Category Archives: Gangs and Crimes

U.S. Charges 5 Chinese for Hacking 100 Companies

Posted on by

US says APT41 orchestrated intrusions at more than 100 companies across the world, ranging from software vendors, video gaming companies, telcos, and more.

The US government has filed charges today against five Chinese nationals for hacking into more than 100 companies across the world, part of a state-sponsored hacking group known as APT41.

According to court documents unsealed today, US officials said the group has hacked software development companies, computer hardware manufacturers, telecommunications providers, social media companies, video game companies, healthcare, non-profit organizations, universities, think tanks, from where they stole proprietary source code, code-signing certificates, customer data, and valuable business information.

Image

Victim companies resided in countries such as the US, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan,
Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

US officials said APT41 members also compromised foreign government computer networks in India and Vietnam, as well as pro-democracy politicians and activists in Hong Kong. Attacks against he UK government were also executed, but were not successful.

The APT41 group is one of today’s most infamous and most active state-sponsored hacking groups. ATP41’s operations were first detailed in their full breadth in a FireEye report published in August 2019, with the report linking the group to some of the biggest supply-chain attacks in recent years, and to older hacks going to as early as 2012.

 

At the time, the report was also ground-breaking, as FireEye researchers revealed how the the group conducted both cyber-espionage for the Chinese regime but also intrusions for personal financial gain, usually executed outside normal working hours. Most of these side-hacks usually targeted gaming companies, from where the hackers stole source code or in-game digital currency.

In some cases, APT41 was also spotted deploying ransomware and installed malware that mined cryptocurrency for the group’s members. While it’s unknown how many of these incidents have occurred, the DOJ named one victim of a ransomware attack as “a non-profit organization dedicated to combating global poverty.”

Five Chinese nationals indicted

According to court documents obtained by ZDNet, the indictments came in two waves, but were unsealed today. The first two APT41 members were identified and charged in August 2019, following the FireEye report. According to a copy of the 2019 indictment, these charges stemmed from allegedly hacking high technology and video gaming companies, and a United Kingdom citizen. The two suspects were identified as:

  • Zhang Haoran (张浩然), 35
  • Tan Dailin (谭戴林), 35

Three more APT41 members were charged in a separate indictment filed last month, in August 2020. These three were charged with most of the APT41 intrusions.

  • Jiang Lizhi (蒋立志), 35
  • Qian Chuan (钱川), 39
  • Fu Qiang (付强), 37

US officials said the three were employees of Chengdu 404 Network Technology, a front company that operated under the close supervision of PRC officials. Court documents also revealed that US officials intercepted online chats between Jiang and another Chinese hackers, conversations where Jiang touted knowing and operating under Gong An, a high-ranking official in the Chinese Ministery of Public Security.

All five APT41 members remain at large, and their names have been added to the FBI’s Cyber Most Wanted List.

In addition, two Malaysian businessmen were also charged for conspiring with two of the APT41 members to profit from intrusions at video game companies. The two were arrested on Monday, September 14, by Malaysian authorities in the Malaysian city of Sitiawan.

According to court documents, the two have been identified as Wong Ong Hua, 46, and Ling Yang Ching, 32, owners of Sea Gamer Mall, a website that sold digital currency for various online games — currency that US officials believe was sometimes provided by APT41 members illegally, following intrusions at gaming companies.

In a live-streamed press conference today, FBI Deputy Director David L. Bowdich, said the Bureau is currently seeking the extradition of the two Malaysian businessmen to the US, to face their charges.

The FBI, which spearheaded the investigation, also obtained a court warrant earlier this month and seized “hundreds of accounts, servers, domain names, and command-and-control (C2) ‘dead drop’ web pages” used by APT41 in past operations.

Third Chinese state hacking group disrupted by US officials since 2017

The arrests today are part of a larger US crackdown against Chinese cyber-espionage and theft of intellectual property from US companies. US authorities previously charged three other Chinese hackers in November 2017 (believed to be part of Chinese hacker group APT3) and two other hackers in December 2018 (believed to be part of Chinese hacker group APT10).

Earlier this year, the FBI said it was investigating more than 1,000 cases of Chinese theft of US technology.

“Today’s charges, the related arrests, seizures of malware and other infrastructure used to conduct intrusions, and coordinated private sector protective actions reveal yet again the Department’s determination to use all of the tools at its disposal and to collaborate with the private sector and nations who support the rule of law in cyberspace,” said Assistant Attorney
General John C. Demers.

“Regrettably, the Chinese communist party has chosen a different path of making China safe for cybercriminals so long as they attack computers outside China and steal intellectual property helpful to China,” added Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen.

Mayor De Blasio Furloughs his Entire Office and Staff

Posted on by

Homeless population hits another record high under de Blasio

And Governor Cuomo has the authority to remove De Blasio due to malfeasance and dereliction of duty…..meanwhile, garbage piles up, rats are more common than people and simply, New York City smells and smells badly. But the homeless are living in luxury hotels.

Average New Yorker Produces Over 2 Pounds of Garbage Per ...

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) announced Wednesday that all members of his mayoral staff — including himself — will be subject to a mandatory one-week furlough due to the city’s massive revenue shortfall amid coronavirus lockdowns.

The policy, which forces city employees to essentially take an unpaid vacation sometime between October and March, will affect 495 people, including de Blasio himself and first lady Chirlane McCray, the New York Times reported.

The forced furlough comes as de Blasio has so far failed to petition New York state for longterm borrowing or the federal government for a stimulus bailout.

It is a largely symbolic move as it is expected to yield $860,000 in savings — a mere drop in the bucket compared to the city’s $9 billion, two-year revenue shortfall.

In recent weeks, the embattled mayor has threatened laying off 22,000 city workers unless the city receive a bailout of some kind. But so far, state and federal officials have balked at his warnings.

President Donald Trump, for one, has voiced opposition to granting federal bailouts to Democratic states and cities, which he argued suffered from significant fiscal mismanagement long before the virus.

On Wednesday, de Blasio took on a more somber tone in making the announcement.

“This is a step you never want to see for good, hardworking people, the folks who work here throughout this crisis,” the mayor said. “So it is with pain that I say they and their families will lose a week’s pay.”

“We have to make tough choices to move this city forward and keep our budget balanced,” he added.

During the news conference, de Blasio made sure to call on constituents yet again to push their federal and state representatives to act on behalf of the city.

“We’ll keep fighting for those bigger changes,” he said.

Speaking with the Times, Citizens Budget Commission President Andrew Rein argued that, now six months into the pandemic, the mayor should have already produced a plan to tackle the debt.

“It would be great if this helps dislodge that inertia,” Rein said. “It’s hard to say if it will.”

In contrast, Bill Neidhardt, a spokesman for the mayor, hailed the move as “a significant gesture that reasserts City Hall recognizes the sacrifices that will have to be made across the board if we don’t get a stimulus or borrowing.”

Fox News reported that with a mayoral salary of $258,541 per year, de Blasio is set to lose just short of $5,000 during his weeklong furlough.

***

Deeper dive:

In part: Adding to New York’s woes, hotel stays are down, millions are working remotely or out of a job entirely and as many as one-third of its 230,000 small businesses could close for good, according to the Partnership for New York City, a nonprofit organization that represents local firms. The devastation has left no part of the economy untouched, even hamstringing the sprawling network of bus and train lines that make up the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Without a $12 billion cash infusion, MTA leaders sounded their own dire alarm this week: They may have to scale back some services as much as 40 percent, leaving riders facing longer waits and postponing some sorely needed repairs to the subway’s aging infrastructure.

Even in a quarrelsome city like New York, there’s widespread agreement about a solution: additional help from Washington, where federal lawmakers have spent months discussing the need to authorize billions of dollars for cash-strapped local governments that saw revenue decline precipitously as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

But that money increasingly seems out of reach for New York and thousands of states, counties, cities and towns nationwide facing their own financial headaches. Drastic measures once viewed as unlikely doomsday scenarios have become more real and urgent, threatening not only the day-to-day functions of New York City, but also the millions of people it serves.

Shutdowns ordered by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) and other leaders brought the city to an abrupt halt, arresting the spread of the virus at the cost of the state’s economy.

The financial pain has been particularly pronounced in New York City. Broadway went dark this spring, and even as the outbreak wanes, theaters haven’t been able to revive operations safely. Major events that bring travelers to the city annually, from concerts and baseball games to the U.N. General Assembly, have been canceled or postponed. Some restaurants that shuttered never reopened. Some offices that sent their employees home never brought them back. And some workers who lost jobs were never rehired in a city where the unemployment rate last month hovered around 20 percent, data show.

The Treatment of Covid in Venezuela, Crimes Against Humanity

Posted on by

VP and presidential candidate Biden and Kamala Harris may need to get the memo on governance in Venezuela. Then they can invite blue state governors and mayors in the U.S. to a Zoom call about it….read on…

Note the U.S. is paying some salaries for medical workers.

The illegitimate Maduro regime wants Venezuelans to denounce their neighbors who are sick with COVID-19, calling them “bioterrorists.”

Nicolás Maduro’s National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela encouraged citizens to look for sick Venezuelans, saying a returning migrant “is a bioterrorist who puts everyone’s health at risk.” They also provided an email address and asked anyone with information to send them “the information of the person and their exact location” so the Maduro regime could detain them.

“They told us we’re contaminated, that we’re guilty of infecting the country,” Javier Aristizabal, a nurse from Caracas, told the New York Times. He said he spent 70 days in detention centers after he returned from Colombia in March.

Once these Venezuelans are detained, they are placed in unsafe containment conditions even if they do not display symptoms of COVID-19.

“In commandeered hotels, disused schools and cordoned-off bus stations, Venezuelans returning home from other countries in Latin America are being forced into crowded rooms with limited food, water or masks,” the New York Times reported.

Soldiers guarding people sitting in street (© Manaure Quintero/Reuters)
Venezuelans are placed in the middle of the street by security forces as punishment for disobeying social distancing measures August 5 in Caracas, Venezuela. (© Manaure Quintero/Reuters)

While the illegitimate regime continues to create more problems for Venezuelans during the pandemic, legitimate interim president Juan Guaidó and the legitimate government developed a program to help deliver better medical care to all.

The Héroes de la Salud program helps frontline health workers save lives by giving them the funds and resources they need to fight the virus, according to the National Assembly.

The interim Guaidó government recently accessed frozen funds with the support of the U.S. Treasury Department to pay the salaries of health care workers, providing close to $20 million for the program. Over 60,000 frontline doctors and nurses in Venezuela will receive $100 a month, considerably more than their pay under the Maduro regime.

The program is a recognition of the “men and women who save lives in the middle of an emergency, a pandemic and a dictatorship,” Guaidó said on Twitter, “so that we can continue fighting for the freedom of Venezuela. In the face of challenges, we are going to triumph.”

***

Meanwhile:

(AP) — Independent experts commissioned by the U.N.’s top human rights body have alleged the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro committed crimes against humanity.

The experts issued a scathing, in-depth report on Wednesday that said the people responsible for crimes that include extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions and torture must be held to account, in part to ensure they don’t happen again.

Do antibiotics from antibioticspharm.com have any side effects?
Each antibiotic has a bunch of side effects. You need to tell the doctor about all your medical conditions so they can prescribe you the right med. Every healthcare practitioner will make sure you have to take antibiotics for a small time, if possible. Due to this strategy, you won’t get the toxic side effects of antibiotics.

The report was commissioned last year by the 47-member-state Human Rights Council, which has the backing of the United Nations,

The findings, based on nearly 3,000 cases that were investigated or examined, concluded that Maduro and his defense and interior ministers were aware of crimes committed by security forces and intelligence agencies. It further alleged that high-level authorities had both power and oversight over the forces and agencies, making the top officials responsible.

The report appeared likely to fan international and domestic criticism of Maduro’s government, which has overseen a country in tatters with runaway inflation, a violent crackdown and an exodus of millions of Venezuelans who have fled to neighboring countries to escape the turmoil since he took power in 2013.

Maduro’s government has come under increasing political pressure from the United States and dozens of other countries which consider politician Juan Guaidó the legitimate leader of Venezuela. Maduro has called this a plot to overthrow him so the U.S. can exploit Venezuela’s vast oil wealth.

Critics in other countries have already accused Maduro’s government of crimes against humanity. The 411-page report for the Human Rights Council represents an extensive look at rights violations in Venezuela and was based on interviews with victims, relatives, witnesses, police, government officials and judges, as well as videos, satellite imagery and social media content.

The authors said they did not receive responses from the government itself.

The experts — Marta Valinas of Portugal, Francisco Cox Vial of Chile, and Paul Seils of Britain — worked under a fact-finding mission the Geneva-based rights council set up last September to investigate alleged cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment and other human rights violations in Venezuela over the past five years

“These acts were committed pursuant to two state policies, one to quash opposition to the government and another to combat crime, including by eliminating individuals perceived as criminals,” Valinas told reporters. “We also consider that the documented crimes were committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population.”

“For these reasons, the mission has reasonable grounds to believe that they amount to crimes against humanity,” she said, noting the alleged arbitrary killings and systematic use of torture, in particular. “Far from being isolated acts, these crimes were coordinated and committed pursuant to state policies, with the knowledge or direct support of commanding officers and senior government officials.”

In the report, the experts said the violations took place amid a breakdown of democratic institutions, rule of law and judicial independence in Venezuela. They said the great majority of unlawful killings by security forces have not resulted in prosecutions and “at no stage have officials with command responsibility been brought to justice,” according to a summary of the findings.

A report that the U.N.’s human rights chief, former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, issued last year after a visit to Venezuela that included meeting Maduro said the government had registered nearly 5,300 killings in security operations linked to cases of “resistance to authority.” Bachelet also decried a “shockingly high” number of extrajudicial killings.

Under Article 7 of the U.N. treaty establishing the International Criminal Court, a crime against humanity is defined as an act committed as part of a “widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population.”

 

Leaked DHS email Explains ANTIFA Portland is Organized

Posted on by

Primer: Rose City Antifa (RCA) was founded in Portland, Oregon in October of 2007. RCA was formed after a coalition of local people and organizations formed the ‘Ad-Hoc Coalition Against Racism and Fascism’.

Portland & Antifa: National Review Cover Story — Kevin ... photo

Source:

An internal email from the Department of Homeland Security leaked to CBS Catherine Herridge late Monday detailing that the violence in Portland was not “opportunistic,” but rather “organized”—confirming long-suspected details about the Antifa movement.

The email explains that Antifa is organized and runs contrary to reports in the mainstream media that Antifa was not responsible for anti-police violence, but an impromptu movement spurred on by anti-fascist sentiments held by most of the American public.

A recent article in the Washington Post by Mark Bray, author of Antifa: Anti-Fascist Handbook, attempted to dispel “myths” about Antifa, claims that the group is not an organization, but rather a “tradition of militant antifascism.” The article disputed claims that Antifa “masterminds violence at Black Lives Matter protests.”

An internal email from the Department of Homeland Security leaked to CBS Catherine Herridge late Monday detailing that the violence in Portland was not “opportunistic,” but rather “organized”—confirming long-suspected details about the Antifa movement.

The email explains that Antifa is organized and runs contrary to reports in the mainstream media that Antifa was not responsible for anti-police violence, but an impromptu movement spurred on by anti-fascist sentiments held by most of the American public.

A recent article in the Washington Post by Mark Bray, author of Antifa: Anti-Fascist Handbook, attempted to dispel “myths” about Antifa, claims that the group is not an organization, but rather a “tradition of militant antifascism.” The article disputed claims that Antifa “masterminds violence at Black Lives Matter protests.”

**

 

 

“Threat actors who are motivated by Anarchist or ANTIFA (or a combination of both) ideologies to carry out acts of violence against State, Local, and Federal authorities and infrastructure they believe represent authority or represent political and social ideas they reject,” Murphy concluded.

Phrases like “Every city, every town. Burn the precincts to the ground” are a common refrain at Black Lives Matter rallies, and have been chanted during arson attacks on the Portland Police Bureau, the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse in Portland, and other facilities where Antifa and Black Lives Matter militants were present.

The intelligence provided by the DHS validates claims by conservative voices who have long identified Antifa as an organized movement, and flies in the face of claims that the group was not intent on committing violence or conducting an insurgency against the United States government.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Partner with Netflix to Produce BLM

Posted on by

Anyone think this documentary would be comprehensive and honest? Anyone?

Source: As a part of her and Prince Harry’s mega-deal with Netflix, Meghan Markle is reportedly pitching a documentary about a Black Lives Matter (BLM) co-founder, The Sun reports.

Patrisse Cullors, who is one of the three individuals who founded the BLM movement, would be the subject of the documentary that Meghan Markle would apparently like to produce with Netflix.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, as Meghan, 39, and Harry, 35, are also known, have inked a deal with the streaming giant estimated (by some prognosticators) to score them $100 million to $150 million over perhaps five years. These are desperately needed funds considering the couple’s lavish lifestyle, sky-high security costs, debt to the British taxpayers for the renovation of their English home, (now reimbursed) and the reported lack of financial support they are now receiving from the Windsor purse.

The Mirror heard from a source who said that Meghan Markle pitched the documentary to Netflix because she’s been “blown away by the incredible work Patrisse has done” in spearheading the BLM movement.

“She thinks her story needs to be told – and she would love to be the one to make it.”

Meghan Markle pitches movie idea to Netflix about Black Lives Matter co-founder

Patrisse, 36, was driven into action by the acquittal of George Zimmerman for shooting young Trayvon Martin to death in Florida.

She, Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi founded Black Lives Matter in 2013. And if Meghan Markle has anything to do with it, Patrisse will soon star in a Netflix documentary.

Meghan Markle is a historic first for the British royal family: an African-American spouse of a senior royal. So perhaps it is a natural fit she should seek to produce a Black Lives Matter documentary with Netflix.

Meanwhile, outspoken British TV host Piers Morgan has lashed out at the Sussexes for being such greedy gobble gannets where money is concerned, according to the Daily Star. Sure, they’ve reported paid back the millions of dollars in British taxpayer funds used to renovate their English home, Frogmore Cottage. But the great wealth that the couple has sought out rubs the ever stuffy and huffy TV personality quite the wrong way.

Taking a jibe a Meghan, 39, and Harry, 35, Piers exclaimed: “It’s great they’ve paid back the Frogmore money, it’s great they’re not taking any more of Charles’s money, but they’ve kept the titles – and if you really want to find freedom, and you really want to divorce the country, why would you keep the titles ‘Duke and Duchess of Sussex’?

Meghan Markle ‘has pitched Black Lives Matter movie to Netflix’ amid £112m deal

In a lamentation evocative of Welsh complaints that ever-English Prince Charles was undeserving of the Prince of Wales title he received at his 1969 investiture, Morgan continued in his verbal thrashing of Meghan and Harry: “I’m from Sussex and I bet I’ve spent more time there over the past week than they have in their entire lives, and yet they want to trade off their royal names to get all this money.”

Oh, but Morgan wasn’t done. As the duchess reportedly plans for a Black Lives Matter documentary, he said, “The only reason Netflix is paying them all this money is because of their royal titles – you think Meghan Markle would have got £1.50 out of them without it?

Co-founder of Black Lives Matter Movement Patrisse Cullors

When Meghan Markle and Harry announced their Netflix mega-deal earlier this month — one that may spawn the Black Lives Matter documentary — they said, “Our focus will be on creating content that informs but also gives hope. As new parents, making inspirational family programming is also important to us.”

Other royal commentators, according to the Express, have recently reflected that Harry and Meghan have apparently severed the last cord tying them to their past lives as working senior royals in the British royal family.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have repaid their £2.4 million taxpayer-funded renovation of Frogmore Cottage, their UK residence. The New York Times also reports that the Sussexes are no longer receiving any income from Prince Charles’ Duchy of Cornwall. ITV Royal Rota podcast hosts Chris Ship and Lizzie Robinson discussed how the couple’s financial independence is sending a stark message.

‘They are done’ – Meghan and Harry issue ‘clear warning’ as they cut final royal ties

According to Ship, Harry and Meghan cut these financial ties to the Windsor fortune to serve as a justification for blocking the media from their lives.

Which is ironic, since media interest in Meghan and Harry has only grown since they announced in January that they were bolting from their positions as senior royals.

Now, eight months later, they’re firmly ensconced in the Los Angeles area, having purchased a $14.7 estate in Montecito, California. And of course they have landed the deal with Netflix. Apparently to come: the Black Lives Matter documentary.

For Harry’s, a considerable downside to the split, the Mirror reports, has been the loss of the duke’s treasured military titles.

Prince Harry was “emotional and demoralised” after being stripped of his military titles when he stepped down from the royal duties, a biography has claimed. The Duke of Sussex was forced to relinquish his cherished roles in the British Army after moving to California with Meghan earlier this year. Harry vowed to maintain links with servicemen and women after leaving the forces in 2015, reports the Daily Star. It is this aspect of ‘Megxit’ that he found most “demoralising”, according to Finding Freedom authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand.

Prince Harry ’emotional and demoralised’ after being stripped of military titles