An interesting choice of attack vector, but anything that ‘touches’ your target is worth examining. 

Hackers break into Polish banks through government regulator charged with bank security standards

Patrick O’Neill reports:

Polish banks have spent the last week searching for hackers who broke into several of the country’s financial institutions in an incident that looks to be three months old, according to Polish media.

The malware infection appears to have come through — of all things — compromised servers at the Polish financial regulator KNF, which is responsible for enforcing security standards in the banking industry.

The hackers stole no money.  Instead, they exfiltrated large amounts of unidentified encrypted data, according to new reports from Polish and English-language media including Money.pl and Bad Cyber.

Read more on CyberScoop.

How to deal with election meddling?

http://www.securityweek.com/nato-publishes-tallinn-manual-20-international-law-applicable-cyber-ops

NATO Publishes Tallinn Manual 2.0 on International Law Applicable to Cyber Ops

Tallinn 2.0 incorporates Tallinn 1.0, published in 2012.  While Tallinn 1 sought to define how international law relates to cyberwar, Tallinn 2 expands the content to include cyber activity that falls short of actual warfare.

…   Tallinn Manual 2.0 is available from Cambridge University Press.

Splitting hairs?

Wiretap privacy rules don’t apply to social media messages, N.J. court rules

S.P. Sullivan reports:

Police in New Jersey can sift through a suspect’s private social media messages without applying for an order under the state’s wiretapping laws, according to a state appeals court decision published Thursday.

The three-judge panel ruled communications such as direct messages and protected posts on platforms like Twitter aren’t subject to the tighter privacy rules that apply to telephone calls.

The court held that authorities still need a communications data warrant before they can compel social media companies to produce private user data.

Read more on NJ.com.

I am trying to make my students into disruptors. 

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/why-health-care-is-ripe-for-digital-disruption/

Why Health Care is Ripe for Digital Disruption

The U.S. health care system, with its brick and mortar, provider-centric business model where doctors dispense face-to-face care during scheduled appointments, is ripe for digital disruption.

I suspect this is the first of many ‘strategy’ articles.  Which most closely matches the facts?

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/trump-startegy-as-president-234613

The method to President Trump's madness

What looks like chaos is at least in part a strategy to remind voters that they're getting what they asked for — a real shakeup in Washington.

…   The strategy?  To send one deafening message that rings louder than all the seeming commotion: Trump is bringing a sledgehammer to the status quo.

(Related).  We’re still trying to figure out how Trump won.  Does the campaign strategy carry over into Trump’s executive strategy? 

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/sensational-tweets-and-the-rise-of-trump/

How the Twittersphere Helped Donald Trump Win

Did the Twittersphere help Donald Trump become the Republican nominee for president?  A Wharton analysis of tweets sent before, during and after the 2016 Republican primary debates found an interesting correlation — as well as some sobering trends.  Substantive tweets had less staying power than sensational tweets, which later shaped public opinion about the debates.