A recent quarterly report titled "State of the Internet" has been released by Akamai providing Internet statistics on the origin of Internet attack traffic, network outages and broadband connectivity levels around the world. According to the report, during the first quarter of 2008, attack traffic originated from 125 unique countries around the world. China and the United States were the two largest traffic sources, accounting for some 30% of traffic in total. The top 10 countries were the source of approximately three quarters (75%) of the attacks measured. Other observations include... more
The United States Department of Justice has announced that it has neutralized a global network of computers compromised by malware called "Snake," which the U.S. government attributes to a unit within Center 16 of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB). more
"Russian banks will be faced with a whole range of new regulations, and penalties for non-compliance, when it comes to cyber-security, according to the country's Central Bank," Eugene Gerden reported today in SC Magazine UK more
Iran's nuclear facilities are immune to cyber attack a senior Iranian military official has claimed today according to various reports. "Gholam Reza Jalali, who heads an Iranian military unit in charge of combatting sabotage, was quoted Monday by the official IRNA news agency as saying that Iran and its nuclear facilities possess the technology and knowledge to deal with malicious software." more
A research paper commissioned by the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (ICNND) suggests that nuclear command and control systems are vulnerable to cyber terrorism. "Despite claims that nuclear launch orders can only come from the highest authorities, numerous examples point towards an ability to sidestep the chain of command and insert orders at lower levels," says the report. more
The Obama administration is developing a package of unprecedented economic sanctions against Chinese companies and individuals who have benefited from their government’s cybertheft of valuable U.S. trade secrets. The U.S. government has not yet decided whether to issue these sanctions, but a final call is expected soon, perhaps even within the next two weeks. more
"Yahoo is expected to confirm a massive data breach, impacting hundreds of millions of users," reports Kara Swisher today in Recode. more
"China Sets New Tone in Drafting Cybersecurity Rules," By Eva Dou in Beijing and Rachael King in San Francisco reporting in the Wall Street Journal. more
In a significant global operation, law enforcement agencies from 10 countries have severely disrupted the LockBit ransomware group, recognized as the most prolific and harmful cyber threat worldwide. more
There's been a lot of discussion of whether the November 2016 U.S. election can be hacked. Should the U.S. Government designate all the states' and counties' election computers as "critical cyber infrastructure" and prioritize the "cyberdefense" of these systems? Will it make any difference to activate those buzzwords with less than 3 months until the election? First, let me explain what can and can't be hacked. Election administrators use computers in (at least) three ways... more
The websites and digital platforms of Qatar-based Al Jazeera Media Network are undergoing systematic and continual hacking attempts, the news agency reported a few hours ago on its website. more
On 29 March 2024, an announcement was posted notifying the world that the Open-Source Software (OSS) package "xz-utils," which includes the xz data compression program and a library of software routines called "liblzma" and which is present in most Linux distributions, had been compromised. The insertion of the compromised code was done by "Jia Tan", the official maintainer of the xz-utils package. more
In a potentially damaging cybersecurity revelation, researchers from the cybersecurity company Eclypsium have identified a hidden mechanism in the firmware of motherboards manufactured by Taiwanese company Gigabyte. more
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) is reported to have warned companies about an increasing risk of cyber espionage and attacks on pipelines, oil storage and shipment facilities. more
New security report has revealed at least 48 companies involved in research, development, manufacturing of chemicals and advanced materials have been victims of a coordinated cyberattack traced to a source in China. The purpose of the attacks, code named Nitro, appear to be industrial espionage, collecting intellectual property for competitive advantage, according to Symantec. more