intelligence – SSL and internet security news

China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea Intelligence Sharing

March 12, 2025 infossl

AI, china, intelligence, iran, North Korea, russia, Security technology, Uncategorized

Former CISA Director Jen Easterly writes about a new international intelligence sharing co-op: Historically, China, Russia, Iran & North Korea have cooperated to some extent on military and intelligence matters, but differences in language, culture, politics & technological sophistication have hindered deeper collaboration, including in cyber. Shifting geopolitical dynamics, however, could drive these states toward … Read More “China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea Intelligence Sharing” »

Tracking Secret German Organizations with Apple AirTags

January 28, 2022 infossl

apple, geolocation, intelligence, Security technology, Uncategorized

A German activist is trying to track down a secret government intelligence agency. One of her research techniques is to mail Apple AirTags to see where they actually end up: Wittmann says that everyone she spoke to denied being part of this intelligence agency. But what she describes as a “good indicator,” would be if … Read More “Tracking Secret German Organizations with Apple AirTags” »

Security Vulnerabilities in Cellebrite

April 27, 2021 infossl

intelligence, police, Security technology, signal, smartphones, Uncategorized, vulnerabilities

Moxie Marlinspike has an intriguing blog post about Cellebrite, a tool used by police and others to break into smartphones. Moxie got his hands on one of the devices, which seems to be a pair of Windows software packages and a whole lot of connecting cables. According to Moxie, the software is riddled with vulnerabilities. … Read More “Security Vulnerabilities in Cellebrite” »

Chinese Supply-Chain Attack on Computer Systems

February 13, 2021 infossl

backdoors, china, cybersecurity, fbi, fisa, intelligence, Internet of Things, national security policy, reports, Security technology, supply chain, Uncategorized

Bloomberg News has a major story about the Chinese hacking computer motherboards made by Supermicro, Levono, and others. It’s been going on since at least 2008. The US government has known about it for almost as long, and has tried to keep the attack secret: China’s exploitation of products made by Supermicro, as the U.S. … Read More “Chinese Supply-Chain Attack on Computer Systems” »

Phishing Attacks Against Trump and Biden Campaigns

June 8, 2020 infossl

china, google, intelligence, phishing, Security technology, threatalerts, voting

Google’s threat analysts have identified state-level attacks from China. I hope both campaigns are working under the assumption that everything they say and do will be dumped on the Internet before the election. That feels like the most likely outcome. Powered by WPeMatico

Denmark, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands and France SIGINT Alliance

May 4, 2020 infossl

academicpapers, cryptanalysis, gchq, historyofsecurity, intelligence, Security technology

This paper describes a SIGINT and code-breaking alliance between Denmark, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands and France called Maximator: Abstract: This article is first to report on the secret European five-partner sigint alliance Maximator that started in the late 1970s. It discloses the name Maximator and provides documentary evidence. The five members of this European alliance … Read More “Denmark, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands and France SIGINT Alliance” »

Chinese COVID-19 Disinformation Campaign

April 23, 2020 infossl

china, covid19, disinformation, fakenews, intelligence, propaganda, Security technology

The New York Times is reporting on state-sponsored disinformation campaigns coming out of China: Since that wave of panic, United States intelligence agencies have assessed that Chinese operatives helped push the messages across platforms, according to six American officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to publicly discuss intelligence matters. The amplification techniques are … Read More “Chinese COVID-19 Disinformation Campaign” »

More on Crypto AG

March 6, 2020 infossl

assassinations, backdoors, cia, cryptography, intelligence, privacy, Security technology, surveillance

One follow-on to the story of Crypto AG being owned by the CIA: this interview with a Washington Post reporter. The whole thing is worth reading or listening to, but I was struck by these two quotes at the end: …in South America, for instance, many of the governments that were using Crypto machines were … Read More “More on Crypto AG” »

Newly Declassified Study Demonstrates Uselessness of NSA’s Phone Metadata Program

February 26, 2020 infossl

intelligence, metadata, nationalsecuritypolicy, nsa, phones, Security technology

The New York Times is reporting on the NSA’s phone metadata program, which the NSA shut down last year: A National Security Agency system that analyzed logs of Americans’ domestic phone calls and text messages cost $100 million from 2015 to 2019, but yielded only a single significant investigation, according to a newly declassified study. … Read More “Newly Declassified Study Demonstrates Uselessness of NSA’s Phone Metadata Program” »

Details of the Cloud Hopper Attacks

July 10, 2019 infossl

advancedpersistentthreats, china, fraud, hacking, ibm, intelligence, malware, Security technology, theft

Reuters has a long article on the Chinese government APT attack called Cloud Hopper. It was much bigger than originally reported. The hacking campaign, known as “Cloud Hopper,” was the subject of a U.S. indictment in December that accused two Chinese nationals of identity theft and fraud. Prosecutors described an elaborate operation that victimized multiple … Read More “Details of the Cloud Hopper Attacks” »