Jessica Lyons Hardcastle

Santa Cruz

Cybersecurity Editor at The Register

Cybersecurity Editor @TheRegister / @SitPub Not posting on X but you can find me at Bluesky: @jessicalyons.bsky.social

Articles

China hacks show they're 'preparing for war': McMaster

1 week ago | theregister.com | Jessica Lyons Hardcastle

Chinese government spies burrowed deep into American telecommunications systems and critical infrastructure networks for one reason, according to retired US Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster. "Why is China on our systems? Because I think they're preparing for war," McMaster told lawmakers during the US House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security field hearing.
Ex-CISA employee describes 'culture of fear' at the agency

1 week ago | theregister.com | Jessica Lyons Hardcastle

Interview It's hard to pinpoint exactly when the "culture of fear" began to permeate America's top cyber-defense agency. It wasn't one particular incident, but rather a death by a thousand cuts, according to a former US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency employee, who spoke to The Register on the condition that we don't reveal their name.
DragonForce used MSP's RMM software to distribute ransomware

1 week ago | theregister.com | Jessica Lyons Hardcastle

DragonForce ransomware infected a managed service provider, and its customers, after attackers exploited security flaws in remote monitoring and management tool SimpleHelp. In addition to deploying DragonForce ransomware across "multiple" endpoints, the criminals also stole sensitive data and used double-extortion tactics to pressure victims into paying the ransom, according to security shop Sophos.
Don't click on that Facebook ad for a text-to-AI-video tool

1 week ago | theregister.com | Jessica Lyons Hardcastle

A group of miscreants tracked as UNC6032 is exploiting interest in AI video generators by planting malicious ads on social media platforms to steal credentials, credit card details, and other sensitive info, according to Mandiant. The Google-owned threat hunters identified thousands of malicious ads on Facebook and about 10 on LinkedIn since November 2024.
New Russian cyber-spy crew Laundry Bear joins the pack

1 week ago | theregister.com | Jessica Lyons Hardcastle

A previously unknown Kremlin-linked group has conducted cyber-espionage operations against Dutch police, NATO member states, Western tech companies, and other organizations of interest to the Russian government since at least April 2024, according to Dutch intelligence services and Microsoft. The Dutch services call the group Laundry Bear, while Microsoft dubbed it Void Blizzard. Both warn the crew appears to be backed by the Russian government.
Cybercrime much bigger than nation-state ops: Daniel

2 weeks ago | theregister.com | Jessica Lyons Hardcastle

INTERVIEW Uncle Sam's cybersecurity apparatus can't only focus on China and other nation-state actors, but also has to fight the much bigger damage from plain old cybercrime, says former White House advisor Michael Daniel. And the Trump administration's steep cuts to federal government staff are making that a lot harder. Daniel currently leads the Cyber Threat Alliance, a nonprofit threat-intel-sharing organization.
Same suspected Chinese spies again attacking Ivanti bugs

2 weeks ago | theregister.com | Jessica Lyons Hardcastle

A suspected Chinese government spy group is behind the rash of attacks that exploit two Ivanti bugs that can be chained together to achieve unauthenticated remote code execution (RCE), according to analysts at threat intelligence outfit EclecticIQ. The exploits began on May 15, we're told, and targeted organizations in the healthcare, telecommunications, aviation, municipal government, finance, and defense sectors. Attackers went after entities across Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific.
Feds finger Russian Qakbot mastermind, 700k computers hit

2 weeks ago | theregister.com | Jessica Lyons Hardcastle

Uncle Sam on Thursday unsealed criminal charges and a civil forfeiture case against a Russian national accused of leading the cybercrime ring behind Qakbot, notorious malware that infected hundreds of thousands of computers worldwide and helped fuel ransomware attacks costing victims tens of millions of dollars.
Chinese crew caught trying to break into US city utilities

2 weeks ago | theregister.com | Jessica Lyons Hardcastle

A suspected Chinese crew has been exploiting a now-patched remote code execution (RCE) flaw in Trimble Cityworks to break into US local government networks and target utility management systems, according to Cisco's Talos threat intelligence group. Cityworks is an asset and work management platform that integrates closely with Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and is primarily used by local governments, utilities, airports, and public works departments.
Wyden: Telcos didn’t warn Senate about snooping

2 weeks ago | theregister.com | Jessica Lyons Hardcastle

AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile US failed to set up systems to notify lawmakers when government snoops came calling for their phone records - a contractual obligation that went ignored until recently, according to US Senator Ron Wyden.