Overnight Cybersecurity: Obama commutes Chelsea Manning’s sentence | A malware mystery

Welcome to OVERNIGHT CYBERSECURITY, your daily rundown of the biggest news in the world of hacking and data privacy. We’re here to connect the dots as leaders in government, policy and industry try to counter the rise in cyber threats. What lies ahead for Congress, the administration and the latest company under siege? Whether you’re a consumer, a techie or a D.C. lifer, we’re here to give you …

THE BIG STORIES:

–OBAMA COMMUTES CHELSEA MANNING’S SENTENCE: President Obama on Tuesday commuted the prison sentence of former Army soldier Chelsea Manning, according to the White House. Manning was convicted in 2013 of leaking classified information about U.S. national security activities that were later disclosed by WikiLeaks. The 35-year sentence Manning received was the longest ever imposed for a leak conviction. Manning has already served seven years of her sentence and will now be released on May 17, 2017. She was originally set to be released be released in 2045.  Manning’s grant came in a batch of 209 commutations and 64 pardons, announced with four days left in Obama’s presidency. The former Army private, who is transgender, has reportedly struggled with mental health issues. She has tried to commit suicide twice and has spent time in solitary confinement as punishment.

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–RYAN DISAPPROVES: Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) tweeted his dislike of freeing Manning with an attached statement. “Chelsea Manning’s treachery put American lives at risk and exposed some of our nation’s most sensitive secrets,” he wrote.

–MCCAIN, TOO: Sen. John McCain in a statement, agreed with Ryan, “Chelsea Manning broke her oath and made it more likely that others would join the ranks of her fallen comrades. Her prison sentence may end in a few months’ time, but her dishonor will last forever.”

{mosads}

— PARDON FOR RETIRED GEN. JAMES CARTWRIGHT: President Obama on Tuesday pardoned retired Gen. James Cartwright, the former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who was accused of lying to the FBI about his conversations with reporters regarding U.S. efforts to cripple Iran’s nuclear program. Cartwright pleaded guilty in October to one felony count of making false statements during the FBI’s investigation into leaks about the government’s role in a highly classified operation known as Operation Olympic Games. The clandestine effort — untaken with Israel — deployed a computer virus security researchers nicknamed Stuxnet that destroyed Iranian centrifuges.

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A POLICY UPDATE:

–UTAH ATTORNEY GENERAL TO HELM FTC? Politico is reporting that Sean Reyes, the attorney general of Utah, may be tapped to chair the Federal Trade Commission.

The FTC frequently weighs into privacy issues, making Reyes an interesting choice. In 2014, he earned kudos from the American Civil Liberties Union for abandoning the practice of administrative subpoenas. Those subpoenas required telecoms and internet companies to provide information without a warrant.

He has also struck out against Google over antitrust issues in the past, making him a stronger figure against corporations than many would expect from the Trump administration.

A LIGHTER CLICK: 

—THE REALITY OF CYBERWAR: We’ve seen the enemy and it’s actually squirrels.

A REPORT IN FOCUS:

–MALWARE M.I.A.: A brief lull in the campaigns to distribute two major pieces of malware has security researchers baffled and in some cases on edge.

The ransomware Locky and the banking Trojan Dridex have dramatically scaled back distribution campaigns over the past month, and no one is quite sure why.

“16 days into the year and we continue to see no Locky, Dridex, vastly decreased spam volumes etc. Before new year we were getting 100k+/day,” tweeted researcher Kevin Beaumont.

Similar results have been found by a number of other experts. The antivirus firm Avast could track upwards of 100,000 Locky attacks per day until around Christmas when the attacks almost completely disappeared.

At their peak, Locky and Dridex raked in more than a million dollars a week.  

Avast is concerned that the lull in Locky attacks will not last much longer.

“The longest lull before this was a few weeks in October,” said Tony Anscombe, senior security evangelist at Avast. “But the malware came roaring back.”

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WHO’S IN THE SPOTLIGHT:

–HOW DID WE GO THIS FAR WITHOUT MENTIONING RUSSIA?

Russian lawmakers aren’t sold on President-elect Donald Trump’s proposal to end sanctions on the country in exchange for cuts to its nuclear arsenal.

Trump floated the idea of negotiations linking the sanctions over election hacking to arms control in an interview with The Times of London, but according to Russian media reports, Russian lawmakers are declining the offer.

A report from state-run Russian news outlet RIA on Monday was titled: “Will not sell. Russia does not see the relationship between disarmament and the lifting of sanctions.”

“If you look beyond the demagogic ‘aggressiveness and territory annexation of Russia,’ then it is evident that one of the biggest obstacles [to that deal] is the U.S. missile defense program, and subsequent U.S. attempts to ensure superiority in other areas – development of NATO’s infrastructure, basic armament, precision weaponry, drones and the militarization of space,” said Russian Senator Konstantin Kosachev in the report.

To read the rest of our piece, click here.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Links from our blog, The Hill, and around the Web.

Tech workers are protesting government information contractor Palantir. (The Hill)

Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas) says Russian hacking “will be considered the most successful covert action operation in the history of Mother Russia.” (The Hill)  

Exiting White House cybersecurity coordinator Michael Daniel responds to Trump: “I don’t think it’s right to say we have no defenses.” (NextGov)

“Giuliani as a cybersecurity advisor for Donald Trump does not bode well,” says an editor at Reason.com. (Reason)

The head of Samsung heads to court to face corruption charges. (Reuters)

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