messages, usually thru email. These messages manipulate familiar information to deceive victims into clicking on malicious links or open infected attachments.

Microsoft said the hacks used a vulnerability in Adobe Systems’ Flash software and one in the Windows operating system.

On Monday, Adobe released a patch for that vulnerability when security researchers with Google announced the details of the attack.

Google chided by Microsoft

Microsoft rebuked rival Google for going public with facts of the vulnerabilities before it had time to prepare and test a patch to remedy them.

“Google’s decision to disclose these vulnerabilities before patches are broadly available and tested is disappointing, and puts customers at increased risk,” Microsoft said.

A Google representative refused to comment on Microsoft’s statement.

Google held to its standing policy of going public seven days after uncovering “critical vulnerabilities” that are being actively used by hackers. Hence, the company revealed the flaw on Monday.

Companies are given 60 days by Google to patch less serious bugs.

 

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US Vigilante Hacker ‘The Jester’ Attacks Russia Government Website

Last Friday, a notorious American Hacker known as “The Jester” hacked a Russian government ministry’s website as payback for attacking American targets.

‘The Jester’ left this message:

“Comrades!

We interrupt regular scheduled Russian Foreign Affairs Website programming to bring you the following important message,” he wrote. “Knock it off. You may be able to push around nations around you, but this is America. Nobody is impressed.”

His hacking activity includes a very weird and annoying sound that whenever people visits the site they hear an “attention-demanding” dial tone right after an American emergency broadcast alert message.

MID.ru is the official website of the Russian institution that is responsible for operations concerning the country’s international diplomacy. It is the Russian counterpart of the U.S. Department of State.

The U.S government accused Russia of interfering in American politics. Recently, US accused Russian intelligence agencies of being involved in hacking Democratic National Committee private information. These include emails and the sites of other Democratic Party-linked organizations. Moreover, they also leaked damning information to influence the election toward Donald Trump and away from Hilary Clinton.

Russia is also incriminated of publishing stolen emails to WikiLeaks. Russia and President Vladimir Putin however, has denied all the accusations.

The Jester said, “Let’s get real, I know it’s you, even if by proxy, and you know it’s you,” he wrote. “Now, get to your room. Before I lose my temper.”

‘The Jester’ is not new to hacktivism. He has taken down jihadist websites, hacking into communication forums, and identifying potential terrorist threats. Hence, ex-FBI agents have tagged him as “the Batman of the internet”.

Russia hacked out of frustration

The Jester said he chose to attack Russia out of frustration for the massive DNS cyber attack that knocked out a portion of the internet in the United States on Friday.

“I wanted to poke them in the eye and stop feeling like US is just taking it on the chin. Again,” he said. “I’m not gonna sit around watching these f—-rs laughing at us.”

The Jester used a simple hacking trick. He found a flaw in the website’s computer code and exploited his own code to gain access.

“It’s 4 a.m. in Moscow right now and a weekend. I’m hoping they can’t fix the hole til Monday,” he said.

As of 11 a.m. ET Saturday, the message was still online. The notorious hacker warns Russia to take his threats seriously. There are other American hackers with this kind of capability.

“Think of this as a professional courtesy,” his public warning states. “Or if you prefer a message from ‘USA with love.'”

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Clinton’s Leaked Email on $12 Million Dollar Morocco Donation

Hillary Clinton’s leaked emails keep piling up on her. Recently, Huma Abedin’s email was in the spotlight and amongst the 4,000 emails posted by WikiLeaks on Thursday. The controversial email made public involving a $12 million donation from a government that her State Department deemed to be corrupt.

The Clinton Foundation received the massive amount of $12 million as a donation from the Moroccan King Mohammed VI. The king only had one condition; Clinton must agree to be a major speaker at a convention in Morocco to be conducted in May 2015. The State Department under Clinton’s control accused the Moroccan government of “arbitrary arrests and corruption”.

The convention was scheduled just after a month when Clinton announced her bid for the presidency. According to the leaked email, when Clinton finally realized her predicament, she believed that the “mess” could cost her the presidential campaign.

In an email excerpt exposed by WikiLeaks from Clinton’s top adviser, Huma Abedin said, “No matter what happens, she will be in Morocco hosting CGI (Clinton Global Initiative) on May 5-7, 2015. Her presence was a condition for the Moroccans to proceed so there is no going back on this”. The statement taken from a November 2014 email sent to Clinton’s campaign manager, Robby Mook.

The Moroccan King made sure that Clinton would honor the deal. In another email, Abedin notified Mook that the $12 million would be forfeited if Clinton disregards the convention.

In a January 2015 email, Abedin wrote to Mook and another campaign manager John Podesta. She said, “Just to give you some context, the condition upon which the Moroccans agreed to host the meeting was her participation. If HRC was not part if it, meeting was a non-starter”.

The email also describes that “CGI also wasn’t pushing for a meeting in Morocco and it wasn’t their first choice. This was HRC’s idea, our office approached the Moroccans and they 100 percent believed they are doing this at her request. The King has personally committed approx. $12 million both for the [foundation’s] endowment and to support the meeting”.

Abedin shockingly admitted in the email that “It will break a lot of china to back out now when we had so many opportunities to do it in the past few months. She created this mess and she knows it.”

Appallingly, the deal came off as a quid-pro-quo agreement in the king’s donation for the Clinton Foundation and for the CGI Summit. Similarly, significant dignitaries were notified that Clinton would be a keynote speaker at the convention.

Unshaken by the king’s demand, Clinton sent her husband Bill and her daughter Chelsea Clinton to the convention while she continued to campaign in Nevada and California.

Even though Clinton did not honor the King’s demand the deal went on. However, it was uncertain how much went to the summit directly, and to the Clinton Foundation. According to the emails, the total sum was $12 million.

Lavish Accommodation

The May 2015 CGI summit attendees stayed in the luxurious five-star Selman-Marrakesh hotel which is well known for featuring Arabian horses and extravagant amenities. The media was barred from covering the convention.

The Quid-pro-Quo Deal

Surprisingly the convention was sponsored by a Moroccan government-owned mining company, OCP. The Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice filed a case of “serious human-rights violations against the company.

Other allegations regarding human rights violations besieged the company. Human rights advocates accused OCP’s mined minerals as “blood phosphates”. This is a term similar to “blood diamonds”, denoting the precious stones unearthed were used to finance war conflicts.

In April 2013, Washington emissary Mohamed Yeslem Beisat said, “OCP is the first beneficiary of the war and the first beneficiary of the occupation — it is the one that cashes in on the misery of thousands of refugees and hundreds of political detainees for the past 40 years.” The self-described, “government in exile”, Polisario Front told US News & World Report.

As for the deal struck, Beisat remarked, “They’re doing this because they know Hillary has some chances of being President of the United States. And they want her to support their brutal occupation of Western Sahara.”

Nonetheless, the US financed Export-Import Bank granted OCP a $92 million loan during Clinton’s tenure as the Secretary of State.

Pointing Fingers

The leaked emails were presumed to originate from Podesta, who believed some may have been falsified.

Nevertheless, US intelligence agencies pointed out that the Russian government was behind the hack. Indicating the Russian President Vladimir Putin was trying to rig the election in favor of Donald Trump’s victory.

Trump asserted during the Wednesday final presidential debate that “no one knows” who hacked the emails.

Clinton accused Trump of urging the Russians to hack her emails during her tenure as the Secretary of State.

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According to Hacked Email, US to Ring China With Missile Defense

According to hacked email messages, US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said the United States had cautioned Beijing it would surround China with missile defense unless it did more to rein in North Korea’s missile program. She said this in an exclusive speech to bank executives three years.

Clinton said in a speech to Godman Sachs on June 4, 2013 that the implication to China had been, “You either control them, or we’re going to have to defend against them.” This was taken from a supposed Clinton campaign document. The file was appended to an email published by Wikileaks.

The authenticity of the leaked email was impossible to confirm. Further, the Clinton campaign has neither confirmed nor denied the validity of hacked emails.

On Friday, the State Department refused to comment on “alleged leaked documents”. An official remarked that to comment publicly on diplomatic discussions was not department policy.

According to the hacked email, the Democratic presidential candidate said in a speech that Washington could not tolerate a situation in which North Korea developed an inter-continental ballistic missile that can carry a miniaturized warhead.

She said that this could compromise treaty allies South Korea and Japan. Moreover, this could reach Hawaii and the West Coast of the United States.

“We’re going to ring China with missile defense. We’re going to put more of our fleet in the area. So China, come on. You either control them, or we’re going to have to defend against them,” Clinton said, according to the email.

China says THAAD radar a security risk

Plans revealed this year by South Korea and United States to set up the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system has angered China. The anti-missile defense system is aimed to defend against the threat posed by North Korean missiles.

Beijing is worried that the system’s powerful radar would pose a risk to its security. The United States, however, has reasoned THAAD is not intended at restraining China.

In February, US Secretary of State John Kerry said that the United States had made apparent that resolving the North Korean nuclear issue is the way to avert THAAD deployment.

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