Stay informed on government cyber security initiatives, policy changes, and threats. Your source for the latest in government infosec news and updates.
Search across headline titles and summaries.
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 Russian government shared a list of 17,576 IP addresses allegedly used to launch distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks targeting Russian organizations and their networks. [...]
Charities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) providing critical support in Ukraine are targeted in malware attacks aiming to disrupt their operations and relief efforts seeking to assist those affected by Russia's war. [...]
As the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict continues to escalate, the Russian government on Thursday released a massive list containing 17,576 IP addresses and 166 domains that it said are behind a series of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks aimed at its domestic infrastructure
The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) said today "enemy" hackers are using compromised local government and regional authorities' websites to push rumors that Ukraine surrendered and signed a peace treaty with Russia. [...]
Potential mass internet surveillance idea dropped after ISP pushback, uncertainty about the final measures linger While the world watches Ukraine, the British government has quietly dropped a requirement for mass surveillance of UK internet users by their service providers.…
Earlier this week, a Ukrainian security researcher leaked almost two years’ worth of internal chat logs from Conti, one of the more rapacious and ruthless ransomware gangs in operation today. Tuesday’s story examined how Conti dealt with its own internal breaches and attacks from private security firms and governments. In Part II of this series we’ll explore what it’s like to work for Conti, as described by the Conti employees themselves.
Details of a new nation-state sponsored phishing campaign has been uncovered setting its sights on European governmental entities in what's seen as an attempt to obtain intelligence on refugee and supply movement in the region
A spear-phishing campaign likely coordinated by a state-backed threat actor has been targeting European government personnel providing logistics support to Ukrainian refugees. [...]
Sally Kenyon Grant has been appointed as VP of Darktrace Federal, leading initiatives supporting U.S. government cybersecurity operations.
A Ukrainian security researcher this week leaked several years of internal chat logs and other sensitive data tied to Conti, an aggressive and ruthless Russian cybercrime group that focuses on deploying its ransomware to companies with more than $100 million in annual revenue. The chat logs offer a fascinating glimpse into the challenges of running a sprawling criminal enterprise with more than 100 salaried employees. The records also provide insight into how Conti has dealt with its own internal breaches and attacks from private security firms and foreign governments.
A new data wiper malware has been observed deployed against an unnamed Ukrainian government network, a day after destructive cyber attacks struck multiple entities in the country preceding the start of Russia's military invasion
Newly discovered malware was deployed in destructive attacks against Ukrainian organizations and governmental networks before and after Russia invaded the country on February 24. [...]
A previously undocumented espionage tool has been deployed against selected governments and other critical infrastructure targets as part of a long-running espionage campaign orchestrated by China-linked threat actors since at least 2013
'Daxin' malware creates backdoors and may have been used since 2013 The United States' Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), working with security vendor Symantec, has found an extremely sophisticated network attack tool that can invisibly create backdoors, has been plausibly linked to Chinese actors, and may have been in use since 2013.…
A stealthy backdoor program used by China-linked threat actors has targeted government computers at multiple foreign agencies, allowing attackers to retain a presence on sensitive networks and exfiltrate data while remaining undetected.
An Iranian geopolitical nexus threat actor has been uncovered deploying two new targeted malware that come with "simple" backdoor functionalities as part of an intrusion against an unnamed Middle East government entity in November 2021