Page 197 - Password News Today

On it from the beginning. i am joined by pete williams. this is an incredible story. what do we hear about how prepared the company is going forward? >> we learned that the hackers got into colonials data system through a program they thought wasnt used anymore. one that employees can access through vpn. it required only a user name and password, single factor. the company has shut that down. that is one change. we learned new details. colonial discovered at 5:00 a.m. on may 7 that it was hit wi...

Didnt -- decided they didnt want to participate. nbcs leigh ann caldwell, thank you for being with us. we really appreciate it. lets go now to this pretty incredible story. the u.s. government flipped the script on some hackers. >> the department of justice has found and recaptured the majority of the ransom colonial paid to the darkside network in the wake of last months ransomware attack. >> nbcs own pete williams reports on how the doj was able to pull this off. >> reporter: what thousands ...

Joining us is nbc security correspondent ken dilanian. >> good evening, ayman. darkside used an unused vpn account that had a single password, not the two-factor authentication that we need to access our nbc accounts from home. he said it was a complicated password, not a "colonial 123" type password. but he said the company did not have a ransom plan despite spending an average of $40 million a year on cybersecurity. he says his company now complies with the latest cybersecurity standards order...

What you dont really get a sense of from that press conferences how they did it. there is still a bit of secrecy about how they got the money back. , , . ~ secrecy about how they got the money back. , , ., ~ ., ., , back. yes. they talk about how they not hold of back. yes. they talk about how they got hold of the _ back. yes. they talk about how they got hold of the private _ back. yes. they talk about how they got hold of the private key - back. yes. they talk about how they got hold of the pr...

Turned the tables on them pete williams explains how. >> reporter: what thousands of americans didnt know as they waited in long lines for gasoline after colonial pipeline revealed that it was hit with a ransomware attack is that the fbi was already investigating darkside, the group in russia blamed for carrying it out. colonial, it turns out, quickly told the fbi about the attack, and agents were able to find the bitcoin account where the ransom was sent. the fbi figured out the password and to...

These everyday things that us as consumers can do certainly get in the way of being that weakest link. thats what these attackers want to do. they want to attack the weakest link. the goal is not to be the weakest link, and then that will help us be able to defend these type of attacks and be safer as a society. >> is there a safe place to store your passwords for those of us who try to change them regularly? >> thats the beauty of multi-factor authentication, its a new password every single tim...

A hacker and are able to hack into colonial pipeline systems and shutter the eastern seaboards oil supply, then why would you make such a rookie mistake of using bitcoin because when the use bitcoin it meant one tiny error and the fbi can track you down. so they probably just handed over the password to the fbi, thats the impression i get. if they had used a crypto currency like mineiro which darkside themselves when they made the software they made it to be used with bitcoin or mineiro and that...

For the majority of the east. agreed, and having this direct relationship, and right away we saw the benefit, we saw the benefit of the fbi being involved and cisa being involved off the bat. leading with the stuff that transfired yesterday with the doj, and the returning of some -- seizing some of those funds that actors are able to gain. >> what can everyday normal americans do to protect ourselves? are we helpless? >> were not helpless, i think, you know, even the events of the pipeline, we l...

Pipeline paid in last months ransomware attack. first, heres nbc news pete williams on how the doj was able to pull this off. >> reporter: what thousands of americans didnt know as they waited in long lines for gasoline after colonial pipeline revealed that it was hit with a ransomware attack is that the fbi was already investigating darkside, the group in russia blamed for carrying it out. colonial, it turns out, quickly told the fbi about the attack, and agents were able to find the bitcoin ac...

Want to give away the tradecraft, because they want to do it again. but they made it clear that they didnt hack, they didnt sort of seize this stuff in some illicit manner. they used legal process in california, but it wasnt as simple as if these guys dumped their bitcoin in a wallet in the united states, which is what we initially thought when we saw that court document. it was more complicated. the fbi followed the bitcoin, because all bitcoin transactions are in a public ledger. they may be a...