Cyberheisting a Hacker’s Story
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…
Elections Cause Cyber Delays Here, Attacks There
Good afternoon, Cybersecurity News readers. As the election hangover begins to subside in Washington, and as the once-minority GOP members prepare to make the shift into House leadership, it’s safe to say that cybersecurity has been put to bed on the Hill for what’s left of 2010.
And while some will place the blame on Congress, Politico this morning said that Hill aides are finger-pointing elsewhere. That is, over to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, where the White House is said to be lagging on its input for the cyber legislation currently collecting dust on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s desk.
According to the report, Hill aides say they are “still awaiting the administration’s line on some of the bill’s key issues, including whether cybersecurity professionals should be certified, the kinds of powers the president should have in an emergency and how cybersecurity standards should be set.”
Lame Ducking Cybersecurity
With less than a week to go until the midterm elections, there’s a bit of a buzz about the potential of a cyber bill lurking its way into an already-slated lame duck session.
And while some remain hopeful to hear a late-November Senate cyber debate, according to NextGov, Hill aides and ACLU affiliates are expecting otherwise.
At a Heritage Foundation forum on cybersecurity held earlier this week, Louis Tucker, Senate Intelligence Committee minority staff director, and Michelle Richardson, a legislative council for the ACLU, advised the Obama administration to step up and offer a proposal that would engage both sides of the aisle to work together to pass cyber legislation.
But while offering up certain suggestions to move a bill through the Senate, Tucker added “I’m not optimistic of major cybersecurity legislation passing in this upcoming lame duck.”
Read more…
Facing Cyber Spooks
Just in time for Halloween, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) unleashed a “scary reality” of the nation’s cyber vulnerabilities in an op-ed featured on The Hill’s Congress Blog.
Recognizing the month as National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, Sen. Carper advised that there is a growing threat of cyber terrorists and hackers capable of bringing down “everything from power plants to military installations with a few key strokes.”
“We have to do more to protect our critical information networks,” Carper added, noting that he will continue to work with his Congressional colleagues to pass the much-talked-about Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010, a comprehensive bill he co-sponsored with Sens. Joe Lieberman (ID-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Me.)
Meanwhile, it seems another cyber threat is looming for the government, as well as visitors to a certain dot-gov domain.
Read more…
Abstinence: The Best Cybersecurity
Happy Friday and welcome back, Cybersecurity News readers! Thanks for sticking with me during my brief hiatus (otherwise known as a European vacation).
I had every intention of keeping you all informed with the latest cybersecurity news during my travels, but with the British on high alert for cyber attack threats, and with Italy racking in a record for mobile cyber attacks, I figured Internet abstinence was probably my best choice for cybersecurity abroad.
…Thus I opted on the Swiss Alps and Roman ruins instead… (And to my loyal readers, I offer up this link to a few photos of my travels.)
I hope you’ve been enjoying a cyber safe National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. And to recap us all, I’ve included below a list of cybersecurity headlines that you may have missed in my absence.
Read more…
Stuxnet and the Cyber Storm
As Cybersecurity News reported late last week, the Stuxnet worm, a malicious computer virus believed to be the first to target industrial systems, appears to have had a direct and intentional hit on Iran and its Bushehr nuclear power plant.
“An electronic war has been launched against Iran,” Mahmoud Liaii, director of Iran’s Information Technology Council of the Ministry of Industries and Mines, said in a statement, Bloomberg reported.
According to the account, the Stuxnet worm infected the IP addresses of 30,000 computer systems and contaminated some of the nuclear plant’s private software.
But despite the attack, plant project manager Mahmoud Jahfari insisted, “The main systems of the Bushehr nuclear power plant have not been damaged.”
And while pinpointing and finger-pointing for the attack continue: “The United States is analyzing the Stuxnet computer worm, but does not know who is behind it or its purpose,” one top US cybersecurity official told the AFP.
US and Iran Both Focus on Cyber Defense This Week
An article in the Washington Post this morning reports that the White House is reviewing whether to ask Congress for new authorities for government agencies to protect the nation’s critical infrastructure in the event of a major cyber attack.
The news came yesterday following a House Armed Services Committee hearing, where US Cyber Command Chief Gen. Keith Alexander testified on the military’s cyber defense capabilities.
Noting that the White House is working to form a team with the FBI, the US Cyber Command, DHS and other agencies, Alexander said the move would “ensure that everybody has the exact authorities and capabilities that they would need to protect the country,” the Post reported.
But also covering the hearing, Wired magazine noted that a cyber shield would only stretch so far, advising, “If your business gets hacked, don’t bother calling the US military’s new Cyber Command.”
Read more…
Sealing a Senate Cyber Deal and Battening Down DHS Hatches
Happy Friday, Cybersecurity News readers. While the work week may be coming to an end, make no mistake that cybersecurity legislation will be doing the same.
According to Reuters, Senate staffers are working on an all-encompassing cybersecurity bill with the leadership needed to put it on the “short list” for passage.
Apparently Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has also added the cyber bill to his list of top-priority measures to get through the Senate this year, sources told Reuters.
But sealing a Senate cyber deal won’t come without a struggle…
And while Cybersecurity News reported last week on Senator Tom Carper’s reservations about passing a measure after the changes that the midterm elections may bring, Reuters also noted potential opposition.
Read more…
NIST Releases ‘Guidelines for Smart Grid Cyber Security’
The nation’s power grid — an ever-increasing topic for the cybersecurity world — continued to create a buzz late last week, as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released a 537-page report to outline “Guidelines for Smart Gird Cyber Security.”
The report, developed by members of the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel–Cyber Security Working Group, begins by disclosing:
The United States has embarked on a major transformation of its electric power infrastructure. This vast infrastructure upgrade—extending from homes and businesses to fossil-fuel-powered generating plants and wind farms, affecting nearly everyone and everything in between—is central to national efforts to increase energy efficiency, reliability, and security; to transition to renewable sources of energy; to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and to build a sustainable economy that ensures future prosperity. These and other prospective benefits of ‘smart’ electric power grids are being pursued across the globe…
Read more…
Cybersecurity News 