A Brief Weekly Review of Top Stories that Dominated the Cyberworld

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By AMSAT August 06,2021

A Brief Weekly Review of Top Stories that Dominated the Cyberworld

The outgoing week was rife with a number of events with serious ramifications on the cybersecurity scene. From US Justice Department accusing Russian threat actors of hacking federal prosecutors to Amazon slapping a record fine of 746 million euros, the security landscape was witness to a slew of exciting developments.

Here’s a brief synopsis of the events:

Russians Hacked Federal Prosecutors: US Justice Department

According to the Justice Department, the Russian hackers behind the colossal SolarWinds cyberespionage drive infiltrated the email accounts of some of the key federal prosecutors’ offices across the country last year.

The department said that hackers broke into 80% of Microsoft email accounts used by employees in the four U.S. attorney offices in New York. The Justice Department said that during that hacking spree, 27 U.S. attorney offices had at least one employee’s email account compromised.

It also said that it believes the accounts were breached from May 7 to Dec. 27, 2020. The time frame is important because the SolarWinds drive, which intruded lots of private-sector businesses and think tanks as well as at least nine U.S. government agencies, was first exposed and publicized in mid-December.

Amazon Slapped with Record Fine Over Data Privacy in
Luxembourg

Online retail colossus Amazon said it was hit by a heavy fine of 746 million euros ($880 million) by Luxembourg authorities over charges it breached the EU’s data protection rules.

In a securities filing, the company said that the fine was issued on July 16 by the Luxembourg National Commission for Data Protection after its finding that “Amazon’s processing of personal data did not comply with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).”

Using the company’s French acronym, Amazon went on to say: “We believe the CNPD’s decision to be without merit and intend to defend ourselves vigorously in this matter.”

Nozomi Networks Said It Had Raised $100 Million

Industrial cybersecurity startup Nozomi Networks said it had raised $100 million in a Series D pre-IPO-funding round.

A number of prestigious firms such as Honeywell Ventures, CIA-linked In-Q-Tel, Keysight Technologies, Porsche Ventures Dubai Electricity, Telefónica Ventures, and others also participated in the funding, which was led by Triangle Peak Partners.

The company has so far raised $154 million, with the earlier round being $30 million in September 2019. It says the funding will be used to help scale product development efforts and boost its sales, marketing and partner efforts.

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