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Microsoft offers $250,000 in cybersecurity competition
Last Wednesday at the annual Black Hat and Defcon convention for hackers, Microsoft announced a competition for cyber security specialists in which it would award $200,000 to the individual who develops the most innovative computer protection technology
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DHS officials: Stuxnet can morph into new threat
Government cybersecurity experts warn that the Stuxnet virus, which damaged Iran’s nuclear centrifuges, could morph into something even more destructive; DHS officials worry that hackers could design more complex versions of the virus that can evade detection and bypass existing software fixes
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Researchers show how to unlock, start a car remotely
Two researchers at the Black Hat event in Las Vegas demonstrated they could send commands from a laptop to unlock the doors of a Subaru Outback — and then start the car; they said that in addition to vehicles, many other GPS-tracking devices, 3G security cameras, urban traffic control systems, SCADA sensors, and home controls and systems are also telephony-enabled and, as a result, susceptible to attack
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New drone listens in on cell phone calls and hacks Wi-Fi networks
At this week’s annual Defcon security conference for hackers, two hobbyists will showcase their sophisticated unmanned Wi-Fi detecting, cell-phone eavesdropping spy drone; the drone was assembled using an old Army target drone that had been converted to run on electric batteries and is now equipped with an HD camera, eleven antennas, and a cigarette pack sized computer that is loaded with hacking tools
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Detecting fake Web sites
A team of researchers develop a new — and more reliable — way to detect fake Web sites; the team developed five categories with thousands of cues, finding that the best results were attained when utilizing thousands of highly visible and also deeply embedded cues, such as placement, URL length, the number of links, characters types on the site and how thorough the site’s “frequently asked questions” section is detailed, among other features
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Next generation firewall market to grow 24 percent annually through 2014
The global next-generation firewall market will grow at a CAGR of 24 percent over the period of 2010-14; the market is currently being driven by the increasing number and intensity of security threats on the Web
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DHS warns utilities at risk from insider threats
Last week DHS warned critical infrastructure operators like chemical facilities, nuclear power plants, and electric utility companies that terrorists could be targeting major facilities from the inside; officials cautioned that “violent extremists have, in fact, obtained insider positions,” and that “outsiders have attempted to solicit utility-sector employees” for damaging physical and cyber attacks.
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Cybersecurity legislation passes House Committee
Last week new cybersecurity legislation cleared its first obstacle passing through the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee; the bill would authorize the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to establish standards across federal agencies as well as research and education
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After FBI arrests LulzSec announces more cyber mayhem
In response to the FBI’s arrest of several hackers, the recently disbanded hacking group known as LulzSec has vowed to return and the group says it will renew its attacks on corporations and government agencies; the announcement comes after U.S. authorities arrested sixteen people last week in relation to the groups’ previous attacks which included bringing down PayPal’s website after it suspended its service to WikiLeaks
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Recent deluge of cyber attacks results in record spending
The deluge of high profile cyber attacks on major corporations and government entities like the U.S. Senate, the CIA, and Sony has driven a sharp increase in demand for cyber security experts; in the first six months of this year alone, cyber attacks and data breaches have cost U.S. companies approximately $96 billion, nearly the total for 2010; analysts project 2011 to be the busiest year yet with an estimated $75.6 billion in cyber security spending, surpassing last year’s record $63 billion
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Deterring cyberwar, police gear and the law, guarding the guardians
Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, described the current U.S. cyberdefense policy as “too predictable”; he added that “[the current policy is] purely defensive. There is no penalty for attacking us now. We have to figure out a way to change that”; he said the new U.S. cyberdefense policy is the first step toward correcting current deficiencies; a Massachusetts company is selling local police forces a new iPhone app that scans a suspect’s iris and matches it to a national database of felons; there are questions about whether or not this app — which costs $3,000 — violates the Constitutional prohibition of unreasonable searches; the former mayor, the police chief, and member of the city council of a New Mexico border town have been charged with smuggling guns to the Mexican cartels; some of these guns have been linked to at least eight murders in Mexico
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Combating counterfeit microchips // by Dr. James Hayward, Ph.D, Sc.D.
Dr. James Hayward, the chairman, president, and CEO of Applied DNA Sciences, argues that the U.S. government needs to do more to prevent corrupted microchips from entering U.S. computers that make it easier for hackers and foreign governments to infiltrate networks
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Malware imported into U.S. on foreign-made components
A high level DHS official acknowledged that malware built into imported electronic components sold in the United States poses a serious threat to U.S. economy and security; he also said it was a complex threat which the federal government has been trying to address in different ways; Greg Schaffer, acting deputy undersecretary for the National Protection and Programs Directorate at DHS, said the threat is “one of the most complicated and difficult challenges we have”
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AntiSec hacks IRC Federal, posts passwords online
Last Friday, AntiSec, a prominent hacking group, announced that it had successfully infiltrated the servers of IRC Federal; the company has contracts with several major government agencies including the Department of Justice, the Army, Navy, and NASA; in an announcement on their website, AntiSec wrote, “We laid nuclear waste to their systems, owning their pathetic Windows box, dropping their databases and private emails, and defaced their professional looking website”
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Creating genetic replacement for oil
Scientists previously established that oil and coal have their roots in the organisms that lived on the planet over 500 million years ago, but researchers only are sure of one organism that directly contributed to these natural resources — that organism is the algae Botryococcus braunii; this algae is very slow growing, so it is not necessarily a good source for biofuels; scientists offer an alternative
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More headlines
The long view
States Rush to Combat AI Threat to Elections
This year’s presidential election will be the first since generative AI became widely available. That’s raising fears that millions of voters could be deceived by a barrage of political deepfakes. Congress has done little to address the issue, but states are moving aggressively to respond — though questions remain about how effective any new measures to combat AI-created disinformation will be.
Ransomware Attacks: Death Threats, Endangered Patients and Millions of Dollars in Damages
A ransomware attack on Change Healthcare, a company that processes 15 billion health care transactions annually and deals with 1 in 3 patient records in the United States, is continuing to cause massive disruptions nearly three weeks later. The incident, which started on February 21, has been called the “most significant cyberattack on the U.S. health care system” by the American Hospital Association. It is just the latest example of an increasing trend.
Chinese Government Hackers Targeted Critics of China, U.S. Businesses and Politicians
An indictment was unsealed Monday charging seven nationals of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) with conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and conspiracy to commit wire fraud for their involvement in a PRC-based hacking group that spent approximately 14 years targeting U.S. and foreign critics, businesses, and political officials in furtherance of the PRC’s economic espionage and foreign intelligence objectives.
Autonomous Vehicle Technology Vulnerable to Road Object Spoofing and Vanishing Attacks
Researchers have demonstrated the potentially hazardous vulnerabilities associated with the technology called LiDAR, or Light Detection and Ranging, many autonomous vehicles use to navigate streets, roads and highways. The researchers have shown how to use lasers to fool LiDAR into “seeing” objects that are not present and missing those that are – deficiencies that can cause unwarranted and unsafe braking or collisions.
Tantalizing Method to Study Cyberdeterrence
Tantalus is unlike most war games because it is experimental instead of experiential — the immersive game differs by overlapping scientific rigor and quantitative assessment methods with the experimental sciences, and experimental war gaming provides insightful data for real-world cyberattacks.