Amy Spiro is one of many Israeli journalists who recently received a direct message on her Twitter account linking to a sensational news story. The sender, using the Jewish-sounding name "Bina Melamed", directed her to a fake story falsely alleging former Israeli defence minister Avigdor Lieberman was a Russian spy. "I just ignored it until I saw a lot of other people were talking about it," said Spiro, who works for the Jerusalem Post. She avoided falling victim to the ruse, but four Israeli journalists -- hoodwinked by the article appearing on a rogue but convincing duplicate of Harvard University's website -- spread the story, before it was exposed. Bina Melamed, which turned out to be a fake account operating from Turkey, has become a cause celebre of attempts to propagate fake news in Israel through bots. And cases of cyber sabotage are rising, ahead of April elections. So a coalition of Israeli diplomats, programmers and hackers have joined forces to stave off threats -- … [Read more...] about Israel seeks to beat election cyber bots
Saudi arabia cyber attack
Evidence shows Khashoggi’s missing body is inside Saudi consul’s well: Authors
İpek Özbey - ISTANBUL All evidence collected by Turkey point that the missing body of journalist Jamal Khashoggi is inside the well of the garden of the Saudi consul’s house, after it was carefully placed there by the instructions of the “Tiger Team” of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the writers of a new book on the murder say. Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post and a prominent critic of Prince Mohammed, went missing after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. After weeks-long denial of the murder and under international pressure, Saudi Arabia had finally detained 18 people, but the questions about the whereabouts of Khashoggi’s body remain unanswered. A book that was published in Turkey this week, called “Diplomatic Atrocity: Dark Secrets of the Khashoggi Murder,” compiled interviews with top Turkish officials to shed light on the crime. According to the book’s writers Abdurrahman Şimşek, Nazif … [Read more...] about Evidence shows Khashoggi’s missing body is inside Saudi consul’s well: Authors
Amnesty wants Israeli cyber firm’s licence revoked for allegedly spying on its staff and Saudi dissidents
Amnesty International said it is considering legal action against an Israeli cyber firm for allegedly spying on its staff, after Israeli media reported the same company had offered Saudi Arabia surveillance software for hacking mobile phones belonging to activists connected to murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The rights group said it lodged a request two weeks ago with the Israeli defence ministry to revoke the export licence of Israel-based NSO Group, in light of an attempted cyber-attack on an Amnesty staff member in June. When the request was rejected, the group said it decided to seek legal advice to challenge the ministry’s decision. Amnesty’s statement came just days after an investigation by Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported NSO had peddled its powerful “Pegasus 3” software to the Saudis, to offer them the capability of hacking the phones of dissidents. In a statement to Amnesty, NSO Group said its product “is intended to … [Read more...] about Amnesty wants Israeli cyber firm’s licence revoked for allegedly spying on its staff and Saudi dissidents
Russian hackers linked to attempted sabotage of Saudi energy plant
A state-owned Russian research group has been linked to a devastating cyber-attack that caused an explosion at a Saudi petrochemical plant last year. The attack in August 2017 hit an oil and gas facility in Saudi Arabia that was supplied with technology from French firm Schneider Electric. At the time, the attack was described as a "watershed" moment in cyber security because it was the first known attempt to take control of an emergency-shutdown system designed to save human lives. Cybersecurity group FireEye discovered that the Central Scientific Research Institute of Chemistry and Mechanics, based in Moscow, was responsible for at least part of malware that infected the system. The hackers, dubbed TEMP.Veles, used Triton to reprogram controllers used to monitor the plant for safety issues. FireEye's director of intelligence John Hultquist said the attack "inadvertently shut down a plant when the actors were trying to … [Read more...] about Russian hackers linked to attempted sabotage of Saudi energy plant
Britain is abandoning both Europe and its own liberal values
Preoccupied with Brexit and the need to cultivate new trading partners, the country is prioritising investment over human rights, and enabling authoritarianism elsewhere, says Mark Malloch-BrownBritain's words and actions on the world stage are so at odds now with its values that one must wonder what has happened to it. Since the June, 2016 Brexit referendum, British foreign policy has all but collapsed. It seems to have disowned its past and its governing ideas.Worse, this has coincided with the emergence of US president Donald Trump’s erratic administration, which is pursuing goals that are detached from Britain’s and from Europe’s generally.Trump’s abandonment of the Iran nuclear deal, combined with Russian president, Vladimir Putin’s increasing belligerence and Chinese president, Xi Jinping’s growing ambitions, indicates that the world is entering an ever-more confrontational and dangerous phase.Trump’s lack of personal chemistry … [Read more...] about Britain is abandoning both Europe and its own liberal values