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Hackers hijack government websites to mine crypto-cash

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) took down its website after a warning that hackers were taking control of visitors’ computers to mine cryptocurrency.

Security researcher Scott Helme said more than 4,000 websites, including many government ones, were affected.

He said the affected code had now been disabled and visitors were no longer at risk.

The ICO said: “We are aware of the issue and are working to resolve it.”

Mr Helme said he was alerted by a friend who had received a malware warning when he visited the ICO website.

Bitcoin rival

He traced the problem to a website plug-in called Browsealoud, used to help blind and partially sighted people access the web.

Texthelp, the company which makes the plug-in, confirmed that the product was affected for four hours by malicious code designed to generate cryptocurrency.

The cryptocurrency involved was Monero – a rival to Bitcoin that is designed to make transactions in it “untraceable” back to the senders and recipients involved.

The plug-in had been tampered with to add a program, Coinhive, which “mines” for Monero by running processor-intensive calculations on visitors’ computers.

Once the plug-in was infected, it affected thousands of other websites in addition to the ICO’s, which used it.

Analysis

Mining hardware — Image captionGenerating crypto-currencies involves lots of computer hardware

By OP’S NEWS

The surge in value of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies hasn’t escaped the attention of hackers looking to make a quick buck.

Mining, the process where new digital coins are created by solving complex mathematical problems, uses increasing amounts of computer processing power and that means big electricity bills.

All the better then if you can get other people’s computers to do the job. The hackers do this by inserting software into websites which then means that, unbeknown to them, visitors’ computers are put to work mining cryptocurrencies.

It seems that the Information Commissioner’s site along with others run by the government were infected by crypto-mining code injected into some accessibility software they all use.

This kind of attack is becoming increasingly common and while it appears not to cause data loss or damage to systems, it does mean computers can run much more slowly.

‘Serious breach’

Mr Helme said: “It’s a very lucrative proposal. They infect one website and it infects close to 5,000.

“This was a very serious breach. They could have extracted personal data, stolen information or installed malware. It was only limited by the hackers’ imaginations.”

As well as the ICO website, the hacked script was found running on the site of the Student Loans Company, Barnsley Hospital and other websites in the UK and worldwide.

Martin McKay, chief technical officer of TextHelp, said: “In light of other recent cyber-attacks all over the world, we have been preparing for such an incident for the last year and our data security action plan was actioned straight away.”

The company is commissioning a security review by an independent consultancy following the attack, he said.

Because the malware only runs while someone is actively visiting an infected site, there is no further risk to users’ computers, Mr Helme added.

A National Cyber Security Centre spokesman said: “NCSC technical experts are examining data involving incidents of malware being used to illegally mine cryptocurrency.

“The affected service has been taken offline, largely mitigating the issue. Government websites continue to operate securely.

“At this stage there is nothing to suggest that members of the public are at risk.”

Three Britons die in Grand Canyon helicopter crash

An aerial view near the West Rim of the Grand Canyon November 6, 2008 in Grand Canyon, Arizona. — Image captionThe helicopter crashed at the West Rim of the Grand Canyon

Three British people have died after a tourist helicopter crashed in the Grand Canyon in the US state of Arizona.

The Foreign Office said it was providing support to their families and those of three more Britons who were injured.

The aircraft came down at about 17:20 local time (00:20 GMT) on Saturday. It is not clear what caused the crash.

A spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration said it suffered “substantial damage”.

Police Chief Francis Bradley, of the surrounding Hualapai Indian reservation, told the BBC that all six people involved in the crash were from the UK.

He earlier told US media that the local terrain had hampered rescue efforts overnight.

“We are having difficulties getting the four people out of the crash site area to the hospital,” CNN quoted him as saying.

“It is too windy and it’s dark and the area is very rugged.”

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We are providing support to the families of six British visitors involved in a helicopter accident at the Grand Canyon on 10 February, and we are in close contact with the US emergency services.”

The helicopter was operated by tour company Papillon Airways.

On its website, Papillon calls itself “the world’s largest aerial sightseeing company” and says it flies more than 600,000 people a year.

Images have emerged showing flames and thick smoke rising from the boulder-strewn crash site.

Earlier reports said the helicopter was carrying six passengers and the pilot.

The Grand Canyon, which is more than 1.6km (one mile) deep, is one of the most visited tourist attractions in the US.

Kavous Seyed-Emami: Iran environmentalist’s death was suicide, Iran says

Iran’s judiciary says a prominent Iranian environmentalist in a Tehran prison killed himself because of the evidence against him in a spying case.

Kavous Seyed-Emami, 63, a dual Canadian national, was arrested last month.

His son said he did not believe he had taken his own life. And one of his colleagues said Iran’s academic community was in shock.

Activists say there have been other suspicious deaths among detainees that have been labelled as suicide.

The Centre for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI), a New York-based lobby group, also told the BBC the Iranian authorities had increased their targeting of dual nationals in Iran.

Mr Seyed-Emami ran the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation and was a sociology professor.

“He was one of the defendants in a spying case and unfortunately he committed suicide in prison since he knew that many had made confessions against him and because of his own confessions,” Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi told the ILNA news agency.

The Iranian authorities told Mr Seyed-Emami’s wife he had died in Evin prison on Friday, Mr Seyed-Emami’s son Raam Emami said.

“The news of my father’s passing is impossible to fathom,” he said in social media posts. “They say he committed suicide. I still can’t believe this.”

The Iran Sociology Association also questioned the official account of his death.

“The information published about him is not believable and we expect officials to respond,” it said in a statement.

Meanwhile Ali Shakourirad, head of the reformist Islamic Union Party, tweeted that the death had “caused a wave of questions and concerns among the public”.

An academic who knew Mr Seyed-Emami told AFP news agency the Iranian academic community was “in shock”.

“He was one of the best professors,” the academic said. “He was very profound, very composed, not at all political. He loved Iran and the environment.”

On Saturday the prosecutor said the Iranian authorities had arrested people who had been gathering classified information “under the coverage of scientific and environmental projects”.

Reports say at least seven people were arrested at the same time as Mr Seyed-Emami, including an Iranian-American dual national, Morad Tahbaz.

The news of Mr Seyed-Emmi’s death comes after the Iranian authorities announced that two Iranians arrested during the recent wave of anti-government protests had killed themselves in prison.

Their families, activists and lawyers have rejected this explanation and called for an independent investigation.

Mr Seyed-Emami is the second Iranian-Canadian dual national to die in prison in Iran. In 2003 Zahra Kazemi, 54, was beaten to death after being arrested for taking photographs outside Evin prison.

Bolivia: Gas canister blast kills eight in Oruro carnival

Locals watch from behind of a barricade at the scene of an explosion a day before, that caused six dead and 28 injured in a street market that remains cordoned off while the investigation continues in the city of Oruro, Bolivia, — Image captionThe blast happened near the main carnival parade route

At least eight people in Bolivia have died when a gas canister used by a street vendor exploded during the city of Oruro’s famous carnival celebrations.

More than 40 others were injured, the authorities said.

Several victims had to be airlifted to Bolivia’s main city, La Paz, as local hospitals struggled to cope.

Hundreds of thousands of people take part every year in Oruro’s carnival celebrations.

The blast happened on Saturday evening on a crowded side street close to the main parade route.

At least three children died. Others were injured.

President Evo Morales wrote on Twitter that he was “dismayed at the news of the deaths caused by the explosion”.

Members of the Diablada Urus group perform during the Carnival parade in Oruro, Bolivia February 10, 2018. — Image captionOruro’s colourful costumes and performances attracts visitors from all over the world

Local media reported that the explosion was accidental.

The Oruro carnival dates back more than two centuries and has been classified as a cultural heritage event by the United Nations.

Some 6,000 dancers – among an estimated crowd of some 450,000 – take part in the festivities every year.

Germany: Merkel calls for younger ministers in new government

Merkel (R) appears on ZDF — Image captionMrs Merkel (R) sought to reassure her critics

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for younger members of her party to fill ministerial positions in the new government.

“We need to ensure that not only the over-60s are considered but also younger people,” she told German TV.

She also defended “painful” concessions made to the the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) to clinch a coalition deal.

The deal followed months of wrangling after an inconclusive election.

However it still needs to be approved by the SPD’s 460,000 members, with the result due in March.

On Friday SPD leader Martin Schulz abandoned a plan to serve as foreign minister in the new government, saying he did not want debate about his role to jeopardise the new coalition.

“Now we need to show that we can start with a new team,” Mrs Merkel said. The CDU has six ministerial posts to fill.

Some in her conservative CDU/CSU party are unhappy that the key finance ministry has gone to the SPD, fearing that the fiscal discipline of former Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble could become a thing of the past.

But Mrs Merkel sought to reassure her critics.

“I want to say that the we have also approved the policies and the finance minister cannot simply do as he likes,” she said.

Media captionGerman post-war politics in two minutes

The SPD have been critical of what they call the “forced austerity” imposed on struggling southern European countries such as Greece under Mr Schäuble and said during the election campaign that they would boost investment.

On Saturday the SPD’s Olaf Scholz, who is expected to become finance minister, said Germany should not tell other European countries how to run their economies and that mistakes had been made.

But Mr Scholz also said that the SPD would maintain Mr Schäuble’s balanced budget policy.

Trump warns Israel that settlements ‘complicate’ peace hopes

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. May 23, 2017 — Image captionPresident Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital was strongly welcomed by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu

US President Donald Trump has said Israeli settlements “complicate” the peace process with Palestinians and urged “care” over the issue.

He also told an Israeli newspaper that he did not believe the Palestinians, and possibly Israel as well, were ready to make peace.

President Trump angered Palestinians in December when he recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

He also threatened to withhold aid unless Palestinians agreed to talks.

The US leader’s latest comments came in an interview published on Sunday with the conservative newspaper Yisrael Hayom.

Asked by editor-in-chief Boaz Bismouth when the US would present its peace plan, Mr Trump said: “We will see what happens. Right now the Palestinians are not into making peace, they are just not into it. Regarding Israel, I am not certain it, too, is interested in making peace so we will just need to wait and see what happens.”

Can Jewish settlement issue be resolved?
Trump Jerusalem shift puts counter-terror efforts at risk
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image captionJewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem have long been a stumbling block to peace deal

More than 600,000 Jews live in about 140 settlements built since Israel’s 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The settlements are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.

In excerpts of the interview published on Friday, Mr Trump said that recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital had been a highlight of his first year in office.

“I think Jerusalem was a very big point and I think it was a very important point,” he said.

“The capital, having Jerusalem be your great capital, was a very important thing to a lot of people. It was a very important pledge that I made and I fulfilled my pledge,” he said.

Israel claims the whole of the city as its capital but the Palestinians want East Jerusalem, occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, to be the capital of a future Palestinian state.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has said he will no longer accept the US as a mediator following the controversial recognition of Jerusalem.

Last month the UN expressed concern at a US decision to withhold more than half of a tranche of funding for an agency that supports Palestinian refugees.

Washington said it would hand over $60m (£43m) of a planned payment to the UN Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa), but would keep back $65m until it carries out “reforms”.

Harvey Weinstein: New York state sues Weinstein Company

Harvey Weinstein, 2 February 2018 — Image captionHarvey Weinstein is facing dozens of accusations of abuse

New York prosecutors have filed a lawsuit against the Weinstein Company, alleging that the studio failed to protect staff from Harvey Weinstein.

Mr Weinstein has been accused of dozens of allegations of sexual abuse, including rape, but denies having non-consensual sex.

The lawsuit follows a four-month investigation by New York’s attorney general.

It also casts doubt over a plan to sell the company to a group of investors.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said on Sunday he had filed the suit against the Weinstein Company, Mr Weinstein himself, and his brother Robert.

Mr Schneiderman said in a statement that “neither perpetrators nor enablers will be unjustly enriched” by any sale of the studio and that the sale “must ensure that victims will be compensated”.

“Every New Yorker has a right to a workplace free of sexual harassment, intimidation, and fear,” the statement added.

The Weinstein Company has held discussions with investors over a possible sale. It is reported that businesswoman Maria Contreras-Sweet led talks to buy the studio for $500m (£362m).

But citing people familiar with the sale. Reuters reported that negotiations are now on hold.

Men attack Chatham salon with pick-axes and spade

Media captionCCTV captures masked men attacking Chatham shop

The owner of a tanning salon has described how she feared for her life as three men attacked her shop with pick-axes and a spade.

Tina Goldsmith, who runs Tattoos and Tanning in Chatham, Kent, said she was on her own in the salon when the raid happened at 14:00 GMT on Saturday.

CCTV footage captured the gang’s frenzied attack on the shop in Walderslade Road.

Business owner Ms Goldsmith, 58, said she was showered in glass.

She said she was “completely baffled” as to why the men carried out the attack and nothing was stolen.

The broken glass — Image captionThe men used pick-axes and a spade to smash the windows

Describing the attack, she said she looked up from her desk to see a man outside with “what appeared to be a baseball bat… but it turned out to be a pick-axe.

“My first thought was that someone was going to get hurt, but in a split second two others turned up.”

Ms Goldsmith said the men – who had covered their faces – used two pick-axes and a shovel in the attack.

“It was all over in 12 seconds, that’s all it took,” she said.

Although initially “very shaken” she said she was a laid-back character and that “glass can be replaced”.

Kent Police has confirmed it received a report of criminal damage and said inquiries into the incident were ongoing.

Dog swallows fish hook on St Austell beach walk

Image captionLJ’s owner Sean Clancy said his pet was “lucky to be alive”

A man is warning pet owners to be vigilant after his dog swallowed a fish hook while on their daily beach walk.

Owner Sean Clancy became worried for chocolate Labrador LJ when he spotted string in the dog’s mouth during the outing on Carlyon Bay Beach in Cornwall.

LJ was taken to a local vets where it was confirmed a 6cm (2.5in) fish hook had become lodged in his stomach.

Mr Clancy said an “irresponsible fisherman” could have cost LJ his life.

He believes the hook was not washed up on to the beach but left behind after a fishing trip.

‘Lucky to be alive’

“I am angry that it’s happened. We’ve got to clear up after ourselves, why can’t [fishermen] do that as well?” he said.

“It could have been in the summer time, there could have been kids down there that walked on it. If that was a fisherman’s kid that walked on that, what would he have done?”

After the emergency operation to remove the hook from four-year-old LJ’s stomach, vets told Mr Clancy that LJ was “lucky to be alive”.

“They told me if I left it any longer, it would have tried to work its way out and it would have been a different story now,” Mr Clancy added.

LJ is now recovering at home.

Mr Clancy said: “I’ve had get well cards for him, loads of people offering to sit with him while I’m at work, somebody even offered me money towards the vets bills.”

fish hook — Image captionLJ’s owner Sean Clancy believes the hook was left on the beach by fishermen

hook in stomach — Image captionVets confirmed a 6cm (2.5 inches) fish hook had become lodged in LJ’s stomach

The RSPCA said it was a “distressing and shocking situation” and urged those who enjoy fishing to be “extra cautious”.

It added: “Most anglers are very responsible, but it only takes one careless person to endanger the life of an animal.”

sean and LJ — Image captionSean has received get well cards for LJ as he recovers from his operation

Rape attempt on 10-year-old girl in Openshaw

Kingcraig Close — Image captionThe girl was approached by the suspect at about 14:00 GMT on Kincraig Close, Openshaw

A man attempted to rape a 10-year-old girl when she became separated from her friends, police have said.

The girl was approached by the suspect at about 14:00 GMT on Kincraig Close, Openshaw.

She managed to escape during the attempted assault and stopped a dog walker for help.

A search for the suspect, who Greater Manchester Police described as being of “Asian appearance” and in his 20s, has been launched.

The girl told further described the man as being slim and wearing a dark coat, police said.

Det Ch Insp James Riley said patrols had been stepped up in light of the “very upsetting” attack.

Police are speaking to witnesses and examining CCTV but are keen to hear from anyone with information.

Mr Riley said police had not received any other reports “of this nature” in the area over the weekend.

“With the help of this brave girl and the community we have a good description of the attacker and if anyone recognises it or recalls seeing a man matching that description in the area, then please call us,” he said.