Tuesday, October 25, 2022

SIGNS OF THE TIMES...No 'Fist-Bump' There

Speaking at Downing Street shortly after assuming office, Sunak said he would “fix” the “mistakes” made by his predecessor, Liz Truss.

Ned Simons

Rishi Sunak, right, meets King Charles at Buckingham Palace.

"Rishi Sunak has been formally appointed prime minister, having met King Charles at Buckingham Palace.

At 42, Sunak is the youngest U.K. prime minister in over 200 years. He is also both the country’s first Asian and first Hindu leader.

He takes over following months of chaos within the Conservative Party which saw the downfall of Boris Johnson and the short but chaotic tenure of Liz Truss.

His predecessor’s swiftly abandoned agenda of borrowing and tax cuts spooked the markets and tanked the party’s poll ratings.

Speaking in Downing Street shortly after assuming office, Sunak said he would “fix” the “mistakes” made by Truss.

And he warned the country was facing a “profound economic crisis.”

✓ RUSSIAN NEWS AGENCY

25 OCTOBER 2022

Moscow furnished interested parties with evidence on dirty bomb — Russia’s envoy to UN

Kiev’s threats against Kakhovka dam show true colors, senator says

Russia requests two UN Security Council meetings on Ukraine this week — diplomat

Rusnano sells off majority of legacy assets over last 24 months — spokesman

Russian stock indices in the green on Tuesday

GECF against politically motivated gas price cap — statement

IAEA acts on its mandate regarding the Ukrainian ‘dirty bomb’ situation — UN

Inditex reaches agreement on Russian business sale to Daher Group

Russian Ministry suggests including new regions to tax free project

Tally of injured people rises to six after explosion in Melitopol — police

US basketballer Griner’s lawyer hints on filing another appeal with Russian court

Arms shipments to Kiev bring closer direct clash of Russia and NATO — diplomat

Putin demands officials redouble efforts in all areas, not just focus on special operation

Force of Tuesday’s explosion in Melitopol was equivalent to 15 kg of TNT — official

Scientists’ publications confirm US conducts military-biological research — probe chief

OANA’s 20th General Assembly to be held in Moscow in 2025

No decision yet on who will represent Russia at upcoming G20 summit — Kremlin spokesman

India ready to buy Russian wheat for reexport — source

Ukrainian forces fired AGM-88 HARM anti-radar missile at Donetsk, DPR says

New defense contractors needed in Russia — Putin

Biden willing to go to any lengths to bring home US nationals held in Russia

Zaporozhye may be primary target in Ukrainian offensive, official says

Dirty bomb threat may revive talks between Russian, Western foreign ministries — analyst

Wartsila posts 200 mln euro of costs due to exit from Russia — report

Attempts at changing Abkhazia’s political status futile — Foreign Ministry

Guinea-Bissau President asks Putin to provide frigates, helicopter

Hungary is against European Commission’s proposals on energy crisis — Foreign Minister

West ramps up arms supplies to Kiev in bid to destroy Russia — Lavrov

Moscow-Bissau relations remain good, yet should continue to develop — Putin

Russia’s upgraded Su-57 fifth-generation fighter performs debut flight

Far Eastern sardine catch up 7.7% in Russia YTD — Federal Agency

Rebranded KFC chain to stay true to old menu — source

Police say number of injured in Melitopol blast rose to six, including a child

Putin to take part in Valdai Club panel discussion — spokesman

IAEA inspectors to visit Kiev and Zheltye Vody in coming days — envoy

Russia supports Grossi’s idea to create safety zone around Zaporozhye NPP — envoy

Russia’s envoy in Vienna says West ignores Ukrainian provocations at Kakhovskaya HPP

Ukraine has technical potential for development of ‘dirty bomb’ — Rosenergoatom

Russia plans to sign cooperation accords with four African countries, says official

Arms shipments to Ukraine carry risks for civilian aviation — Russian envoy

LPR assures Svatovo-Kremennaya defense line under control

Russian banks continue expanding list of ‘friendly’ currencies for general public

Moscow court upholds nine-year jail verdict for US basketball player Griner

Cargo turnover along Northern Sea Route to grow to 33.8 mln tons in 2022

Russian air defenses down three American HARM anti-radar missiles in Ukraine operation

Putin hopes to boost relations with African states

West use energy resources as political weapon — Russian official

International tourist flow from Russia to decline by at least 30% in 2022

Prosecution asks that Griner’s conviction be upheld

Russian forces wipe out two ammo depots in Ukraine operation, top brass reports

ALL NEWS

25 OCT, 03:55Updated at: 25 Oct, 05:44

Sunak officially takes office as UK Prime Minister — Buckingham Palace

It is noted that the new Conservative Party leader is the first prime minister to be appointed by King Charles III

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak

LONDON, October 25. /TASS/. New Conservative Party leader Rishi Sunak has officialy become UK’s Prime Minister after being invited to form a government by King Charles, according to the distributed photographs of the audience which took place at Buckingham Palace.

Now Sunak, 42, will head to Downing Street, his new residece, where he will address the UK residents. He is the first prime minister to be appointed by King Charles III, who took the throne on September 8 after Queen Elizabeth II’s death.

Sunak is replacing Liz Truss, who on October 20 announced her resignation, after her failed economic policy and against the backdrop of growing discontent among her colleagues in the ruling Conservative party. In all, she spent less than 50 days as prime minister, thus setting an anti-record.

Sunak became prime minister on the heels of the Conservative Party’s announcement on Monday. Both of his rivals, ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt withdrew from the race. As the local media reported, neither Johnson nor Mordaunt seemed to have gathered the necessary 100 votes from MPs to advance to the next round of parliamentary voting.

✓ Unusual Prime Minister

Sunak has become the first UK Prime Minister of color, the first Hindu and the first ethnic Indian to head the British cabinet.

✓ He is a third-generation immigrant whose family moved to the UK’s Southampton from Kenya and British Tanganyika (modern-day Tanzania) in the 1960s.

Sunak was born into a family of doctors and pharmacists. He was educated at Oxford and had a career in finance and investment management. He did not become a member of the House of Commons until 2015, having traded a very successful career as an investor for politics. From February 2020 to July 2022, he was head of the UK Treasury.

Bleeping Computer Updates

Intro

DETAILS TODAY The Hive ransomware gang is more active and aggressive than its leak site shows, with affiliates attacking an average of three companies every day since the operation became known in late June 2021.

The group is known to employ a diverse set of tactics, techniques, and procedures, which makes it difficult for organizations to defend against its attacks, as the FBI has earlier stated.

In September this year, Hive claimed to be behind the ransomware attacks on New York Racing Association, a Bell Canada subsidiary, as well as a New York-based emergency response and ambulance service provider.

Hive claims ransomware attack on Tata Power, begins leaking data

Ax Sharma

October 25, 2022

04:49 AM

"Hive ransomware group has claimed responsibility for a cyber attack disclosed by Tata Power this month.

A subsidiary of the multinational conglomerate Tata Group, Tata Power is India's largest integrated power company based in Mumbai.

In screenshots seen by BleepingComputer, Hive operators are seen posting data they claim to have stolen from Tata Power, indicating that the ransom negotiations failed.

Hive begins leaking data allegedly stolen from Tata Power

As of a few hours ago, operators behind the Hive ransomware group are seen leaking data allegedly stolen from Tata Power on their leak site.

Cybersecurity analyst and researcher Dominic Alvieri tweeted about the development while tipping us off.

Hive ransomware leaks data allegedly stolen from Tata Power — Hive ransomware starts leaking data it claims to have stolen from Tata Power

✓ Another researcher Rakesh Krishnan shared screenshots of the stolen data—which appears to include Tata Power employees' personally identifiable information (PII), National ID (Aadhar) card numbers, PAN (tax account) numbers, salary information, etc.

✓ Additionally, the data dump contains engineering drawings, financial and banking records as well as client information, suggests Krishnan:

✓ Hive operators claim that they encrypted Tata Power's data on October 3rd.

✓ On Friday, October 14th, Tata Power disclosed a cyber attack on its "IT infrastructure impacting some of its IT systems" in a stock filing without sharing additional information with regard to the whereabouts of the threat actor.

"The Company has taken steps to retrieve and restore the systems. All critical operational systems are functioning; however, as a measure of abundant precaution, restricted access and preventive checks have been put in place for employee and customer facing portals and touch points," stated Tata Power's filing, signed by company secretary H.M. Mistry at the time.

Threat actors like extortion and ransomware groups typically began leaking or selling data stolen from breaching their targets should the target refuse to pay their ransom demand and subsequent negotiations fail.

Hive ransomware in review

The Hive ransomware gang is more active and aggressive than its leak site shows, with affiliates attacking an average of three companies every day since the operation became known in late June 2021.

✓ The group is known to employ a diverse set of tactics, techniques, and procedures, which makes it difficult for organizations to defend against its attacks, as the FBI has earlier stated.

Hive's last year attack on Memorial Health System led to the cancellation of surgical and diagnostic operations, and patient data theft. . ."

AX SHARMA

Ax Sharma is a Security Researcher and Tech Reporter. His works and expert analyses have frequently been featured by leading media outlets including BBC, Business Insider, Fortune, TechCrunch, The Register, and others. Ax's expertise lies in vulnerability research, malware analysis, and open source software. He's an active community member of OWASP Foundation and the British Association of Journalists (BAJ). Send any tips via email or Twitter DM.