Cybersecurity News

Greetings fellow cybersecurity news junkies.  I’m feeling a bit under the weather today, after encountering unpredicted sleet in New York on Monday.  So in lieu of my own write up, let me direct your attention to a fascinating piece to be featured in the upcoming New York Times Magazine on “The Great Cyberheist,” which profiles the life and times [and arrest] of hacking mastermind Albert Gonzalez, a man known to many international black hats and US Secret Service agents as the “soupnazi.”

Gonzalez, a self-taught computer engineer, was able to hack into the NASA server by age 14, later becoming an informant for the FBI by-day, meanwhile, hacking into the business accounts of several large, well-known retail stores by-night, amassing sensitive data and stealing over 40 million credit card numbers…

But before I give too much away, be sure to check it out for yourself [“The Great Cyberheist“].  And in the meantime, following are a few cybersecurity news headlines you may have missed:

POST ELECTION CYBERSECURITY NEWS:

Election unlikely to slow US cybersecurity efforts (ComputerWorld)

GOP House takeover to affect cybersecurity (Federal News Radio)

Democrats’ plans for tech industry in political jeopardy (Politico)

Opinion: Congress should not hurry on cybersecurity (Heritage Foundation)

FEDERAL CYBERSECURITY NEWS:

Pentagon’s Cyber Command seeks authority to expand its battlefield (Washington Post)

HP bolsters cybersecurity practice with Pentagon alums (The Hill)

DoD is taking steps to defend cyber domain (Federal News Radio)

Cyber Storm drill to yield new lessons, Feds say (Government Technology)

Cyber Command now fully operational (Defense Systems)

Military ready for war in cyberspace (Reuters)

Napolitano: Military to aid civilian cybersecurity (AP)

US AIR FORCE CYBERSECURITY NEWS:

Air Force vice commander on cybersecurity: ‘We are under attack every day’ (ExecutiveGov)

Air Force takes steps to defend cyber domain (Dept of Defense)

What keeps the Air Force CIO awake? (NextGov)

EUROPEAN CYBERSECURITY NEWS:

Europe plays war games… online (Wall Street Journal)

Europe plays cyber war, declared winner (The New New Internet)

Defense Minister Nick Harvey to set out cyber battle (BBC)

ADDITIONAL CYBERSECURITY NEWS HEADLINES:

Hackers hijack 1 million China cell phones (InformationWeek)

The growing cybersecurity threat: What’s really worrying security experts (Forbes)

Cyber attack could paralyze air traffic (Homeland Security News)

Georgia and Russia: After the cyber attack, before the war (Asia Pacific FutureGov)

How worried are Americans about cybersecurity? (Federal News Radio)

Diversify and expand: The time is now for cybersecurity contracting (ExecutiveBiz)

ESET cybersecurity for Mac debuts at Apple retail stores nationwide (ESET)