Hillicon Valley — Ukraine thwarts Russian cyberattack

Ukrainian officials on Tuesday said they successfully blocked a Russian cyberattack intended to damage the country’s power grid. 

Meanwhile, the Department of Justice took control over a major hacking forum in a coordinated action with foreign law enforcement to dismantle illegal cyber activities.  

This is Hillicon Valley, detailing all you need to know about tech and cyber news from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley. Send tips to The Hill’s Rebecca Klar, Chris Mills Rodrigo and Ines Kagubare. Someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.

Russia fails to disrupt Ukraine power grid 

Ukrainian officials on Tuesday said the country successfully thwarted a cyberattack by Russian-backed hackers intended to disrupt the country’s electrical grid, according to news reports.  

The attempted cyberattack, which occurred last week, targeted computers controlling high voltage substations of an energy company in Ukraine, the Computer Emergency

Response Team of Ukraine said in a statement.  

Ukrainian officials said a hacking group known as Sandworm was behind the attack. The hackers have been tied to Russia’s military intelligence agency, GRU. 

Read more here. 

DOJ seizes control of hacking website  

The Department of Justice on Tuesday seized control of a popular hacking forum in a coordinated effort with foreign agencies to crackdown on illegal cyber activities. 

The website, RaidForums, is a major online marketplace where cybercriminals buy and sell stolen data that contains personal and financial information, including bank routing and account numbers, credit card information, login credentials and social security numbers.  

The DOJ also charged the forum’s founder and chief administrator, Diogo Santos Coelho, who’s originally from Portugal. Coelho was arrested in the United Kingdom in January and faces extradition to the U.S. He was charged with six counts including conspiracy, access device fraud and aggravated identity theft in connection with his role as chief administrator of the forum. 

Read more here. 

NATIONAL SECURITY OFFICIALS WEIGH IN ON ANTITRUST 

Former high-ranking national security officials are urging lawmakers to abandon antitrust legislation targeting U.S. tech giants as part of a seven-figure ad campaign first shared with The Hill. 

The ads, which are being run by the American Edge Project, an advocacy group backed by Meta and several lobbying groups funded by Amazon and Google, warn that legislation to weaken American tech companies would undermine U.S. competitiveness with China and Russia. 

“We can’t allow our adversaries to win the tech race,” Frances Townsend, who served as a homeland security adviser under former President George W. Bush, tells viewers in one video. “If our leaders don’t change course, American citizens and businesses will become more dependent on authoritarian regimes for our technology.” 

Read more here.  

NOKIA PULLS OUT OF RUSSIA 

Telecommunication company Nokia announced Tuesday that it will pull out of the Russian market, noting that its “priority continues to be the safety and well-being of our employees.” 

“It has been clear for Nokia since the early days of the invasion of Ukraine that continuing our presence in Russia would not be possible,” the company wrote in a statement. “Over the last weeks we have suspended deliveries, stopped new business and are moving our limited R&D activities out of Russia.” 

Nokia is one of the hundreds of companies that have cut ties with Russia after it began invading Ukraine in late February. Western leaders also issued sanctions against Russian officials and companies. 

Read more here. 

BITS & PIECES

An op-ed to chew on: As social media turns 25, we’re still perplexed about regulating bad actors 

Lighter click: Never too late to pursue your dreams 

Notable links from around the web: 

• Welcome Back to the Office. Isn’t This Fun? (The New York Times / Daisuke
• Wakabayashi, Erin Griffith and Kate Conger)
• The People Who Believe Russia’s Disinformation (Slate / Joshua A. Tucker) 

One more thing: DoorDash unveils student service 

Online food ordering company DoorDash has launched a subscription membership service for college students. 

The company says that DashPass for Students is a membership service that will offer students “convenient and wallet-friendly options” from restaurants, convenience and grocery stores and local and national retailers. 

Starting at $4.99 a month, members of the new subscription service will get unlimited $0 delivery fees on eligible orders over the minimum subtotal, 10 percent off order subtotals year-round from reduced service fees, 5 percent credit back on pick-up orders from restaurants and access to promotions and DashPass exclusive menu items as well. 

Read more here.  

That’s it for today, thanks for reading. Check out The Hill’s Technology and Cybersecurity pages for the latest news and coverage. We’ll see you tomorrow.

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