• Queen’s University Belfast's Cybersecurity Education Program

    Queen’s University Belfast has been named as one of the U.K.’s first Academic Centers of Excellence in Cyber Security Education (ACE-CSE). The National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) – a part of GCHQ – awarded the University silver recognition from the NCSC’s ACE-CSE program after Queen’s demonstrated that it is delivering a high-quality cybersecurity education on campus and promoting cyber skills in its community.

  • Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education

    Purdue University Global has been designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education through academic year 2025 for its Bachelor of Science degree in cybersecurity. The Department of Homeland Security and the National Security Agency jointly sponsor the National Centers of Academic Excellence program. The goal of the program is to reduce vulnerability in national information infrastructure by promoting higher education and expertise in cyber defense.

  • Data Mining Tools Tackle COVID-19 Misinformation, Identify Symptoms

    Computer scientists use Google Trends and a government dataset to track both COVID-19 symptoms and sift through misinformation about the disease on social media.

  • Chinese Hackers Used Cyber-Disguising Technology against Israel: Report

    Beginning in January 2019, UNC215, a Chinese government digital spy group, had hacked into Israeli government networks after using remote desktop protocols (RDPs) to steal credentials from trusted third parties.

  • Model Predicts COVID-19 Outbreak Two Weeks Ahead of Time

    People’s social behavior, reflected in their mobility data, is providing scientists with a way to forecast the spread of COVID-19 nationwide at the county level. The data-driven deep learning model which FAU researchers developed has important implications for managing the current pandemic as well as future pandemics.

  • What is Pegasus? Explaining How the Spyware Invades Phones and What It Does When It Gets In

    Pegasus is a spyware that can stealthily enter a smartphone and gain access to everything on it, including its camera and microphone. Pegasus is designed to infiltrate devices running Android, Blackberry, iOS and Symbian operating systems and turn them into surveillance devices.

  • The Van Buren Decision Is Good News for Cybersecurity

    In June, after years of uncertainty, the Supreme Court finally shed some light on the meaning of a notoriously vague law, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). Timothy Edgar writes that one problem with CFAA was that some courts had interpreted the CFAA’s language so broadly. Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s technically informed opinion, which narrowed the scope of CFAA, was a win for civil liberties — and also a victory — not a loss — for cybersecurity. Moreover, Barrett’s opinion “offers a model for how to interpret computer crime laws.”

  • Turning Error Detection into “Secret Language” for Enhanced Data Security

    A Sandia Lab researcher, researching software error detection, has develop a method to enhance the protection of digital content like email and social media messaging.

  • Chip with Secure Encryption to Bolster Fight against Hackers

    Researchers have designed a computer chip that implements post-quantum cryptography efficiently. Such chips could provide protection against future hacker attacks using quantum computers.

  • Water Systems Vulnerable to Cyberthreats

    In February, a hacker tried to manipulate the water utility’s computers in Oldsmar, Fla. so that the level of lye in the water would be raised. Joel Griffin writes that “had the perpetrator not been caught…. this cyber-attack could have resulted in actual physical harm to residents and potentially even deaths. The simplicity of this cyber-attack … also illustrates the gravity of the situation facing water utilities,” as they try to implement contemporary IT security solutions to decades-old equipment ad operational technology.

  • U.K., U.S. and Australia Publish Advice to Fix Global Cyber Vulnerabilities

    A joint advisory from international allies is offering advice for the most publicly known software vulnerabilities. The cyber agencies share details of the top 30 vulnerabilities routinely exploited by malicious actors in 2020.

  • U.S. Gov. Facing a Severe Cyber Workers Shortage When They Are Needed the Most

    The U.S. government is struggling to find and hire cybersecurity workers precisely at the time it needs such workers most in order to protect the government and its cyber systems from an unprecedented, and ever-more-menacing, wave of cyberattacks.

  • Social Media Platforms Do Little to Limit Online Anti-Semitic Content

    A new report shows how social media companies fail to act on anti-Jewish hate on their platforms. As a result of their failure to enforce their own rules, social media platforms like Facebook have become safe places to spread racism and propaganda against Jews.

  • Responsible Cyber Offense

    There is responsible conduct in cyberspace, and there is irresponsible conduct. Perri Adams, Dave Aitel, George Perkovich, and JD Work write that “If the SolarWinds operation was a case of somewhat responsible hacking within the bounds of acceptable state action (even if Russia is far from a responsible actor in cyberspace), the Exchange operation, by contrast, demonstrates how an irresponsibly conducted espionage operation can escalate into collateral damage and instability.” They write that, despite critical preventive efforts, “offensive operations will continue apace in the foreseeable future—conducted by the United States, its allies and its adversaries. The choice is whether and how to engage in them responsibly and minimize cost to societies.”

  • A Backdoor in Mobile Phone Encryption from the 1990s Still Exists

    Researchers have discovered a security gap in modern mobile phones which is very unlikely to have been created by accident. In fact, it should have been removed back in 2013.The researchers say that the properties that render the cipher so insecure can’t have happened by accident.