• New ways to store data securely with untrusted cloud providers

    Cloud storage security is an especially important issue for anyone dealing with large amounts of data that are supposed to be stored for a long period, such as archival and backup data. Researchers received a top honor for their ideas on better ways to ensure the integrity and long-term reliability of data stored at potentially untrusted cloud storage providers.

  • RFI for cybersecurity framework for critical infrastructure

    In his 12 February 2013 Executive Order, President Obama called for the development of a Cybersecurity Framework to reduce cyber risks to critical infrastructure such as power plants and financial, transportation, and communications systems. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) the other day issued a Request for Information (RFI) in the Federal Register as its first step in the process to developing that framework.

  • Report details history, earlier versions of Stuxnet

    In 2010, Symantec reported on a new and highly sophisticated worm called Stuxnet. This worm became known as the first computer software threat which was used as a cyber-weapon. In a new report, Symantec says that clues in the code pointed to other versions of the worm which could potentially perform different actions leaving an open question about Stuxnet and how it came to be.

  • U.S. responds to China’s cyberattacks with anti-theft trade strategy

    The Obama administration yesterday (Wednesday) unveiled the details of a broad strategy to counter the systemic theft by Chinese government agencies of U.S. trade and technology and trade secrets. The administration’s plan calls for new diplomatic push to discourage intellectual property theft abroad and better coordination at home to help U.S. companies protect themselves.

  • U.S. weighing retaliatory measures against China for hacking campaign

    As incontrovertible evidence emerged for the role of Chinese government in initiating and orchestrating the massive, sustained Chinese hacking campaign against U.S. private companies, government agencies, and critical infrastructure assets, the administration has intensified discussions of retaliatory measures the United States may take against China.

  • Spotting potential targets of nefarious e-mail attacks

    The weakest link in many computer networks is a gullible human. With that in mind, computer science researchers want to figure out how to recognize potential targets of nefarious e-mails and put them on their guard.

  • Chinese government orchestrates cyberattacks on U.S.: experts

    For more than a decade now, China has engaged in a sustained, systemic, and comprehensive campaign of cyber attacks against the United States. The Chinese government has enlisted China’s sprawling military and civilian intelligence services, with their armies of cyber-specialists, in a cyber-campaign aiming to achieve three goals: steal Western industrial secrets and give them to Chinese companies, so these companies could compete and weaken their Western rivals; hasten China’s march toward regional, then global, economic hegemony; achieve deep penetration of U.S. critical infrastructure in order to gain the ability to disrupt and manipulate American critical infrastructure – and paralyze it during times of crisis and conflict. A detailed 60-page study, to be released today , offers, for the first time, proof that the most sophisticated Chinese hacker groups, groups conducting the most threatening attacks on the United States, are affiliated with the headquarters of China’s military intelligence lead unit — PLA Unit 61398.

  • Beefing up public-key encryption

    MIT researchers show how to secure widely used encryption schemes against attackers who have intercepted examples of successful decryption.

  • Quantum cryptography to secure electric grid

    Novel methods for controlling the electric grid are needed to accommodate new energy sources such as renewables whose availability can fluctuate on short time scales. This requires transmission of data to and from control centers; but for grid-control use, data must be both trustworthy and delivered without delays. The Los Alamos National Laboratory quantum cryptography team successfully completed the first-ever demonstration of securing control data for electric grids using quantum cryptography.

  • Obama to issue cybersecurity executive order today

    President Barack Obama is expected to issue an executive order tomorrow to dealing protecting U.S. critical infrastructure from cyberattacks. The order will be issues one day after the president’s State of the Union address. The order will establish a critical infrastructure council which will be run by DHS and will include members of the Departments of Defense, Justice, and Commerce as well as the National Intelligence Office. The council will be tasked with formulating new regulations for federal agencies, or broadening regulations  already in place. The regulations will most likely include the sharing of data between private corporations and the federal government.

  • Surveillance system identifies, tracks emerging infectious diseases

    Researchers have developed a method to identify the cause of infectious disease outbreaks based on online reports about the symptoms, the season, and the ratio of cases to fatalities. Using data from the Internet outbreak reporting system ProMED-mail, the researchers applied this method to more than 100 outbreaks of encephalitis in South Asia, recently identified as an emerging infectious disease “hotspot.”

  • Cat Killer Sean Lynde MacKenzie moves to Cyber-Extortion, Cyber-Harassment

    Sean Lynde, who pled guilty in New York to criminal animal cruelty and cyber extortion, has now assumed the name “MacKenzie” and is expanding his cyber extortion activities. According to charges filed before the New York Supreme Court, Lynde is now purchasing Web site accounts using other people’s names, posting death threats and defamatory statements on these sites, and then trying to extort funds from the targets. Holding multiple drivers licenses, in multiple names, Lynde reflects how criminals increasingly use the Web to cyber extort businesses and individuals

  • Cat Killer Sean Lynde MacKenzie moves to Cyber-Extortion, Cyber-Harassment

    Sean Lynde, who pled guilty in New York to criminal animal cruelty and cyber extortion, has now assumed the name “MacKenzie” and is expanding his cyber extortion activities. According to charges filed before the New York Supreme Court, Lynde is now purchasing Web site accounts using other people’s names, posting death threats and defamatory statements on these sites, and then trying to extort funds from the targets. Holding multiple drivers licenses, in multiple names, Lynde reflects how criminals increasingly use the Web to cyber extort businesses and individuals

  • U.S. cyberstrikes against adversaries to require presidential authority

    Under a new administration policy, the president would have the authority to order a pre-emptive cyberattack against an adversary if the United States receives credible evidence of a major cyberattack being planned against the country from overseas. So far, the administration is known to have launched a sustained cyberattack only once – against Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities – in an operation code-named Olympic Games.

  • Facebook new search feature has cyber experts worried

    A new Facebook search feature has security experts concerned. They  are warning users of the site to strengthen their security settings to avoid embarrassment and to protect themselves from cybercriminals.