Security News Bites for March 7, 2025
Prez Eases Attacks On Moscow to Cozy Up to Putin
As the president tries to get Putin to the negotiating table by continuing to make concessions to him, the Pentagon has told the NSA to stop offensive cyberattacks against Russia. This is the exact opposite of what he said he would do during the campaign. Could be short term; could be longer, but it likely all depends on Moscow’s response. If Putin doesn’t respond, he could just as easily go postal on him. Credit: Data Breach Today
North Korea is Efficiently Washing the $1.4 Billion in Crypto it Stole
Crypto chain watchers are trying to track the $1.4 billion in cryptocurrency stolen from Bybit. This process has enabled Bybit to recover about $4 million of that loot. The hackers are splitting, moving, tumbling and obscuring the funds. At some point, it turns into cash or gold. It is a cat and mouse game between the hackers and the watchers. Some people say that all of it has been washed already. Credit: Tech Crunch
After UK Backdoor to Apple Request, it Removed Encryption Guidance
After recent cyberattacks, the UK government started recommended iPhone users to use end to end encryption. Then the UK government demanded Apple provide them a backdoor to the encryption. Instead, Apple removed the encryption option for all UK users. A subtle way of telling users that their backups are no longer safe. Now the UK’s National Cyber Security Center has removed all traces of the former recommendation to use encryption. For iPhone users, that means beware of your privacy. If Apple does give them a backdoor, they will have access to everyone’s iCloud data worldwide. In the meantime, the UK government has full access to all UK users’ cloud backups. Credit: Tech Crunch
Feds Seize $23 Million in Crypto Linked to $150 Million Ripple Crypto Wallet Breach
US authorities have seized over $23 million in a variety of cryptocurrencies linked to the $150 million Ripple wallet breach from the LastPass compromise in 2022. A forfeiture motion unsealed yesterday says the Secret Service is convinced this came from the LastPass breach. This reinforces two facts. One, crypto is about as un-private as possible and two, crypto is very definitely traceable. Anyone who thinks crypto is anonymous is uninformed. But here is the real question. In light of the president’s EO creating a crypto reserve, does the DoJ plan to keep this money that they recovered or give it back to the victims? If I was one of the victims I know which option I would ask for. Credit: Bleeping Computer
Developer Sabotaged Ex-Employer’s Systems With Kill Switch
Okay, not very smart. A developer was demoted, both in terms of responsibilities and server access. So he created two programs. One Java program ran in an infinite loop creating more processes until the servers running it crashed. The other inserted some code that looked to see if his userid was still active and if not, it locked all users out of the network. But he didn’t do a very good job of hiding his tracks and is facing as much as 10 years in the clink. Credit: The Register
by 