#China-linked hackers

[mel-rhodes-place]

ISRAEL ALONE

I wrote my blog yesterday and titled it.  The Economist arrived last night — its cover (above) was also titled “Israel Alone.” – Editor Israel is taking quite a battering lately, mostly from its friends, including the US. Israel is decidedly alone.   — Editor In my article last week, I wrote that America was abandoning Israel. Today, the Biden administration wrote its name in the annals of…

[mostlysignssomeportents]

China hacked Verizon, AT&T and Lumen using the FBI’s backdoor

On OCTOBER 23 at 7PM, I'll be in DECATUR, presenting my novel THE BEZZLE at EAGLE EYE BOOKS.

State-affiliated Chinese hackers penetrated AT&T, Verizon, Lumen and others; they entered their networks and spent months intercepting US traffic – from individuals, firms, government officials, etc – and they did it all without having to exploit any code vulnerabilities. Instead, they used the back door that the FBI requires every carrier to furnish:

https://www.wsj.com/tech/cybersecurity/u-s-wiretap-systems-targeted-in-china-linked-hack-327fc63b?st=C5ywbp&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

In 1994, Bill Clinton signed CALEA into law. The Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act requires every US telecommunications network to be designed around facilitating access to law-enforcement wiretaps. Prior to CALEA, telecoms operators were often at pains to design their networks to resist infiltration and interception. Even if a telco didn't go that far, they were at the very least indifferent to the needs of law enforcement, and attuned instead to building efficient, robust networks.

Predictably, CALEA met stiff opposition from powerful telecoms companies as it worked its way through Congress, but the Clinton administration bought them off with hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies to acquire wiretap-facilitation technologies. Immediately, a new industry sprang into being; companies that promised to help the carriers hack themselves, punching back doors into their networks. The pioneers of this dirty business were overwhelmingly founded by ex-Israeli signals intelligence personnel, though they often poached senior American military and intelligence officials to serve as the face of their operations and liase with their former colleagues in law enforcement and intelligence.

Telcos weren't the only opponents of CALEA, of course. Security experts – those who weren't hoping to cash in on government pork, anyways – warned that there was no way to make a back door that was only useful to the "good guys" but would keep the "bad guys" out.

These experts were – then as now – dismissed as neurotic worriers who simultaneously failed to understand the need to facilitate mass surveillance in order to keep the nation safe, and who lacked appropriate faith in American ingenuity. If we can put a man on the moon, surely we can build a security system that selectively fails when a cop needs it to, but stands up to every crook, bully, corporate snoop and foreign government. In other words: "We have faith in you! NERD HARDER!"

NERD HARDER! has been the answer ever since CALEA – and related Clinton-era initiatives, like the failed Clipper Chip program, which would have put a spy chip in every computer, and, eventually, every phone and gadget:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipper_chip

America may have invented NERD HARDER! but plenty of other countries have taken up the cause. The all-time champion is former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who, when informed that the laws of mathematics dictate that it is impossible to make an encryption scheme that only protects good secrets and not bad ones, replied, "The laws of mathematics are very commendable, but the only law that applies in Australia is the law of Australia":

https://www.zdnet.com/article/the-laws-of-australia-will-trump-the-laws-of-mathematics-turnbull/

CALEA forced a redesign of the foundational, physical layer of the internet. Thankfully, encryption at the protocol layer – in the programs we use – partially counters this deliberately introduced brittleness in the security of all our communications. CALEA can be used to intercept your communications, but mostly what an attacker gets is "metadata" ("so-and-so sent a message of X bytes to such and such") because the data is scrambled and they can't unscramble it, because cryptography actually works, unlike back doors. Of course, that's why governments in the EU, the US, the UK and all over the world are still trying to ban working encryption, insisting that the back doors they'll install will only let the good guys in:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/05/theyre-still-trying-to-ban-cryptography/

Any back door can be exploited by your adversaries. The Chinese sponsored hacking group know as Salt Typhoon intercepted the communications of hundreds of millions of American residents, businesses, and institutions. From that position, they could do NSA-style metadata-analysis, malware injection, and interception of unencrypted traffic. And they didn't have to hack anything, because the US government insists that all networking gear ship pre-hacked so that cops can get into it.

This isn't even the first time that CALEA back doors have been exploited by a hostile foreign power as a matter of geopolitical skullduggery. In 2004-2005, Greece's telecommunications were under mass surveillance by US spy agencies who wiretapped Greek officials, all the way up to the Prime Minister, in order to mess with the Greek Olympic bid:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_wiretapping_case_2004%E2%80%9305

This is a wild story in so many ways. For one thing, CALEA isn't law in Greece! You can totally sell working, secure networking gear in Greece, and in many other countries around the world where they have not passed a stupid CALEA-style law. However the US telecoms market is so fucking huge that all the manufacturers build CALEA back doors into their gear, no matter where it's destined for. So the US has effectively exported this deliberate insecurity to the whole planet – and used it to screw around with Olympic bids, the most penny-ante bullshit imaginable.

Now Chinese-sponsored hackers with cool names like "Salt Typhoon" are traipsing around inside US telecoms infrastructure, using the back doors the FBI insisted would be safe.

Tor Books as just published two new, free LITTLE BROTHER stories: VIGILANT, about creepy surveillance in distance education; and SPILL, about oil pipelines and indigenous landback.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/07/foreseeable-outcomes/#calea

Image: Kris Duda, modified https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahorcado/5433669707/

CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Mira Lazine at LGBTQ Nation:

Yesterday, a group of “gay furry hackers” known as SiegedSec released 200 gigabytes of leaked data from the Heritage Foundation on their Telegram, a group texting application. “This breach can help shine light on who exactly is supporting Heritage, and also encourage people to fight against them even more than before,” said a member of the group known as “vio” to LGBTQ Nation. “I believe it’s also worth noting, this could help show the amount of support Heritage has that’s provided by malicious users or bots from China,” she said while linking to a thread on X by journalist Jackie Singh, which analyzes the leak’s data.

The leak resulted from a string of hacks carried out by the group’s “#OpTransRights,” which targets groups opposed to trans civil rights. The Heritage Foundation in particular was targeted for its creation of Project 2025, a plan to install ultraconservative policies if former President Donald Trump wins the 2024 presidential election. Project 2025’s desired policies include strong restrictions on transgender care and denying any legal recognition of trans people’s gender identities.  LGBTQ Nation obtained access to the leaked data. It contains information from between 2007 and 2022, and it focuses primarily around the Heritage Foundation’s news wing, The Daily Signal. The data includes information on commenters’ email and IP addresses, along with information regarding those who had articles posted on the site.

[...] SiegedSec has targeted other groups and individuals earlier this year as part of #OpTransRights, including the ultraconservative outlet Real America’s Voice and a Minnesota church pastor who was accused of transphobia.

Project 2025 architects The Heritage Foundation got targeted by a gay furry hackers collective called SiegedSec. These heroes shined a light on Heritage’s bigoted ways.

See Also:

The Advocate: Gay furry hackers target Heritage Foundation

PinkNews: Heritage Foundation exec rages against ‘degenerate’ Gay Furry Hackers following hack

[mariacallous]

Every year has its own mix of digital security debacles, from the absurd to the sinister, but 2024 was particularly marked by hacking sprees in which cybercriminals and state-backed espionage groups repeatedly exploited the same weakness or type of target to fuel their frenzy. For attackers, the approach is ruthlessly efficient, but for compromised institutions—and the individuals they serve—the malicious rampages had very real consequences for people's privacy, safety, and security.

As political turmoil and social unrest intensify around the world, 2025 will be a complicated—and potentially explosive—year in cyberspace. But first, here's WIRED's look back on this year's worst breaches, leaks, state-sponsored hacking campaigns, ransomware attacks, and digital extortion cases. Stay alert, and stay safe out there.

China's Salt Typhoon Telecom Breaches

Espionage operations are a fact of life, and relentless Chinese campaigns have been a constant in cyberspace for years now. But the China-linked espionage group Salt Typhoon carried out a particularly noteworthy operation this year, infiltrating a slew of US telecoms including Verizon and AT&T (plus others around the world) for months. And US officials told reporters earlier this month that many victim companies are still actively attempting to remove the hackers from their networks.

The attackers surveilled a small group of people—less than 150 by current count—but they include individuals who were already subject to US wiretap orders as well as state department officials and members of both the Trump and Harris presidential campaigns. Additionally, texts and calls from other people who interacted with the Salt Typhoon targets were inherently also caught up in the espionage scheme.

Snowflake Customer Breaches

Throughout the summer, attackers were on a tear, breaching prominent companies and organizations that were all customers of the cloud data storage company Snowflake. The spree barely qualifies as hacking, since cybercriminals were simply using stolen passwords to log in to Snowflake accounts that didn't have two-factor authentication turned on. The end result, though, was an extraordinary amount of data stolen from victims including Ticketmaster, Santander Bank, and Neiman Marcus. Another prominent victim, the telecom giant AT&T, said in July that “nearly all” records relating to its customers' calls and texts from a seven-month stretch in 2022 were stolen in a Snowflake-related intrusion. The security firm Mandiant, which is owned by Google, said in June that the rampage impacted roughly 165 victims.

In July, Snowflake added a feature so account administrators could make two-factor authentication mandatory for all of their users. In November, suspect Alexander “Connor” Moucka was arrested by Canadian law enforcement for allegedly leading the hacking spree. He was indicted by the US Department of Justice for the Snowflake tear and faces extradition to the US. John Erin Binns, who was arrested in Turkey for an indictment related to a 2021 breach of the telecom T-Mobile, was also indicted on charges related to the Snowflake customer breaches.

Change Healthcare Ransomware Attack

At the end of February, the medical billing and insurance processing company Change Healthcare was hit with a ransomware attack that caused disruptions at hospitals, doctor's offices, pharmacies, and other health care facilities around the US. The attack is one of the all-time largest breaches of medical data, impacting more than 100 million people. The company, which is owned by UnitedHealth, is a dominant medical billing processor in the US. It said days after the attack started that it believed ALPHV/BlackCat, a notorious Russian-speaking ransomware gang, was behind the assault.

Personal data stolen in the attack included patient phone numbers, addresses, banking and other financial information, and health records including diagnoses, prescriptions, and treatment details. The company paid a $22 million ransom to ALPHV/BlackCat at the beginning of March in an attempt to contain the situation. The payment seemingly emboldened attackers to hit health care targets at an even greater rate than usual. With ongoing, rolling notifications to more than 100 million victims—with more still being discovered—lawsuits and other blowback has been mounting. This month, for example, the state of Nebraska sued Change Healthcare, alleging that “failures to implement basic security protections” made the attack much worse than it should have been.

Russia's Midnight Blizzard Hit Microsoft

Microsoft said in January that it had been breached by Russia's “Midnight Blizzard” hackers in an incident that compromised company executives' email accounts. The group is tied to the Kremlin's SVR foreign intelligence agency and is specifically linked to SVR's APT 29, also known as Cozy Bear. After an initial intrusion in November 2023, the attackers targeted and compromised historic Microsoft system test accounts that then allowed them to access what the company said were “a very small percentage of Microsoft corporate email accounts, including members of our senior leadership team and employees in our cybersecurity, legal, and other functions.” From there, the group exfiltrated “some emails and attached documents.” Microsoft said that the attackers seemed to be looking for information about what the company knew about them—in other words, Midnight Blizzard doing reconnaissance on Microsoft's research into the group. Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE) also said in January that it had suffered a corporate email breach attributed to Midnight Blizzard.

National Public Data

The background check company National Public Data suffered a breach in December 2023, and data from the incident started showing up for sale on cybercriminal forums in April 2024. Different configurations of the data cropped up again and again over the summer, culminating in public confirmation of the breach by the company in August. The stolen data included names, Social Security numbers, phone numbers, addresses, and dates of birth. Since National Public Data didn't confirm the breach until August, speculation about the situation grew for months and included theories that the data included tens or even hundreds of millions of Social Security numbers. Though the breach was significant, the true number of impacted individuals seems to be, mercifully, much lower. The company reported in a filing to officials in Maine that the breach affected 1.3 million people. In October, National Public Data's parent company, Jerico Pictures, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in the Southern District of Florida, citing state and federal investigations into the breach as well as a number of lawsuits that the company is facing over the incident.

Honorable Mention: North Korean Cryptocurrency Theft

A lot of people steal a lot of cryptocurrency every year, including North Korean cybercriminals who have a mandate to help fund the hermit kingdom. A report from the cryptocurrency tracing firm Chainalysis released this month, though, underscores just how aggressive Pyongyang-backed hackers have become. The researchers found that in 2023, hackers affiliated with North Korea stole more than $660 million across 20 attacks. This year, they stole roughly $1.34 billion across 47 incidents. The 2024 figures represent 20 percent of total incidents Chainalysis tracked for the year and a whopping 61 percent of the total funds stolen by all actors.

The sheer domination is impressive, but the researchers emphasize the seriousness of the crimes. “US and international officials have assessed that Pyongyang uses the crypto it steals to finance its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles programs, endangering international security,” Chainalysis wrote.

[amaria-the-soup]

I want a Blade X Fem!Reader where he works for some shady Chinese business (in ancient China btw we’re talking early Han dynasty) and reader’s just a girl who has been exploited and slave traded and somehow found her way there and is a dancer now and he buys her freedom and just. Ugh.

But I don’t want to write it

Anyway, I lost my entire discord account due to a hacker, hahahaahahahahahahahahahahha. Don’t click any links especially from people you don’t recognize. And btw I didn’t click the link on purpose, my hand was shaking when I opened the dm and my thumb accidentally clicked it 💀💀💀💀💀

[lotusflowerbreakingthesurface]

—𝓛𝓸𝓽𝓾𝓼𝓕𝓵𝓸𝔀𝓮𝓻'𝓼 𝓟𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓧𝓲𝓮 𝓞𝓷𝓵𝔂 𝓑𝓵𝓸𝓰—

Finally, I finish it after working for so long (*꒦ິ꒳꒦ີ). I think I might be crazy to do something like this, but honestly I'm so forgetful that I want to keep things on track and sometimes curiosity gets a hold on me (｡>﹏<). And so, here is the "Tags Page" that is slightly different from the desktop version (which is much more simple, but since there is tumblr limitation, just go there for more complete links).

Since Chinese fandom culture is different from Western fandoms, I tried to compile the tags, sorted them out and found the equivalences. It's far from perfect, but if you're interested you can take a look below the cut. Basically, it's just a compilation of tags and keywords from PingXie fandom (and maybe you will find them in other fandoms too). At any rate, I hope it can be helpful (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)

The banner/divider original pictures by 刘巴布

Note: This post will be updated occasionally, so no reblog, but I'll put it in pinned post. If there is any mistake, feel free to tell me. Thank you.

Last updated: 13/12/2024

[(x)—no tags; (#)—coming soon]

✧ 架空向 (Alternate Universe/AU) #au

✧ 原著向 (Canon Compliant) #canon compliant

╰✦ if线 (What-If Scenario/Canon Divergence) #canon divergence

╰✦ Canon Rewrite #canon rewrite

╰✦ 半架空 (Semi-AU) x

✧ 古风/仙侠 (Ancient Style/Xianxia) #ancient style/xianxia au

╰✦ 古穿今 (Ancient and Modern) #ancient and modern setting

✧ 土匪 (Bandits & Outlaws) #bandit/outlaw au

✧ 大逃杀 (Battle Royale) #battle royale au

✧ 蛋糕叉子 (Cake & Fork) #cake & fork

✧ 咖啡店 (Coffee Shops & Cafés) #coffee shop au

✧ 校园 (College/University) #college/university au

✧ 刑侦/黑道 (Criminal Investigation/Underworld/Mob/Triad) #criminal investigation/underworld au

✧ 克苏鲁/克系 (Cthulhu/Cthulhu Mythos) #cthulhu au

✧ 赛博朋克 (Cyberpunk) #cyberpunk au

✧ 电竞/网游 (E-Sports/Online Games) #esports/online games au

✧ 童话 (Fairy Tale) #fairy tale au

✧ 草原 (Grassland) #grassland au

✧ 黑客 (Hacker) #hacker au

✧ 高中 (High School) #high school au

✧ 历史/近代 (Historical/Late Modern Period) #historical setting

✧ 修仙 (Immortal Cultivation) #immortal cultivation au

✧ 星际 (Interstellar/Space) #interstellar/space au

✧ 幼儿园 (Kindergarten) #kindergarten au

✧ 黑手党 (Mafia) #mafia au

✧ 医生pa (Medical) #medical au

✧ 人鱼/鲛人 (Mermaid/Merman/Merpeople) #merpeople au

✧ 江湖 (Martial Arts) x

╰✦ 武侠 (Wuxia) #wuxia au

✧ 军旅 (Military/Army) #military au

✧ 现代 (Modern Setting) #modern au

✧ 职场 (Office/Workplace) #office/workplace

✧ 监狱 (Prison) #prison au

✧ 民国 (Republican Era/Republic of China) #republican era setting

✧ 皇族/皇室 (Royalty/Imperial) #royalty/imperial au

✧ 祭品 (Sacrifice) #sacrifice au

✧ 谍战 (Secret Agent/Spy) #secret agent/spy au

✧ 娱乐圈 (Show Business/ShowBiz/Entertainment Industry) #show business/showbiz au

✧ 灵魂伴侣 (Soulmates) #soulmates au

✧ 包养 (Sugar Baby) #sugar baby au

✧ 无限流 (Unlimited Flow/Infinite Flow) #unlimited flow

✧ 吸血鬼 (Vampire) #vampire au

✧ 狼人 (Werewolf) #werewolf au

✧ 野生动物保育 (Wildlife Conservation) #wildlife conservation au

✧ 末世丧尸 (Zombie Apocalypse) #zombie apocalypse au

╰✦ 废土 (Post-Apocalyptic/Wasteland) #wasteland au

✧ A/B/O (Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics) #a/b/o

╰✦ E/A/B/O (Enigma/Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics) #e/a/b/o

✧ 年龄差 (Age Difference) x

╰✦ 年操 (Age Changes) x

╰✦ 大瓶小邪/年上 (Older Xiaoge × Younger Wu Xie/Older Top) #older top/gong

╰✦ 小瓶大邪/年下 (Younger Xiaoge × Older Wu Xie/Younger Top) #younger top/gong

✧ 失忆 (Amnesia) #amnesia

✧ 古代 (Ancient Times) x

✧ 兽化/拟物 (Animal Characteristic/Transformation/Inanimate Objects) #animal characteristic/transformation

✧ 黑化 (Blackening/Dark Character) #blackening/dark character

✧ 相亲 (Blind Date) x

✧ 男友外套 (Boyfriend Jacket) x

✧ 不doi就出不去的房间/不做就出不去的房间 (Can't Escape the Room Unless/Trapped Together) #trapped together

✧ 竹��� (Childhood Friends) #childhood friends

╰✦ 青梅竹马 (Childhood Sweethearts) x

✧ 养成 (Cultivation/Raising Spouse/Partner) #raising spouse

✧ 解毒 (Detoxification) x

✧ 狗血 (Dog Blood/Cliche Story) x

✧ 先do后爱 (Do It First Love Later) #do it first love later

✧ 喝醉 (Drunkenness) #drunkenness

✧ 双洁 (Dual Virgins) x

✧ 敌人变爱人 (Enemy to Lover) #enemy to lover

✧ 驱魔 (Exorcism) x

✧ 初见 (First Meetings) x

✧ 初体验/初次 (First Time) #first time

✧ 论坛体/直播体 (Forum/Live Streaming/Format: Streaming) #forum style/live streaming

✧ 朋友变恋人 (Friend to Lover) x

✧ 炮友 (Friend With Benefits) #friend with benefits

✧ 团宠 (Group Pet/Everyone's Favorite) x

✧ 蛊/下蛊 (Gu/Curse/Poison/Witchcraft/Bewitched) #gu/witchcraft

✧ 花吐症 (Hanahaki Disease) #hanahaki disease

✧ 天授 (Heavenly Gift/Tianshou) #heavenly gift/tianshou

✧ 户口 (Household Registration) x

✧ 吃醋/醋 (Jealous) #jealously

✧ 一见钟情 (Love at First Sight) x

✧ 寿命 (Life Span) #life span

✧ 婚书 (Marriage Certificate) x

✧ 见家长 (Meeting the Parents) #meeting the parents

✧ 乌龙/误会 (Misunderstandings) #misunderstandings

✧ 音乐向 (Music) #music fic

✧ 双向暗恋 (Mutual Pining/Two-Way Secret Love) #mutual pining

✧ 一夜情/419 (One-Night Stand) x

✧ 前世今生 (Past and Present Life) x

✧ 早恋 (Puppy Love) x

✧ 偏执 (Paranoia) x

✧ 创伤后应激障碍 (PTSD) x

✧ 纯爱 (Pure Love) x

✧ 报复 (Revenge) x

✧ 规则怪谈 (Rules-Based Urban Ghost Story) #ghost story

✧ 墨水瓶/腹黑张起灵 (Scheming/Black-Bellied Xiaoge) #black-bellied xiaoge

✧ 暗恋 (Secret Love) #secret love

✧ 哨向/向哨 (Sentinel & Guide) #sentinel & guide

✧ 蛇毒 (Snake Venom) #snake venom

✧ 灵魂互换 (Soul Swap) x

╰✦ 互换身体 (Body Swap) #body swap

✧ 直男 (Straight Man) x

╰✦ 掰弯/直掰弯 (Straight to Gay) #straight to gay

✧ 强强/双强 (Strong & Strong Couple) #double strong

✧ 系统 (System) #system setting

✧ 藏 (Tibet) x

✧ 穿越/重生 (Time Travel/Transmigration/Rebirth/Reincarnation) #time travel/rebirth

✧ 暗恋/暗恋变明恋 (Unrequited Love/Requited Unrequited Love) x

✧ 窗户纸 (Window Paper/Pierce the Window Paper/Ambiguous to Clear Relationship) #window paper

✧ 动作与冒险 (Action/Adventure) #action/adventure

✧ 虐 (Angst) #angst

╰✦ 先虐后甜/虐但he (Angst with a Happy Ending) #angst with a happy ending

╰✦ 高虐 (Heavy Angst) #heavy angst

╰✦ 微虐/小虐 (Light Angst) #light angst

✧ 甜饼 (Fluff) #fluff

╰✦ 日常甜饼 (Domestic Fluff) #domestic fluff

╰✦ 玻璃糖/糖刀 (Thought it was a knife, but it was actually sugar/Fluff & Angst/Glass Candy) #angst but fluff

╰✦ 玻璃渣 (Thought it was sugar, but it was actually a knife/Glass Shards) #fluff but angst

✧ 奇幻/神话 (Fantasy/Mythology) #fantasy/mythology

╰✦ 幻想元素 (Fantasy Elements) #fantasy elements

╰✦ 西幻 (Western Fantasy) #western fantasy

╰✦ 奇幻 (Xuanhuan/Fantasy) x

✧ 未来/科幻 (Future/Science Fiction) #future/science fiction

✧ 恐怖/灵异 (Horror/Supernatural) #horror/supernatural

✧ 喜剧 (Humor/Comedy) #humor/comedy

✧ 伤害与安抚 (Hurt/Comfort) #hurt/comfort

✧ 浪漫 (Romance) #romance

✧ 正剧/剧情 (Serious Drama/Tragicomedy/Drama) #drama

✧ 悬疑解谜/悬疑推理/神秘 (Suspense/Mystery/Puzzle) #suspense/mystery

✧ 悲剧 (Tragedy) #tragedy

✧ 无明显感情线 (Ambiguous Relationship) #ambiguous relationship

✧ 婚前婚后 (Before & After Marriage) #marriage fic

╰✦ 包办婚姻 (Arranged Marriage) #arranged marriage

╰✦ 逼婚 (Forced Marriage) #forced marriage

╰✦ 冥婚/阴婚 (Ghost Marriage) #ghost marriage

╰✦ 先婚后爱 (Marry First Love Later) #marry first love later

✧ 兄弟/亲人 (Brothers/Family Relationships) x

╰✦ 骨科/伪骨科 (Inc*st "Real Brothers"/Pseudo-Inc*st "Pseudo-Brothers") #real brothers/pseudo brothers

╰✦ 伪父子/养父子 (Pseudo-Father and Son/Adoptive Father and Son) #pseudo father and son

✧ 建立关系 (Developing Relationship) #developing relationship

✧ 已交往设定/已确定的关系 (Established Relationship) #established relationship

✧ 假装情侣 (Fake/Pretend Relationship) #fake/pretend relationship

✧ 慢热 (Slow Burn) #slow burn

✧ 师生恋 (Teacher-Student Relationship) #teacher & student relationship

✧ BDSM/Dom & Sub/DS Play #dom/sub

╰✦ 轻度ds (Light Dom/Sub)

✧ 生子/男孕/孕期 (Childbirth/Mpreg/Pregnancy) #mpreg

✧ 下药 (Drugging) x

╰✦ 春药 (Aphrodisiacs) x

╰✦ 西班牙大苍蝇 (Spanish Fly) x

✧ 半强迫/半强制 (Dubious Consent/Dub-Con) #dubcon

✧ 强制 (Forced/Non-Con) x

✧ 强制爱 (Forced Love) x

✧ 双性转/百合 (Gender Changes {Both Xiaoge & Wu Xie}/GL) #pingxie gender changes

✧ 囚禁/囚 (Imprisonment) #imprisonment

✧ 双性邪 (Intersex Wu Xie) #intersex wu xie

✧ 发情期 (Mating Cycles/In Heat/Estrus Period) x

╰✦ 易感期 (Rut/Susceptible Period) x

╰✦ 结合热 (Bonding Heat/Combination Heat in Sentinel & Guide AU) x

✧ 墓室play (Tomb Play) #tomb play

✧ 女装 (Women's Clothing) x

✧ 阿坤/坤狗文学 (Ah Kun/KunGou "Dog" aka Ah Kun/Wu Xie) #zhang qiling (ah kun)

╰✦ 坤根 (KunGen aka Ah Kun/Guan Gen "Sand Sea Wu Xie")

Note: There is a slight different between "KunGou" and "KunGen". The first refers to the pairing of Zhang Qiling when he was known as "Ah Kun" × "Gou" or Wu XiaoGou "吴小狗" (Wu Puppy) which is one of Wu Xie's nicknames in all states he was in, especially when Zhang Qiling is around. And the latter refers to the pairing of Zhang Qiling when he was known as "Ah Kun" × "Guan Gen" (关根) which is also Wu Xie's false name in Sand Sea, it indicates Wu Xie in the specific period of Sand Sea, where Zhang Qiling is not around.

✧ 张秃 (Bald Zhang) #zhang qiling (prof. zhang/bald zhang)

✧ 张家 (Zhang Family) #zhang family appearance

✧ 反苏文 (Anti-Mary Sue/Villain-Homewrecker OC/Anti-Dream Girl) x

✧ 掉马甲/马甲暴露 (Dropping the Vest/Identity Reveal) #identity reveal

✧ 小妈文学 (Falling in Love With the Stepmother) x

✧ 公路文学 (Falling in Love on the Road) #falling in love on the road

✧ 破镜重圆 (Getting Back Together/Reconciliation/[idiom] A Shattered Mirror Put Back Together) #getting back together

✧ 缺德文学 (Immoral/Unethical) x

✧ 一吴所知 (Oblivious Wu Xie; a pun of idiom “一无所知” [not knowing anything at all]) #what wu xie knows

Note: It's related to Wu Xie's nickname "杭州木头"

✧ 带球跑 (Running Away With the Ball/Running Away With the Baby) #running away with the baby

✧ 偷狗文学 (Stealing the "Dog"/Zhang Qiling Takes Away Wu Xie From the Wu Family) x

✧ 追妻火葬场/追妻文学 (Wife-Chasing Crematorium/Suffered a Lot to Win Someone Back After Dumping Them) #wife chasing crematorium

✧ 授權翻譯 (Authorized Translation) #authorized translation

✧ BE (Bad Ending) #bad ending

✧ 角色研究 (Character Study) x

✧ 清水 (Clear Water/No Smut) x

✧ 联文 (Collaboration Fic) #collaboration fic

✧ 沙雕 (Crack Fic) #crack fic

✧ 双视角 (Dual POV) #dual pov

✧ 双时间线 (Dual Timeline) #dual timeline

✧ Fanfic Series #fanfic series

✧ Major Character Death x

✧ Medium Fic {6-20 Chapters} #medium fic

✧ 缺失片段 (Missing Scene) #missing scene

✧ Multichapter/长篇文 (Long Fic) {≥ 20 Chapters} #multichapter/long fic

✧ One-shot #oneshot

✧ 连载 (On-Going/Unfinished) #on going/unfinished

✧ Open Ending x

✧ Outsider POV #outsider pov

✧ PWP #pwp

✧ 虐文 (Sadistic/Abuse/Cruel Fic) x

✧ Sequel Fic x

✧ 短篇文 (Short Fic) {2-5 Chapters} #short fic

✧ 甜文 (Sweet Fic) #sweet fic

✧ 临时角色死亡 (Temporary Character Death) x

✧ 双结局 (Two Endings) x

✧ 张起灵视角/哥视角 (Xiaoge POV) #zhang qiling/xiaoge pov

______๑♡⁠๑______

[furyblaze76tm]

🪐QTNaturäL ®©™

TM @instagram @waynestate @dukeuniv @greenpartyoftheunitedstates-blog @greenpeaceusa @reddit-tales @twitterstatus @twitterthecomic @youtube @blueskydrops

🚺#ERANow

The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is the duly ratified 28th Constitutional Amendment that guarantees equal rights to all people, regardless of sex.

In 2020, the ERA satisfied all the requirements to be ratified but was wrongfully blocked by Trump's administration.

@era @womenartistszine @woman

🪐🗿 Ancient Perstory ®️

TM @ancientart @ancientsstudies

🇧🇸 🏢 Bahamas: Trump🤨

@bahama

Overview of the FBI Warning

@fbi-agent-assigned-to-you @fbi-basement-buddies @fbi-swiftunit

The FBI has recently issued a **serious warning** regarding a significant cyberattack affecting major telecommunications companies in the United States, including AT&T and Verizon. This incident is being described as one of the largest intelligence compromises in U.S. history, prompting officials to advise against sending standard text messages.

Recommended Action: Use Encrypted Messaging

To protect personal data and communications, U.S. officials are urging citizens to switch to **encrypted messaging apps**. These apps, such as WhatsApp and Signal, provide end-to-end encryption, which helps ensure that messages remain private and secure from potential foreign hackers. The FBI's recommendation comes in light of the ongoing threat posed by cybercriminals, particularly those linked to foreign governments, such as China.

In summary, during this critical time of heightened cyber threats, it is essential for individuals to prioritize their communication security by utilizing encrypted messaging services. This step is crucial in safeguarding sensitive information from unauthorized access and potential breaches.

[lunarsilkscreen]

On Terrorists Cells

So I talked before how there's Trolls in the hacker community trying to sow Discord among nations (Not the App).

And this is important for the idea we have in America about decentralized terrorist cells.

This comes from our understanding of Gang-warfare. We may have also used similar tactics to throw decades worth of tea into the harbor called "Guerrilla-Tactics".

Yup, that concept is taught to us in elementary school. We know our historic warfare tactics better than our times-tables.

And the evidence we've had to go on at the time identified similar ideologies, speech patterns, and gang tactics that we're used to.

What this has resulted in in the "real-world". Is a conflation with unaffiliated cells, civil unrest, and multiple separate groups identified as parts of the same terrorist organization.

In corporate terms, we'd call this "A Conglomerate."

And it's led to mass recognition of Hamas, Al-Queda, ISIS, ISIL, the Iraq and Iranian militaries, and many more as parts of this same groups.

There were so many potential Paramilitaries that we had trouble seeing the forest for the trees.

With so many different governments for the various areas; our citizens had trouble telling the actual scale of the various conflicts.

Tiny; like football teams and city mayors going to war with each other.

Not the same as a conflict between, say, Ukraine and Russia. Which is closer to what we might call a civil war.

With all the history and all our perceptions; Russia is definitely a seemingly purposeful Bully. So we must consider exactly what this conflict is really about. If it's simply territory; the easiest solution is form conglomerations.

Which is where we as outsiders must make certain we don't make petty escalations the problem of neighboring Territories. "Neighbor Hoods" or "Towns" or "Cities".

And in the case of Migrant Tribes.... Like the Romani; we have to take care we don't tip the scale with our big elephant foot to someone else's Stag Beetle.

In America we caused attrocities to our own Migrant Tribes; what we refer to as "Native Americans" only because they were here before the white people.

If you're really having trouble on such a small scale; you can't stand a chance against our very large scales.

And this can apply to a lot of what America does; warfare can decimate local militia. Aid can destroy local businesses and disrupt small economies, which are inextricably linked to our global economy.

We've become masters of Guerrilla-Tactics from both sides. *We* should know better.

But we became fearful of our enemies; Germany, China, Russia, Mexico, tiny little ol Cuba.

When people were persecuted we found somebody in charge of the whole thing to arm so they could "Take care of themselves".

This brings me to Israel.

Knowing whatever I've told you already + your misconceptions, stereotypes, any added information.

What do you think of the situation?

Israel is the only tiny little places in the world with as much authority as a Nation like China or the U.S. despite still being in that "Mayor" mindset.

How can we expect such a small place to defend itself against the entire world?

It's just that tiny.

Our attention gave them authority over the other people around them; and other similar sized leaders; like Mayors. Became enemies.

Israel is a single State and not as United as our States are.

They need to understand that they are now responsible for the lives of all the people around them; especially ones outside their borders. The same kind of responsibility only we have known for quite some time.

No offense China. Our Unity is quite different from yours.

As Scary as it may seem; Israel has been chosen to lead a unification process, but abused it in fear for their own sovereignty.

Well, we can't go back on word now. But we must remember; they can be bullies to the Jews outside their borders, just like we can be to Mexico and Canada....and the whole world really.

Just because the Sun rises in Israel, doesn't mean it should set over Palestine.

And so we must be sensitive to what damages even our "Friendly Gestures" might cause.

So the question to Israel; is this *really* an "Us or Them" situation? Or are you exiling Jews as you've done before?

Strength is in uniting with your neighbors in beneficial ways for all.

But fear gets the best of us.

Fear for our God given Lives. If life is a gift, and we should be thankful for it. It's not in service to a single man.

Better understanding of your own local laws, even from "outsiders" is key.

But here's the thing that all men can understand;

Most laws can be boiled down into one Law; "Don't be a [big meanie]".

If you want to split them into ten; following the commandments might as well be good enough for any place in the world.

If you're not Religious you can replace [no God's before me] and [not to worship idols]

With [separation of church and state] (don't bring up religion because then they'll counter with theirs)

And [Celebrities are not the Law]. Politicians, people, whatever.

And "Stick to those rules before being told anything else is allowed."

You know; entrapment and all that.

Because; which laws aren't covered here? By these ten, even if you ignore the God part.

Just Remember; Taylor Swift fans comprise twice the population of Israel. That's the kind of difference in scale we need to take into account.

[newstfionline]

Monday, October 7, 2024

Still Searching for Their Loved Ones, a Week After Hurricane Helene (NYT) The last time Drew McLean’s parents saw him, he was marveling at the power of Tropical Storm Helene as it washed over their home in the mountains of North Carolina. He and his mother found that a large tree had split in the front yard and another had been pushed by surging water into Mr. McLean’s car, tipping it on its side. Amid the chaos, Mr. McLean, 45, offered his mother a comforting thought: “God is still on his throne,” he said. Mr. McLean has been missing for a week now, ever since he apparently walked off into the storm last Friday. Sitting on the back porch of their secluded home in the hills of Black Mountain on Thursday, his parents were holding out hope that he would be found, even as they wiped tears from their eyes and increasingly feared the worst. The McLeans are in a fraught and fragile state shared by many across western North Carolina and other regions crushed by Hurricane Helene. The vastness of the devastation, coupled with a lack of phone and internet service after the storm, has left families unsure of what happened to their loved ones. The storm’s death toll has climbed past 225, but many people remain unaccounted for and searching for them is complicated. Their families are desperate for answers.

U.S. Wiretap Systems Targeted in China-Linked Hack (WSJ) A cyberattack tied to the Chinese government penetrated the networks of a swath of U.S. broadband providers, potentially accessing information from systems the federal government uses for court-authorized network wiretapping requests. For months or longer, the hackers might have held access to network infrastructure used to cooperate with lawful U.S. requests for communications data, according to people familiar with the matter, which amounts to a major national security risk.

Brazil drought sinks Amazon rainforest port river level to 122-year low (Reuters) The river port in the Amazon rainforest’s largest city of Manaus on Friday hit its lowest level since 1902, as a drought drains waterways and snarls transport of grain exports and essential supplies that are the region’s lifeline. Below-average rainfall—even through the rainy season—has plagued the Amazon and much of South America since last year, also feeding the worst wildfires in more than a decade in Brazil and Bolivia. Scientists predict the Amazon region may not fully recover moisture levels until 2026. Last year, the drought became a humanitarian crisis, as people reliant on rivers were stranded without food, water or medicine. This year authorities are already on alert. In hard-hit Amazonas state, at least 62 municipalities are under states of emergency with more than half a million people affected, according to the state’s civil defense corps.

Is Europe Becoming Ungovernable? (WSJ) At a recent debate, a German voter had some pointed criticism for Chancellor Olaf Scholz: The German government is unable to govern and its ministers are bickering like children. Instead of pushing back, Scholz conceded the point. “The truth is: You are right,” he said. “But what would be your solution? I mean, I’m asking for a friend.” The exchange triggered little controversy in Europe’s largest economy, once considered a paragon of good governance. It is now all but taken for granted that politicians can agree on little here, and implement even less. France, which for decades has been the engine of the European Union along with Germany, has found itself in a similar state of political paralysis after elections in June left Parliament divided between a multitude of parties. Political fragmentation and polarization have tied the hands of political leaders, who can govern only in unwieldy coalitions between left- and right-leaning parties. Governments have struggled to find common ground on even basic issues, much less some of their most acute problems, such as handling growing numbers of immigrants, the war in Ukraine and stagnant economies. As a result, the EU and its governments have been failing to fulfill their commitments to voters and risk falling further behind competitors such as the U.S. and China.

Macron urges countries to ‘stop delivering weapons’ to Israel for war in Gaza (Washington Post) French President Emmanuel Macron urged countries to stop providing weapons to Israel for its war in the Gaza Strip and expressed concern that the civilians of Lebanon could face a similar fate as those in Gaza. “The priority is that we return to a political solution, that we stop delivering weapons to carry out fighting in Gaza,” Macron said in an interview with France Inter, a public radio station, that aired Saturday. France itself, Macron said, was not delivering any weapons. Macron’s call comes amid mounting public scrutiny of the high death toll in Gaza and the widening regional conflict to Lebanon. At a summit for francophone leaders in Paris on Saturday, Macron appeared to take a jab at the United States, by far Israel’s largest supplier of weapons: “If we call for a cease-fire, consistency is to not provide weapons of war,” he said. “And I think that those who provide them cannot every day call for a cease-fire alongside us and continue to supply them.”

Russia retrains ex-soldiers heading back to the battlefield (Reuters) Nearly 20 years after he last served in Russia’s army, “Mara” is back in uniform. The bearded ex-driver and foundry worker, who identified himself only by his call sign, signed up with the army on Monday. By Friday, he was going through his paces at a training ground in Russia’s southern Rostov region, practising firing from an automatic rifle and simulating the storming of a building. Two and a half years into its war with Ukraine, Russia is offering one-off bonuses of up to 1.9 million roubles ($20,000)—22 times the average monthly wage—to men prepared to sign volunteer contracts as professional soldiers. Being able to attract people like Mara is crucial to Moscow’s ability to replenish its forces and avoid resorting to another round of compulsory mobilisation. The drafting of 300,000 reserves in October 2022 proved hugely unpopular and prompted hundreds of thousands of people to flee the country.

International rescue teams arrive in Bosnia after devastating floods and landslides (AP) Rescue teams from Bosnia’s neighbors and European Union countries on Sunday were joining efforts to clear the rubble and find people still missing from floods and landslides that devastated parts of the Balkan country. Bosnia sought EU help after a heavy rainstorm overnight on Friday left entire areas under water and debris destroyed roads and bridges, killing at least 18 people and wounding dozens. Officials said that at least 10 people are still unaccounted for.

Ukraine in security limbo (Washington Post) More than a week after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky presented his “victory plan” for how to end the war with Russia to top U.S. officials, details of the strategy and how it was received remain hazy. The trip, which was viewed as a key opportunity by Ukrainian officials for Zelensky to sell the United States on how to support Ukraine going forward, failed to resonate in Washington. Biden held his stance on prohibiting U.S.-provided longer-range missiles to strike inside Russia and Zelensky found himself caught in a political crossfire as influential Republicans largely criticized or snubbed him. Zelensky’s U.S. swing reinforced the sort of unsettling limbo Ukraine now finds itself in going forward—reliant on the United States as its main ally to arm it against Russia yet unsure how long that support will continue as attention on the war fades in its third year and with the new escalation in the Middle East.

‘My dreams are about bombs’ (NYT) The Israeli airstrikes are worst at night. By day, residents walk the city with haggard faces, trying their best to fight fatigue and calm their nerves. Empty cigarette packets pile up in handbags and in the footwells of cars. Anti-anxiety medication is shared among friends. “When will this end?” the 7-year-old daughter of Farah Choucair, an economist who spent 14 years working for the United Nations, asked her mother last week. For the child, the pounding Israeli strikes are a flashback to the deadly Beirut port blast, which ripped through the Lebanese capital just over four years ago and destroyed entire neighborhoods. Ms. Choucair, who now works for a media technology company, said it took years of psychological support for her to process the trauma, but her daughter never did. For many in Beirut, the continuing conflict is just one in a long line of human catastrophes. The city’s bullet-ridden apartment buildings serve as a daily reminder of Lebanon’s bloody 15-year civil war, which ended in 1990. A crippling economic collapse that struck decades later has left much of the country in poverty, and residents are still grappling with chronic power cuts even as the capital is bombarded. Many residents say they loathe the stereotype that the Lebanese are resilient. “I wish sometimes that we could just sit and cry our eyes out and not know what to do, but we always know what to do—what to pack, what we need,” said Ms. Choucair. “It has nothing to do with resilience or any positive trait. It’s a natural survival mode that we have been trained to automate.” She added: “This is how it is living in Beirut. It will never change. I am 41. It has been like this for as long as I remember.” “All my dreams are about bombs,” said Heba Jundi, 36, who was staying at a friend’s house in the mountains above Beirut with her cat, Benji.

Health workers in Lebanon describe deadly Israeli attacks on colleagues and fear more (AP) Israel’s military struck outside the gates of a hospital in southern Lebanon without warning on Friday, killing seven paramedics and forcing the facility to close, the hospital director told The Associated Press a day after one of the most deadly attacks on health workers in the weeks since fighting escalated between Israel and Hezbollah. The account of the Friday airstrikes that flung hospital doors off their hinges and shattered glass was the latest to detail attacks that Lebanon’s health ministry says have killed dozens of health workers. Marjayoun hospital director Mounes Kalakesh said that even before Friday’s attack, ambulance crews in the area were so reluctant to operate that the facility had not received anyone wounded for days. Friday’s attack came hours before Israel’s Arabic-language military spokesman accused the Hezbollah militant group, based in southern Lebanon, of using ambulances to transport weapons and fighters, and warned medical teams to stay clear of the group. The spokesman provided no evidence.

A year of fleeing across Gaza (AP) Ne’man Abu Jarad sat on a tarp on the ground. Around him, canvas sheets hung from cords, forming the walls of his tent. For the past year, Ne’man; his wife, Majida; and their six daughters have trekked the length of the Gaza Strip, trying to survive as Israeli forces wreaked destruction around them. It’s a far cry from their house in northern Gaza—a place of comforting routine, of love, affection and safety. A place where loved ones gathered around the kitchen table or on the roof on summer evenings amid the scent of roses and jasmine flowers. The Abu Jarad family lost that stability when Israel launched its campaign in Gaza in retaliation for Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. They did exactly as the Israelis ordered in the devastating weeks and months of war that followed. They obeyed evacuation calls. They moved where the military told them to move. Seven times they fled, and each time, their lives became more unrecognizable to them, crowding with strangers in a school classroom, searching for water in a vast tent camp or sleeping on the street. Israel’s campaign has displaced nearly the entire population of Gaza—1.9 million of its 2.3 million Palestinians—and killed more than 41,600 people. Like the Abu Jarads, most families have been uprooted multiple times. For this family, the journey has taken them from a comfortable middle-class life to ruin.

[cyber-sec]

China-linked Hackers Deploy New 'UNAPIMON' Malware for Stealthy Operations

Source: https://thehackernews.com/2024/04/china-linked-hackers-deploy-new.html

More info: https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/research/24/d/earth-freybug.html

[ari0921]

「宮崎正弘の国際情勢解題」　

　　　　令和五年（２０２３）７月２２日（土曜日）

　　　　　　　　通巻第７８３３号　

　米国務省高官のメールが中国にハッキングされていた

　　手の内を先に読まれた可能性がある

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

ウォールストリートジャーナル（２０２３年７月２１日、電子版）は、「中国とみられるハッカー（『ストーム０５５８』等）が、ニコラス・バーンズ駐中国米国大使の電子メールを攻撃し、数十万件の米国政府の機密メールが侵害された」と報じた。

　国務省の東アジア担当次官補ダニエル・クリテンブリンクのアカウントもハッキングされていた。中国のハッキングが、「バーンズ氏とクリテンブリンク氏の受信箱から、バイデン政権高官らの最近の一連の中国訪問計画に関する分析、デリケートな外交を展開中に米国の政策に関する内部会話を収集することができた可能性がある」とした。

　クリテンブリンク次官補は五月のブリンケン氏の中国訪問に同行した。このクリテンブリンク次官補、バーンズ註北京大使、ブリンケン長官は中国高官や習近平主席との会談に出席した。　

　ハッキングの手口はマイクロソフトのクラウド・コンピューティングの欠陥を利用して行われたらしく、マイクロソフトは侵害の詳細を発表せず、「調査を継続している」とだけ述べるにとどめている。

　他方、中国の国家公安部は２１日に記者会見を開き、過去百日間のフェイク情報排撃などのキャンペーン期間中に、７０５０００件の不正情報、偽造情報などをネットから削除し、２１０００のアカウントを閉鎖した、とした。

　

とくに２３００の悪質なフェイク情報がネットで拡散されたため、削除するなど迅速は対応ぶりを強調した。

　ところでジェイムズ・キャメロンといえば映画「ターミネーター」、「アバター」「エイリアン」「タイタニック」の脚本兼監督として著名だが、画家でもある。そのキャメロンが２３年７月２０日の「ＣＴＶニュース」のインタビューに答えて、「ＡＩが武器となれば、最悪の事態がおこる」とし、「１９８４年に製作した映画「ターミネーター」で予測した恐怖だ」と発言した。

[trekkiesagainstchastity]

Article was loginwalled and no one has time for that:

Heritage Foundation Exec Threatens ‘Gay Furry Hackers’ in Unhinged Texts

A newly released log of messages shows a director at the think tank spewing insults after a data breach

July 10, 2024

BERLIN, GERMANY - AUGUST 21: Furry enthusiasts attend the Eurofurence 2015 conference on August 21, 2015 in Berlin, Germany. Furry fandom, a term used in zines as early as 1983 and also known as furrydom, furridom, fur fandom or furdom, refers to a subculture whose followers express an interest in anthropomorphic, or half-human, half-animal, creatures in literature, cartoons, pop culture, or other artistic contexts. Many but not all of the followers of the movement wear furry animal costumes. The earliest citation of anthropomorphic literature regularly cited by furry fans is Aesop's Fables, dating to around 500 BC. (Photo by Adam Berry/Getty Images)

Furry enthusiasts attend a Eurofurence 2015 conference. Getty Images

Self-described “gay furry hackers” on July 2 breached archival data from a site that was operated by the Heritage Foundation until recently, and on Tuesday released two gigabytes of internal data originally collected by the conservative think tank. Now an executive director at the influential organization is so hopping mad that he might as well invest in a kangaroo costume.

The hacktivist collective, SiegedSec, has been engaged in a campaign called “OpTransRights,” in which it targets government websites with the aim of disrupting efforts to enact or enforce anti-trans and anti-abortion laws. Heritage Foundation was selected due to its Project 2025 plans, seen as a blueprint for Donald Trump to reshape the U.S. with sweeping far-right reforms should he win another term as president, SiegedSec told CyberScoop on Tuesday. Group member “vio” informed the outlet that they aimed to provide “transparency to the public regarding who exactly is supporting” Heritage, and that the leaked data included “full names, email addresses, passwords, and usernames” of individuals linked to the nonprofit.

This material, as the Daily Dot reported and as the Heritage Foundation now confirms, came from the Daily Signal, Heritage’s media and commentary site, which lists one Mike Howell as an investigative columnist. The former Trump administration official in the Department of Homeland Security is also the executive director of Heritage’s Oversight Project, an initiative focused on border security, elections, and countering the “influence” of the Communist Party of China. It was Howell who contacted SiegedSec in the wake of the breach to get answers about their motivations — and as he continued to message “vio,” his texts grew more unhinged and threatening.

After declining to talk with Howell by phone, vio described what it was that they and their hacker furry comrades sought to accomplish: “[W]e want to make a message and shine light on who exactly supports the [H]eritage foundation,” they wrote. “[W]e [don’t] want anything more than that, not money and not fame. [W]e’re strongly against Project 2025 and everything the [H]eritage foundation stands for.” Howell seemed stunned by the explanation. “That’s why you hacked us?” he replied. “Just for that?” (Once the full chat log was released by SiegedSec, Howell confirmed to the Daily Dot that it was genuine, and that the conversation had taken place on Wednesday.)

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From there, Howell’s tone shifted. “We are in the process of identifying and outing [sic] members of your group,” he wrote. “Reputations and lives will be destroyed. Closeted Furries will be presented to the world for the degenerate perverts they are.” As vio expressed skepticism that anyone in SiegedSec would be identified and continued to criticize the Heritage agenda as harmful to human rights, Howell invoked Biblical authority and seethed that the hackers had “turned against nature.”

“God created nature, and nature’s laws are vicious. It is why you have to put on a perverted animal costume to satisfy your sexual deviances,” Howell wrote. “Are you aware that you won’t be able to wear a furry tiger costume when you’re getting pounded in the ass in the federal prison I put you in next year?” When vio taunted the executive for this outburst and hinted that they would be posting the conversation online, Howell replied, “Please share widely. I hope the word spreads as fast as the STDs do in your degenerate furry community.”

He went on to liken furry culture to bestiality, which he called a “sin,” prompting vio to ask him, “whats ur opinion on vore.” (Vorarephilia, or vore, is a fetish typically expressed in erotic art of people or creatures eating one another.) A Twitter user shared a screenshot of this exchange Wednesday afternoon, leading Howell to quote-tweet the post with lyrics from rapper Eminem‘s 2000 single “The Way I Am.”

And I am whatever you say I am

If I wasn't, then why would I say I am?

In the paper, the news, every day I am

Ha, radio won't even play my jam

'Cause I am whatever you say I am

If I wasn't, then why would I say I am?

In the paper, the news, every day I am

Ha, I don't know, that's… https://t.co/jz7dOd4UcM

— Mike Howell (@MHowellTweets) July 10, 2024

Hours later, Howell learned through the Daily Dot‘s reporting that vio had decided to try to quit their life of cybercrime, and that the rest of the collective agreed it was “time to let SiegedSec rest for good,” in part to avoid FBI attention. “COMPLETE AND TOTAL VICTORY,” Howell tweeted. “I have forced the Gay Furry Hackers to DISBAND.”

Related

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But it remains to be seen whether these hackers — who last year managed to breach NATO systems as well as a major U.S. nuclear lab that they demanded begin research on “creating IRL catgirls” — will truly disappear into the shadows. Like an empowering fursona, hacking can be an identity that’s hard to give up. Before he congratulates himself any more, Howell might want to at least change his passwords.

Update July 11, 3:50 p.m.: After publication, the Heritage Foundation sent Rolling Stone a statement clarifying that the site was not operated by the think tank, and disputing that they were hacked. The story has been updated to reflect this, and the full statement can be found below:

“The Heritage Foundation was not hacked. An organized group stumbled upon a two-year-old archive of The Daily Signal website that was available on a public-facing website owned by a contractor. The information obtained was limited to usernames, names, email addresses, and incomplete password information of both Heritage and non-Heritage content contributors, as well as article comments and the IP address of the commenter. No Heritage systems were breached at any time, and all Heritage databases and websites remain secure, including Project 2025. The data at issue has been taken down, and additional security steps have since been taken as a precaution. The story of a ‘hack’ is a false narrative and exaggeration by a group of criminal trolls trying to get attention.”

[mariacallous]

As November’s U.S. presidential election draws closer and the campaigns of former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris kick into high gear, so have efforts by hackers from Washington’s adversaries aimed at disrupting or influencing the vote. One adversary in particular is playing an increasingly prominent role: Iran.

Iranian state actors have stepped up their efforts to interfere in this year’s election through online disinformation and influence operations as well as cyberattacks on both presidential campaigns, three U.S. agencies—the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)—warned in a joint statement on Monday.

They’re not the only ones sounding the alarm. In the past three weeks alone, current and former intelligence officials as well as cyber threat researchers from Microsoft and Google have shared a growing body of evidence of Iran’s hacking efforts. As several of them have pointed out, Iran’s targeting of U.S. elections isn’t new—hackers linked to Iranian security services have attempted to interfere with presidential and midterm races dating back to at least 2018.

However, “Iran perceives this year’s elections to be particularly consequential in terms of the impact they could have on its national security interests, increasing Tehran’s inclination to try to shape the outcome,” the U.S. agencies wrote in their statement. “We have observed increasingly aggressive Iranian activity during this election cycle.”

Trump and his acolytes have been particular targets of Iranian hacking, with some former intelligence officials speculating to Politico that efforts to compromise their email accounts could be part of an effort to assassinate U.S. officials in retaliation for the 2020 killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Suleimani during Trump’s presidency.

In their statement on Monday, the FBI, ODNI, and CISA officially blamed Iran for the so-called hack-and-leak operation against Trump’s campaign that the campaign made public earlier this month. Those tactics, mirroring Russia’s breach of the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 election, are only one part of Iran’s election interference efforts along with broader disinformation campaigns aimed at sowing discord among the American electorate.

“Iran, especially because of the past events with Suleimani, they have a marked interest in this election,” said retired U.S. Army Col. Candice Frost, the former commander of the Joint Intelligence Operations Center at U.S. Cyber Command. “They have attempted to message on past elections,” she said, but “I think this one is almost personal to them.”

Iran’s relatively elevated profile and more brazen cyber efforts may also be spurred by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East between U.S. ally Israel and Iranian proxies Hamas and Hezbollah, Mohammed Soliman, director of the strategic technologies and cybersecurity program at the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C., told Foreign Policy. “I think the timelines have collided [between] regional confrontation with Israel and the U.S. elections,” he said. “This made them more proactive in attacking high-value targets that have brought massive visibility to their work.”

Iran is not the only adversary officials in Washington are concerned with—election interference efforts by Russia have been extensively documented, and U.S. officials have increasingly warned about China’s shift in cyber tactics from espionage to more disinformation and disruptive campaigns. Those two countries remain the prime threats, in large part because their capabilities are relatively more sophisticated.

“Russia and China are really a league of their own,” said Frost, currently an assistant professor at Georgetown University’s Center for Security Studies. “We oftentimes discount Iran and North Korea, and then you’ll have something like the Sony hack or this hack [of the Trump campaign]. So it’s not necessarily the level of advancement or competency that they have, but the fact that they kind of found a vulnerability and have been able to exploit that.”

“Any nation that has an interest or perceived stakes in the outcome of a U.S. presidential election is going to be thinking about how to influence that outcome,” said Gavin Wilde, a senior fellow in the technology and international affairs program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a former U.S. national security official. “It’s easy to point to Russia and China as the most adversarial and the most sophisticated, but every nation around the world has some perceived interest in the outcome, and so I think we need to calibrate along those lines.”

Officials and experts say the U.S. government has learned from the missteps of previous elections, particularly 2016, and is better prepared to defend this November’s election from cyber threats than it has ever been. Part of that is the shift to publicly calling out adversaries and their activities much earlier in the process and adopting a form of sunlight-as-best-disinfectant strategy, like the ODNI, FBI, and CISA did this week with Iran.

“It’s very hard to counter that narrative once it gets into the American psyche and our citizens’ spheres of influence,” Frost said. “But I do see the focus and calling out [of] this behavior. … That is what we’re seeing at a much faster pace, and I give the current intel community a lot of props for doing that early.”

But Wilde warned that while U.S. officials are “unquestionably” more prepared this time around, they also now need to be careful about showing their work without inciting panic about elections being compromised. “The tightrope they now have to walk is [being] helpful without creating the very kind of panic that might itself undermine confidence in the election,” he said, adding that it’s also important to draw distinctions among hack-and-leak operations that have become “a new normal” for political campaigns, election influence efforts that can sometimes be hard to legally define, and actual efforts to interfere with the ballot box itself.

“I think the most consistent thing from all of them is how much it’s been a lot of just entrepreneurialism and experimental spaghetti-against-the-wall tactics to kind of just see what works,” Wilde said. “The U.S. and everyone has to be careful not to inadvertently incentivize this activity by making too big a deal out of it, and luckily I think we’ve done a lot better this go-round than we did in 2016.”

[ericvanderburg]

China-linked hackers target Japan’s national security and high-tech industries

http://securitytc.com/THG36p