Sean Lyngaas, CyberScoop

Sean Lyngaas

CyberScoop

Washington, DC, United States

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Recent:
  • Unknown
Past:
  • CyberScoop
  • FedScoop
  • The New York Times
  • FCW
  • The New Republic

Past articles by Sean:

Justice Department confirms SolarWinds hackers accessed Department emails

The Justice Department on Wednesday joined a growing list of confirmed victims in the public and private sector of a suspected Russian espionage campaign that used tainted software made by SolarWinds. The attackers were able to burrow their way into the Microsoft Office 365 email accounts of Justice Department employees and potentially had access to “around 3%” of such email accounts in the… → Read More

US investigators say SolarWinds hack is ‘likely Russian in origin’

U.S. government agencies investigating a sophisticated espionage operation that uses tampered software made by SolarWinds said for the first time Tuesday that the hacking is “likely Russian in origin,” calling it “a serious compromise that will require a sustained and dedicated effort to remediate.” The statement from multiple federal agencies — one of the most detailed official comments yet… → Read More

Senator: SolarWinds hackers breached ‘dozens’ of Treasury email accounts

The fallout from a sweeping hacking campaign by suspected Russian operatives continued Monday as Sen. Ron Wyden said that the hackers had breached “dozens of email accounts” of officials at the Treasury Department. The hackers “broke into systems in the Departmental Offices division of Treasury, home to the department’s highest-ranking officials,” Wyden said after Treasury officials briefed the… → Read More

National security officials brief Biden team on SolarWinds hacking campaign

U.S. national security officials have briefed the transition team for President-elect Joe Biden and Capitol Hill aides on the consequences of a suspected government-backed hacking campaign affecting multiple federal agencies, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. Trump administration officials held multiple briefings on the topic for Biden aides on Monday, and there is a… → Read More

COVID-19 hacking extends to supply chain for controlling vaccine temperature, IBM says

The phishing campaign began in September and has targeted organizations in six countries in Europe and Asia, according to IBM. → Read More

Senior DHS cybersecurity official Bryan Ware to step down

Ware said he's looking to start a technology company. → Read More

Ransomware incidents in manufacturing grow as transparency, and attack options, increase

Manufacturing, like other sectors such as health care, has endured a rise in opportunistic attacks from criminals. → Read More

Breach at food delivery service Chowbus reportedly affects hundreds of thousands of customers

The incident is a blow for a budding company that had recently attracted funding from Silicon Valley and New York venture firms alike. → Read More

How hackers took over Facebook accounts to steal millions, promote scams

Facebook has fended off plenty of phony, pill-pushing ad campaigns over the years, but the company disrupted one effort last year that was particularly pernicious, and effective. Hackers defrauded Facebook users out of more than $4 million in a scheme that security staffers have connected to a cybercrime network in China. The details, revealed Thursday, demonstrate how attackers breached… → Read More

GAO criticizes rollout of two key Trump administration cyber initiatives

In the face of persistent cyberthreats, the White House effort to fix important U.S. security weaknesses risks coming up short, GAO says. → Read More

Ohio becomes first state to release vulnerability policy for election-related websites

Ohio has established guidelines for security experts to help fix software flaws in the state’s election-related websites, the first such move by a state. → Read More

Top voting vendor ES&S publishes vulnerability disclosure policy

Election Systems & Software announced a policy to work closely with security researchers to find software bugs in the company’s IT networks and websites. → Read More

DARPA invites hackers to break hardware to make it more secure

Software bug bounties are ubiquitous in the cybersecurity industry, but those focused on hardware are rarer. → Read More

FBI offers US companies more details from investigations of health care hacking

The memo includes multiple examples since February of state-linked hackers trying to compromise organizations to steal data, spoil it or hold it for ransom. → Read More

Security pros help HHS fix a website flaw that exposed visitors to malware

The issue risked exposing people to malware used to steal credit card information and email credentials. → Read More

All hands on deck: Infosec volunteers to protect medical organizations during COVID-19 crisis

Hackers crossed a line last week when they struck the computer network of the Czech Republic’s second largest hospital as it was testing people for the novel coronavirus. Former White House and British intelligence officials condemned the cyberattack. It is the sort of digital depravity that U.S. prosecutors have vowed to crack down on during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was also a tipping point… → Read More

HHS saw increase in network scanning in midst of COVID-19 outreach

HHS saw an uptick in scanning, and U.S. officials are investigating. → Read More

European power grid organization says its IT network was hacked

Multiple European utilities are investigating the incident. → Read More

Super Tuesday gives feds and states a test run for securing November vote

While there were some notable technical glitches in the voting process, nothing malicious came to pass. → Read More

Inside the FBI's quiet 'ransomware summit'

To help stop ransomware attacks, the FBI quietly convened the country’s top ransomware experts in an unprecedented, closed-door conference in September. → Read More