Islamic State battles Syrian rebel forces in Damascus | We're at Cyberwar: A Global Guide to Nation-State Digital Attacks
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Syrian rebel forces have come under attack from Islamic State (IS) on the southern outskirts of Damascus.
Militants from the jihadist group are reportedly battling Jaysh al-Islam fighters in the Qadam district and those of Ajnad al-Sham in nearby Asali.
The fighting has brought IS closer than ever to the heart of the capital.
Correspondents say it is unclear whether the attacks will be limited to rebel-held areas or will later shift to the government-controlled city centre.
IS militants launched the assaults on Qadam and Asali over the weekend from Hajar al-Aswad, where they have been based since July 2014.
The pro-IS Amaq news agency reported that the jihadist group had captured half of Qadam and supporters posted photographs purportedly showing militants advancing through the district.
However, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based monitoring group, said they were only believed to control two streets.
There have so far been no reports of any clashes between IS and government forces in the area.
A Syrian military official told the AFP news agency that he was "very happy" about the jihadists' attacks on the rebels and that troops were "ready to react if they try to advance into government-held territory".
The Observatory said Qadam had been relatively quiet since a truce between rebel groups and government forces there a year ago.
In April, IS militants based in Hajar al-Aswad briefly took control of parts of the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp. That same month, they kidnapped two rebel fighters from Qadam and beheaded them.
Every month, it seems, a mammoth cyberattack sponsored by a nation-state comes to light. In recent years, more than 20 countries have announced their intent to launch or beef up their offensive cyber capabilities. The result is a burgeoning digital arms race that presents a major threat to the security of our data. Here’s a look at the countries that have garnered the most headlines in the past few years and a comparison of how their cyber-offensive capabilities stack up. Our assessment is, of course, based only on known attacks. And attribution is often tricky. It’s difficult, forensically, to distinguish nation-state attacks from those of independent groups—even more so when China and Russia use state hackers and also pay freelancers when they gain access to useful systems. Amid the intrigue and mystery, one thing is clear—the online world is becoming an increasingly dangerous place.
United States
2001–2015: Target: the world. Seriously, the NSA’s reach appears to be limitless, according to documents leaked by Edward Snowden, which describe a vast hacking operation aimed at subverting the Internet’s infrastructure. OUTCOME: Global paranoia and a reduction in security for all.
2007: The US launched the Stuxnet worm against Iran to sabotage that country’s nuclear program.OUTCOME: Stuxnet succeeded in briefly setting back the Iranian nuclear program. The attack set a precedent for cyberwarfare, wherein countries launch digital assaults to resolve political disputes.
China
2009–2011: China allegedly hacked Google, RSA Security, and other companies to obtain source code and other sensitive data. OUTCOME: The hackers who breached RSA Security obtained core data used in the company’s two-factor authentication scheme favored by governments and corporations.
2014: China breached several databases belonging to the US Office of Personnel Management.OUTCOME: The hackers stole sensitive data, including Social Security numbers, relating to more than 21 million people interviewed for government background checks.
United Kingdom
2009–2013: The UK hacked Google’s and Yahoo’s undersea cables to siphon unencrypted traffic.OUTCOME: According to documents leaked by Snowden, the UK accessed data through taps of undersea cables belonging not just to these companies but to major telecoms too.
2012: The UK’s Government Communications Headquarters hacked Belgacom to monitor all mobile traffic passing through its routers. OUTCOME: Although the hack successfully penetrated the network, the telecom has never been clear about whether the attackers intercepted customer traffic.
Israel
2014: Israel allegedly hacked Russian security firm Kaspersky Lab to obtain intel on its research about nation-state attacks. It also struck venues in Europe where the UN Security Council met to negotiate Iran’s nuclear program. OUTCOME: The attackers may have obtained intel about Kaspersky’s research.
2012: Suspected of launching the Wiper attack against the Iranian oil ministry and the National Iranian Oil Company. OUTCOME: The malware wiped hard-drive data, then erased system files, causing the machines to crash and preventing them from rebooting. Iran insisted it had data backups.
North Korea
2014: Sony Pictures Entertainment was paralyzed by an attack. The US attributed the action to North Korea and applied additional economic sanctions against the country and specific officials.OUTCOME: The attackers nabbed gigabytes of internal data and communications, which they later posted online.
2013: Computers in South Korea were struck by a logic bomb that caused data deletion and prevented rebooting. South Korea blamed North Korea for the attack but has never produced solid evidence. OUTCOME: Two broadcast media companies and at least three banks were affected.
Iran
2012: Iran allegedly launched a virus called Shamoon against oil conglomerate Saudi Aramco’s computers. US officials blame Iran for the attack but have never produced evidence. OUTCOME:Shamoon wiped data from some 30,000 machines and destroyed system files, preventing reboots.
2011–2012: Iran launched a series of denial-of-service attacks on US banks. Though Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters took responsibility, US officials claimed Iran was retaliating for Stuxnet and UN sanctions. OUTCOME: The attacks consumed resources, but no long-term damage was reported.
Russia
2014: Russia allegedly hacked the US State Department and the White House. OUTCOME: The attackers had access to unclassified emails for President Obama as well as nonpublic details about his schedule.
2015: Russia reportedly hacked TV5Monde, a French-language broadcaster. A group calling itself the CyberCaliphate took credit, but French officials have pointed the finger at Russia. OUTCOME:The hackers blacked out broadcasting for several hours and posted messages expressing support for ISIS to the TV channel’s social media accounts.
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Dozens of miners in the Khakassia region of Russia's resourch-rich Siberia have gone on hunger strike in protest against unpaid salaries, a local news service reported Monday.
The workers are demanding three months in unpaid wages, according to the Khakasia news agency.
“We want open and transparent information about the situation, instead of the murky one [we have] now,” one of the protestors, Stepan Vorontsov, was quoted as saying.
The protestors are also looking for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, who is expected to visit the region in early September, the report said.
Over 50 miners are reportedly involved in the strike, which has lasted for a week.
Regional chief Viktor Zimin blamed the current crisis on the company that runs the mines, Yevrazruda, accusing it of abandoning unprofitable mines and their workers, Khakasia news portal reported. No comment from the company was immediately available.
“Only President Putin” can resolve the issue now, Zimin said, according to Khakassia.
Putin put an end to a similar strike at the Vostochny Cosmodrome earlier this year after workers appealed to him during his annual live-call in show.
Protests by miners and other workers over unpaid wages were common during the economic turmoil of the 1990s.
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto's approval rating sank to a new low in a poll released on Tuesday, as the embattled leader faces a struggling economy and a litany of security and conflict of interest scandals that have undercut his support.
The president's approval stands at a low of 35 percent, down from 40 percent in May and 56 percent in early 2013 shortly after he took office, according to the survey by polling firm Buendia & Laredo.
Pena Nieto was elected in 2012 to a six-year term, promising robust economic growth via economic reforms and to tame violent crime following years of drug war mayhem.
The poll also indicated that 63 percent of Mexicans believe the country is on the wrong track, a figure that has nearly doubled since Pena Nieto took office.
In the first part of his presidency, Pena Nieto enacted major economic reforms, including overhauls of the country's energy and telecommunications sectors, but problems later started to pile up.
Pena Nieto was stung by the brazen escape of drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman in July, which followed international outcry over the apparent massacre of 43 students in September by a drug gang working with local police.
The president has also faced conflict-of-interest scandals following revelations that he, his wife and his finance minister had bought houses from government contractors.
The poll surveyed 1,000 adult Mexicans between Aug. 14-19, and has a margin of error of +/- 3.53 percent.
(Reporting by Dave Graham and David Alire Garcia; Editing by Simon Gardner and W Simon)
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