• Anonymous retaliates against cyber investigators

    The international hacktivist group known as Anonymous recently released two large torrents of stolen government data including details on forensic methodologies and information regarding current and former law enforcement agency employees; the latest attacks come in retaliation to harsh sentences given to members of its group

  • DHS: Hackers did not cause Illinois water pump to fail

    Cybersecurity experts and critical infrastructure operators can rest a bit easier now that DHS investigators have determined there is nothing to suggest that hackers caused a water pump to fail in Springfield, Illinois

  • Pentagon confirms policy of military response to cyberatacks

    In a Pentagon report recently made public, the U.S. military confirmed that it would launch physical strikes in response to cyberattacks

  • U.K. banks pass cyberdefense stress test

    To bolster cyberdefenses in the financial industry, U.K. banks recently took part in a stress test to determine their ability to cope with a cyberattack; eighty-seven banks took participated in the drill including Barclays, HSBC, and Royal Bank of Scotland

  • Hackers fail in AT&T cyberattack

    Last week AT&T announced that it had successfully fended off an attack by hackers; the company said it is still unclear what the hackers’ intentions were, but no accounts were breached

  • Overcoming full disk encryption in digital investigations

    The increasing use of full disk encryption (FDE) can significantly hamper forensic digital investigations, potentially preventing access to all digital evidence in a case

  • Cyber attacks on critical infrastructure reach U.S.

    Most of the U.S. critical infrastructure is run by computers which are connected to the Internet; this makes them susceptible to cyber attacks; a few days ago the control system of a water pump in Illinois was taken over by a hacker’s remote command, and then deliberately destroyed; what critical infrastructure facilities will hackers — nerdy teenagers, terrorists, or intelligence operatives of other nations — target next?

  • Cyber attacks on critical infrastructure reach U.S.

    Most of the U.S. critical infrastructure is run by computers which are connected to the Internet; this makes them susceptible to cyber attacks; a few days ago, the control system of a water pump in Illinois was taken over by a hacker’s remote command, and then deliberately destroyed; what critical infrastructure facilities will hackers – nerdy teenagers, terrorists, or intelligence operatives of other nations – target next?

  • The 25 worst passwords of 2011

    SplashData, a password management application provider, has released its annual list of the worst Internet passwords. The list was prepared from files containing millions of stolen passwords posted online by hackers. The worst password of 2011: “password.”

  • U.S. investigates Illinois pump failure as cyber attack on infrastructure

    The U.S. government is looking into the possibility that a cyber attack may have been responsible for the failure of a water pump at a public water district in Illinois last week; such an attack would be worrisome because cyber attacks on businesses are commonplace, but attacks that invade industrial control systems and intentionally destroy equipment are unknown in the United States.

  • Duqu mystery deepens as Iran admits infection

    Iran recently revealed that the Duqu virus, a possible pre-cursor to a Stuxnet-like attack, has been discovered in its computer network; “We are in the initial phase of fighting the Duqu virus,” said Gholamreza Jalali, the head of Iran’s civil defense program

  • Nations could cripple U.S. with retaliatory cyberattack

    Last week Richard Clarke, a top adviser to three presidents, sounded a dire warning that the United States should avoid going to war with other nations because its computer networks systems are so vulnerable to attack

  • Detecting insider threat from massive data sets

    Researchers in a 2-year, $9 million project will create a suite of algorithms that can detect multiple types of insider threats by analyzing massive amounts of data — including email, text messages and file transfers — for unusual activity

  • DHS warns of GPS disruptions, recommending spoof-proof receivers

    More and more military missions and economic activities are dependent on GPS technology. This fact has not been lost on criminals, hackers, and adversaries. One result: GPS jamming and spoofing are getting worse, and a forthcoming DHS report highlights the risks posed by GPS disruptions. The report is yet to be released, but its the analysis has inspired a proposal to create receivers capable of self-diagnosing spoofing attempts.

  • Fewer but costlier cases of identity theft in U.S.

    Identity fraud in the United States fell 28 percent in 2010 to 8.1 million from an estimated 11 million in 2009, according to Javelin Strategy &Research. The problem: thieves are becoming more creative in their methods of obtaining personal information, and those who suffer from identity theft are facing higher consequences, with the average out-of-pocket costs nearly doubling in the same time period to $631from $387 per incident.