Privacy
We train a lot of journalists and some of them ask why anyone would bother targeting them. Our short answer is because of the information and contacts they have. Cybersecurity outfit Proofpoint provides a longer answer in a detailed report that examines the reasons journalists make juicy targets and the methods used by nation states to attack them.
Proofpoint says journalists and media organisations are "sought-after targets" - particularly for groups connected to nation states - because "the media sector and those that work within it can open doors that others cannot." Proofpoint's report focuses on activity by China, North Korea, Iran, and Turkey, and analyses their sustained activities, many of which have been timed to coincide with sensitive political events in the US.
On a practical level, Proofpoint describes specific tactics used by attackers;
- Email is a key mechanism, not least because journalists' accounts contain so much useful information. And it's challenging to defend against such attacks because journalists inevitably interact with so many people, many of whom may be strangers.
- Emails are used to gather information about targets, including IP addresses and computer details.
- In another demonstration of its paper thin skin, North Korea was spotted targeting a US-based media organisation after it published material that was critical of Kim Jong-Un. The lure was a fake job opportunity.
- Hijacking social media accounts is a very popular tactic; sometimes to cause embarrassment by publishing fake material, sometimes to inconvenience the account's owner.
- A favoured Iranian tactic is to pose as a journalist or editor as a way to engage a target in conversation.
