COVID-19 Exploited by Malicious Cyber Actors (Texas Department of Public Safety)

Emma North-Best filed this request with the Texas Department of Public Safety of Texas.
Tracking #

20-1439

Multi Request COVID-19 Exploited by Malicious Cyber Actors
Status
Completed

Communications

From: Emma North-Best


To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Texas Public Information Act, I hereby request the following records:

* Records mentioning, describing or generated in response to CISA Alert AA20-099A, FBI/IC3 Alert I-032020-PSA, or the CDC alert titled "COVID-19-Related Phone Scams and Phishing Attacks"
* Records mentioning, describing or generated in response to COVID-19 related phishing attempts, such as those described in the CDC alert, FBI/IC3 Alert I-032020-PSA and CISA Alert AA20-099A
* Records mentioning, describing or generated in response to fake CDC emails, such as those described in FBI/IC3 Alert I-032020-PSA
* Records mentioning, describing or generated in response to APT groups using the COVID-19 pandemic as part of their cyber operations, such as those described in CISA Alert AA20-099A
* Records mentioning, describing, or generated as part of or in response to the assessment that the above activities' "goals and targets are consistent with long-standing priorities such as espionage and “hack-and-leak” operations", as described in CISA Alert AA20-099A

I am a member of the news media and request classification as such. I have previously written about the government and its activities, with some reaching over 100,000 readers in outlets such as Gizmodo, MuckRock, Motherboard, Property of the People, Unicorn Riot, and The Outline, among others. As such, as I have a reasonable expectation of publication and my editorial and writing skills are well established. In addition, I discuss and comment on the files online and make them available through non-profits such as the library Internet Archive and the journalist non-profit MuckRock, disseminating them to a large audience. While my research is not limited to this, a great deal of it, including this, focuses on the activities and attitudes of the government itself. As such, it is not necessary for me to demonstrate the relevance of this particular subject in advance.

As my primary purpose is to inform about government activities by reporting on it and making the raw data available, I request that fees be waived.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Emma Best

  • COVID-1920Exploited20by20Malicious20Cyber20Actors207C20CISA.pdf

  • FBI20Sees20Rise20in20Fraud20Schemes20Related20to20the20Coronavirus20COVID-1920Pande.pdf

  • COVID-19-Related20Phone20Scams20and20Phishing20Attacks207C20CDC20Online20Newsroom207.pdf

From: Texas Department of Public Safety

Please see attached.

ML Calcote
Assistant General Counsel
Texas Department of Public Safety

From: Texas Department of Public Safety

Please see attached

ML Calcote
Assistant General Counsel
Texas Department of Public Safety

From: Texas Department of Public Safety

The request has been forwarded from one agency to another agency or department for further review or follow up.

Files

pages

Close
  • 04/22/2020

    COVID-1920Exploited20by20Malicious20Cyber20Actors207C20CISA.pdf

  • 04/22/2020

    FBI20Sees20Rise20in20Fraud20Schemes20Related20to20the20Coronavirus20COVID-1920Pande.pdf

  • 04/22/2020

    COVID-19-Related20Phone20Scams20and20Phishing20Attacks207C20CDC20Online20Newsroom207.pdf

  • 05/06/2020

    20-1439 (20-05-06) letter to requestor

  • 05/06/2020

    20-1439 (20-04-23) request

  • 06/05/2020

    20-1439 (20-06-05) letter to requestor AG submission

  • 06/05/2020

    20-1439 (20-04-23) request

  • 06/05/2020

    (U) FBI PSA_ Cyber Actors Take Advantage of COVID-19 Pandemic to Exploit Increased Use of Virtual Environments

  • 06/05/2020

    COVID-19 Top Scams_UPDATES_v3

  • 06/05/2020

    COVID19_PSA_04012020

  • 06/05/2020

    FLASH-CP-000111-MW_downgraded_version

  • 06/05/2020

    FLASH-CP-000118-MW_downgraded_version

  • 06/05/2020

    IC3-ONLINE+EXTORTION+SCAMS+INCREASING+DURING+THE+COVID-19+CRISIS_I-042020-PSA

  • 06/05/2020

    March 20 FBI Public Service Announcement

  • 08/11/2020

    Request Forwarded