• ISPs asked to help fight hackers

    DHS and the Department of Commerce are considering a proposal that would request assistance from Internet-service providers in combatting computer viruses known as botnets

  • ASIS 2011 -- combating cyber extremists

    At this year’s ASIS International conference, security experts will explore the effect of the Internet on terrorism, how extremist organizations are using it, and what can be done to stop it; the web has largely proven to be a boon to society, but malicious actors like terrorists have used the Internet to disseminate their radical ideas, recruit new members, and share weapons and bomb building training manuals; terrorist websites have proven to be reliable sources for intelligence as well as dangerous meeting places, but shutting them down has proven to be more complicated than anticipated

  • Cyber attacks on U.S. are becoming more lethal

    The head of the U.S. Cyber Command said that cyber attacks on the United States are escalating from large-scale theft and disruption of computer operations to more lethal attacks that destroy systems and physical equipment

  • U.S. releases smart grid cybersecurity strategy

    Last week the U.S. Department of Energy released its strategic framework for its plan to install and secure the nation’s electrical grid system over the next decade; the report outlines a plan to coordinate efforts by the government and the private sector to begin designing and implementing an electrical grid that is capable of withstanding a cyberattack

  • Michigan creates cyber and physical infrastructure protection department

    The state of Michigan is now merging responsibility for both physical and digital infrastructure protection under one organization

  • U.S. - Australia announce cyber defense treaty

    Last week, the United States and Australia announced a mutual defense treaty that declared a cyberattack on one would result in retaliation by both nations; this new agreement appears to be the first instance of a mutual defense treaty in the cyber realm outside of NATO

  • Report warns U.S. unprepared for cyber attacks

    A new report warns that the United States lacks the capabilities to defend against expanding cyber threats; the report found, “The impact has increased in magnitude, and the potential for catastrophic collapse of a company has grown,” yet the businesses community has failed to understand that

  • Safeguarding the Internet of tomorrow

    The recommendations of a high-level cybersecurity summit held Belfast include developing self-learning, self aware cyber security technologies, protecting smart utility grids, and enhancing the security of mobile networks. The summit concluded that these are among the top research priorities needed to safeguard the Internet of tomorrow

  • Measuring effect of Wi-Fi attacks

    Researchers have developed a way to measure how badly a Wi-Fi network would be disrupted by different types of attacks — a valuable tool for developing new security technologies

  • The "lost decade" of cybersecurity: adversaries outpace cyber-defenses

    Anup Ghosh, the founder and CEO of Invincea, a firm that specializes in developing cybersecurity solutions, discusses the failures of the U.S. government in cybersecurity, emerging technologies that can help keep networks safe, and the havoc that terrorists can wreak via a cyberattack

  • General Dynamics teams up with Virginia Tech to bolster cybersecurity

    Defense giant General Dynamics’ cybersecurity division has teamed up with Virginia Tech to help strengthen the nation’s cybersecurity research capabilities; on Wednesday, the company announced that its Advanced Information Systems branch will assist Virginia Tech with its new Security and Software Engineering Research Center (S2ERC)

  • WikiLeaks hit by cyberattack

    On Tuesday night, the whistle-blower site WikiLeaks suffered from a cyberattack that crashed its homepage; the attack comes shortly after the group released nearly 134,000 additional State Department cables

  • IBM acquires security threat, fraud detection software developer

    Acquisition extends IBM’s menu of offerings for governments, law enforcement, retail, insurance, and healthcare clients in what the company describes as “the Era of Smarter Cities”

  • New Windows worm spreading by exploiting weak passwords

    A new Windows worm is spreading through company networks by exploiting weak passwords; the worm, dubbed “Morto” spreads using RDP, or Remote Desktop Protocol, the Microsoft-made protocol for controlling one computer by connecting to it from another

  • Chinese TV shows cyber-attack software

    A Chinese government TV station, perhaps inadvertently, shows a government cyberattack aimed at Falun Gong computers; the video identifies the software as being written by the Electrical Engineering University of the People’s Liberation Army; the video — which has been removed from the TV station’s Web site — provides direct evidence of Chinese government involvement in cyberattacks