Figuring out how to power data centers to meet the soaring demands of AI, marks the beginning of a new era in technological innovation.
 

Mission Critical is excited to introduce you to the 2024 Top 25 Women in Technology. Meet Mary O’Brien.

Strategically located in the north of Osaka, the 485,000 square foot (45,000 square meters) campus will be comprised of two data centers with seismic base-isolation structures. 

Apple Music’s 100 Best Albums list culminates today with the reveal of the top 10 albums and “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” crowned No. 1.

Gravity Water is preparing the next generation of water stewards in Vietnam with its innovative rainwater harvesting and filtration technology.

Apple and Île-de-France Mobilités today introduced an easy way for customers to add a Navigo card to Apple Wallet to ride transit in the Paris region.

Politically-motivated hacktivist groups are increasingly utilizing ransomware payloads both to disrupt targets and draw attention to their political causes. Notable among these hacktivist groups is Ikaruz Red Team, a threat actor that is currently leveraging leaked ransomware builders.

In attacks occurring over recent months, we have observed Ikaruz Red Team and aligned groups such as Turk Hack Team and Anka Underground (aka Anka Red Team) conduct attacks against Philippine targets and hijack branding and imagery belonging to the government’s Computer Emergency Response Program (CERT-PH).

In this post, we profile this hacktivist group and its recent actions, highlighting the threat actor’s methodology, social media activity and relevance within the wider geopolitical context.

Geopolitical Context & Affiliations

Ikaruz Red Team (IRT), under various identities, has targeted entities in the Philippines through defacements, small-scale DDoS attacks and now ransomware attacks. This behavior, between 2023 and present day (2024), is part of the larger wave of hacktivist groups targeting the region, as documented by Resecurity in April 2024. Resecurity ties these more recent observations to the greater geopolitical landscape, in the context of rising tensions with China, noting that the Philippines’ strategic significance in the Indo-Pacific makes it an attractive target for actors bent on civil disruption.

Over the last year or so, the Philippines has experienced an increase in scattered hacktivist attack campaigns. Previously identified hacktivist groups such as Robin Cyber Hood, Philippine Exodus (aka PHEDS), Cyber Operations Alliance, and Philippine Hacking University have been claiming credit for a variety of ransomware attacks, misinformation campaigns and espionage. On April 8th, the Philippine’s National Privacy Commission (NPC) launched an investigation into a breach of critical government infrastructure through an attack on the Department of Science & Technology by a previously unknown hacktivist identifying itself as #opEDSA.

Mission Critical is excited to introduce you to the 2024 Top 25 Women in Technology. Meet Paola Morales.

Last week, PinnacleOne considered what the Office of National Cyber Director’s Annual Report means to modern enterprises.

This week, we highlight the convergence of AI and foreign malign influence efforts on the 2024 year of global elections.

Please subscribe to read future issues — and forward this newsletter to interested colleagues.

Contact us directly with any comments or questions: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Insight Focus | AI and Foreign Election Interference

The 2024 U.S. elections (and many other global elections) face a threat landscape defined by foreign influence actors using time-tested tactics augmented by emerging AI tools to undermine the democratic process. On May 15, 2024, officials from the Intelligence Community, FBI, and CISA testified before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence to draw public attention to the evolving threat.

The Good | International Law Enforcement Charge Crypto Criminals & Take Down a New Iteration of BreachForums

In the past week, law enforcement agencies took down cryptocurrency thieves responsible for a multi-million dollar theft from the Ethereum blockchain, and seized a second iteration of the notorious hacking platform, BreachForums.

The DoJ has unsealed an indictment charging Anton Peraire-Bueno (24) and James Pepaire-Bueno (28) with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. The brothers allegedly manipulated the blockchain in 12-seconds to pilfer $25 million worth of cryptocurrency in a first-of-its-kind attack.

This was done by tampering with the transaction validation processes on the blockchain, altering pending transactions, and rejecting requests by victims to return the stolen funds. Prior to the attack on the blockchain, the brothers focused on performing reconnaissance on their victims, learning their identities and trading behaviors. If found guilty, each of the brothers face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for each count.

A little over a year has passed since the arrest of Conor Brian Fitzpatrick “Pompompurin”, owner and administrator of BreachForums. This week, the FBI have seized the hacking forum for a second time. Working with international law enforcement partners, the FBI have shut down a Telegram channel belonging to Fitzpatrick’s successor, “Baphomet”, along with the second iteration of the BreachForums website. Authorities are currently investigating the site’s backend data and have issued a call for new information.

This iteration of BreachForum, run from June 2023 to May 2024, operated as a clearnet marketplace where cybercriminals could buy, sell, and trade illicit contraband such as hacking tools, compromised databases, stolen access devices, and various illegal services. As forums and dark markets continue to rise and fall multiple times, organizations are reminded to keep their defenses up to safeguard their sensitive data.

The population of Chatham County is estimated to double in the next 10-15 years, putting additional pressure on the emergency management system.

The DUB1 campus will include an on-site 100MVA multi-fuel generation plant capable of running a combination of renewable fuels.

Last week, the SentinelOne team wrapped up another exciting year at RSA Conference 2024. The four-day event was, as usual, an invaluable opportunity to connect with leaders across the community, share stories, and learn from each other. This year’s event garnered attendees numbering 40,000 strong from more than 130 countries, showing just how much expertise is available to be shared.

For those who couldn’t join us in San Francisco, our recap blog captures all of the event highlights including snippets from exclusive keynote sessions and all the announcements from SentinelOne.

RSAC 2024 | Understanding “The Art of Possible” in the Cyber World

This year’s theme for the event was “the art of possible”, a phrase that inspires hope while also serving as a warning to never underestimate what is possible by our cyber adversaries.

Community unlocks possibility and, thinking about the theme as it applies to cybersecurity, we are reminded to celebrate new technologies and leverage the strength of the collective whole and remain vigilant in the face of growing threats and risks.

Delivering The Future of Autonomous Security with Purple AI & Singularity Data Lake

It’s no surprise that many of the conversations at RSAC 2024 revolved around the topic of artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on the cybersecurity landscape. SentinelOne was thrilled to announce innovative new capabilities within our Singularity Platform, designed to empower IT teams to take a predictive and autonomous stance against incoming threats:

Mission Critical is excited to introduce you to the 2024 Top 25 Women in Technology. Meet Ilissa Miller.

The redesigned iPad Air and new iPad Pro with Apple silicon are now available.

If you answer "no" to these four questions, data center operators can expect sensor drift and failure, along with inaccurate sensor readings.

Apple today announced new accessibility features coming later this year, including Eye Tracking, Music Haptics, and Vocal Shortcuts.

Running a business means accepting all of its fluctuating risks and uncertainties. For business leaders, one of the major challenges is managing their cybersecurity posture in an ever-changing threat landscape. With rapid digitalization and increasingly opportunistic attackers to consider, small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) can be especially vulnerable.

Based on recent reports, over 40% of cyberattacks target today’s SMBs and only 14% of these organizations have the right response plans and policies to properly face the threat. While many business owners invest in cyber insurance, traditional insurance policies are no longer enough to provide the coverage needed in the current climate.

This blog post dives into why modern business leaders are investing in cyber warranties to round out their cyber defense strategies and fill in the gaps for cyber financial protections needed in a worst-case-scenario. Also, learn more about SentinelOne’s newly launched Breach Response Warranty available for businesses of all levels of endpoint counts.

Taking the Proactive Approach with Cyber Warranties | Why Cyber Insurance Alone Isn’t Enough

Although both cyber insurance and cyber warranties offer financial compensation in the case of a breach, they aim to serve different purposes. Where cyber insurance covers financial losses resulting in data breaches or attacks that have already occurred, cyber warranties are a pledge from security vendors.

Cyber insurance can also sometimes require lengthy paperwork and approval cycles with timelines for compensation being drawn out. Warranties can plug this time gap and provide immediate relief and event payout to help cover the deductible for cyber insurance coverage.

Apple Watch is a versatile tool for golfers to stay connected, active, and healthy, and a suite of great golfing apps offer users tools and insights to improve their game.

Today, Apple announced that from 2020 through 2023, the App Store prevented a total of over $7 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions.