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Briefly noted
Obama administration looks to fill more than 300 IT positions… Larger inmate population is boon to private prisons… More attacks on critical infrastructure?
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Quantum calibration shows way for super-secure communication
Scientists at Imperial College London have used a new approach to calibrating quantum mechanical measurement directly to calibrate a detector that can sense the presence of multiple individual photons; the ability to sense the presence of individual photons is an important requirement for the development of future long-distance quantum communication devices and networks
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Two former DHS leaders on DHS under a new administration
Amit Yoran and Dwight Williams held important positions at DHS; now in private industry, they offer their view and the challenges the department will face next year
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Energy industry likely prime cyber attack target
Critical infrastructure insiders say the energy industry is also the most vulnerable to cyber attacks and would have the most detrimental breach
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Briefly noted
ESTA Authorization required for all visa waiver countries as of 12 January… Georgia vet school leak kept quiet… Microsoft infuses “long awaited” with new meaning
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Harris to demonstrate innovative radios at ShakeOut
Great Southern California ShakeOut is the largest-ever earthquake preparedness drill in the United States; the exercise, scheduled for tomorrow, 13 November, will model the effects of a magnitude 7.8 earthquake along the San Andreas Fault; Harris will demonstrate advanced systems for restoring first responder communication links
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Briefly noted
RSA uncovers IT secure fears stifling business innovation… DHS completes radiological/nuclear detection drill in southeast transportation corridor… Has pandemic complacency come home to roost?
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DHS releases FY2009 guidance for $3 billion worth of grants
FEMA requests applications for 14 programs for which it has allocated $3 billion; funded programs concentrate on state and local governments and strengthening community preparedness
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"Digital DNA" to fight cyber crime
Scottish researchers develop what they call “digital DNA”: It is based on analyzing the way in which users access data on their computers and then creating a digital fingerprint that is unique to each user
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Good code, bad computations: A computer security vulnerability
Beware of return-oriented programming — that is, if you want to make sure your computer or server is not tricked into undertaking malicious or undesirable behavior
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Cyberattacks target U.K. national infrastructure
The computer systems of critical businesses in the United Kingdom, such as power companies and large financial institutions, are being repeatedly probed to steal information or uncover weaknesses that could take them down
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Briefly noted
Australia opens national tsunami warning center… Document requirements announced for visitors to international peace garden… European data breach laws could land in 2011… Aberdeen: Unified threat management can shave IT costs
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Briefly noted
Global CCTV market analysis 2008-12… U.S. intelligence agencies spend $47.5 billion in 2008… Changing role for DHS in cyber security… Auditors: Private security in Iraq cost over $6 billion… China begins investigation of tainted eggs
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Eight times more malicious e-mail attachments spammed out in Q3 2008
Sophos reports identity thieves and hackers striking Windows users on all fronts; Russia becomes a more important player in the Dirty Dozen league of spam-relaying nations
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Canadian universities study the two sides of the Internet
Terrorists and hackers use the Internet to spread their nefarious programs; some governments use the Internet to spy on their citizens; Dalhousie is working on a way to spot criminal behavior, while U Toronto keeps censors at bay halfway around the globe
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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.