Cybersecurity News

Millions of bloggers worldwide were put at risk yesterday when blogging platform WordPress.com announced that hackers broke into several of its servers, potentially gaining access to the source code and other sensitive information on the site.

Alerting its 19 million users of the breach, WordPress called the incident a “low-level (root) break-in” in a blog post, adding, “We have been diligently reviewing logs and records about the break-in to determine the extent of the information exposed, and re-securing avenues used to gain access. We presume our source code was exposed and copied.”

And while the company continues its investigation, it advised its users to take preventative precautions, including strong password usage and varying passwords for the different sites and accounts its users inhabit.

Meanwhile, password protection was no safeguard for Russian bloggers using LiveJournal last week.  According to the Moscow Times, LiveJournal Russia, the country’s main blogging platform, fell victim to a DDoS cyber attack, flooding servers and crippling the system for seven hours.

But the saga didn’t stop there, as speculation swirled that the nation’s own people were behind the attack, attempting to silence political discourse ahead of Russia’s State Duma elections and upcoming presidential race.

According to Reuters, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, whose own blog took a hit from the LiveJournal take-down, condemned the attacks, stating, “As an active user of (LiveJournal) I consider these actions revolting and illegal.”

With nearly five million Russian bloggers on the site, LiveJournal’s Moscow-based umbrella organization Sup Media said it was “delighted that Medvedev had strongly criticized the attacks,” according to Reuters.

“We will continue to investigate the source of these attacks and work to improve our systems to prevent any recurrence,” asserted Sup Media CEO Annelies Van Den Belt in a statement.

And as the WordPress and LiveJournal investigations continue, check out the following cybersecurity news headlines:

Global cybersecurity market to reach $80 billion by 2017 (InfoSecurity)

Mobile devices and social networks key malware targets (Wall Street Journal)

Symantec: Government adoption of social-media apps threatens security (The Hill)

Congress, administration grapple with cyber defense authority (NextGov)

Tech firm join call to delay limits on debit card fees, warning of weaker security (The Hill)

Sens. Kerry, McCain offer bill to protect Web users’ privacy rights (Washington Post)

Retired General: US ‘hugely vulnerable’ to cyber attacks (Huffington Post)

US needs cyber-emergency response, lawmaker says (PCWorld)

Sen. Carper: Federal infosec efficiencies needed (GovInfoSecurity)

Intelligence agencies interested in Nasdaq cyber attack (Forbes)

At DHS, Reitinger’s quest: Build a safer Internet (GovInfoSecurity)

Energy infrastructure lacks advanced defense from cyber attacks (Bloomberg)

BlackBerry users susceptible to cyber attack, finds Trend Micro (InformationWeek)

Epsilon: Exposing the weakest link (NextGov)

Air Force builds high-performance data center (Defense Systems)

Government’s top 10 IT security certifications (BankInfoSecurity)

Ten major routes a malicious code takes in targeted attack (International Business Times)

Attackers find old vulnerabilities are still the best (GovComputerNetwork)

Identity thieves setting sights on kids, report finds (Security News Daily)

Cyberwars should not be defined in military terms, experts warn (National Defense)

Hydraq and Stuxnet make 2010 ‘Year of the targeted attack’ (National Business Review)

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES:

Cyber attack brings down Malaysiakini ahead of crucial S’wak polls (Yahoo)

March DDoS attack done by N. Korea (The Korea Times)

‘Anonymous’ plans DDoS attack against Colombia Ministry of Justice (Examiner)

Israel mulls creation of elite counter-cyberterrorist unit (The Register)

Malware infected 60 million computers in Vietnam last year (InfoSecurity)

Tibetans under cyber attack (The Age)

Adelaide Metro site back online after cyber attack (City Messenger)

INDUSTRY NEWS:

Adobe releases security advisory for Flash Player, Reader and Acrobat (Adobe Blog)

GE to open information security technology center in Virginia (Press Release)

Sony investigating possible cyber attack (IGN)

EMC releases details on cyber attack against RSA SecurID (Wall Street Journal)

Defense cybersecurity firm KEYW acquires JKA for $13 million (InfoSecurity)