We have gathered the week’s most important cybersecurity news.
- According to media reports, Google has begun disconnecting Russian providers from Google Global Cache servers.
- Anonymous claimed to have gained access to data of pro-Kremlin hackers Killnet.
- Unknown hackers breached the Xinjiang police databases and provided evidence of Uyghur repression in “re-education camps”.
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Media: Google began disconnecting Russian providers from Global Cache servers
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Google notified several Russian providers about the disconnection of Google Global Cache servers, RBC reports, citing sources in the telecommunications industry.
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One of the providers that received Google’s letter, Radio Communications, confirmed that the servers were disconnected on May 19, and the notification arrived a few days later. At Radio Communications, they say such a decision may be dictated by the small amount of traffic passing through the Google Global Cache server installed at their site.
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The notification was also received by MIPT-Telecom. Presumably, the disconnection was prompted by sanctions on the institute that bears the same name.
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Major Russian operators Rostelecom, MTS and Megafon said that disconnection from Google Global Cache servers has not yet been observed.
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Google Global Cache is used to speed up loading of all Google services — including YouTube.
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Anonymous claimed access to data of pro-Kremlin hackers
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The hackers from the Anonymous group said they gained access to emails and passwords of the pro-Kremlin hacking group Killnet. The latter is linked to Russian authorities.
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JUST IN: The #Anonymous collective has hacked & released a list of emails and passwords used by the pro-Kremlin hackers Killnet, in order to discredit them and disrupt their activities.
❌️ Killnet’s User Database: https://t.co/op93SB5KFG#OpRussia #SlavaUkraini #FckPutin pic.twitter.com/i6IU74JyK7
— Anonymous TV 🇺🇦 (@YourAnonTV) May 23, 2022
The database was published publicly.
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Hackers breached the Xinjiang police and leaked data about Uyghur repression in the “re-education camps”
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The hackers breached the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region police databases and handed the information to anthropologist Adrian Zenz, who studies the repression of Uyghurs. Zenz set up a site with the obtained data and told journalists, BBC reports.
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Unknown hackers gained access to thousands of photographs of Uyghurs subjected to repression, taken between January and July 2018. Some images show guards with batons, weapons and people in handcuffs.
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BBC says the database does not contain photographs after 2018, as Chinese authorities tightened encryption standards in early 2019.
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It is claimed that about a million detainees are held in the Xinjiang re-education camps, mostly Uyghurs. China calls them “voluntary schools” for counter-terrorism and religious extremism.
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Human rights advocates have repeatedly spoken of blatant human rights abuses in the camps; researchers — about testing on Uyghurs with various mass-surveillance technologies.
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Darknet marketplace Versus shuts down due to a vulnerability
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The popular darknet marketplace Versus announced its closure after a bug was found that could access its database and reveal the IP addresses of servers. This is reported by Bleeping Computer.
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After the vulnerability was discovered, the marketplace went offline for a security audit. Some users worried the platform team might exit-scam, and about possible access to the site by FBI personnel.
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However, Versus operators assured that there was no server breach, and announced the decision to close the marketplace.
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Windscribe VPN reports possible blocking in Russia
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The Windscribe VPN team suggested that Russia may be blocking its IP addresses. Previously, users had been widely reporting connection problems.
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Roskomnadzor has not officially announced any blocking.
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The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office to bring Google into The Tor Project case
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The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office wants to bring Google into the case of The Tor Project, Roskomsvoboda reports.
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The prosecutor argues that information distributed via the Tor Browser violates Russian law and demands removing Tor Browser from Google Play.
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In 2017, by a Saratov District Court ruling, the main site The Tor Project was blocked in Russia. Roskomsvoboda lawyers appealed the restriction, obtaining cancellation of this decision and a reassessment of the case.
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Also on ForkLog:
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- The hackers stole about $438,000 through a compromised Beeple Twitter account.
- In Russia, a surveillance-complex based on social-media activity was developed.
- Media reported that the REvil case has reached a dead end.
- In the U.S. State Department, officials urged not to disconnect Russia from the Internet.
- The Solana community duped a hacker to recover stolen NFTs.
- The Wormhole team paid a white-hat hacker $10 million for a reported vulnerability.
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What to read this weekend?
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We explain China’s social-credit system that provides moral and material benefits to people with good reputations and marginalizes “low-status” citizens.
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