News
Lankans victim of India based cyber espionage?
Sri Lanka is among the south Asian nations where people’s data had been harvested by an India-based threat actor dubbed Patchwork, says the Hacker News.
It said that the Meta has uncovered massive social media cyber espionage operations across South Asia, adding that three different threat actors leveraged hundreds of elaborate fictitious personas on Facebook and Instagram to target individuals located in South Asia as part of disparate attacks.
“Each of these advanced persistent threats (APTs) relied heavily on social engineering to trick people into clicking on malicious links, downloading malware or sharing personal information across the internet,” Guy Rosen, chief information security officer at Meta, said. “This investment in social engineering meant that these threat actors did not have to invest as much on the malware side.”
The fake accounts, in addition to using traditional lures like women looking for a romantic connection, masqueraded as recruiters, journalists, or military personnel.
At least two of the cyber espionage efforts entailed the use of low-sophistication malware with reduced capabilities, likely in an attempt to get past app verification checks established by Apple and Google.
One of the groups that came under Meta’s radar is a Pakistan-based advanced persistent threat (APT) group that relied on a network of 120 accounts on Facebook and Instagram and rogue apps and websites to infect military personnel in India and among the Pakistan Air Force with GravityRAT under the guise of cloud storage and entertainment apps.
The tech giant also expunged about 110 accounts on Facebook and Instagram linked to an APT identified as Bahamut that targeted activists, government employees, and military staff in India and Pakistan with Android malware published in the Google Play Store. The apps, which posed as secure chat or VPN apps, have since been removed.
Lastly, it purged 50 accounts on Facebook and Instagram tied to an India-based threat actor dubbed Patchwork, which took advantage of malicious apps uploaded to the Play Store to harvest data from victims in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Tibet, and China.
Also disrupted by meta are six adversarial networks from the U.S., Venezuela, Iran, China, Georgia, Burkina Faso, and Togo that engaged in what it called “coordinated inauthentic behavior” on Facebook and other social media platforms like Twitter, Telegram, YouTube, Medium, TikTok, Blogspot, Reddit, and WordPress.
All these geographically dispersed networks are said to have set up fraudulent news media brands, hacktivist groups, and NGOs to build credibility, with three of them linked to a U.S.-based marketing firm named Predictvia, a political marketing consultancy in Togo known as the Groupe Panafricain pour le Commerce et l’Investissement (GPCI), and Georgia’s Strategic Communications Department.
Two networks that originated from China operated dozens of fraudulent accounts, pages, and groups across Facebook and Instagram to target users in India, Tibet, Taiwan, Japan, and the Uyghur community.
In both instances, Meta said it took down the activities before they could “build an audience” on its services, adding it found associations connecting one network to individuals associated with a Chinese IT firm referred to as Xi’an Tianwendian Network Technology.
The network from Iran, per the social media giant, primarily singled out Israel, Bahrain, and France, corroborating an earlier assessment from Microsoft about Iran’s involvement in the hacking of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in January 2023.
“The people behind this network used fake accounts to post, like and share their own content to make it appear more popular than it was, as well as to manage Pages and Groups posing as hacktivist teams,” Meta said. “They also liked and shared other people’s posts about cyber security topics, likely to make fake accounts look more credible.”
The disclosure also coincides with a new report from Microsoft, which revealed that Iranian state-aligned actors are increasingly relying on cyber-enabled influence operations to “boost, exaggerate, or compensate for shortcoming in their network access or cyberattack capabilities” since June 2022.
The Iranian government has been linked by Redmond to 24 such operations in 2022, up from seven in 2021, including clusters tracked as Moses Staff, Homeland Justice, Abraham’s Ax, Holy Souls, and DarkBit. Seventeen of the operations have taken place since June 2022.
The Windows maker further said it observed “multiple Iranian actors attempting to use bulk SMS messaging in three cases in the second half of 2022, likely to enhance the amplification and psychological effects of their cyber-influence operations.”
The shift in tactics is also characterized by the rapid exploitation of known security flaws, use of victim websites for command-and-control, and adoption of bespoke implants to avoid detection and steal information from victims.
The operations, which have singled out Israel and the U.S. as a retaliation for allegedly fomenting unrest in the nation, have sought to bolster Palestinian resistance, instigate unrest in Bahrain, and counter the normalization of Arab-Israeli relations.
The U.S. Embassy in Colombo welcomed the U.S. Sports Envoys to Sri Lanka, former National Basketball Association (NBA) and Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) players Stephen Howard and Astou Ndiaye, from June 8 through 14.
The Public Diplomacy section of the U.S. Embassy said that it would launch a weeklong basketball program intended to harness the unifying power of sports, made possible through collaboration with Foundation of Goodness and IImpact Hoop Lab.
While in Sri Lanka, Howard and Ndiaye, both retired professional basketball players, will conduct a weeklong program, Hoops for Hope: Bridging Borders through Basketball. The Sports Envoys will lead basketball clinics and exhibition matches and engage in leadership sessions in Colombo and Southern Province for youth aged 14-18 from Northern, Uva, Eastern and Western Provinces, offering skills and leadership training both on and off the court. The U.S. Envoys will also share their expertise with the Sri Lanka Basketball Federation, national coaches, and players, furthering the development of basketball in the country. Beyond the clinics, they will collaborate with Sri Lankan schoolchildren to take part in a community service project in the Colombo area.
“We are so proud to welcome Stephen and Astou as our Sports Envoys to Sri Lanka, to build on the strong people-to-people connections between the United States and Sri Lanka,” said U.S. Ambassador Julie Chung. “The lessons that will be shared by our Sports Envoys – communication, teamwork, resilience, inclusion, and conflict resolution – are essential for leadership development, community building, equality, and peace. The U.S. Sports Envoy program is a testament to our belief that sports can be a powerful tool in promoting peace and unity.”
SJB Colombo District MP Mujibur Rahuman in parliament demanded to know from the government the reasons for CEB suspending the leave of all its employees until further notice from Thursday.
MP Rahuman said that the CEB has got an acting General Manager anew and the latter yesterday morning issued a circular suspending leave of all CEB employees with immediate effect until further notice.
“We demand that Minister Kanchana Wijesekera should explain this to the House. This circular was issued while this debate on the new Electricity Amendment Bill was pending. There are many who oppose this Bill. The Minister must tell parliament the reason for the urge to cancel the leave of CEB employees,” the MP said.However, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena prevented Minister Wijesekera responding to the query and said that the matter raised by MP Rahuman was not relevant.
The Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM) successfully concluded the 8th Annual CIPM Symposium, which took place on 31st May 2024. Themed “Nurturing the Human Element—Redefining HRM in a Rapidly Changing World,” the symposium underscored the pivotal role of human resource management (HRM) in today’s dynamic global landscape. Since its inception in 1959, CIPM has been dedicated to advancing the HR profession through education, professional development, and advocacy, solidifying its position as Sri Lanka’s leading professional body for HRM.
Ken Vijayakumar, the President of the CIPM, graced the occasion as the chief guest. The symposium commenced with the welcome address by the Chairperson, Prof. Arosha Adikaram, followed by the Web Launch of the Symposium Proceedings and Abstract Book by the CIPM President. The event featured distinguished addresses, including a speech by Chief Guest Ken Vijayakumar, President of CIPM, and an address by Guest of Honor Shakthi Ranatunga, Chief Operating Officer of MAS Holdings Pvt. Ltd., Sri Lanka.
The symposium also featured an inspiring keynote address by Prof. Mario Fernando, Professor of Management and Director of the Centre for Cross Cultural Management (CCCM) at the University of Wollongong, Australia.
Vote of Thanks of the inauguration session was delivered by Dr. Dillanjani Weeratunga, Symposium Co-chair.
The symposium served as a comprehensive platform for researchers to present their findings across a wide range of critical topics in HRM. These included Cultural Diversity and Inclusion, Talent Development and Retention, Ethical Leadership and Corporate Social Responsibility, Adapting to Technological Advancements, Mental Health and Well-being at Work, Global Workforce Challenges, Employee Empowerment, and Reskilling and Upskilling.
The plenary session was led by Prof. Wasantha Rajapakse. Certificates were awarded to the best paper presenters during the valedictory session, followed by a vote of thanks delivered by Kamani Perera, Manager of Research and Development.
The annual symposium of CIPM was a truly inclusive event, attracting a diverse audience that spanned undergraduates, graduates, working professionals, research scholars and lecturers. This widespread interest highlights the symposium’s significance in the field of HRM, offering a unique opportunity for everyone to network and learn from scholarly brains.The CIPM International Research Symposium was sponsored by Hambantota International Port, Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT), E B Creasy & Co. PLC, and Print Xcel Company.
US sports envoys to Lanka to champion youth development
Rahuman questions sudden cancellation of leave of CEB employees
