Archive for April, 2014
Google Warning on Russia Prescient as Putin Squeezes Web
Apr 30th
From: Bloomberg
By Ilya Khrennikov and Anastasia Ustinova
Google Inc. (GOOG) Chairman Eric Schmidt warned last year that Russia was “on the path” toward China’s model of Internet censorship. Vladimir Putin is proving him right.
With Russia locked in the worst standoff with the U.S. since the Cold War, the Russian president last week said his government needs to impose greater control over information flows through the World Wide Web, which the former KGB colonel called a creation of U.S. spy agencies.
White House Details Thinking on Cybersecurity Flaws
Apr 29th
From: NYT
WASHINGTON — In a rare insight into the government’s thinking on the use of cyberweapons, the White House on Monday published a series of questions it asks in deciding when to make public the discovery of major flaws in computer security or whether to keep them secret so that American intelligence agencies can use them to enable surveillance or an attack.
New Zealand communications minister to check NATO cyber security
Apr 25th
From: Global Times
Xinhua |
New Zealand Communications and Information Technology Minister Amy Adams will be looking at NATO’s cyber security center when she attends a major Internet conference in Estonia next week
The Freedom Online Coalition conference was a cross-regional grouping of 22 governments, including Canada, Britain, and the United States, committed to protecting free expression on the Internet, Adams said in a statement Friday.
The theme of the conference was a “Free and Secure Internet for All” and would focus on freedom of expression issues, questions of privacy versus transparency online, and public-private partnerships to advance internet freedom.
FCC highlights NextGen 911 cybersecurity concerns
Apr 24th
From: FierceMobileGovernment
As part of a nationwide effort to modernize public safety communications, jurisdictions in many states have begun bringing online emergency services Internet protocol networks.
However, IP connectivity – which will deliver voice, video, text and data calls to public safety answering points – present a cybersecurity challenge that PSAPs have not previously had to consider.
“In an all-IP world, cyber events present a risk to PSAP operations that cannot be ignored,” warned Dana Zelman, attorney advisor with the Federal Communications Commission’s public safety and homeland security bureau. Zelman spoke during an April 22 webinar for state and local governments.
Revamped Verizon security report to help funnel funds into the right holes
Apr 21st
From: The Sydney Morning Herald
Lia Timson
Cyber security threats vary according to industry sector, a report has found.
After analysing more than 63,000 security incidents that took place in 2013, Verizon’s annual Data Breach Investigations Report, used by corporations and governments worldwide as a benchmark of cyber security, or lack thereof, has come to a new conclusion.
The 2014 edition released on Tuesday analysed more than 63,000 incidents and 1361 data breaches as reported by 50 organisations in 95 countries, including computer emergency response teams (CERTs) and law enforcement agencies.
Aviation Industry And Government to Share Cyber Threats In New Intelligence Center
Apr 18th
From: AviationPros
Rachel King
The aviation industry and the government announced Tuesday the creation of new platforms to share information about cyber security
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – The aviation industry and the government announced Tuesday the creation of new platforms to share information about cyber security. The Air Domain Intelligence Integration Center and an accompanying analysis center are the latest examples of how industry and government are starting to ramp up efforts to share information related to cyber threats as the problem continues to grow.
U.S. Agent Lures Romanian Hackers in Subway Data Heist
Apr 17th
From: Bloomberg
By Del Quentin Wilber
U.S. Secret Service Agent Matt O’Neill was growing nervous. For three months, he’d been surreptitiously monitoring hackers’ communications and watching as they siphoned thousands of credit card numbers from scores of U.S. retailers.
Most every day O’Neill was alerting a credit card company or retailer to an online heist. The result was predictable: the companies canceled hijacked credit and debit cards and the aggravated hackers’ customers began complaining that the stolen card numbers weren’t working as promised.
It was only a matter of time before the cyber thieves realized they were being watched.
88 Percent of U.S. Consumers Are Worried About Data Privacy
Apr 16th
From: eSecurityPlanet
One third of consumers have been directly impacted by the misuse of personal data in the past year, according to GfK.
By Jeff Goldman
A recent GfK survey of 1,000 U.S. citizens has found that 88 percent of respondents are at least “a little” concerned about the privacy of their personal data (h/t Computerworld).
The poll, conducted from March 7 to 9, 2014, also found that one third of consumers were directly impacted by the misuse of personal data within the past year.
Heartbleed portends larger security threats
Apr 14th
From: The Washington Post Editorial Board
TENS OF MILLIONS of Americans have been affected by the theft of their personal information in the digital age. In a recent major data breach at Target stores, numbers and names were taken from about 40 million customers, and many millions more suffered compromises in other personal information such as e-mail addresses or phone numbers. The victims trusted their retail stores, their credit- and debit-card issuers, their banks, and such security measures as a four-digit personal identification numbers, to protect their information.
Court Upholds FTC’s Power to Sue Hacked Companies
Apr 9th
From: Nextgov
By Brendan Sasso Government Executive
The Federal Trade Commission has the power to sue companies that fail to protect their customers’ data, a federal court in New Jersey said Monday.
The ruling shoots down a challenge from Wyndham Hotels, which argued that the FTC overstepped its authority with a 2012 lawsuit against the global hotel chain.
The decision by U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas is a major win for the agency. If the court had sided with Wyndham, it would have stripped the federal government of oversight of data security practices just as hackers begin to pull off more and more high-profile attacks.