DIAPER DON IS TOO PRE-OCCUPIED WITH SUPERFICIAL ISSUES AND HAS FAILED TO PROTECT THE NATION WHICH PUTS US ALL AT RISK. 

IT IS KNOWN THAT THE RUSSIANS HAVE HACKED INTO OUR ELECTRICAL GRID AND THEY PREVIOUSLY SHUT DOWN THE ELECTRICAL GRID IN UKRAINE.

THERE IS NO LEADERSHIP PROTECTING US.  

Report: WHOI likely hit by new cyberattack

Report: WHOI likely hit by new cyberattack

By Christine Leger
Posted Mar 5, 2019

WOODS HOLE — At least 27 universities in the U.S., Canada and Southeast Asia have been targeted by Chinese hackers, and the majority of them have research centers focusing on undersea technology along with connections to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, according to a story published in The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.

The cyber attacks appear to be aimed at securing maritime technology with military applications.

Among the universities targeted were the University of Hawaii, University of Washington and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The source of information for the article — Accenture Security’s cyber security intelligence division, iDefense — “had high confidence that Woods Hole’s network likely had been breached by the Chinese hackers,” according to the story, which relied on iDefense research the Journal had reviewed that was scheduled to be published this week.

Most of those targeted had undersea programs and links to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, which is the largest independent oceanographic research institution in the country.

MIT, Penn State and the University of Washington are all affiliated with a unit at the institution called the Acoustic Communications Group, which works on underseas communication.

Calling the story “speculation,” a spokeswoman for WHOI said there has been no evidence of a cyberattack at the institution since 2015.

In a statement issued on behalf of the research facility, Erin Koenig said the iDefense report “has not been released, so the validity of its assertions and assessment cannot be fully evaluated at this time.”

“Despite speculation published in a March 5 article in The Wall Street Journal, the Institution has seen no evidence of any significant security breach since the implementation of a robust cyber security system in 2015,” the statement said.

WHOI became aware of that earlier cyber attack in late June of 2015. The institution hired Mandant, a leading cybersecurity firm, to determine the extent of the system compromise. Their experts found the earliest evidence of hacking dated to February 2013.

The 2015 attack was attributed to an “advanced persistent threat group” also based in China, which appeared to be looking to tap into the institution’s research. An advanced persistent threat refers to a set of prolonged, sophisticated hacking processes orchestrated by individuals against an entity or nation.

Defenses against hacking at WHOI were upgraded after that breach was discovered.

“The Institution maintains an exceptionally robust, multi-tier network security system, designed, implemented, and tested in consultation with FireEye, one of the nation’s leading cybersecurity firms,” WHOI’s statement said. “The Institution also maintains a rigorous program of network monitoring and provides security training, complementing state-of-the-art hardware and software systems for threat detection, prevention, and elimination.”

WHOI officials are regularly in contact with federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and law enforcement agencies, regarding cyber security issues.

“Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution regards any threat to the integrity of scientific and defense work undertaken by this community as a matter of serious institutional and national concern,” according to the statement from the organization.

WHOI is not the only local entity to face a cyberattack.

In 2014, the Massachusetts Maritime Academy website was hacked in a cyberattack that appeared to stem from an Islamic extremist group, officials with the Buzzards Bay school said at the time. And, in November, Cape Cod Community College was hit by a cyberattack that resulted in more than $800,000 being stolen from the West Barnstable school. College officials said they were confident they would recover all or most of the stolen money.

https://www.capecodtimes.com/news/20190305/report-whoi-likely-hit-by-new-cyberattack