Archive for March, 2015
Metro Savannah is test market for high-tech Census methods
Mar 30th
From: Athens Online
By Mary Landers,The Savannah Morning News
SAVANNAH | From now through May 31, Savannah-area residents can log on to www.Census.gov/2015 and be counted online.
The U.S. Census Bureau is using the 20-county region around Savannah as a test market for its 2015 Census Test, evaluating ways to get pervasive and high quality responses to its questionnaire online. The online questionnaire went live Monday.
Cyberbullying Detection Using Content and Social Network Analysis
Mar 27th
From: National Science Foundation
Award Number: 1464287
Award Instrument: Continuing grant
Awarded Amount to Date: $117,102.00
Investigator(s): Vivek Singh vivek.k.singh@rutgers.edu (Principal Investigator)
Sponsor: Rutgers University New Brunswick
Sharing secrets: Britain & Israel launch £1.2mn cybersecurity project
Mar 26th
From: RT
A group of British and Israeli academics are set to participate in a £1.2 million cyber security research venture as part of the government’s “long-term economic plan,” the Cabinet Office announced on Tuesday.
The bilateral project will consist of three cross-border partnerships linking Bar-Ilan University in Tel Aviv with the University of Bristol and University College London, and Israel’s Ministry of Science and Technology with the University of Kent.
Premera healthcare: US govt security audit gave hacked biz thumbs up
Mar 24th
From: The Register
HIPAA not much use here, one way or another, it appears
Serious doubt has been cast on the US government’s data security regulations after Premera Blue Cross was declared secure by Uncle Sam – just months before the healthcare giant was ransacked for financial and medical information by hackers.
The biz underwent a computer security audit by a federal watchdog in January 2014, was told in April it needed to improve in a few areas, started making the necessary changes in June, and rounded off the year with an official mark declaring it compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). HIPAA sets a national benchmark for safely handling electronic healthcare records.
The US has started to put bounties on the heads of hackers
Mar 23rd
From: AP
WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI considers Evgeniy Bogachev one of the world’s most prolific and brilliant cyber criminals, slapping his photos – bald, beefy-faced and smiling faintly – on “Wanted” fliers posted online. The Russian would be an ideal target for prosecution – if only the Justice Department could find him.
Unable to capture him in the 10 months since his indictment, the government has turned to a time-honored technique long used for more conventional crime: putting a bounty on Bogachev’s head.
NSA chief: Cyber staff ‘gobbled up’ by private sector
Mar 20th
From: The Hill
Federal cyber warriors are being “gobbled up” by the private sector and other government agencies, the NSA director said Thursday in a plea to lawmakers for consistent funding.
Adm. Mike Rogers, who also leads the U.S. Cyber Command, said the task of building a strong cyber force has proven difficult given threats of budget cuts and government shutdowns.
FBI Accepting Special Agent Job Applications
Mar 19th
From: FBI Jackson
Public Affairs Specialist Deborah Madden
Joining the FBI is like no other career choice you have explored. It is challenging. It is exciting. It is rewarding. And every day you have a chance to serve your country.
The FBI is an intelligence-driven and threat focused national security organization with both intelligence and law enforcement responsibilities. The FBI is the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Justice and a full member of the U.S. Intelligence Community. It has the authority and responsibility to investigate specific crimes assigned to it and to provide other law enforcement agencies with cooperative services, such as fingerprint identification, laboratory examinations, and training. The FBI also gathers, shares, and analyzes intelligence—both to support its own investigations and those of its partners and to better understand and combat the security threats facing the United States.
Kuwait opens 2nd industrial cyber security conference
Mar 17th
From: Al-Shorfa.com
Kuwait on Monday (March 16th) kicked off its 2nd Industrial Automation and Control System Cyber Security Conference, the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported.
At the opening ceremony, Kuwaiti Minister of Oil and Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs Ali Al-Omair stressed the need for the non-stop development of measures to boost cyber security in Kuwait and other Gulf Co-operation Council states.
MIT launches three-pronged effort to thwart cyber attacks
Mar 13th
From: Network World
Groups across university will work with businesses to develop technical, regulatory and managerial remedies
By Tim Greene
MIT is attacking cybersecurity from three angles: technical, regulatory and managerial through three programs and in partnership with major corporations.
The initiatives include participants from across several MIT schools as well as from outside the university with a goal of making it harder for attackers to succeed in efforts to break into networks, disrupt them, and steal and destroy data.
Protecting critical infrastructure in a world of infinite attacks
Mar 11th
From: The Conversation
US President Barack Obama is seeking US$14 billion to tackle it. The UK wants to build a start-up industry around it. And Australia is in the middle of what could be a year-long review into getting better at it. The issue is cyber security, and at risk is the entire digital economy and consumer confidence in it. In this Cyber insecurity series we investigate the size and nature of the cyber crime threat, the industry growing with it, and the solutions emerging to get in front of it.