Tag: energy sector
HPE Investigating Hacker Breach Claims – January 21st
Following claims from the IntelBroker group on BreachForums of having access to large amounts of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) company data, HPE has begun its investigations. The breach allegedly includes private GitHub repositories, Docker builds, and source codes. Arctic Wolf researchers helped HPE uncover the potential breach, and are continuing to work on validating the claim.
Russian cyber gangs escalate attacks on US
Two Russian groups, the People’s Cyber Army and Z-Pentest, claim to have taken attacks on critical infrastructure in the US to a new and more dangerous level. Dark web researchers at threat intelligence firm Cyble have discovered Telegram videos detailing attacks on US energy and water facilities far beyond the previously supposed capabilities of such groups. Cyble believes that the two groups may be working in cooperation with one another. Previously, the People’s Cyber Army, which also goes by the name of the Cyber Army of Russia Reborn, and lesser-known groups such as Z-Pentest, have largely confined their attacks on US critical infrastructure to simple and easy-to-repel distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.
Big tech goes nuclear
America’s leading technology companies are now engaged in their own nuclear power race. Advertising and search giant Google has announced that it has signed the world’s first corporate agreement to purchase nuclear energy from multiple small modular reactors (SMR), to be developed by Kairos Power. By investing in its own nuclear energy facilities, Google has now joined the ranks of Amazon, Microsoft, and Oracle in investing heavily in nuclear facilities to power the rollout of new services based around their prematurely launched artificial intelligence (AI) services. According to a recent report from US Madison Avenue investment bankers, Jeffries: “If it feels like Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) are suddenly everywhere, it’s because they are. GPUs drive computation across a wide range of industries and applications, from big data analytics to machine learning [AI].”
US Energy Sector Receives a $45M Investment to Bolster Cybersecurity – February 27th
As part of the US Biden-Harris administration's "Investing in America" agenda, the US energy sector received a $45M investment to bolster the sector's cybersecurity infrastructure. The announcement strengthens the US government's initiatives to boost cybersecurity efforts for critical infrastructure, in light of attacks on US critical infrastructure.
Ukrainian Hacks Accounts to Mine $2M in Crypto – January 15th
A now arrested Ukrainian-based hacker infiltrated cloud-computing accounts to create over 1M virtual servers to mine $2M worth of cryptocurrencies, Europol announced. The Europol investigation shed light on the dangers behind cloud computer hijacking campaigns used for large-scale illicit crypto mining.
Top 10 US energy firms hit by 3rd-party attacks
Nine out of ten of the world’s leading energy companies, including the top ten US energy companies, experienced a third-party data breach sometime in the last 12 months. According to cybersecurity ratings company Security Scorecard, while only four percent of leading energy companies worldwide suffered a direct data breach, most were compromised via a supplier, contractor, or other third-party organization. “Fueling the global economy and daily life, reliance on the energy sector elevates it as a prime target for cyberattacks. Amid economic and political uncertainties, concerns about safeguarding this vital sector intensified. Energy attacks not only result in financial losses and disruptions but ripple through manufacturing, healthcare, and transportation sectors,” says Security ScoreCard.