Arlington-based Accenture Federal Services expands in Texas with new cyber center

This Arlington, Va.-based company is taking its cybersecurity talents to Texas’ second biggest city.

Accenture Federal Services has opened a cybersecurity center in San Antonio and is offering cybersecurity-as-a-service to the Department of Defense and other government agencies.

The Accenture Federal Services (AFS) Cyber Center came about as part of a larger investment AFS made into San Antonio that includes $5 million and the addition of 500 jobs to the area over the next four years, Tom Greiner, AFS technology business lead, told Technical.ly.

US military steps up cyberwarfare effort

The U.S. military has the capability, the willingness and, perhaps for the first time, the official permission to preemptively engage in active cyberwarfare against foreign targets. The first known action happened as the 2018 midterm elections approached: U.S. Cyber Command, the part of the military that oversees cyber operations, waged a covert campaign to deter Russian interference in the democratic process.

It started with texts in October 2018. Russian hackers operating in the Internet Research Agency – the infamous “troll factory” linked to Russian intelligence, Russian private military contractors and Putin-friendly oligarchs – received warnings via pop-ups, texts and emails not to interfere with U.S. interests. Then, during the day of the election, the servers that connected the troll factory to the outside world went down.

Chinese woman arrested at Trump resort with malware on thumb drive

A Chinese woman carrying multiple cellphones and a thumb drive containing malware was arrested on Saturday at US President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida while he was staying there, court documents revealed Tuesday.

An arrest document in the federal district court of Palm Beach, Florida said Zhang Yujing tried to gain entry into Mar-a-Lago on Saturday, first presenting herself as a member and saying she was headed to the pool -- despite not having a swimsuit. Then, she claimed to be attending a non-existent Chinese-American friendship event.