A new loader variant for wiper campaigns. Sanctions, hacktivism, and disinformation. Conti’s toxic branding. Happy birthday, US Cyber Command.

There’s a new loader identified in wiper campaigns. President Putin complains of sanctions and cyberattacks, and vows to increase Russia's cybersecurity. Coordinated inauthenticity at scale. Killnet crows large over Italian operations. Conti's dissolution doesn't mean its operators' disappearance. Rick Howard looks at software defined perimeters. Dinah Davis from Arctic Wolf on how ransomware groups are upping their game to nation state levels. And happy birthday, US Cyber Command...but we're not necessarily wishing you a moonshot for your birthday present. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news briefing: https://thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/11/99 Selected reading. Sandworm uses a new version of ArguePatch to attack targets in Ukraine (WeLiveSecurity)  Putin complains about barrage of cyberattacks (Military Times) Putin promises to bolster Russia's IT security in face of cyber attacks (Reuters) Russia keeps getting hacked (Mashable)  Putin is bringing his disinformation war to Ukraine (Newsweek)  Putin is bringing his disinformation war to Ukraine (Newsweek) Russian government procured powerful botnet to shift social media trending topics (The Record by Recorded Future) Fronton: Russian IoT Botnet Designed to Run Social Media Disinformation Campaigns (The Hacker News)  Russian Hackers Claim Responsibility for Attacks on Italian Government Websites (Wall Street Journal) Anonymous Declares Cyber-War on Pro-Russian Hacker Gang Killnet (Infosecurity Magazine)  DisCONTInued: The End of Conti’s Brand Marks New Chapter For Cybercrime Landscape (AdvIntel)  Notorious cybercrime gang Conti 'shuts down,' but its influence and talent are still out there (The Record by Recorded Future) Could a Cyber Attack Overthrow a Government? Conti Ransomware Group Now Threatening To Topple Costa Rican Government if Ransom Not Paid (CPO Magazine)  Fears grow after ransomware attack on Costa Rica escalates (TechCrunch)  US Cyber Command’s birthday (US Cyber Command) U.S. Needs New 'Manhattan Project' to Avoid Cyber Catastrophe | Opinion (Newsweek) Cyber pros are fed up with talk about a cyber-Manhattan Project (Washington Post)