Compiled by The Cyber Loop editor
This Week at War: COIN Moves Online: On Jan. 25, the New York Times published a story that discussed a cyberwarfare exercise conducted earlier this month inside the Pentagon. The purpose of the exercise was to examine how top civilian and military leaders would respond to sudden cyberattacks that targeted the country’s power grids, communication systems, or financial networks. According to the article, the result was confusion and paralysis — the Pentagon decision makers did not know where the attacks came from, who instigated them, or whether they even had the legal authority to respond.
DHS plans to seek cybersecurity R&D center support: Homeland Security Department plans to award a multi-year contract to provide a range of management and technical services
Military still gives thumbs down to thumb drives: Despite relaxing the ban on using portable storage devices on Defense Department computer systems, it appears thumb drives will not return to the military services anytime soon. The Air Force and Army plan to continue banning the devices on their systems for now, according to two reports.
Defending Against Cyber Crime: Amit Yoran is a former director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s National Cyber Security Division. He now runs a business that protects companies from cyber threats.
InZero: Closing the Gate on Cyber Crime: When even Google falls victim to hackers, it’s clear that traditional security software isn’t getting the job done. Hackers, criminals, and spies have broken into the computer systems of thousands of companies, government agencies, and organizations. Eighty-five percent of companies and agencies surveyed by the Ponemon Institute, a research firm, have suffered security breaches and data losses over the previous year—roughly one-quarter of which involved hackers. The losses are pegged at more than $1 trillion per year. “The bad guys are getting better and better, and my money is on the bad guys,” says security expert William R. Cheswick of AT&T Labs.
Olympia Snowe Critical of Cybersecurity Coordinator’s Place in the Executive Branch: In a hearing held Tuesday addressing the Cyber Security Act of 2009, Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, was critical of the Obama administration for making the cybersecurity coordinator unable to testify before congress.
Researchers question Microsoft’s botnet take-down: A prominent security researcher today said he doubts Microsoft’s take-down of the Waledac botnet would have any impact on spam levels, as the company claimed.
Interview: U.S. and China: major targets of computer attacks: The United States and China are two major countries with malicious computer activity, Vincent Weafer, Vice President of Symantec Security Response, the largest maker of personal computer security software in the world, told Xinhua in an interview.
Most resistance to ‘Aurora’ hack attacks futile, says report: Most businesses are defenseless against the types of attacks that recently hit Google and at least 33 other companies, according to a report to be published Monday that estimates the actual number of targeted companies could top 100.
Cyber Defenders of the World Unite! This week, RSA’s conference in California looks “ to drive the worldwide information security agenda,” says conference general manager Sandra Toms LaPedis. As instances of cyber attacks continue to grow more prevalent, cyber warriors and national security officials are gathering in California to examine methods to enhance cyber defenses. The RSA conference, held in San Francisco this week, includes a number of headline government speakers, like Secretary of DHS Janet Napolitano, White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard Schmidt and FBI Director Robert Mueller.
CNCI Declassified: The White House has unveiled a declassified version of the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative (CNCI). The CNCI was originally started by the Bush Administration and President Obama has decided to evolve the CNCI to become key sections in an expanded and up-to-date cybersecurity strategy for the US.
Air Force Wants to Give $104 Million for Cyber Command: In their prepared testimony before the House Armed Services Committee, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz outlined their budgetary priorities for cyberspace, including $104 million to support the Air Force’s involvement in Cyber Command, which will likely be headquartered at Fort Meade, MD.
Cyber warriors gather as online battles rage: US national security leaders and top cyber warriors from around the world are gathering here to plot defenses against criminals and spies that increasingly plague the Internet.
Cyberthieves prowl across China: With a few quick key strokes, a computer hacker who goes by the code name Majia calls up a screen displaying his latest victims. “Here’s a list of the people who’ve been infected with my Trojan horse,” he said, working from a dingy apartment on the outskirts of this city in central China. “They don’t even know what’s happened.”
Chinese Democracy: Some call it modern day espionage, while others refer to it as information warfare. It doesn’t matter what you call it, but imagine an attack that infiltrates defense systems to shut down operations from a variety of U.S. businesses, such as electrical power facilities and banks.
Report: Aurora attack was tested last summer: The attacks on Google and others late last year weren’t as sophisticated as initially believed and appear to have cropped up last summer, according to a report to be released Tuesday by security firm Damballa.
The human element complicates cybersecurity: Cyberspace is an untamed frontier. Data networks everywhere remain vulnerable to cyber threats. As Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) recently pointed out, virtually every sector of cyberspace faces danger, including the U.S. military.
Cyber Coordinator Comes Out for Transparency: Howard Schmidt, the cyber coordinator, will deliver the keynote address to the RSA Conference in San Francisco — his first major speech since taking the difficult job. The news he’s bringing is full of symbolism: he’ll announce that the government is revising its classification of the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative, which outlines the steps the federal government is taking to protect the country from cyber warfare.