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FBI Says a Mysterious Hacking Group Has Had Access to US Govt Files for Years (vice.com)

Posted by msmash on from the strange-confessions dept.

Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai, reporting for Motherboard: The feds warned that "a group of malicious cyber actors," whom security experts believe to be the government-sponsored hacking group known as APT6, "have compromised and stolen sensitive information from various government and commercial networks" since at least 2011, according to an FBI alert obtained by Motherboard. The alert, which is also available online, shows that foreign government hackers are still successfully hacking and stealing data from US government's servers, their activities going unnoticed for years. [...] In the alert, the FBI lists a long series of websites used as command and control servers to launch phishing attacks "in furtherance of computer network exploitation (CNE) activities [read: hacking] in the United States and abroad since at least 2011."

15 of 101 comments (clear)

  1. Mysterious? Really? by Kinthelt · · Score: 3, Funny

    Can't figure out wHo would want to have InterNal file Access.

    --

    "Evil will always triumph over good, because good is dumb." - Dark Helmet (Spaceballs)

  2. Re:If the FrostyBI are complaining... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    I really wish you'd said "If the FrostyBI are pissed..." because it would have been such a lovely First Post pun.

  3. Dear FBI... by Lumpy · · Score: 2

    Government systems.... built and secured by the lowest bidder....

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  4. First person to post by scorp1us · · Score: 2

    The contents of the San Bernardino iPhone wins, and proves Apple's point.

    --
    Slashdot's rate-of-post filter: Preventing you from posting too many great ideas at once.
  5. Re:This is why... by Thanshin · · Score: 2

    Well. They could just leave secret documents in the servers, addressed to the mysterious hackers:

    "Dear Mysterious Hackers,

    We're pretty sure you must be reading this, so, would you please download phone 555-45-33's records and send them to us, please?

    Pretty please?

    Federally yours,
    The FB of A
    "

  6. But why worry? by GeekWithAKnife · · Score: 2


    Ever heard an iteration of this BS before? "Why not let your government collect data on you? you have nothing to hide."

    I mean besides targeted ads, invasion of privacy, online profiling that will affect the prices of products and search results, being subjected to voyeurism by bored government agencies, attracting whatever weirdo or teen hacker that managed to somehow get the data, perhaps elongating the queue at the airport when you're "randomly" asked about that "funny" prank in college, or the widely used change of your insurance quote because some stupid filter found a word associated with higher risk somewhere in a database that has info about you...but let's get back on point:

    Why would I trust the government with my data when they cannot secure their own data? -Why should I still bend over and just accept their blatant and useless corrosion of individual privacy and freedom in lieu of their incompetence and carelessness?

    --
    A 'singular oddity' is an event that cannot be explained and only happens when you are alone.
    1. Re:But why worry? by burtosis · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Ever heard an iteration of this BS before? "Why not let your government collect data on you? you have nothing to hide." I mean besides targeted ads, invasion of privacy, online profiling that will affect the prices of products and search results, being subjected to voyeurism by bored government agencies, attracting whatever weirdo or teen hacker that managed to somehow get the data, perhaps elongating the queue at the airport when you're "randomly" asked about that "funny" prank in college, or the widely used change of your insurance quote because some stupid filter found a word associated with higher risk somewhere in a database that has info about you...but let's get back on point: Why would I trust the government with my data when they cannot secure their own data? -Why should I still bend over and just accept their blatant and useless corrosion of individual privacy and freedom in lieu of their incompetence and carelessness?

      Because terrorists! I'm sure this will all be addressed in the upcoming "America, land of the free" bill that will make encryption illegal.

  7. Intel Management Engine by e70838 · · Score: 2

    If they have implanted a virus in the Intel Management Engine, they have a permanent backdoor since 2008. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

  8. Re:This is why... by Rob+Y. · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Actually, from the sound of it, Hillary's home server was about the only 'government' server that hasn't been hacked.

    'Hitlery'? Really? At least it's not a play on the female anatomy. I commend your maturity.

    --
    Posted from my Android phone. Oh, I can change this? There, that's better...
  9. Re:This is why... by SecurityGuy · · Score: 4, Informative

    Nobody knows Hillary's home server hasn't been hacked. All that we know is that whatever logging they were doing didn't show evidence of hacking. All that tells you is that if it was hacked, it wasn't done by a complete incompetent.

  10. Been happening for decades by ITRambo · · Score: 2

    During the Clinton administration the Chinese hacked into and took military secrets. What dos the US do? it outsources more work to China to make goods sold in the US. The US government can't handle security well at all and no longer cares to help its own citizens. That's why Trump is popular. People want to believe that an outsider can make things better, since the insiders keep screwing things up.

    1. Re:Been happening for decades by parkinglot777 · · Score: 2

      People want to believe that an outsider can make things better, since the insiders keep screwing things up.

      That's only a part of the reasons. If people really want to believe that an outsider can make things better, they would have thought further than just that. They would have looked at how the person would do to make things better from the person's both past and present speech & action, not from the person words coming out of his mouth. They would have determined what consequences are if they elect the person, not what the person promises and spout vaugely proposal that doesn't represent a well thought solution but rather a pay back time.

      The reason people want to believe is because the person represents their anger. They believe that the person could do something to "revenge" what they think they want to do right now but don't have resources or power to do so. They simply let anger blind their mind and judgment. They don't think further than get-back-at-you type of action. In other words, they are looking for a short term satisfaction to please themselves and do not care or look further toward long term consequence. Think about when you are very angry at someone, and then you punch the person first and knock the person down. How do you feel at the moment you punch the person? Of course, satisfaction. Then the long term consequence could be that the person sue you back for a lot of money than you expected. That's why anger can blind your judgment...

  11. Re:I think they are referring to the nine horsemen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    and the other two agencies none are permitted to know about

    Don't worry, we both know about you...

  12. Re: This is why... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Except that awkward moment everyone forgets the server was found because guccifer got in sharing screen caps.

    http://www.mrctv.org/blog/update-hillary-s-secret-email-revealed-romanian-hacker-had-its-own-internet-server

  13. Re:This is why... by Coisiche · · Score: 2

    Interesting. Kind of like writing letters to Santa and sending them up the chimney except they are more likely to be read.

    It makes me wonder if there was a...

    "Dear Mysterious Hackers,

    Please can you extract and distribute all the documents pertaining to offshore tax avoidance handled by firms like Mossack Fonseca.

    Thanks in advance,

    The actual tax payers of the world"