• U.K. launches cyberwarfare reserve force

    U.K. defense secretary Philip Hammond announced that the Ministry of Defense (MoD) has begun this month to recruit the country’s top IT specialiststo join the Joint Cyber Reserve Unit (JCRU). “In response to the growing cyber threat, we are developing a full-spectrum military cyber capability, including a strike capability, to enhance the U.K.’s range of military capabilities,” Hammond said.

  • Bipartisan cybersecurity measure to be introduced in Congress

    Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-Georgia) last week said he was “very close” to introducing legislation which would encourage the private sector and government agencies to share information regarding cyberattacks. Chambliss has proposed a government “portal,” operated by DHS, to handle information coming from the private sector. Privacy advocates welcome the proposal for a civilian agency like DHS to operate the information sharing “portal” (in earlier versions of proposed cybersecurity legislation, the NSA was tasked with a similar coordinating responsibility).

  • Web sites secretly track users without relying on cookies

    Device fingerprinting, also known as browser fingerprinting, is the practice of collecting properties of PCs, smartphones, and tablets to identify and track users. For the vast majority of browsers, the combination of these properties is unique, and thus functions as a “fingerprint” that can be used to track users without relying on cookies. Researchers have discovered that 145 of the Internet’s 10,000 top Web sites use device fingerprinting to track users without their knowledge or consent.

  • Popular e-commerce software vulnerable to hackers

    Online transactions rely on a trusted third party, or “cashier,” who bridges the gap between vendors and their customers. The use of a third party cashier, however, also complicates the payment logic and introduces a new class of vulnerabilities that can result in significant financial losses to merchants. Computer scientists found flaws in e-commerce software that allowed them to purchase stationery, candy, and toys online at below their correct cost.

  • Avira unveils free mobile security app for Apple iPhone, iPad, iPod

    Tettnang, Germany-based security firm Avira yesterday unveiled Avira Mobile Security app for Apple iPhone, iPad, and iPod. The company said that in addition to scanning for malicious processes that may be corrupting your iOS device, Avira Mobile Security integrates a free 5GB cloud storage account to let users free up space to take more pictures or videos, or to access and share media while on the go.

  • NSA tried to crack Tor anonymity tool

    In its efforts to gather more intelligence, and overcome obstacles to this effort, the National Security Agency (NSA) has repeatedly tried to develop attacks against people using Tor, a software tool designed to protect online anonymity – and which is primarily funded and promoted by the U.S. government itself to help political activists, whistleblowers, militaries, and law enforcement. The NSA’s determined effort to crack Tor raises questions about whether the agency, deliberately or inadvertently, acted against Internet users in the United States when attacking Tor. One of the main functions of Tor is to hide the country of all of its users, meaning any attack could be hitting members of Tor’s large U.S. user base.

  • Facebook, Twitter may yield clues on how to prevent the spread of disease

    Cold and flu season prompts society to find ways to prevent the spread of disease though measures like vaccination all the way through to covering our mouths when we cough and staying in bed. These social responses are much more difficult to predict than the way biological contagion will evolve, but new methods are being developed to do just that. Facebook and Twitter could provide vital clues to control infectious diseases by using mathematical models to understand how we respond socially to biological contagions.

  • Serious IT consequences if shutdown lasts

    The shutdown of the federal government, if it lasts no more than a week or so, will not seriously damage government IT operations, experts and industry insiders say. A longer shutdown, which would lead to extended furloughs for non-essential employees, will have more serious effects, as it will further depress the federal technology workforce and will deter top graduates from applying for government jobs. If Congress refuses to allow payment to furloughed employees for the time they were idled, the effect will be even more pernicious, these experts said.

  • National Cyber Security Awareness Month starts 1 October

    With just one week until the kickoff of National Cyber Security Awareness Month, and the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) encourages everyone to get involved this October. The month’s theme is “Our Shared Responsibility,” which calls on everyone who uses the Internet to take steps to make it safer for all. This process begins with taking three simple steps before going online — STOP. THINK. CONNECT.

  • Evaluating the IT security posture of business partners

    Evaluating the IT security of businesses is increasingly becoming a necessity when forming new business relationships. A start-up has launched a rating service, similar to a credit rating, to measure the security posture of a company based on a number of factors.

  • Rapidly evolving cybersecurity field too diverse for overly broad professionalization

    The U.S. cybersecurity work force is too broad and diverse to be treated as a single occupation or profession, and decisions about whether and how to professionalize the field will vary according to role and context, says a new report. Defined as the social process by which an occupation evolves into a profession, such as law or medicine, professionalization might involve prolonged training and formal education, knowledge and performance testing, or other activities that establish quality standards for the workforce.

  • The side of Homeland Security you won't see on TV

    The way the Department of Homeland Security is often portrayed in popular culture — surveillance and secret agents — leaves out a crucial aspect of its role. It also works on technology to detect attacks as they are happening, and helps federal and local governments prepare for all kinds of disasters, from hurricanes to accidental chemical spills to anthrax attacks. Argonne Laboratory engineers contribute to this effort, helping local and state governments form emergency plans, run drills for a pandemic flu outbreak in the city of Chicago, and analyzed ways to enhance security at plants and factories across the country.

  • October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month

    This October marks the tenth National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM), an effort to educate millions of people each year about the importance of online safety and security. During the month, leaders from the public and private sectors will come together to advance its universal theme that protecting the Internet is “Our Shared Responsibility.”

  • Beer-Sheva Cyber Security Park inaugurated by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

    The development of the Negev took a step forward earlier this month with the inauguration of Beer-Sheva’s Advanced Technologies Park (ATP) in which Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) is the academic research partner. Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu presided over the ribbon-cutting ceremony on 3 September.

  • Cyberweapons likely to be an integral part of any U.S.-Syria clash

    A U.S.-led military attack on Syria may have been averted, at least for a while, by the Russian proposal to negotiate the transfer of Syria’s chemical weapons stocks to international control, but had the United States gone ahead with a strike, there is little doubt that cyberattacks would have been used by both sides. If the United States decides to attack Syria in the future, we should expect cyberweapons to be used.