Month: June 2022

A global cyber espionage campaign dubbed “OperationCuckooBees” has been uncovered, targeting manufacturers across North America, Europe and Asia in the Defense, Energy, Aerospace, Biotech and Pharma industries.

According to Boston based company Cybereason, this is one of the largest IP theft campaigns of its kind coming from China.

Cybereason last month published new research on Operation CuckooBees, a 12-month investigation into Winnti Group’s global cyber espionage campaign targeting manufacturers across the world.

“Operation Cuckoo Bees research is the culmination of a 12 month investigation that highlights the intricate and extensive efforts of the Chinese state-sponsored Winnti Group (APT 41) to abscond with proprietary information from dozens of global organizations. The most alarming revelation is that the companies weren’t aware they were breached, going some as far back as at least 2019, giving Winnti free unfiltered access to intellectual property, blueprints, sensitive diagrams and other proprietary data,” said Lior Div, Cybereason CEO and Co-founder.

During its investigation, Cybereason discovered that Winnti conducted Operation CuckooBees undetected since at least 2019, likely siphoning thousands of gigabytes of intellectual property and sensitive proprietary data from dozens of companies.

Cybereason published two reports, the first examining the tactics and techniques of the overall campaign, and the second providing a detailed analysis of the malware and exploits used.

Based on the analysis of the forensic artifacts, Cybereason estimates with medium-high confidence that the perpetrators of the attack are linked to the notorious Winnti APT group. This group has existed since at least 2010 and is believed to be operating on behalf of Chinese state interests and specializes in cyber espionage and intellectual property theft.

Other key findings include the discovery of a sophisticated and elusive cyber-espionage operation with the goal of stealing sensitive proprietary information from technology and manufacturing companies mainly in East Asia, Western Europe, and North America.

The reports expose a previously undocumented malware strain called DEPLOYLOG used by the Winnti APT group, and highlights new versions of known Winnti malware, including Spyder Loader, PRIVATELOG, and WINNKIT.

The reports include an analysis of the complex infection chain that led to the deployment of the WINNKIT rootkit composed of multiple interdependent components.

According to the report, the attackers implemented a delicate “house of cards” approach, where each component depends on the others to execute properly, making it very difficult to analyze each component separately.

“The security vulnerabilities that are most commonly found in campaigns such as Operation CuckooBees are exploited because of unpatched systems, insufficient network segmentation, unmanaged assets, forgotten accounts and lacking multi-factor authentication products. Although these vulnerabilities may seem be easy to fix, day-to-day security is complex and it’s not always easy to implement mitigations at a grand scale. Defenders should follow MITRE and/or similar frameworks in order to make sure that they have the right visibility, detection and remediation capabilities in place to protect their most critical assets,” added Div. (ANI)

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Yadav has filed an application at the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Ranchi seeking the release of his passport for renewal as he has to go abroad for a kidney transplant.

“Lalu Yadav will go abroad, most likely to Singapore, for a kidney transplant. Process for an appointment with the doctor over there is underway. Meanwhile, the application has been filed in court so that passport can be renewed. The renewed passport will be submitted again to the court,” Prabhat Kumar, Yadav’s lawyer told ANI.

“When the date of an appointment gets fixed, a fresh plea will be filed in all five cases he is convicted seeking permission for foreign travel. The application was filed on May 31. The next hearing has been fixed for June 10,” he said.

Meanwhile, Yadav has to appear physically before the special MP MLA court in Palamu related to the violation of the model code of conduct in Garhwa district in 2009. He will reach Palamu by Monday evening.

In February, a special CBI court in Ranchi had held RJD chief Lalu Prasad guilty of fraudulent withdrawals from Doranda Treasury in connection with the fifth fodder scam.

However, Lalu was granted bail in the Rs 139.35-crore illegal withdrawal from Doranda Treasury by the Jharkhand High Court in April.

“He has been granted bail on the uniform yardstick of half custody and health issues, he will be released soon. He will have to deposit Rs 1 lakh surety amount and Rs 10 lakh as fine,” his lawyer had said. (ANI)

Samajwadi Party is likely to field former state minister and party leader Azam Khan’s wife Tanzeem Fatima in for the Rampur Lok Sabha bypoll in Uttar Pradesh, sources said.

Her nomination has come amid reports of a rift between Azam Khan and the SP chief Akhilesh Yadav. Fatima, already a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly from Rampur, will be pitted against the BJP leader Ghanshyam Lodhi if she gets the party nomination.

Bahujan Samaj Party has decided to stay away from the Rampur parliamentary bypoll.

As per SP sources, Dharmendra Yadav will contest from the Azamgarh Lok Sabha constituency.

The Lok Sabha vacancies have been created by the resignation of former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav from Azamgarh, and Azam Khan from Rampur.

In Azamgarh, the BJP has decided to field Bhojpuri actor Dinesh Lal Yadav “Nirahua” from the seat which is dominated by the Other Backward Class (OBC) and the Muslim population. While the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has picked former MLA Shah Alam alias Guddu Jamali as its candidate.

Congress has announced that the party would not be contesting the bypolls.

The BJP retained power in Uttar Pradesh by winning 255 out of 403 constituencies, securing a 41.29 per cent vote share. Samajwadi Party came a distant second in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh election, securing 111 seats and getting 32.06 per cent votes. The two other major parties – Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Indian National Congress (INC) – were reduced to a single digit. BSP won one seat and Congress two seats. (ANI)

In connection with hawala transactions related to a Kolkata-based company, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches on Monday at the residence of Delhi’s Health Minister Satyendar Jain and six other locations, informed the officials.

The federal agency’s separate teams carried out these searches at six places in Delhi, including Jain’s residence. The places raided by the ED across Delhi included Ram Prakash jewellers Pvt Ltd in south east Delhi and conducted another search in Gurugram.

The agency conducted raids after it arrested Jain on May 30 under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

On May 31, a trial court sent Jain to ED’s custody till June 9.

The move comes days after the federal agency arrested Jain on May 30. Jain is in the custody of ED till June 9.

Jain was arrested after the ED in April this year attached immovable properties worth Rs 4.81 crore owned by companies named Akinchan Developers Pvt. Ltd, Indo Metal Impex Pvt Ltd, and others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 in connection with the disproportionate asset and money laundering case registered Jain, his wife Poonam Jain, and others.

It may be recalled that on August 25, 2017, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed an FIR against Jain in a money laundering case.

The ED had registered a criminal case against the AAP leader based on this FIR which was lodged by the CBI in which it had been alleged that Jain could not explain the source of funds received by four companies in which he was a shareholder.

Jain had reportedly floated or bought several shell companies in Delhi. He also laundered black money worth Rs 16.39 crore through 54 shell companies of three hawala operators of Kolkata.

Jain owned a large number of shares in companies named Prayas, Indo, and Akinchan. However, after becoming Minister in Kejriwal’s government, all his shares were transferred to his wife in 2015, as per reports.

These companies used to transfer cash payments to their Kolkata counterparts and these companies would later, under the ruse of buying shares, would route back the money to Jain by employing legal means. The companies have reportedly laundered money to the tune of Rs 16.39 crores from 2010 to 2014 to Satyendra Jain.

As per government sources, when prosecuted by the I-T Department, Jain surrendered black money in form of cash of Rs 16.39 crore under Income Disclosure Scheme (IDS) 2016 on Benami names of Vaibhav Jain and Ankush Jain.

In November 2019, the Home Ministry approved the prosecution of Delhi minister Satyendra Jain in cases related to disproportionate assets and money laundering.

Besides, Home and Health, Jain holds Power and PWD, among other portfolios, in the AAP-led Delhi government.

The Delhi High court on Saturday stayed the order of a special court allowing Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain to have counsel during the interrogation by the ED.

Earlier, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had filed an FIR against Jain in a money laundering case on August 25, 2017. (ANI)

One of the prominent actors in the industry, Parineeti Chopra was seen missing from the IIFA event which was recently held in Abu Dhabi.

The actor was living her best life on an island in Indonesia and her pictures are a testimony to that! Parineeti recently shared a bunch of pictures from her recent trip looking mesmerizing.

Chopra, who is a certified Scuba diving instructor often enjoys her vacations by the ocean. On her Indonesian adventure trip this time, she was accompanied by her younger brother and a bunch of friends.

Giving her fans a glimpse of the vacation, Parineeti shared a picture on social media and wrote, “You can convince me to stay on the boat ONLY to take a picture. Otherwiseeeee (swimming and fish emojis) #ScubaDiving #Indonesia”.

The ‘Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar’ actor has also shared some videos and photos of the scenic beauty there.

Previously, Parineeti had also posted a string of pictures with her brother and friends in scuba diving costumes.

However, her fans were concerned when they came across a video shared by the actor herself where she is showing bruise marks on her legs. Parineeti, in the video, mentioned how scuba diving in the ocean can sometimes take a toll on the body, making legs bruised.

On the work front, Chopra will next be seen in Sooraj Barjatya’s ‘Unchai’. The film also stars Amitabh Bachchan, Boman Irani and Anupam Kher. (ANI)

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will face a vote of no confidence as the number of parliamentarians from his Conservative Party calling for the vote had reached the necessary threshold, CNN reported.

Chairman of the 1922 Committee, Graham Brady said, “The number of Conservative Party parliamentarians calling for the vote had reached the necessary threshold. Boris Johnson will face a vote of confidence, triggered by discontented lawmakers in his own party.”

He said that 15 per cent of the parliamentary party seeking a vote of confidence in leader of the Conservative Party has been exceeded. Thus a vote will be held between 6 pm and 8 pm local time on Monday, CNN reported.

Johnson’s premiership has been precarious following the “Partygate” scandal with months of allegations of parties and gatherings at the heart of his government during various stages of pandemic lockdown eroding confidence in his leadership.

The opposition and the members of his own party demanded his resignation. They raised concerns over his regime and termed Johnson a liability. He has also been criticized for his response to a cost-of-living crisis, CNN reported.

The party is facing two difficult parliamentary by-elections later this month.

Recently, when Johnson arrived at London’s St Paul’s Cathedral for a service of thanksgiving for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee on Friday, he was booed by public, as they showed disapporval in him as their leader, CNN reported.

Under Conservative Party rules, if MPs want to get rid of their leader, they submit a confidential letter of no confidence to the chair of the 1922 Committee, a group of backbench lawmakers who do not hold government posts. (ANI)

In an apparent response to the ongoing controversy over party spokesperson Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal’s alleged inflammatory remarks against minorities, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday suspended Sharma and Jindal from the primary membership of the party till further notice.

Earlier in the day, BJP said in a statement issued by its general secretary Arun Singh, “The BJP strongly denounces insult of any religious personalities of any religion. The Bharatiya Janata Party is also against any ideology which insults or demeans any section or religion. The BJP does not promote such people or philosophy.”

BJP stated that it “respects all religions” and is “strongly against any ideology which insults or demeans any sect or religion”.

“During the thousands of years of the history of India every religion has blossomed and flourished. The Bharatiya Janata Party respects all religions,” the brief statement said.

“India’s Constitution gives the right to every citizen to practice any religion of his/her choice and to honour and respect every religion. As India celebrates 75th year of its independence, we are committed to making India a great country where all are equal and everyone lives with dignity, where all are committed to India’s unity and integrity, where all enjoy the fruits of growth and development,” it said.

However, the official statement made no direct mention of any incident or comment made by Sharma during the debate.

The Mumbai police registered an FIR against Sharma based on a complaint by Irfan Shaikh, joint secretary of the Mumbai wing of Raza Academy. It stated that Sharma, in a news debate on the Gyanvapi issue, allegedly made controversial comments about Prophet Mohammad. Moreover, Jindal allegedly tweeted against the interests of the country.

Following the comments made by Sharma and Jindal, several Twitter users of the Gulf countries voiced for boycotting products made in India. Some Twitter users wrote, “Such leaders should be sent to jail immediately, otherwise we will come out on the streets to get them arrested.”

“After call for Boycotting Indian Products, BJP Delhi distances itself from statements made by their spokesperson on television and tweet by BJP member Naveen Kumar Jindal,” wrote another user. (ANI)

All accused, including key conspirator Hayat Zafar Hashmi, were sent to 14-day judicial remand on Sunday in connection with the Kanpur violence case.

They were taken to District Jail in Kanpur by the police after they were sent on a 14-day remand. A violent clash broke out between two groups belonging to different communities allegedly over a market shutdown in Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh on Friday.

As many as 36 persons were arrested and 3 FIRs have been registered in the Kanpur violence case and further investigations are underway.

Earlier on Saturday, the Uttar Pradesh Police had said the main accused in the Kanpur violence case, Hayat Jaffar Hashmi has been arrested along with three other masterminds.

Four men involved in the conspiracy were identified, tracked, and arrested. “We will investigate if they had any links with PFI. Action will be taken under Gangster Act, and NSA and their properties will be seized,” the Kanpur CP said.

The four people arrested have been identified as Hayat Jaffar Hashmi, Javed Ahmed Khan, Mohammad Rahil & Mohammad Suffian. “All of them are associated with Maulana Ali Jauhar Fans Association. We’ll further ask the court to send them on a 14-days remand,” said Meena.

After a clash, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed and the security has been beefed up between Yateem Khana and Parade crossroads while the accused were interrogated, informed the officials on Sunday.

Huge security has been detailed in the area with an aim to maintain peace and keep the situation under control.

The violence started after some people tried to shut down shops which were opposed by the other group, said the police.

Two persons and one policeman were injured in the aftermath of the clashes.

Hayat Jaffar Hashmi, the main accused in the Kanpur violence case was arrested along with three other masterminds on Saturday.

Further investigation into the matter is underway. (ANI)

Pakistan is replicating Sri Lanka while trying to solve its economic crisis, denying its past mistakes as well as the current happenings domestically and ignoring the lessons it could have learned from the island nation.

Sri Lanka has been under severe socio-economic and political turmoil for nearly two months now, an outcome of economic mismanagement resulting from a way too ambitious political leadership and excessive external borrowings, Pakistan has been taking exactly the same steps towards economic disaster, reported True Ceylon.

It would not be a shocker that Pakistan would soon face a ‘Sri Lanka type’ crisis with shortages of foreign exchange reserves, food, fuel and medicines.

The economic impediments in Pakistan have been exacerbated by the self-obsessed ‘Establishment’ and further complicated by political parties wanting to be in power by doling out populist economic policies, reported True Ceylon.

Pakistan is rapidly widening its current account deficit coupled with an equally fast depleting foreign exchange reserves. Given the economy’s dependence on imports- for both food and fuel, the rising global prices have resulted in a humungous increase in the imports bill in Pakistan.

As a consequence, imports that were to the tune of USD 44.7 billion in FY 2020-21 (July-April) have increased by about 58 per cent in FY 2021-22 (July-April) to reach USD 65.5 billion.

The import bill for petroleum products alone has registered a jump of about 95 per cent, to reach about USD 17 billion in the first ten months of FY 2021-22 (from about USD 8.7 billion for the same period in the previous year).

The trade deficit has thus exploded from USD 24 billion in FY 2020-21 (July-April) to USD 39 billion in FY 2021-22 (July-April), a huge increase of about 65 per cent. Similarly, the current account deficit has increased to USD 13 billion in FY 2021-22 (July-April), reported True Ceylon.

The deteriorating security situation in the country together with the political turmoil that is underway have forced foreign investors to increasingly shun the country as an investment destination. Both Foreign Direct Investments and Foreign Portfolio Investments are moving out of the country, the net outflow being a little more than USD 2 billion in FY 2021-22 (July-March).

This has resulted in an acute shortage of dollars in the country and the concomitant sharp depreciation of the Pakistani rupee. Like the Sri Lankan rupee nosedived in March 2022, the value of the Pakistani rupee has been falling drastically.

Also, the political masters have been chalking out one grand project after another, to be financed by costly external commercial borrowings.

Adding to the debt burden are the huge loans availed of at commercial rates of interest from Pakistan’s ‘all-weather friend and steel brother’ China. Under the garb of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, Pakistan, like Sri Lanka, is now in the tight grip of China’s ‘debt trap’, with economically unviable projects like the Gwadar port, reported True Ceylon.

SEZs and coal-based power projects yield literally no economic benefits to it. On the contrary, loans amounting to about USD 11 billion have been taken from China, all favoring the Chinese creditors.

In the power sector alone, the country has been facing the problem of circular debt amounting to USD 2.6 trillion. For the power projects developed under CPEC under the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) mode, it is estimated that Pakistan owes USD 1.3 billion USD as arrears to the Chinese IPPs. The total debt incurred by Pakistan on the power projects under CPEC is pegged at USD 3 billion.

China has also shown no leniency in terms of reducing the power tariffs agreed under CPEC nor waived off debt repayment obligations; instead, it has held the approval of new projects hostage to payment of arrears and debt servicing.

In short, Pakistan coveting closer relations with China is not only amounting to a drain of precious economic resources but also reeks of hypocrisy, given Pakistan’s efforts to espouse the cause of Muslims (e.g. in Palestine) and the growing reports of exploitation, abuse and suppression of Uyghur Muslims by China.

Moreover, Pakistan has resorted to IMF support to address its economic distress 22 times since its independence, the last being in 2019. IMF’s support now banks on Pakistan’s fulfillment of conditionalities it had committed to under the Extended Fund Facility in 2019.

However, an adamant Pakistan is bent on not withdrawing the massive subsidies it has announced for petrol and diesel, putting the much-needed IMF support at the risk of discontinuation.

Pakistan is repeating the same mistake as Sri Lanka in playing down the capability of the IMF and its support program for the sheer reason of avoiding difficult but vital structural reform measures and instead of looking to bilateral partners for financial help and support. (ANI)