• Government outlines cybersecurity R&D priorities

    The Obama administration recently unveiled its plan for government sponsored cybersecurity research and development programs

  • $3 million NSF grant for research into assured data provenance

    The National Science Foundation supports funds new cyber security research into assured data provenance, the discipline of computer science concerned with the integrity and privacy of data sources, contents, and successive transformations

  • Cyber security measure requires more information sharing

    The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act of 2011 (H.R. 3523) made it through the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on 1 December on a 17-1 vote. It is one of a dozen or so cyber security-related legislative initiatives proposed by lawmakers this year. The effort is bipartisan, having been introduced by committee chairman Mike Rogers (R-Michigan) and ranking member Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Maryland). The bill aims to promote greater information sharing between the federal government and U.S. businesses.

  • Making domain names safe and reliable

    DHS Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) says it is doing its part to make Web sites more secure and reliable by enhancing the Domain Name System (DNS), which translates Web-site names like science.com into a network address like 1.2.3.4

  • Disaster-proofing email servers for maximum resiliency

    On Tuesday Databarracks announced the launch of its Hosted Exchange solution, which allows companies to host email servers in a virtually indestructible location – a former U.K. Ministry of Defense bunker designed to protect critical systems in the event of a nuclear war

  • NERC CIP-compliant grid security reporting tool

    NERC CIP Standard is a comprehensive framework of physical and cyber security best practices to safeguard the bulk power system for North America; Skybox Security shows NERC CIP-compliant grid security reporting tool

  • Lockheed Martin UK opens its U.K. cybersecurity center

    Lockheed Martin UK has officially opened its first Security Intelligence Center (SIC) at Farnborough; the role of the SIC will be detection, identification, and response to information security incidents; this is accomplished by bringing together three primary capabilities: pervasive sensors, data management, and analyst collaboration

  • Both hackers and security vendors are embracing the cloud

    Large-volume hackers are now using the cloud for lucrative large-scale attacks, using public infrastructure to put at risk companies which adopt ambitious but poorly considered cloud-computing strategies. Even as they move to the cloud, too many companies simply move their security and reliability problems from the current infrastructure to the new one.

  • Top 5 influential IT security thinkers

    There are many tough challenges security professionals must contend with each day. This special section of SC Magazine focuses on people who represent the highest degree of professionalism in the IT security field, “individuals who stand out for their technical skills, managerial prowess, insight and advocacy.”

  • Congressional approval of cybersecurity bill looks promising

    Amid the partisan acrimony of the budget battles on Capitol Hill, the Obama administration and the Senate have made promising efforts to pass a sweeping cybersecurity bill in a rare show of bipartisan agreement; the bill is now at the top of the Senate’s agenda, and Senator Harry Reid (D – Nevada), the majority leader, said he plans to bring the bill to the floor during the first working session of 2012

  • U.S. investigates Illinois pump failure as cyber attack on infrastructure

    The U.S. government is looking into the possibility that a cyber attack may have been responsible for the failure of a water pump at a public water district in Illinois last week; such an attack would be worrisome because cyber attacks on businesses are commonplace, but attacks that invade industrial control systems and intentionally destroy equipment are unknown in the United States.

  • DHS warns of GPS disruptions, recommending spoof-proof receivers

    More and more military missions and economic activities are dependent on GPS technology. This fact has not been lost on criminals, hackers, and adversaries. One result: GPS jamming and spoofing are getting worse, and a forthcoming DHS report highlights the risks posed by GPS disruptions. The report is yet to be released, but its the analysis has inspired a proposal to create receivers capable of self-diagnosing spoofing attempts.

  • Fewer but costlier cases of identity theft in U.S.

    Identity fraud in the United States fell 28 percent in 2010 to 8.1 million from an estimated 11 million in 2009, according to Javelin Strategy &Research. The problem: thieves are becoming more creative in their methods of obtaining personal information, and those who suffer from identity theft are facing higher consequences, with the average out-of-pocket costs nearly doubling in the same time period to $631from $387 per incident.

  • FTC forces Facbook to change privacy policies

    It appears that it will not be too long before Facebook could be forced to get users’ consent every time it wants to make private data available to other members. This will be the result of an agreement Facebook has reached with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over criticism of the social network’s questionable private data policies.

  • Senior FBI official suggest creating alternative Internet

    With the number of cyberattacks on major corporations and government agencies on the rise, a top FBI official backed the call to create of a more secure alternative Internet