Cyber Defence

November

Cyber security - better safe than sorry

Around the world 36,000 viruses are created every day, threatening both personal and corporate technology systems worldwide. For the complete article please visit: http://gulfnews.com/business/opinion/cyber-security-better-safe-than-sorry-1.889395

Companies make it easy for hackers

Unless the web applications that are accessible to both customers and hackers are protected, it is easier to gain access to the databases in which a lot of sensitive data are stored. For the complete article please visit:  http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2351a670-a286-11e0-9760-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1fAoEJVuY

Government Commits £650m to Cyber Defence

The Government has published its new Cyber Security Strategy, setting out how the UK will support economic prosperity, protect national security and safeguard the public’s way of life by building a more trusted and resilient digital environment. For the complete article please visit: http://www.sourcingfocus.com/site/newsitem/4544/

Cybersecurity Requires Patches, Not a Vast Bill: Susan Crawford

When cybersecurity problems arise, the best response is to adopt a patch as soon as it’s available. You don’t want to wait for an entirely new operating system to be created, and you really don’t want to use such a system until it has been debugged. For the complete article please visit: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-29/cybersecurity-requires-patches-not-a-vast-bill-susan-crawford.html

UK “cyber strategy”: Stuxnet, censorship, and cyber-specials

On Friday, the UK government released its “Cyber Security Strategy,” acknowledging the importance of the Internet to modern life, but also the risks it poses from criminals, terrorists, and nation states. For the complete article please visit: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/11/uk-cyber-strategy-stuxnet-censorship-and-cyber-specials.ars

Cyberterrorism - The weapon of choice a decade after 9/11

Today’s digital terrorist is sitting in his pajamas armed with a keyboard, mouse, and a computer that is anonymously connected into the world of the Internet. Oftentimes their target is not a specific person but rather an attack causing large scale disruptions that potentially affect millions of innocent computer users. For the complete article please visit: http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/dr20111102-cyberterrorism-the-weapon-of-choice-a-decade-after-9-11

Adidas Websites Go Offline After Hacking Cyber-Attack

Adidas has taken its website content offline after suffering what it described as a “sophisticated, criminal cyber-attack”. For the complete article please visit: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15614590

Smart phone users targeted as cyber attacks rise by 800pc

The Cybersecurity Money Pit

DARPA research shows that securing sensitive information on the U.S. military’s networks requires millions of lines of code, while the average piece of malware used to attack these defenses rely on a little over 100 lines. The solution: money. DARPA wants $208 million to spend on cybersecurity research in 2012; in 2011, the agency obtained $120 million. For the complete article please visit: http://www.technewsworld.com/story/The-Cybersecurity-Money-Pit-73703.html

Educating Non-IT Executives on Security

By explaining in business terms how the lack of increased IT security could adversely affect the business, IT security managers could see increased spending toward information security initiatives. For the complete article please visit: http://www.govinfosecurity.com/articles.php?art_id=4228

Why a Cybersecurity Treaty Is a Pipe Dream

With companies and governments seemingly incapable of defending themselves from sophisticated cyber attacks and infiltration, there is almost universal belief that any durable cybersecurity solution must be transnational. The hacker – a government, a lone individual, a non-state group – stealing valuable intellectual property or exploring infrastructure control systems could be sitting in Romania, China, or Nigeria, and the assault could transit networks across several continents. Calls are therefore growing for a global treaty to help protect against cyber threats. For the complete article please visit: http://www.cfr.org/cybersecurity/why-cybersecurity-treaty-pipe-dream/p26325

Iran launches cyber defence unit after virus attacks

Iran has been hit by at least two computer viruses recently that Tehran says are part of a concerted campaign to undermine the country’s disputed nuclear program. For the complete article please visit: http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/10/31/technology-iran-cyber-defence-stuxnet.html

U.S. Debated Cyberwarfare in Attack Plan on Libya

Just before the American-led strikes against Libya in March, the Obama administration intensely debated whether to open the mission with a new kind of warfare: a cyber offensive to disrupt and even disable the Qaddafi government’s air-defense system, which threatened allied war planes. For the complete article please visit: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/18/world/africa/cyber-warfare-against-libya-was-debated-by-us.html

Cyber Defense Requires Teamwork and Agility

The commander of U.S. Cyber Command called for increased collaboration among the government, industry and America’s allies in developing more defensible networks to confront escalating global cyber threats. For rest of the article please visit: http://www.globaldefence.net/defence-news/20030-cyber-defense-requires-teamwork-agility-alexander-says.html