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Background for this topic.
Government encompasses public institutions and the systems used to administer services, enforce laws, manage public funds, and protect classified or otherwise sensitive information. Its distinctive assets include identity and benefits records, tax and health data, diplomatic material, election infrastructure, and operational technology supporting utilities or emergency services. Availability and integrity can be as important as confidentiality: outages or altered records may disrupt essential services, public safety, or legal processes.
Security therefore spans citizen-facing portals, internal networks, remote access, contractors, and shared infrastructure, including systems that depend on legacy technology or tightly connected suppliers. Espionage, credential compromise, exploitation of unpatched vulnerabilities, and disruptive attacks are material risks, though exposure varies by agency and system. Useful controls include strong identity management, network segmentation, encryption, privacy safeguards, prioritized vulnerability management, tested backups, and rehearsed incident response. Procurement rules, records obligations, and sector-specific compliance also shape how agencies collect, retain, share, and investigate data.
The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions against a Chinese cybersecurity company and a Shanghai-based cyber actor for their alleged links to the Salt Typhoon group and the recent compromise of the federal agency
Department of Treasury Imposes SanctionsThe U.S. federal government said Friday it's traced the source of Chinese hacker intrusions into telecom networks to a government contractor located in hacking hotbed Sichuan. The Department of Treasury imposed sanctions on the firm, Sichuan Juxinhe Network Technology.
With Biden reportedly planning to skirt enforcement and kick the can to Trump, this saga might still not be over The US Supreme Court has upheld a law requiring TikTok to either divest from its Chinese parent company ByteDance or face a ban in the United States. The decision eliminates the final legal obstacle to the federal government forcing a shutdown of the platform on January 19.…
Treasury Also Sanctions Chinese Company for Supplying Tech EquipmentThe U.S. federal government targeted for sanctions a network of North Korean front companies and a Chinese supplier that support a Pyongyang program of planting remote IT workers into Western corporations. The front companies are Korea Osong Shipping and Chonsurim Trading Corporation.
The Russian threat actor known as Star Blizzard has been linked to a new spear-phishing campaign that targets victims' WhatsApp accounts, signaling a departure from its longstanding tradecraft in a likely attempt to evade detection
Hackers Exploit Malicious Macros in Diplomatic Documents to Target Asian NationsHackers possibly from the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate have been spying on neighboring government of Kazakhstan using legitimate documents that have been booby-trapped with malicious macros. The latest campaign, dubbed "Double-Tap," emerged in October 2024.
US Cyber Defense Agency Was Not Initially Aware Hackers Were Part of Salt TyphoonThe U.S. federal government's first hint that Chinese hackers penetrated American telecommunications infrastructure came from telemetry on government networks, said Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
CISA shared guidance for government agencies and enterprises on using expanded cloud logs in their Microsoft 365 tenants as part of their forensic and compliance investigations. [...]
We are only seeing 'the tip of the iceberg,' Easterly warns Beijing's Salt Typhoon cyberspies had been seen in US government networks before telcos discovered the same foreign intruders in their own systems, according to CISA boss Jen Easterly.…
In 2024, the Taiwanese government saw the daily average of attempted attacks by China double to 2.4 million, with a focus on government targets and telecommunications firms.
Executive Order Paves Way for Data Centers on Federal Land, Clean Energy ProgressThe U.S. federal government will open up sites to developers of AI frontier models to build gigawatt-scale data centers with clean energy under an executive order signed Tuesday by President Joe Biden. AI applications are expected to drive soaring energy demands well beyond 2030.
National Security and Hacking Worries Underpin Concerns over Supply Chain RiskThe U.S. federal government is telling the automotive industry to stop buying Chinese manufactured hardware and software powering onboard telematics and automated driving systems, warning that the potential for nation-state hacking and espionage poses a national security risk.
Hey, Xi: Zài jiàn! The FBI, working with French cops, obtained nine warrants to remotely wipe PlugX malware from thousands of Windows-based computers that had been infected by Chinese government-backed criminals, according to newly unsealed court documents.…
British Government Proposals Also Include Payment Bans for Critical InfrastructureBanning ransom payments by public sector and critical infrastructure entities, notifying the government of any intent to pay a ransom, and reporting incidents to authorities comprise three counter-ransomware initiatives proposed by the British government. Which ones will pass muster?
A UK government consultation has proposed banning public sector and critical infrastructure organizations from making ransomware payments to disincentivize attackers from targeting these services
Stronger proposals may also see private sector applying for a payment 'license' A total ban on ransomware payments across the public sector might actually happen after the UK government opened a consultation on how to combat the trend of criminals locking up whole systems and taxpayers footing the bill.…
A joint government advisory has set out steps critical infrastructure firms should take to ensure any OT products they purchase are secure by design