• 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • Energy companies targeted by Web-borne malware

    New report says the energy companies experienced more Web-based malware attacks than any other vertical market in the third quarter of this year, with an increased rate of exposure of 189 percent

  • Businesses to increase IT security budgets

    Ernst & Young finds that at least 50 percent of companies are set to increase their IT budgets, the current financial difficulties notwithstanding

  • Report: Private sector can better prepare for cyber attack risks

    New expert panel report suggests shifting control of corporate cyber infrastructures from IT departments to chief financial officers

  • New IRS computer systems vulnerable.

    The IRS is spending nearly $2 billion on two new systems which would more effectively handle the tax returns filed by $142 million Americans; Treasury IG finds vulnerabilities in both systems which would allow unscrupulous individuals to manipulate tax information — and do so undetected

  • FBI worried about increased cyber crime

    Head of the FBI cyber division says the number of victims of cyber crime, and the cost of that crime, are increasing; moreover, as many as two dozen countries have taken an “aggressive interest” in penetrating the networks of U.S. companies and government agencies

  • Chertoff urges industry to invest in cybersecurity

    About 85 percent of the U.S. critical infrastructure is owned and operated by private industry; DHS secretary Chertoff says this fact makes cybersecurity a shared responsibility between government and the corporations that control most computer networks

  • Briefly noted

    Quantum cryptography: As awesome as it is pointless… Smiths Detection wins $26.7 million TSA order for advanced checkpoint X-ray systems… Motorola sells biometrics arm to Safran… Aussie government approves ProtectDrive for government use

  • U.K. pauses before implementing sweeping surveillance scheme

    The U.K. government said it wanted to give law enforcement sweeping power to collect electronic data as a measure to prevent terrorism; the government now says it will engage in consultations to make sure citizens’ privacy is not violated

  • GTISC lists major 2009 cyber threats

    Georgia Tech Information Security Center releases emerging cyber threats forecast for 2009

  • Chertoff says there will be no Big Brother approach to Internet security

    Earlier this year Director of U.S. National Intelligence Mike McConnell said the government would require broad powers to monitor all Internet traffic in order to secure the U.S. critical information infrastructure; Chertoff outlines a more modest approach