2010

November 2010

Cyber Spies Pose Looming Threat

Matt Egan

http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2010/11/19/businesses-risk-cyber-espionage/

 

Excerpt:

'....so what exactly is cyber espionage? It can loosely be defined as using secretive means to infiltrate a network and steal information to receive a competitive advantage. The spying could be aimed at gaining a technology such as blue prints for a new type of micro processor, finding out strategic plans such as a potential acquisition or confidential data from a lawsuit......'

 

 

FBI Wiretapping of Internet Users. "All Your Data Belongs to Us"

Tom Burghardt

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=22025

 

Excerpt:

'....When the administration floated the proposal in September, The New York Times revealed that among the "fixes" sought by the FBI and other intrusive spy satrapies, were demands that communications' providers build backdoors into their applications and networks that will give spooks trolling "encrypted e-mail transmitters like BlackBerry, social networking Web sites like Facebook and software that allows direct 'peer to peer' messaging like Skype" the means "to intercept and unscramble encrypted messages.".....'

 

 

 

Big Brother Kinect Could Be Watching You at Home

Barry Levine

http://www.sci-tech-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=112000052KWW&full_skip=1

 

Excerpt:

'...."When you stand in front of it," he said, according to news reports, "it has face recognition, voice recognition," and "we can cater what content gets presented to you based on who you are." Your wife, Durkin added, could see a different set of content choices than you do, and this can include advertising.......'

 

 

 

Kroxxu botnet infects 100,000 domains without a money trail

Jiri Sejtko

http://www.avast.com/pr-avast-kroxxu-botnet-infects-100000-domains-without-a-money-trail

 

Excerpt:

'....Stolen passwords enable Kroxxu’s owners add a simple script tag to the original website content, making it possible to upload and modify files on infected servers and spread the net to other servers around the globe. If stacked up in a layered pyramid structure, avast!......'

 

 

Foreign cyber spies target British defence official

Chris Williams

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/11/22/mod_spear_phish/

 

Excerpt:

'....the MoD declined to comment on the incident, which was briefly discussed at a recent conference by Simon Kershaw, its head of defence security and assurance......'

 

 

 

Linked Data tools: Semantic Web for the masses

Lisa Goddard, Gillian Byrne

http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3120/2633

 

Excerpt:

'....Despite all of this, 2009 proved to be a bumper year for Linked Data. Both the U.K. and the U.S. governments unveiled public data Web sites amidst promises to radically open up data and promote transparency. The U.K. even declared an ambitious plan to “aim for the majority of government–published information to be reusable, Linked Data by June 2011”......'

 

 

Sex, Drugs, and the Biggest Cybercrime of All Time

Sabrina Rubin Erdely

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/17389/233391

 

Excerpt:

'....They'd been high all weekend long — on Ecstasy, coke, mushrooms and acid — so there seemed little harm in doing one last bump of Special K while they packed up to leave their $5,000-a-night duplex .....'

 

 

The untouchable hackers of St. Petersburg

Ron Deibert and Rafal Rohozinski

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/time-to-lead/internet/the-untouchable-hackers-of-st-petersburg/article1795650/

 

Excerpt:

'....take advantage of mistakes made on the part of the attackers to secure their own infrastructure; our access was almost comprehensive, allowing us insight into their inner workings for a period of months.......'

 

 

PGP Users Locked Out With Latest OS X Update

http://www.darknet.org.uk/2010/11/pgp-users-locked-out-with-latest-os-x-update/

 

Excerpt:

'....It’s caused a massive backlash from the user-base with people hurling insults left, right and center. For the non-tech savvy user it’s pretty worrying when their system can’t even boot up......'

 

 

MP's details exposed after data breach

Tom Brewster

http://www.itpro.co.uk/628567/mps-details-exposed-after-data-breach

 

Excerpt:

'....“MPs carry out a high profile role and the information their expenses claims include could put them at risk of fraud and endanger their security.”......'

 

 

Kidnapping, Theft and Rape Are Not "Cyber" Crimes

Neil Schwartzman

http://www.circleid.com/posts/kidnapping_theft_and_rape_are_not_cyber_crimes/

 

Excerpt:

'....When someone is mugged, harassed, kidnapped or raped on a sidewalk, we don't call it "sidewalk crime" and call for new laws to regulate sidewalks. It is crime, and those who commit crimes are subject to the full force of the law.......'

 

 

Cloud Security Alliance has launched the CloudCERT Initiative.

http://www.cloudsecurityalliance.org/cloudcert.html

 

Excerpt:

'....Although Cloud Computing is clearly built upon traditional Internet services, protocols, and infrastructure, these components are brought together in novel ways. The definitional characteristics of Cloud Computing, such as multi-tenancy, elasticity, resource sharing and on demand provisioning have the potential to complicate traditional CERT operations.......'

 

 

Google publishes guide to the internet to mark 20 years of the Web

Anh Nguyen

http://www.computerworlduk.com/news/applications/3249769/google-publishes-guide-to-the-internet-to-mark-20-years-of-the-web

 

Excerpt:

'....In “20 Things I Learned about Browsers and the Web”, Google explains web technologies and terms such as HTML, cookies and cloud computing, and provides advice on how internet users can protect themselves from security threats like viruses.......'

 

 

 

MS-ISAC Launches 24-Hour Cyber Security Operations Center

Carolyn J Dawson

http://dns.tmcnet.com/topics/internet-security/articles/119628-ms-isac-launches-24-hour-cyber-security-operations.htm

 

Excerpt:

'....Using the National Cyber Security Division and U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team, MS-ISAC coordinates closely with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, thus forming a vital link between and among the SLTT governments and with the federal government.......'

 

 

Putin lends support to hacker probe

Peter Warren

http://www.futureintelligence.co.uk/2010/11/russian-banks-probed-for-hacker-links/

 

Excerpt:

'....Coming hot on the heels of the announcement that the Russian Army will make helicopters available to the NATO forces in Afghanistan the news that the Russian Financial Monitoring Service is to look into possible allegations of money laundering and hacking is the first sign of a shift in attitude from the Russian authorities on cybercrime.......'

 

 

Cyber agency: Gov't contracts hinder threat response

Tom Espiner

http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/security/2010/11/19/cyber-agency-govt-contracts-hinder-threat-response-40090924/

 

Excerpt:

'...."Some contracts are quite long term, so when they are replaced the threat landscape is different," Marsh said. "In some cases, the original wording of the contract doesn't allow certain responses that we need."......'

 

 

Whitehall official outlines cybersecurity funding plan

Tom Espiner

http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/security/2010/11/17/whitehall-official-outlines-cybersecurity-funding-plan-40090898/

 

Excerpt:

'....Part of the funding will go towards establishing high-level industry groups such as the Telecommunications Industry Security Advisory Council (TISAC), said the official. TISAC was set up by the Cabinet Office Central Sponsor of Information Assurance (CSIA) — which became part of the Office of Cyber Security (OCS) in 2009 — to discuss and respond to threats to UK telecoms resilience......'

 

 

Virus shut down Defence Ministry’s computer system

http://www.thenews.pl/national/artykul143761_virus-shut-down-defence-ministrys-computer-system.html

 

Excerpt:

'....Bogdan Klich acknowledged that such situations will occur more and more in the future as cyber attack becomes common and does not exclude the possibility that a virus could be introduced to computer systems "on a whim or by any opponent."......'

 

 

Agnitio v1.0.0 released today

http://www.securityninja.co.uk/agnitio-v1-0-0-released-today

 

Excerpt:

'......As an industry we should always be aware of the security CIA (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability) when it comes to any work we do. I feel that we often fail to do this when it comes to security code reviews. We record our code review notes in notepad files, Word documents or Excel spreadsheets which fail to enforce integrity or any kind of audit trail.......'

 

 

 

DHS Highlights Two Cybersecurity Initiatives to Enhance Coordination with State and Local Governments and Private Sector Partners

http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1290115887831.shtm

 

Excerpt:

'....The new operations center builds on a long-standing information sharing partnership between MS-ISAC and the Department and will both enhance situational awareness at the state and local level for the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC)—the DHS-led integrated cyber incident response hub—and allow the federal government to quickly and efficiently provide critical cyber risk, vulnerability, and mitigation data to state and local governments.......'

 

 

 

Cyber Insecurity: Unlawful Profits, Activism and Extremist Campaigns on the Internet

David Marcus, François Paget

http://www.trustedsource.org/blog/517/Cybercrime-Hacktivism-Cyberterrorism-Hot-Topics-at-McAfees-Focus10

 

Excerpt:

'....We covered several main areas–cybercrime, hacktivism, cyberwar, and cyberterrorism–starting with definitions and then providing examples of each. Simply agreeing on definitions is exceptionally difficult as these threats are a global problem and the industry tends to look and define each locally. We had great discussions and questions around the problems of definition.......'

 

 

 

Long Live the Web: A Call for Continued Open Standards and Neutrality

Tim Berners-Lee

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=long-live-the-web

 

Excerpt:

'....The world wide web went live, on my physical desktop in Geneva, Switzerland, in December 1990. It consisted of one Web site and one browser, which happened to be on the same computer. The simple setup demonstrated a profound concept......'

 

 

Scammers Pose as Domain Registrar Employees to Trick Companies

Lucian Constantin

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Scammers-Pose-as-Domain-Registrar-Employees-to-Trick-Companies-167699.shtml

 

Excerpt:

'....The email goes on to claim that the time available to object is limited, with the registration being automatically allowed to proceed after a certain date.Scammers are hoping that companies will not allow those domains to be registered by a third party and will instead try to grab them for themselves, using the services they allegedly provide.......'

 

 

 

Whoa, Google, That’s A Pretty Big Security Hole

Michael Arrington

http://techcrunch.com/2010/11/20/whoa-google-thats-a-pretty-big-security-hole/

 

Excerpt:

'....Facebook would probably just consider this a feature, but the rest of us will definitely consider this a big security hole. If you’re already logged in to any Google account (Gmail, etc.), and visit that site, he’s harvested your Google email. And proves it by emailing you immediately......'

 

 

 

Whitehat cracks notorious rootkit wide open

Dan Goodin

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/11/18/zeroaccess_rootkit_deconstructed/

 

Excerpt:

'....According to Bonfa, malicious URLs unearthed from the disassembled rootkit use IP addresses associated with the Russian Business Network. ZeroAccess is currently being used as a platform for installing fake antivirus software, but it could obviously be used to force install any software of the author's bidding......'

 

 

 

Easynet blames network collapse on dodgy router update

Chris Williams

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/11/18/easynet_cisco/

 

Excerpt:

'....Easyney sells its SureStream ADSL product as an alternative to a leased line, with a 99.9 per cent uptime guarantee (quarterly). That guarantee wa easily broken for yesterday, with some customers suffering more than 6 hours downtime.......'

 

 

 

No Quick Fixes for Internet Freedom

Rebecca MacKinnon

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704104104575622080860055498.html

 

Excerpt:

'....Two more bloggers were arrested and another due to be released had his sentence extended. Dissident websites came under cyber attack, taking them offline at a time when they most needed to be visible......'

 

 

 

PeerBlock

Mark Bulas

http://www.peerblock.com/releases/interim-releases/peerblock-1.0.0-r484

 

Excerpt:

'....you can block communication with advertising or spyware oriented servers, computers monitoring your p2p activities, computers which have been "hacked", even entire countries!  They can't get in to your computer, and your computer won't try to send them anything either.....'

 

 

 

Social Network privacy officially an oxymoron

Joseph Webster

http://secforall.info/2010/11/16/social-network-privacy-officially-an-oxymoron/

 

Excerpt:

'....Posting anything on Facebook or MySpace is the same as announcing it on network television. Only with more marginally sentient viewers. “Oh yeah, we already know all about that.” I hear you thinking (it’s a gift, my telepathy). “ But that’s only on the public part of my Facebook page and stuff I post publicly to my friends’ pages. All my private stuff is password protected and, well, private“. ......'

 

 

 

China did not hijack 15% of the Net, counters researcher

Gregg Keizer

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9197438/China_did_not_hijack_15_of_the_Net_counters_researcher

 

Excerpt:

'....Instead of the widely-reported 15%, Labovitz estimated that the actual amount of Internet traffic affected by the April 2010 incident was much lower, on the order of just 0.015%.......'

 

 

 

Free ClamWin virus scanner moves most of Windows into quarantine

http://www.h-online.com/security/news/item/Free-ClamWin-virus-scanner-moves-most-of-Windows-into-quarantine-1139430.html

 

Excerpt:

'....The flaw has reportedly been fixed, but some users are struggling to restore their systems. The ClamWin developers have produced a batch file that allows the files to be restored to their original locations......'

 

 

 

China Set to Fight Against Cybercrime by Issuing New Laws Against Hackers

http://www.spamfighter.com/News-15411-China-Set-to-Fight-Against-Cybercrime-by-Issuing-New-Laws-Against-Hackers.htm

 

Excerpt:

'.... Remarkably, botnet can be defined as a network of systems that have had malware installed into them and are managed by cybercrooks, while the users are not aware of the computer hacking.........'

 

 

 

Pan-Euro cyber security exercise 'too focused' on DDoS

John Leyden

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/11/11/cyber_europe_cyberwar_exercise/

 

Excerpt:

'....The security incidents simulated involved attempts by hackers to knock critical online services online or to degrade overall internet availability. Blue team participants included Computer Emergency Response Teams and regulators pitted against a red team of "hackers" in much the same scenario as earlier US cyberwar exercises, such as Cyber Storm........'

 

UK to develop offensive cyber capability

Alex Stevenson

http://www.politics.co.uk/news/foreign-policy/uk-to-develop-offensive-cyber-capability-$21385552.htm

 

Excerpt:

'....Whitehall sources had indicated at the time of the strategic defence and security review's launch last month that Britain was not prepared to develop offensive cyber operations. Now politics.co.uk has learned the military is expected to integrate cyberspace capabilities into future offensive operations, however.........'

 

Tackling cyber threats

http://gulftoday.ae/portal/f9107d9d-f1a9-4256-a15f-3bcd3acd9253.aspx

 

Excerpt:

'....THE UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) discussed the most important cyber security issues such as attacking phone privacy, international cyber jurisdiction and child exploitation via Internet, with Black Hat, a global leader in IT security systems..........'

 

Google Hacking Database Reborn

http://www.exploit-db.com/google-hacking-database-reborn/

 

Excerpt:

'....The incredible amount of information continuously leaked onto the Internet, and therefore accessible by Google, is of great use to penetration testers around the world.  Johnny Long of Hackers for Charity started the Google Hacking Database (GHDB) to serve as a repository for search terms, called Google-Dorks, that expose sensitive information, vulnerabilities, passwords, and much more.......'

 

Spyware Coverage Granted Under E&O, CGL

http://www.property-casualty.com/News/2010/11/Pages/Spyware-Coverage-Granted-Under-EO-.aspx

 

Excerpt:

'....In the underlying tort action, a consumer sued Eyeblaster—a firm that creates and manages online advertising—for allegedly “enticing” him to “visit” an Internet website.His complaint alleged that this “visit” resulted in spyware, tracking cookies, JavaScript and other alleged rogue programs being downloaded onto his computer.......'

 

Sprint rejected Huawei, ZTE for security concerns

Stephen Lawson

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9195278/Report_Sprint_rejected_Huawei_ZTE_for_security_concerns

 

Excerpt:

'....Sprint, the nation's third-largest mobile operator, rejected ZTE and Huawei's bids to modernize its network even though they were lower than those of three rival companies, the Journal reported. The other bidders were Ericsson of Sweden, Samsung Electronics of South Korea and Alcatel-Lucent, which is based in Paris and incorporates the former U.S. telecom vendor Lucent.......'

 

Computer attack hits dissidents in Vietnam

http://www.net-security.org/malware_news.php?id=1517

 

Excerpt:

'....Political bloggers in Vietnam are under a round of cyberattacks designed to block their websites, a sign of the widening use of targeted hacking to stifle government dissent worldwide, according to a new analysis by U.S. computer experts.......'

 

Digital Activism Tactics: TweetStorms

Hyperactivist

http://lissnup.posterous.com/digital-activism-tactics-tweetstorms

 

Excerpt:

'....In the past month the community of activists on FaceBook and Twitter have been experimenting with a new form of protest, the "TweetStorm"......'

 

Introducing: SpyEye Tracker

http://www.abuse.ch/?p=2958

 

Excerpt:

'.....it got to hot for the author of the ZeuS Crimeware so he decided to stop developing and selling the ZeuS Crimeware Kit. Additionally the ZeuS Author has passed the source code of the ZeuS Trojan over to the SpyEye author.......'

 

Hacker Attacks on Cheong Wa Dae on the Rise

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/11/04/2010110401076.html

 

Excerpt:

'....Cyber attacks targeting the computers of Cheong Wa Dae officials are increasing as the G20 Summit in Seoul approaches, officials say. Even the home computers of senior Cheong Wa Dae officials have apparently become targets......'

 

Taking Cybersecurity Lessons To The Bank

Robert Lemos

http://www.darkreading.com/vulnerability_management/security/government/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=228200593

 

Excerpt:

'.....Banks have the money, so they are today's targets. But they aren't the only ones. Zeus and other malicious  programs can easily be used to provide access to corporate PCs in other industries as well. For that reason,  security managers should look to what's working -- and what's not working -- for the banking industry...........'

 

Air Force Takes Steps to Defend Cyber Domain

Ian Graham

http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=61620

 

Excerpt:

'.....Computer networks can do a lot of things. They can turn your neighbor’s kid into a viral video phenomenon,  they can let you know you’re about to miss your connection in Atlanta, and they can be a line of defense in  protecting national assets............'

 

UMBC partners with Northrop Grumman on cybersecurity incubator

Gus G. Sentementes

http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/technology/bs-bz-bwtech-northrop-grumman-20101108,0,976214.story

 

Excerpt:

'....The campus' research arm will work with the large defense contractor to provide expertise to small startup companies that are offered scholarships to develop their technologies at the university. The companies will work at the bwtech@UMBC Research and Technology Park in Baltimore........'

 

Australia, US aim for cyber shields, not weapons

Colin Ho

http://www.zdnetasia.com/australia-us-aim-for-cyber-shields-not-weapons-62204305.htm

 

Excerpt:

'....We're looking at very much the defensive, to use the jargon, a defensive posture here," said Smith in an interview with ABC 24 yesterday, after he was asked whether the government will be developing "weapons" to ward off cyber attacks........'

 

Europe prepares for cyber war

Janet Harris

http://www.techwatch.co.uk/2010/11/08/europe-prepares-for-cyber-war/

 

Excerpt:

'....recent events such as the Stuxnet worm attacking industrial infrastructure in the real world and Distributed Denial of Service attacks taking Burma offline completely are a graphic warning that cyber threats should not be ignored........'

 

Pentagon wants to wage cyber attack on enemies

Ellen Nakashima

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/pentagon-wants-to-wage-cyber-attack-on-enemies-20101107-17j0q.html

 

Excerpt:

'....The Pentagon's new Cyber Command is seeking authority to attack computer networks around the globe to protect American interests, drawing objections from Obama administration lawyers uncertain about the legality of offensive operations.........'

 

McConnell: Secure Internet requires government role

David Perera

http://www.fiercegovernmentit.com/story/mcconnell-secure-internet-requires-government-role/2010-11-07

 

Excerpt:

'....The market will not solve all our problems. In no other issue does the market bear such a burden and it should not do so here.........'

 

U.S. to discuss space, cyber-security with Australia

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-11/06/c_13594238.htm

 

Excerpt:

'....The U.S. will discuss increasing military cooperation with Australia in global security, including the role of space activities.........'

 

Why consumers give up on cybersecurity

Philip Virgo

http://www.computerweekly.com/blogs/when-it-meets-politics/2010/11/why-have-so-many-consumers-giv.html

 

Excerpt:

'.... I have had similar experiences with security software from both that company and its competitors: e-mails asking me to renew licenses that had been pre-installed on systems for which I had paid an inclusive price, e-mails after my credit cards were renewed ........'

 

India Needs Good Cyber Security And Cyber Forensics

V.K.Singh

http://cjnews.noads.biz/?p=638

 

Excerpt:

'.... As far as cyber security is concerned, Indian cyberspace has been continuously targeted by cyber criminals.The computer systems located at sensitive and strategic locations are frequently breached and compromised.........'

 

Kenya: Internet Hackers Attack Treasury

Jevans Nyabiage

http://allafrica.com/stories/201011090261.html

 

Excerpt:

'.... Kenya's cyber highway is not safe from virtual fraudsters and other malignant cyber crooks. As the country boasts three undersea fibre optic cables, cyber attacks are on the increase, targeting government and corporate with rich databases..........'

 

Cyber Forces Claim Progress, Eye Hurdles

David A. Fulghum

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?

 

Excerpt:

'.... Cyber missions are still being sorted out among the services to avoid duplication, and cyber operations are still not being conducted as fast as they must be to deter network attacks...........'