Russia Claims Cyber Attack Plan Uncovered
The Russian secret service on Saturday said it uncovered a planned cyber
attack against some two dozen government and military organisations.
In a statement, the feared FSB said it had detected
malware "intended for use to spy online on some 20 institutions in
Russia".
The organizations in question were government, scientific
and military institutions, the FSB said.
"The circumstances appear to indicate... a planned
attack, designed by professionals," it added.
… According to the
FSB, the virus was sent as an attachment in an email, allowing the sender to
intercept data traffic, listen in on phone calls, take screenshots, switch on
microphones and cameras and log keystrokes.
The statement came as US Democrats said Saturday they had
been targeted by yet another cyber attack.
Is Facebook really getting better? They think so.
Facebook's privacy chief insists Facebook is 'a
privacy-enhancing platform'
… Facebook was
battered with criticism about its privacy practices—including a settlement with
the Federal Trade Commission over charges that Facebook “deceived
consumers by telling them they could keep their information on Facebook
private and then repeatedly allowing to be made public,” which resulted in the
company agreeing to undergo two decades of regular privacy audits.
That's why Zuckerberg brought in Erin Egan. Previously a partner at Covington &
Burling, where she co-chaired the law firm's Global Privacy and Data Security
practice group, Egan's job was to build Facebook a privacy program from
scratch—and that's precisely what she's done.
… Facebook's
record has improved dramatically as the company has realized that, for many
users, being able to meaningfully manage their privacy is a way to set the
social network apart.
If this sounds familiar, it’s because it is.
5 Takeaways From Cisco's Big Cybersecurity Report
Companies are still using outdated technology leaving them
prone to cyber attacks, security researchers are losing their confidence, and
hackers are making millions of dollars through so-called ransomware attacks.
These are some of the findings detailed
in Cisco’s annual report on the state of cybersecurity based on research the
company obtained from customers, outside security analysts, and its networking
devices connected to the Internet.
Here’s five interesting takeaways from the big report:
1. Hackers love ransomware
2. Adobe Flash is still bad for cybersecurity
3. Hackers are setting up shop in abandoned
WordPress websites
4. Companies with old, outdated technology
are at risk of attacks
5. Security teams are losing their confidence
Perspective. Interesting
slide from the talk, too.
America uses stealthy submarines to hack other countries’
systems
… In fact, subs
represent an important component of America's cyber strategy. They act defensively to protect themselves and
the country from digital attack, but — more interestingly — they also have a
role to play in carrying out cyberattacks, according to two U.S. Navy officials
at a recent
Washington conference.
"There is a — an offensive capability that we
are, that we prize very highly," said Rear Adm. Michael Jabaley, the
U.S. Navy's program executive officer for submarines. "And this is where I really can't talk
about much, but suffice to say we have submarines out there on the front lines
that are very involved, at the highest technical level, doing exactly the
kind of things that you would want them to do."
… But even this
doesn't compare to what the Navy wants to be able to do next: turn its submarines
into motherships for underwater drones that can maneuver themselves even closer
to shore and conduct jamming or hacking operations while allowing the sub to
work at a distance.
Why didn’t I think of this? Also lists a lot of articles on failures of
security.
… Mudge and
his wife, Sarah, a former NSA mathematician, have developed a first-of-its-kind
method for testing and scoring the security of software — a method inspired
partly by Underwriters Laboratories, that century-old entity responsible for
the familiar circled UL seal that tells you your toaster and hair dryer have
been tested for safety and won’t burst into flames.
Called the Cyber Independent Testing Lab,
the Zatkos’ operation won’t tell you if your software is literally
incendiary, but it will give you a way to comparison-shop browsers,
applications, and antivirus products according to how hardened they are against
attack. It may also push software makers
to improve their code to avoid a low score and remain competitive.
“There are applications out there that
really do demonstrate good [security] hygiene … and the vast majority are
somewhere else on the continuum from moderate to atrocious,” Peiter Zatko says.
“But the nice thing is that now you can
actually see where the software package lives on that continuum.”
Joshua Corman, founder of I Am the Cavalry, a group aimed at
improving the security of software in critical devices like cars and medical
devices, and head of the Cyber Statecraft Initiative for the Atlantic Council,
says the public is in sore need of data that can help people assess the
security of software products.
Perspective. A very
“hands on” business, lifted by online sales – which it delivers.
UPS Profits Rise on E-Commerce Growth
Revenue increased 3.8% to $14.63 billion for the second
quarter, while profit rose to $1.27 billion. UPS forecast its e-commerce business will grow
faster than expected through the end of the year, as U.S. consumers continue to
show strength.
For the paranoid or the easily annoyed?
Google Search now helps you set up email notifications for
when you’re mentioned on the web
Now when you Google yourself, so long as you’re logged in
to Google and you’ve allowed Google to save your web and app
activity, Google will show you a new widget at the bottom of the first page
of search results that will help you easily set up a new Google Alert for new
references of your name.
This is a reasonable move for Google to make. Google
Alerts have been around since 2003. These
days if you want to find out what’s online about you, you Google yourself, you
don’t set up a Google Alert. But the
thing is even though they’re not the hot new thing, Google Alerts work well. You
can adjust settings like email frequency, source types, languages, regions,
whether to only send the best results, and the email address to send alerts to.
So Google Alerts provide the back end
for this new tool.
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