Zero Point By Javed Chaudhry

US blames North Korea for hacking spree, says more attacks likely

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WASHINGTON/TORONTO: The U.S. government on Tuesday issued a rare alert squarely blaming the North Korean government for a raft of cyber attacks stretching back to 2009 and warning that more were likely.</h2>
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The joint warning from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation said that "cyber actors of the North Korean government," referred to in the report as "Hidden Cobra," had targeted the media, aerospace and financial sectors, as well as critical infrastructure, in the United States and globally.</div>
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The new level of detail about the U.S. government's analysis of suspected North Korean hacking activity coincides with increasing tensions between Washington and Pyongyang because of North Korea's missile tests. The alert warned that North Korea would continue to rely on cyber operations to advance its military and strategic objectives.</div>
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North Korea has routinely denied involvement in cyber attacks against other countries.</div>
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The North Korean mission to the United Nations was not immediately available for comment.</div>
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Tuesday's alert said Hidden Cobra has been previously referred to by private sector experts as Lazarus Group and Guardians of the Peace, which have been linked to attacks such as the 2014 intrusion into Sony Corp's Sony Pictures Entertainment.</div>
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Symantec Corp and Kaspersky Lab both said last month it was "highly likely" that Lazarus was behind the WannaCry ransomware attack that infected more than 300,000 computers worldwide, disrupting operations at hospitals, banks and schools.</div>
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The alert did not identify specific Hidden Cobra victims. It said the group had compromised a range of victims and that some intrusions had resulted in thefts of data while others were disruptive. The group's capabilities include denial of service attacks, which send reams of junk traffic to a server to knock it offline, keystroke logging, remote access tools and several variants of malware, the alert said.</div>
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John Hultquist, a cyber intelligence analyst with FireEye Inc , said that his firm was concerned about increasingly aggressive cyber attacks from North Korea.</div>
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The hacks include cyber espionage at South Korean finance, energy and transportation firms that appears to be reconnaissance ahead of other attacks that would be disruptive or destructive, he said.</div>
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"It suggests they are preparing for something fairly significant," he added.</div>
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Hidden Cobra commonly targets systems that run older versions of Microsoft Corp operating systems that are no longer patched, the alert said, and also used vulnerabilities in Adobe Systems Inc's Flash software to gain access into targeted computers.</div>
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The report urged organizations to upgrade to current versions of Adobe Flash and Microsoft Silverlight or, when possible, uninstall those applications altogether.</div>
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Microsoft said it an emailed statement that it had "addressed" the Silverlight issue in a January 2016 software update. Adobe said via email that it patched the vulnerabilities in June 2016.</div>
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North Korean hacking activity has grown increasingly hostile in recent years, according to Western officials and cyber security experts.</div>
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The alert arrived on the same day that North Korea released an American university student who had been held captive by Pyongyang for 17 months.</div>
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Otto Warmbier, 22, was on his way back to the United States on Tuesday but in a coma and in urgent need of medical care, according to Bill Richardson, a veteran former diplomat and politician who has played a role in past negotiations with North Korea.</div>
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"The U.S. government seeks to arm network defenders with the tools they need to identify, detect and disrupt North Korean government malicious cyber activity that is targeting our country's and our allies’ networks," a DHS official said about the alert. The official was not authorized to speak publicly.</div>

US blames North Korea for hacking spree, says more attacks likely

WASHINGTON/TORONTO: The U.S. government on Tuesday issued a rare alert squarely blaming the North Korean government for a raft of cyber...

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US Europe seek measures to avert expanded airline laptop ban

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<span style="font-family: "lato" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will meet European officials this week to discuss new security measures that could prevent the U.S. government expanding a ban on laptops beyond flights from ten airports primarily in the Middle East.</span><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lato" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidtB_oRe0fjAlC-DcRXY5VkQZCY0HcV2i31VrID8RMi-gCqWzCwOwaW7g0VDCrl-A-Mh_aW4nafVYBVYK9zP7VwPVs02ECPmuPGnUCRJjDBNgndQONN52z5jgECVZjDtLNlHapmcyfTNi_/s1600/US%252C+Europe+seek+measures+to+avert+expanded+airline+laptop+ban.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="US" border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidtB_oRe0fjAlC-DcRXY5VkQZCY0HcV2i31VrID8RMi-gCqWzCwOwaW7g0VDCrl-A-Mh_aW4nafVYBVYK9zP7VwPVs02ECPmuPGnUCRJjDBNgndQONN52z5jgECVZjDtLNlHapmcyfTNi_/s640/US%252C+Europe+seek+measures+to+avert+expanded+airline+laptop+ban.png" title="US-Europe-seek-measures-to-avert-expanded-airline-laptop-ban" width="640" /></a></span></h2>
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WASHINGTON: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will meet European officials this week to discuss new security measures that could prevent the U.S. government expanding a ban on laptops beyond flights from ten airports primarily in the Middle East.</h2>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">David Lapan, a DHS spokesman, said in a briefing Tuesday that he would not disclose specific security enhancements but said they were "in the way of information sharing, passenger information, detection types of steps."</span></div>
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Homeland Security chief John Kelly told a congressional panel last week he was looking at an additional 71 airports in Europe, Africa and the Middle East for a possible expansion of the ban.</div>
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A European airline industry official told Reuters the United States had suggested possible enhancements including explosive trace detection screening, increased vetting of airports' staff and additional detection dogs.</div>
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U.S. restrictions on laptops announced in March, including on flights originating from airports in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, came amid fears a concealed bomb could be installed in electronic devices taken aboard aircraft. Britain followed suit with restrictions.</div>
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Any expansion of the ban could impact U.S. carriers such as United Airlines, Delta Air Lines Inc and American Airlines Group.</div>
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Lapan said the United States would not present a definitive list to Europeans to avoid a ban but rather options under consideration. He added that it "remains to be seen" if enhanced security measure could allow reversal of existing airports under the ban.</div>
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DHS officials are attending the meeting in Malta "to present what we think are the minimum increased security standards ... and present those to people to say if you meet these standards we will not ban large electronics," Kelly said.</div>
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Reuters and other media outlets reported in early May that an expansion was likely, but more than a month later, the U.S. government has offered no timetable for making a decision. Lapan said no decision was expected this week.</div>
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US Europe seek measures to avert expanded airline laptop ban

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will meet European officials this week to discuss new security measures that could prevent the U.S...

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Terror attacks dent visitor numbers at London sights

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LONDON: Terror attacks in Britain have lowered visitor numbers at London attractions and theme parks run by Merlin Entertainments, the company said on Tuesday.</h2>
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Merlin, which runs the London Eye and Madame Tussauds and a string of theme parks, said the Westminster attack on March 22 in which five people were killed initially led to "a softer domestic, day-trip market".</div>
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Two subsequent attacks in Manchester and London which killed 30 people and injured dozens more "resulted in a further deterioration in domestic demand," the company said in a stock market trading update.</div>
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"Given the typical lag between holiday bookings and visitation, we are also cautious on trends in foreign visitation over the coming months," the company said.</div>
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Theme parks including Legoland had also been "adversely affected in recent weeks by the terror attacks and subsequent heightened security measures".</div>
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Merlin chief executive officer Nick Varney said the impact of the attacks was "unclear at this stage".</div>
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"What is clear however is that London has bounced back before, and will do again," he said, adding: "I have every confidence in the longer term resilience and growth trajectory of the market".</div>
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The company statement also said it had benefited from the plunge in the value of the pound following last year's Brexit referendum, which has increased the number of foreign tourists coming to London.</div>
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Shares in Merlin were down 2.54 percent on the London Stock Exchange after the announcement.</div>
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Terror attacks dent visitor numbers at London sights

LONDON: Terror attacks in Britain have lowered visitor numbers at London attractions and theme parks run by Merlin Entertainments, the...

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