
By Byron V. Acohido
Week ending Aug. 18. A Ukrainian hacker called “Profexer” who built one of the tools used to penetrate the Democratic National Committee servers last year has turned himself in to authorities. The man, who first contacted Ukrainian police earlier this year, claims he wrote a piece of software called the PAS Web shell, which the Department of Homeland Security has identified as malware used in the hack. The hacker maintains that he wasn’t behind the attack, which resulted in the release of thousands of emails sent by DNC staffers during the presidential campaign. Because there is no evidence that he used the tool to carry out the attack, he wasn’t arrested. Profexer is in touch with the FBI and is able to identify users involved in the DNC hack by their online handles. Also emerging from Ukraine is a sharper picture of what the U.S. government believes is a Russian government hacking group known as Fancy Bear. American intelligence believes it is operated by Russian military intelligence. Sources: Technology Review, The New York Times
Neo-Nazi site claims it was hacked; Anonymous says maybe notMembers of the Anonymous hacktivist collective claim that neo-Nazi website the Daily Stormer may have faked a claim that it had been taken over by hackers. Web-hosting service GoDaddy removed the Daily Stormer after it published an article viciously insulting the activist killed after a car hit her at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Later, a message posted on the site claimed to be from Anonymous hacktivists who had taken over the site. Source: Newsweek
Tech companies ask high court to protect customers’ privacyMore than a dozen technology and wireless companies called on the Supreme Court to make it harder for government officials to access individuals’ sensitive cellphone data. The case involves a high-profile dispute over whether police should have to get a warrant before obtaining data that could reveal a cell … more