Hackers Installed Sophisticated Malware on U.S. Computers. Why Doesn’t Anyone Care?

The worm was designed to gather intelligence on the ongoing Iranian nuclear talks.

There's a powerful new computer worm infiltrating computers in America and around the world http://t.co/BiLKlu6pxS

— reason (@reason) July 4, 2015

For years, cybersecurity hawks have painted grim pictures of a "cyber Pearl Harbor," when sophisticated hackers will be able to infiltrate and commandeer critical U.S. networks to wreak whatever havoc they choose. Yet for some reason, when the most advanced cyber-espionage malware known was discovered on American systems, the usually indefatigable "tough on cyberterror" crowd was quiet.

The malware was made public in June, when Russian software security firm Kaspersky Lab rocked the information-security community by revealing that a powerful computer worm—similar to the 2010 Stuxnet virus—had been unleashed on computers in America and around the world roughly one year prior. The new malware, called "Duqu 2" for its apparent succession to 2011’s Duqu worm, alarmed info-security professionals with both its unprecedented strength and audacious targets. For months, attackers deployed frighteningly sophisticated espionage technology to secretly spy on all sorts of parties involved (however tenuously) in the ongoing Iranian nuclear negotiations, including government leaders, telecommunication and electrical-equipment companies, and impartial researchers....

The Duqu family of attacks, on the other hand, optimizes certain Stuxnet methods to focus on snooping instead of hijacking. The Duqu developers were also interested in Iran, but had no aspiration to sabotage physical factories from within their own networks. Rather, Duqu 2 was designed to gather intelligence on participants to the ongoing Iranian nuclear talks.

Duqu 2 is noteworthy for the unparalleled number of victims it intentionally infected, having compromised computer systems owned or used by Western heads of state, European telecommunications providers, American corporations, and Kaspersky Labs itself. During that time, hackers could freely explore comprised systems for a pervasive surveillance operation on the multilateral nuclear negotiations. Yet the scant and nonactionable details gleaned from this paranoid bugging scheme are surely not worth the tremendous geopolitical cost that comes with it. By targeting a trusted security research center and U.S. computer systems, the Duqu 2 attackers have dangerously crossed an unspoken barrier preventing an all-out global cyber war.

The Justice Department Investigated a New York Times Reporter, Too

◼ The New York Times reports the Department of Justice investigated national security leaks given to Times reporter David Sanger over his story last year about the Stuxnet virus by pulling all the email and phone records of government officials who communicated with the reporter. - Connor Simpson | The Atlantic Wire

The Times report does paint a very detailed picture of how far the Justice Department goes with these investigations, even before they get into the legally and morally questionable practice of subpoenaing a reporters' email and phone records. As a result of the intense scrutiny, the Times says some sources are starting to clam up:

Some officials are now declining to take calls from certain reporters, concerned that any contact may lead to investigation. Some complain of being taken from their offices to endure uncomfortable questioning. And the government officials typically must pay for lawyers themselves, unlike reporters for large news organizations whose companies provide legal representation.

The intense investigation into Sanger is a little confusing. There were discussions when the story came out about how it seemed the White House may have leaked the story. Or, at the very least, they liked it. It showed the President taking action against Iran during election season. Sanger told Gawker's John Cook the White didn't protest the story being released. The White House didn't actually leak the story, Sanger said, but they didn't fight him about it either. The investigation into the Stuxnet leak was announced the same day as the AP investigation.

◼ 60% Say It’s Likely Other Agencies Targeted Conservatives, Too - Rasmussen

Most voters think the Internal Revenue Service’s decision to target conservative groups was made in Washington, D.C. and that it wasn’t the only government agency going after these groups.

Just 20% of Likely U.S. Voters believe the IRS’ explanation thus far that low-level employees at its Cincinnati office made the decision to target the conservative groups. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 65% think the orders came from Washington, with 26% who think the decision was made by someone at IRS headquarters and 39% who believe someone who works at the White House made the call. Fifteen percent (15%) are not sure.