• The "lost decade" of cybersecurity: adversaries outpace cyber-defenses

    Anup Ghosh, the founder and CEO of Invincea, a firm that specializes in developing cybersecurity solutions, discusses the failures of the U.S. government in cybersecurity, emerging technologies that can help keep networks safe, and the havoc that terrorists can wreak via a cyberattack

  • General Dynamics teams up with Virginia Tech to bolster cybersecurity

    Defense giant General Dynamics’ cybersecurity division has teamed up with Virginia Tech to help strengthen the nation’s cybersecurity research capabilities; on Wednesday, the company announced that its Advanced Information Systems branch will assist Virginia Tech with its new Security and Software Engineering Research Center (S2ERC)

  • WikiLeaks hit by cyberattack

    On Tuesday night, the whistle-blower site WikiLeaks suffered from a cyberattack that crashed its homepage; the attack comes shortly after the group released nearly 134,000 additional State Department cables

  • New Windows worm spreading by exploiting weak passwords

    A new Windows worm is spreading through company networks by exploiting weak passwords; the worm, dubbed “Morto” spreads using RDP, or Remote Desktop Protocol, the Microsoft-made protocol for controlling one computer by connecting to it from another

    • view counter

  • Chinese TV shows cyber-attack software

    A Chinese government TV station, perhaps inadvertently, shows a government cyberattack aimed at Falun Gong computers; the video identifies the software as being written by the Electrical Engineering University of the People’s Liberation Army; the video — which has been removed from the TV station’s Web site — provides direct evidence of Chinese government involvement in cyberattacks

  • Penn State offers online minor in homeland security

    Penn State is the latest to join the handful of educational institutes offering a minor in homeland security; the degree is available online and is designed to provide students with the skills needed to enter the homeland security field

    • view counter

  • TSA Blackberries vulnerable

    The Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) Blackberry mobile devices are vulnerable to cybersecurity threats due to a backlog of security patches and their configurations; with these vulnerabilities, hackers could exploit unsecured wireless networks to monitor data transmissions, execute denial of service attacks, alter messages, or even impersonate legitimate users to steal sensitive data provided by airline passengers

  • Rampant insider hacking at U.S. immigration agency

    A yearlong investigation by the DHS Inspector General has revealed multiple instances of insider hacking at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS); the inspector general found that employees had accessed management-level email and other confidential files

  • Cyber experts dispute McAfee's Shady RAT report

    Earlier this month, cybersecurity experts discovered a five-year operation that infiltrated U.S. government and UN computer networks; China is believed to be the culprit behind the systematic attacks, dubbed “Operation Shady RAT,” which also hit major defense contractors and private businesses; many within the cybersecurity community are disputing the significance of the finding

  • Japanese pharmaceutical crippled by insider cyberattack

    Last week a disgruntled former contract employee pleaded guilty for severely disrupting the networks of Shionogi, a Japanese pharmaceutical firm; the attacks were so severe that they crippled Shionogi’s operations for “a number of days, leaving employees unable to ship products, to cut checks or even communicate via email,” according to court documents

  • Hong Kong arrests stock exchange hacker

    Last Friday authorities in Hong Kong announced that they had arrested a man for hacking into the city’s stock exchange and disrupting the trades of seven companies; two weeks ago the Hong Kong stock exchange’s website was hit with a malicious attack that caused several firms including global banking giant HSBC and the international airline Cathay Pacific to suspend trading for half a day

  • Anonymous retaliates against BART

    The hacking collective Anonymous released personal data on Sunday belonging to more than 2,000 public transport customers in the San Francisco area in retaliation for the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system’s shutdown of mobile phone service on Thursday night

  • ManTech wades into private cybersecurity market

    In an increasing trend, more traditional defense contractors are seeking to expand their businesses by entering the burgeoning field of cybersecurity for commercial companies; after disposing of its private sector cybersecurity business in 2002, ManTech International is seeking to enter the market once more

  • Attackers have advantage in cyberspace, says cybersecurity expert

    Homeland Security NewsWire’s executive editor Eugene Chow recently caught up with Bruce Schneier, a cybersecurity expert and the author of several bestselling books, including “Applied Cryptography,” “Secrets and Lies,” and “Beyond Fear”; in the interview Schneier discusses the recent politically motivated cyberattacks by Anonymous and AntiSec, securing U.S. networks against counterfeit computer chips, and President Obama’s proposed cybersecurity plan

  • Anonymous hacker collective hits rural law enforcement

    In its latest exploit, global hacker collective Anonymous claimed to release ten GB of stolen data from more than seventy rural sheriff’s departments across the United States, leaking sensitive information that could compromise the agencies’ investigations