The United States has withdrawn an extradition request for an Irish hacker convicted of breaking into digital wallets to steal millions of dollars in cryptocurrency.

Conor Freeman was once recognized through US Homeland Security as one of at least 5 co-conspirators involved in a string of digital thefts that robbed multiple victims of their life savings in 2018.

Freeman was arrested at his Dublin home in May 2019 on a warrant issued through US authorities. Following his arrest, the hacker handed over stolen Bitcoin worth $2,187,977 to Gardaí the Irish police.

Freeman, of Dun Laoghaire, pleaded responsible to stealing cryptocurrency, dishonestly running a PC to make a gain, and knowingly engaging in the possession of the proceeds of crime. In November 2020, the 21-year-old was sentenced to three months in jail minus one month served in custody by Judge Martin Nolan in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

The US had requested Freeman to be surrendered and extradited to the United States to face charges of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 4 counts of aiding and abetting wire fraud, and 4 counts of aiding and abetting aggravated identification theft.

US authorities alleged that Freeman used to be a member of an equipped online crook gang known as The Community that conspired to steal from targets they picked out on social media. The gang used SIM-swapping to gain control of a victim’s smartphone number, leveraging it to gain access into their digital wallets.

A member of The Community, arrested in Michigan in May 2018, gave US authorities access to his computers. The member’s online chat data revealed an individual calling himself Conor was involved in the thefts.

IP addresses used by this Conor have been linked to an Irish cellular smartphone and residential net provider carriers used by Conor Freeman.

The High Court heard this morning that following his conviction in Ireland, the United States was no longer seeking to prosecute Freeman, who had no prior convictions.

Had Freeman been convicted in the US on all counts, the Dubliner should have been sentenced to a most of 108 years at the back of bars.

The SolarWinds Hack Timeline

A couple of weeks ago SolarWinds it was discovered that SolarWinds had suffered a significant security breach which was allegedly orchestrated by Russian operatives. This chart is a graphical timeline of what we know so far.

Overview

This learning module takes a deeper look at the Cybersecurity Framework’s five Functions: Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, and Recover. The information presented here builds upon the material introduced in the Components of the Framework module. This module explores the value of the Functions within the Framework, and what is included in each Function.

An Introduction to the Functions

The five Functions included in the Framework Core are:

• Identify
• Protect
• Detect
• Respond
• Recover

The Functions are the highest level of abstraction included in the Framework. They act as the backbone of the Framework Core that all other elements are organized around.These five Functions were selected because they represent the five primary pillars for a successful and holistic cybersecurity program. They aid organizations in easily expressing their management of cybersecurity risk at a high level and enabling risk management decisions.

Identify

The Identify Function assists in developing an organizational understanding to managing cybersecurity risk to systems, people, assets, data, and capabilities. Understanding the business context, the resources that support critical functions, and the related cybersecurity risks enables an organization to focus and prioritize its efforts, consistent with its risk management strategy and business needs.Examples of outcome Categories within this Function include:

• Identifying physical and software assets within the organization to establish the basis of an Asset Management program
• Identifying the Business Environment the organization supports including the organization’s role in the supply chain, and the organizations place in the critical infrastructure sector
• Identifying cybersecurity policies established within the organization to define the Governance program as well as identifying legal and regulatory requirements regarding the cybersecurity capabilities of the organization
• Identifying asset vulnerabilities, threats to internal and external organizational resources, and risk response activities as a basis for the organizations Risk Assessment
• Identifying a Risk Management Strategy for the organization including establishing risk tolerances
• Identifying a Supply Chain Risk Management strategy including priorities, constraints, risk tolerances, and assumptions used to support risk decisions associated with managing supply chain risks

Protect

The Protect Function outlines appropriate safeguards to ensure delivery of critical infrastructure services. The Protect Function supports the ability to limit or contain the impact of a potential cybersecurity event.Examples of outcome Categories within this Function include:

• Protections for Identity Management and Access Control within the organization including physical and remote access
• Empowering staff within the organization through Awareness and Training including role based and privileged user training
• Establishing Data Security protection consistent with the organization’s risk strategy to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information
• Implementing Information Protection Processes and Procedures to maintain and manage the protections of information systems and assets
• Protecting organizational resources through Maintenance, including remote maintenance, activities
• Managing Protective Technology to ensure the security and resilience of systems and assists are consistent with organizational policies, procedures, and agreements

Detect

The Detect Function defines the appropriate activities to identify the occurrence of a cybersecurity event. The Detect Function enables timely discovery of cybersecurity events.Examples of outcome Categories within this Function include:

• Ensuring Anomalies and Events are detected, and their potential impact is understood
• Implementing Security Continuous Monitoring capabilities to monitor cybersecurity events and verify the effectiveness of protective measures including network and physical activities
• Maintaining Detection Processes to provide awareness of anomalous events

Respond

The Respond Function includes appropriate activities to take action regarding a detected cybersecurity incident. The Respond Function supports the ability to contain the impact of a potential cybersecurity incident.Examples of outcome Categories within this Function include:

• Ensuring Response Planning process are executed during and after an incident
• Managing Communications during and after an event with stakeholders, law enforcement, external stakeholders as appropriate
• Analysis is conducted to ensure effective response and support recovery activities including forensic analysis, and determining the impact of incidents
• Mitigation activities are performed to prevent expansion of an event and to resolve the incident
• The organization implements Improvements by incorporating lessons learned from current and previous detection / response activities

Recover

 The Recover Function identifies appropriate activities to maintain plans for resilience and to restore any capabilities or services that were impaired due to a cybersecurity incident. The Recover Function supports timely recovery to normal operations to reduce the impact from a cybersecurity incident.Examples of outcome Categories within this Function include:

• Ensuring the organization implements Recovery Planning processes and procedures to restore systems and/or assets affected by cybersecurity incidents
• Implementing Improvements based on lessons learned and reviews of existing strategies
• Internal and external Communications are coordinated during and following the recovery from a cybersecurity incident