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Headlines

The Biden administration has announced it is banning US companies and citizens from using any software made by Kaspersky Labs, a Russian cybersecurity firm. Commerce Department Secretary Gina Raimondo made the announcement on Thursday, citing concerns national security concerns.

She went on to say, “While we’ve been exploring every option at our disposal, we ultimately decided that given the Russian government’s continued offensive cyber capabilities and capacity to influence Kaspersky’s operations, that we have to take the significant measure of a full prohibition, if we’re going to protect Americans and their personal data.” However, the agency’s announcement did include that there were no known instances of the Russian government influencing Kaspersky in the past.

In more Russia-related news, a recent study showed that popular AI models, including ChatGPT, were stating Russian propaganda as fact. The study put 57 prompts into 10 popular AI chatbots. Information believed to be propaganda created by John Mark Dougan for the Russian government came up 32% of the time. 

Dougan fled to Moscow during a hacking and extortion investigation. Since then, he has created hundreds of AI-powered websites that appear as local news sites. Reportage from The New York Times claims these sites spread disinformation for the Russian government.

Almost 15,000 car dealerships in the US will continue to experience software disruptions as the CDK Global hack worsens. The company, which provides software to North American car dealerships, shut down most of its systems on June 19 to investigate a cyberattack. This has led many dealers to resort to pen and paper to manage sales of vehicles and parts, along with many other parts of their operation.

But on the evening of June 19, another cyber attack rocked the company. Now, clients are told it will be several days before systems get back up and running. Experts believe the culprit is likely a ransomware group, but no one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Interesting Read

A new survey from Malwarebytes found that 100% of the 500 couples surveyed—that’s right, as in literally every participant—were digitally entangled. This includes sharing personal accounts or being signed into the same account on multiple devices. Though the practice is entirely ubiquitous, 30% claim that they regret doing it or are worried about what the consequences would be after a breakup, including the risk of cyberstalking.

Of course, household accounts like Netflix and shared photo albums were among the top entanglements. But a staggering 50% claimed they also have their partners signed into email or social media accounts. To a cybersecurity professional, it is all a little crazy. But sometimes love is a little crazy.

Employment Tip: Follow Up

Follow up on interviews with brief notes thanking recruiters and managers for taking the time to talk. It’s an easy way to highlight interest and keep your name on the top of their minds.

For the latest openings in cybersecurity careers, check CybersecurityHQ.

Stay Safe, Stay Secure.

The CybersecurityHQ Team