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Yucca Mountain as a data depository
For nearly three decades, Yucca Mountain was the place designated as the country’s nuclear waste repository; after many years of study and exploration, the Obama administration, two years ago, decided not to ask for additional funds for the project; now there is another idea for the site: turning it into a giant, secure data center
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Free mobile security to U.S. government agencies
A company offers its mobile security solutions, free of charge, to U.S. defense agencies; the offer is part of the NSA/CSS Co-operative Research and Development Agreement
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Closing digital security gaps
Two European research centers, one German the other from Luxemburg, have recently agreed on a mutual course for the strategic development of new and integrative approaches to addressing key IT security concerns
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Companies hiring hackers to harden defenses
To burglar-proof your home, it is best hire a burglar as a consultant, as he is more likely to find the security vulnerabilities and demonstrate how they can be exploited; following this approach, companies large and small are now hiring hackers to test the companies’ security system vulnerabilities and find ways to harden these systems to withstand intrusion
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WWII-like message encryption now available for e-mail security
A Singapore-based company offers an e-mail encryption system based on the Verman cipher, or one-time pad, which was invented in 1917 and used by spies in the Second World War; the Vernam cipher is unbreakable because it produces completely random cipher-text that secures data so that even the most powerful super computers can not break the encryption when it is used properly
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Cambridge first year student wins U.K. Cybersecrity Challenge competition
Cyber Security Challenge U.K. announces a winner and unveils this year’s new Challenge program (open for registrations as of yesterday); the winner, Jonathan Millican, competed with thousands of registered candidates in 6-month competition
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Anonymous retaliates, takes down Interpol site
In retaliation for the arrest of twenty-five suspected members of the hacktivist collective known as Anonymous, the group briefly took down Interpol’s website on Tuesday
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Cryptographic attack shows importance of bug-free software
Researchers have developed an attack that can circumvent the security OpenSSL should provide; the attack worked on a very specific version of the OpenSSL software, and only when a specific set of options were used
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HP wins $47M contract to support HSPD-12 implementation
On Monday the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced it had awarded Hewlett Packard a one-year contract worth as much as $47 million to support government-compliance with Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12 (HSPD-12)
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DHS to work with Netherlands on cybersecurity
On Wednesday DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano signed a letter of intent to work with the Netherlands on several critical cybersecurity initiatives
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Quantum physics makes possible perfectly secure cloud computing
Computer data processing and storage are increasingly done in the cloud; the challenge in cloud-based system is to ensure that clients’ data stays private; researchers have now shown that perfectly secure cloud computing can be achieved with quantum computers
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Quantum technique for secret messaging
Quantum cryptography is the ultimate secret message service; new research shows it can counter even the ultimate paranoid scenario: when the equipment or even the operator is in the control of a malicious power
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Satellite telephony is unsafe
In some regions of the world standard cell phone communication is still not available; in war zones, developing countries and on the high seas, satellite phones are used instead; the system, using an encryption algorithms of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), was considered unbreakable; in less than an hour, and with simple equipment, researchers found the crypto key which is needed to intercept telephone conversations
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Sandia addresses complex DNS vulnerabilities
A Sandia researcher has developed a visualization tool to help network administrators within the federal government and global IT community better understand Domain Name System Security (DNSSEC) and also help them troubleshoot problems
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Signcryption technology tightens cybersecurity
Signcryption is a data security technology by which confidentiality is protected and authenticity is achieved seamlessly at the same time; it has now been formally recognized as an international standard by the International Organization of Standardization (ISO)
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