Раніше голова Офісу президента повідомив, що домовився з радниками «продовжувати координацію дій в контексті поточної ситуації»
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U.S. cybersecurity officials are still sounding an alarm about the so-called Log4j software vulnerability more than a month after it was first discovered, warning some criminals and nation state adversaries may be waiting to make use of their newfound access to critical systems.
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said Monday that the vulnerability, also known as Log4shell, has been subject to widespread exploitation by criminals over the past several weeks, but that more serious and damaging attacking could still be in the works.
“We do expect Log4Shell to be used in intrusions well into the future,” CISA Director Jen Easterly told reporters during a phone briefing, adding, “at this time we have not seen the use of Log4shell resulting in significant intrusions.”
“This may be the case because sophisticated adversaries have already used this vulnerability to exploit targets and are just waiting to leverage their new access until network defenders are on a lower alert,” she said.
The vulnerability in the open-source software produced by the U.S.-based Apache Software Foundation, was first discovered in late November by the Chinese tech giant Alibaba. The first warnings to the public went out in early December.
Cybersecurity officials and experts initially described the flaw in the software as perhaps the worst vulnerability ever discovered, noting the software’s widespread use – in at least 2,800 products used by both private companies and governments around the world.
CISA on Monday said the vulnerability has impacted hundreds of millions of devices around the world, with many software vendors racing to issue security patches to their customers.
So far, U.S. agencies appear to be unscathed.
“We, at this point, are not seeing any confirmed compromises of federal agencies across the broader country, including critical infrastructure,” CISA Executive Assistant Director for Cybersecurity Eric Goldstein told reporters.
But he cautioned the danger has not yet passed despite the lack of destructive attacks by sophisticated hacking groups and foreign adversaries.
“It is certainly possible that that may change, that adversaries may be utilizing this vulnerability to gain persistent access that they could use in the future, which is why we are so focused on remediating the vulnerability across the country and ensuring that we are detecting any intrusions if and when they arise,” he said.
Yet there are reports that other countries have already been targeted by cyber actors seeking to exploit the software vulnerability.
Belgium’s Ministry of Defense said last month that some of its computer systems went down last month following an attack, in which the Log4j vulnerability was believed to be exploited.
And some security experts warn other countries, including China, Iran, North Korea and Turkey, have sought to exploit Log4j.
“This activity ranges from experimentation during development, integration of the vulnerabilities to in-the-wild payload deployment, and exploitation against targets to achieve the actor’s objectives,” Microsoft’s Threat Intelligence Center wrote in a blog post last week.
In particular, Microsoft said the Iran cyber threat actor known as Phosphorus, known for launching ransomware attacks, has already modified the Log4j vulnerability for use in attacks, while the Chinese group known as Hafnium has also used it for some targeting activities.
The private cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike separately assessed that a Chinese-based group called Aquatic Panda sought to use the Log4j vulnerability to target an unnamed academic institution.
CISA on Monday said it could not independently confirm such reports, and further said it had yet to discover any ransomware attacks in which the attackers used the Log4j vulnerability to penetrate the victim’s systems.
CISA’s director said one reason could be that “there may be a lag between when this vulnerability is being used and when it is being actively deployed.”
Easterly also warned about information that U.S. officials are unable to see due to the failure of Congress to pass legislation that would require private companies to report cyberattacks – something the White House and many lawmakers have been advocating for some time.
“We are concerned that threat actors are going to start taking advantage of this vulnerability and having impacts in particular on critical infrastructure, and because there is no legislation in place, we will likely not know about it,” she said.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday he will not allow governments allied with Moscow to be toppled in so-called “color revolutions,” a reference to the series of popular uprisings that have shaken former Soviet republics.
“We will not allow the boat to be rocked,” Putin said.
During an online meeting with leaders of a Russian-led collective security alliance, Putin blamed last week’s violent unrest in Kazakhstan on “destructive internal and external forces.” He added, “Of course, we understand the events in Kazakhstan are not the first and far from the last attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of our states from the outside.”
Kazakh officials say a 4-year-old girl was among the 164 people who were killed in last week’s protests. Authorities say 5,800 people have been detained. In an effort to halt the protests, Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev issued a shoot-to-kill order, enabling security forces to open fire on protesters without warning.
The demonstrations were prompted by a fuel price increase but morphed into a broader protest over the country’s authoritarian rule. Tokayev asked Russia for help in quashing the demonstrations amid concerns about the loyalty of some law enforcement units. Russia and several other members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a Eurasian intergovernmental military alliance formed in 1994, responded by sending troops, although most are Russian.
“The measures taken by the CSTO have clearly shown we will not allow the situation to be rocked at home and will not allow so-called ‘color revolutions’ to take place,” Putin said. He added that the CSTO contingent would withdraw once order had been re-established and when Tokayev thought the forces were no longer needed.
The Kazakh leader said while order had been restored, the hunt for “terrorists” was ongoing.
Putin alleged Monday that the violent unrest in Kazakhstan was carried out by terrorists trained abroad. He said the violence bore the hallmarks of a Western-coordinated Maidan operation, a reference to the protests that toppled Ukraine’s pro-Moscow leader in 2014.
“Well-organized and well-controlled groups of militants were used,” Putin said at the CSTO meeting. “(They]) had obviously received training in terrorist camps abroad,” he added.
The CSTO consists of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. When requesting military assistance last week, Tokayev invoked Article 4 of the CSTO pact, which commits members to assist each other to defend against “foreign interference.” It was the first time that Article 4 was cited by any CSTO member.
The Russian Defense Ministry said around 3,000 paratroopers and other service personnel were being flown to Kazakhstan “around the clock,” with up to 75 transport planes being used in the emergency airlift.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has questioned why Russia deployed troops. America’s top diplomat said Sunday on ABC-TV’s “This Week” that Kazakhstan “has the ability to maintain law and order, to defend the institutions of the state, but to do so in a way that respects the rights of peaceful protesters and also addresses the concerns that they’ve raised — economic concerns, some political concerns.”
Demanding regime change
Sparked by a fuel price increase and cost of living grievances, the protests, which began in the oil-rich western part of the country, rapidly escalated this week into the worst violence Kazakhstan has seen since its independence 30 years ago.
Grievances over fuel prices voiced initially by the protesters grew into a much bigger threat against the government after dozens of people died when Kazakh armed forces opened fire into the crowd.
Demonstrators have demanded regime change and the departures of Tokayev and the country’s 81-year-old former leader Nursultan Nazarbayev, who stepped down two years ago after nearly three decades in power. Nazarbayev, who retained the official title of “leader of the nation,” is still believed to rule behind the scenes. Protesters reference him with chants of “Get out, old man.”
The demonstrations prompted Tokayev to dismiss his Cabinet and Nazarbayev from his position as head of the country’s security council. Authorities also announced the arrest of Karim Massimov, former head of the National Security Committee, on suspicion of high treason.
Russian officials and pro-Kremlin media have been amplifying claims that the West is behind the agitation and trying to foment another color revolution with the goal of disorienting Russia during major Russia-U.S. security talks this week amid fears the Kremlin may be considering invading Ukraine.
Russia has previously accused Western powers of being behind popular uprisings revolutions in the former Soviet states of Belarus, Georgia and Ukraine. Kazakhstan has vast energy resources.
Tokayev told Putin during the online meeting that the unrest was an attempted coup and had been planned for years.
“The main goal was obvious: the undermining of the constitutional order, the destruction of government institutions and the seizure of power,” he said, adding that he would provide proof to back up his claims.
Some Russian analysts have also highlighted the risks of Russian troops maintaining any long-term presence in Kazakhstan.
“For now, this is less an armed intervention than a police operation,” said Andrei Kortunov, head of the Russian International Affairs Council, a Kremlin-linked research group. “But if it drags on, consequences for Russia could mount up,” he told the English language newspaper The Moscow Times.
Erica Marat, a professor at the National Defense University in Washington, told The New York Times that Tokayev “traded his country’s sovereignty to Russia for his own power and the interests of kleptocratic elites.”
Lawmakers in Kyrgyzstan last week voted to approve the deployment of 150 troops to Kazakhstan as part of the CSTO operation, but some have voiced opposition. Zhanybek Kydykbayev has warned that deploying troops could discredit Kyrgyzstan in the eyes of the Kazakh people as it signaled the government’s support for Tokayev.
“We should avoid getting involved in Kazakhstan’s internal conflict. And Tokayev’s appeal to the CSTO is, in my opinion, just his attempt to hold onto power,” Kydykbayev told local reporters.
Some material in this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
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Співголова парламентської фракції «Європейська солідарність» Ірина Геращенко наводить скріншот документа за підписом голови Верховної Ради Руслана Стефанчука
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За словами голови делегації, він зустрівся з головою Національного фронту спротиву Ахмадом Масудом та ексгубенатором Герату Ісмаїлом Ханом
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Diplomats from the United States and Russia met Monday in Geneva, beginning a series of high-level talks this week regarding Moscow’s massive troop buildup along its Ukraine border, and Russian demands for Western security guarantees.
A U.S. State Department spokesperson said the meeting began just before 9 a.m. local time, while stressing that the U.S. side has been working in consultation with not only Ukraine, but also with NATO and other allies across Europe.
“The United States is committed to the principle of ‘nothing about you, without you’ when it comes to the security of our European allies and partners, including Ukraine,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “We are lashed up at every level with our allies and partners, and we will continue to be in the days and weeks ahead.”
After the Geneva talks, Russia is due to hold negotiations with NATO in Brussels on Wednesday and at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on Thursday in Vienna.
Ahead of Monday’s U.S.-Russia session, top diplomats from both countries expressed little optimism that tensions between their countries would be eased this week.
“It’s hard to see we’re going to make any progress with a gun to Ukraine’s head,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN’s “State of the Union” show.
“We’re going to listen to Russia’s concerns” about NATO military exercises in central and eastern Europe, Blinken said, but added, “they’re going to have to listen to ours” about the 100,000 troops Russia has amassed along Ukraine’s eastern flank.
Meanwhile, Russia’s state-owned RIA news agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov as saying it was entirely possible that the U.S.-Russia talks could end abruptly after a single meeting.
“I can’t rule out anything; this is an entirely possible scenario and the Americans… should have no illusions about this,” Ryabkov was quoted as saying. Officials from the two countries held a working dinner Sunday night ahead of the more formal talks on Monday in Geneva.
“Naturally, we will not make any concessions under pressure and in the course of threats that are constantly being formed by the Western participants of the upcoming talks,” Ryabkov said.
Blinken reiterated the U.S. threat to impose severe economic sanctions against Moscow in the event it invades Ukraine eight years after its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.
“Our strong preference is a diplomatic solution, but that’s up to Russia,” Blinken told ABC’s “This Week” show.
He said there is room for negotiations over military exercises in Europe and renewed arms limitations that he accused Russia of violating in the past.
The top U.S. diplomat said Russia cannot violate other countries’ borders or dictate whether NATO might accede to Ukraine’s request for membership in the seven-decade-old Western military alliance. He said 60% of Ukrainians favor the country joining NATO.
Russia has denied it plans to invade Ukraine and demanded an end to NATO expansion and a halt to the alliance’s military exercises in central and eastern European countries that joined it after 1997.
The United States and NATO have said large parts of the Russian proposals are non-starters.
Some material in this report came from Reuters.
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За підрахунками Yara, компанія купує близько 10-15 відсотків виробництва білоруської компанії «Білоруськалій»
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Українське зовнішньополітичне відомство вказало, що «надзвичайно важливо вжити максимальних заходів задля деескалації ситуації»
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У категорії найкращий драматичний фільм нагороду отримала стрічка «У руках пса». Її творець Джейн Кемпіон отримала «Золотий глобус» як найкращий режисер
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Президент Казахстану не сказав, які політичні сили стояли за «спробою перевороту»
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«Новини Приазов’я» виходять в ефір щодня о 15:00 на хвилях Радіо Крим.Реалії 105.9 ФМ і 648 АМ, а також в ефірі Громадського Радіо
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До акції приєдналися і представники польської, литовської, естонської, латвійської, білоруської та казахської громад
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Високопоставлені дипломати «обговорили двосторонні теми, які обидві сторони розглядатимуть» на основних переговорах 10 січня, заявив речник Держдепартаменту Нед Прайс
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U.S. and Russian officials are meeting this week to address the tensions along the Russian-Ukrainian border. Michelle Quinn reports. Video editor – Mary Cieslak.
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Токаєв 7 січня віддав наказ армії та правоохоронцям стріляти на ураження в «бандитів й терористів»
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«Дуже складно побачити [реальний прогрес] в умовах ескалації, коли Росія приставила пістолет до голови України, розмістивши 100 тисяч військовослужбовців біля її кордонів»
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2022 року Сергій Притула планує зареєструвати очолювану ним нову українську політичну партію
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«Я є великим противником поєднання свого прізвища з назвою партії»
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Top U.S. and Russian diplomats expressed little optimism Sunday that tensions between their countries would be eased at high-level discussions this week in Europe over Moscow’s massive troop buildup along its Ukraine border and Russian demands for Western security guarantees.
“It’s hard to see we’re going to make any progress with a gun to Ukraine’s head,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN’s “State of the Union” show.
“We’re going to listen to Russia’s concerns” about NATO military exercises in central and eastern Europe, Blinken said, but added, “They’re going to have to listen to ours” about the 100,000 troops Russia has amassed along Ukraine’s eastern flank.
Meanwhile, Russia’s state-owned RIA news agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying it was entirely possible that the U.S.-Russia talks, set to start Sunday night and continue Monday in Geneva, could end abruptly after a single meeting.
“I can’t rule out anything; this is an entirely possible scenario and the Americans… should have no illusions about this,” Ryabkov was quoted as saying.
“Naturally, we will not make any concessions under pressure and in the course of threats that are constantly being formed by the Western participants of the upcoming talks,” Ryabkov said.
Blinken said, “I don’t think we’re going to see any [immediate] breakthrough” in the U.S.-Russia negotiations that continue along with other countries in Brussels and Vienna throughout the week.
But he said, “Ultimately this is up to President [Vladimir] Putin. It’s his actions [with the Ukraine troop buildup] that are precipitating what he says he doesn’t want,” furthering conflict with the United States and its allies.
Blinken reiterated the U.S. threat to impose severe economic sanctions against Moscow in the event it invades Ukraine eight years after its 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.
“Our strong preference is a diplomatic solution, but that’s up to Russia,” Blinken told ABC’s “This Week” show. He said there is room for negotiations over military exercises in Europe and renewed arms limitations that he accused Russia of violating in the past.
The top U.S. diplomat, however, said Russia cannot violate other countries’ borders or dictate whether NATO might accede to Ukraine’s request for membership in the seven-decade-old Western military alliance. He said 60% of Ukrainians favor the country joining NATO.
Russia has denied it plans to invade Ukraine and has demanded an end to NATO expansion and a halt to the alliance’s military exercises in central and eastern European countries that joined it after 1997.
The United States and NATO have said large parts of the Russian proposals are a non-starter.
Aside from Blinken’s Sunday talk show interviews, a senior official in President Joe Biden’s administration on Saturday anonymously laid out the U.S. stance on the talks with Russia.
“The main threats to European security over the past two decades have come from Russia and the forces with which it is aligned,” the official said. “Russia has twice invaded and occupied its neighbors. It’s interfered in a myriad of elections, including our own.”
“It’s used chemical weapons to conduct assassinations and violated foundational arms control treaties… So, any serious conversation with Russia about European security is going to have to address those issues…,” the official said.
The official said the U.S. is not willing to restrict NATO’s membership options.
“It is not up to Russia, for example, to decide for other countries who they can be allies with,” the official said. “Those are decisions only for those countries and the alliance itself.”
But the official said the U.S. was ready to talk about the possibility of each side restricting military exercises and missile deployments in the region.
After the Geneva talks, Russia is also due to hold negotiations with NATO in Brussels on Wednesday and at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Vienna on Thursday.
Some material in this report came from Reuters.
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Greece this week takes delivery of an ancient fragment that once adorned the Parthenon temple, the country’s most important archeological site. The return from a museum in Italy is being seen as the strongest nudge yet to the British Museum, which holds the largest collection of Parthenon Sculptures and has refused for centuries to return the antiquities to their ancient home.
The marble fragment will be unveiled at the Acropolis Museum Monday, displayed in a full-size representation of the Parthenon’s frieze.
The return is part of a groundbreaking loan deal signed between the Acropolis Museum and the Antonio Salinas Regional Archeological Museum in Sicily, where the artifact has been on display since the 19th century.
The Parthenon fragment, depicting the foot of a goddess, will be lent for a four-year period in exchange for a fifth century B.C. headless statue of the goddess Athena and an eighth century B.C. amphora as part of an extensive cultural exchange agreement. The loan period may be extended a further four years, and the fragment’s move to Greece could eventually become permanent.
Sicily’s councilor for culture, Alberto Samonà, said this is an important cultural exchange that can pave the way for even bigger international exhibits organized by the Salinas museum and the Acropolis museum.
Experts in Greece say the loan deal adds to mounting pressure on Britain to follow suit with the so-called Elgin Marbles, a massive collection of sculptures assembled by Thomas Bruce, the seventh earl of Elgin, who in the early 1800s was the British ambassador to the Ottoman empire, which then controlled Greece. Britain bought them from Elgin in 1816 after a parliamentary inquiry into the legitimacy of his ownership.
The dispute marks one of the longest-standing cultural rows in history, with Athens demanding for decades that the British Museum return the marble masterpieces to Greece. Greeks have accused the late British aristocrat of cultural theft.
Last week, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mistotakis made a new bid for the return of the sculptures as the Acropolis Museum installed 10 fragments of the Parthenon frieze stored in the capital’s archeological Museum.
The return of the Parthenon Sculptures from the British museum, he said, is a political and ethical issue with international implications. The prime minister said the return is all about healing a wound created violently and illegally by Elgin.
Mitsotakis raised the issue in talks with his British counterpart, Boris Johnson, late last year, offering to lend some Greek historical treasures to the British Museum.
The prime minister’s office has since said the offer is a matter for the British Museum to decide. It added, however, that the marbles were bound to remain in Britain, arguing they were legally acquired and not the subject of an ownership dispute.
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