The week started off with a clean up of the previous weeks dustbin news. Not an unusual amount to hit on Monday, but the breadth was interesting. The continued mixing of cyber security issues with main stream media presentations of LulzSec and Anonymous as cyber warfare is nearly unabated. The experts reporting on these events have been slightly more careful in the characterizations, but the headlines and use of the terms incorrectly hasn’t nearly slowed down.
The discussions and recriminations between the United States and China are rising in fervor. I would wonder which side is feeling the more aggrieved, but the language in articles is constructed one way and the details are reported another way. The nation on nation cyber conflict isn’t really that interesting unless you’re standing in front of the target they are shooting at. The economic interests and the United States (and almost every other modern nation) are just to closely aligned to suggest major conflict. That is subject to change if ideological or religious fervor is taken into account. However, that is not a determining factor between the United States and China from what I can see at this time.
Lastly from the weekend into Monday afternoon we see the National Cyber Range in a new and improved version being suggested and reported on by Lockheed Martin. As to the discussion that permeated Tuesday and midweek of LulzSec declaring war along with other hacker groups on Nation States I’m mildly amused. It will be interesting to see if this plays out like previous altercations over the years. The pattern of rapid rise and mind blowing explosion of hacker groups who have believed their own press is fairly standard. Then again since most self proclaimed hacker groups are technophiles and eschew the liberal arts they’ve never heard, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” The quote is extremely literal to the situation of groups attacking governments.
By Wednesday news started to leak into the mainstream media (after months) that China is saying there is no cyber war. This is likely the truest way to put this. Mere cyber attacks without breaking things, and killing people will not rise to war. Even killing LOTS of people may not rise to war. However, shooting the wrong politician could start a major multi-continent war. The apparent elements to rise to war is much higher than the media and most pundits put it. There is significant scholarship on the erosion of the term war through the war on drugs, the war on poverty, and associated misapplication of the term war. There are numerous books titled as cyber warfare that have absolutely nothing to do with war or warfare and may not even rise to the level of espionage. Just remember that every time you see the word war used by a pundit, are they talking about nation state on nation state exacting of power and resources in conflict, after having associated demands and decrees to that scale of conflict? If it hasn’t been up in front of the United Nations Security Council and declared as war it is something less than war. Cyber conflict abounds, but cyber war sells books. Yes, non-state actors add an entirely different spin to the issue in cyber, but they also aren’t likely to get nuked.
By the time we arrive at Thursday of the week there are starting to be reports of “hackers” being arrested by governments and warrants for specific people in relationship to the events of the last few weeks. Though not covered in depth here there are threads of discussion in other areas that detail seizures of equipment by the FBI and other governments around the world. Some of the allegations suggesting wide spread seizures in relationship to LulzSec and Anonymous. The various threads continue to hyper-inflate or better stated over emphasize the nature of the threat, but it must sell. The Brazilian attack is very interesting to me personally. The Brazilian government has what they call the green Amazon, and the blue Amazon. The Green being the lush interior forests and the resources of those areas including the people. The blue is the shores and littorals surrounding the country. I’ve been told that they also have a cyber Amazon. The infosphere of the country is rapidly expanding so I expect them to take any attacks on their infrastructure quite seriously.
As of Friday news is starting to filter out that a Sony network engineers were laid off and may have contributed to the breach. Bringing the loop back to insider threat in a Bradley Manning sort of way. Instead of the insiders actually doing something, the company in interests of saving money, fired the guardians. Another thread I’ve written on came to the forefront when Gartner analyst Pescatore (who I recently chatted with) started talking about advanced persistent threat (APT) as being partially fear driven. The week is closing out with even more discussion on the Pentagon (I love the personification of a building) and the race to develop cyber weapons. All in all a fully featured cyber week of conflict and rancor.
Monday June 20th
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| Candour: the best defence against cyber-attack The Guardian Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images The cyber-attack phenomenon continued unabated this week, despite increasing public awareness and government scrutiny. From the well-documented hack into Sony’s PlayStation network earlier this year to the revelation … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Government Building ‘Model’ Of Internet For Cyber War Games RedOrbit The US government is building its own “scale model” of the Internet to help it carry out cyber wargames. Several organizations are working on prototypes of the “virtual firing range,” including the defense company Lockheed Martin. … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Conducting Cyber Warfare on the US Is Not a Priority for China The Atlantic But the central point in juxtaposing the two pieces is to note that when Chinese leaders wake up in the morning, concocting digital bombs and conducting cyber warfare on the US is nowhere near the top of priorities (it might not even be on the list of … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Global-Image-Cyber-Warfare – the gTLD weaponry Business Intelligence Middle East (press release) Simple, the real motivation will be to declare global-image-cyber-warfare and to create global market domination under a name identity. If this is really all about global image cyber warfare, then the art of war dictates preparation and planning. … See all stories on this topic » |
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| H4cked Off: Losing the Cyber War Computing (blog) In recent months hacktivist group Anonymous has been keeping security commentators busy with its humiliation of such global brands as Sony, Mastercard and Paypal. Though often basic in nature, the sheer muscle-power behind these attacks was sufficient … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Social Media Adding to Cyber Warfare webpronews.com “Security threats have been on the rise ever since the death of Osama bin Laden. These threats vary from spam attacks to very serious politically motivated, foreign nation attacks. According to Charles Dodd, a government consultant for cyber defense, … See all stories on this topic » |
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| EU prepares defences against cyber attack UKauthorITy.com Britain is under constant cyber attack and last year 1000 potentially harmful hacking attacks were blocked, according to defence secretary Liam Fox. In a speech last week to defence suppliers, Fox said that the cost to the UK economy of cyber crime is … See all stories on this topic » |
| Sega Confirms Cyber attack; LulzSec offers help to track hackers International Business Times By IB Times Staff Reporter | June 19, 2011 8:15 AM EDT The Japanese video game firm Sega, which was the latest victim of a network breach, said on Sunday that about information on 1.3 million customers has been stolen from its database via a website of … See all stories on this topic » |
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| US Builds Cyberwar Virtual Firing Range PCWorld That half billion dollars isn’t just going to this project, but also to developing defensive and also offensive cyberwar technologies. After all, there may be a point when the US government feels it necessary to fight back against attackers. … See all stories on this topic » |
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| …Other victim of cyber attacks Trinidad & Tobago Express By Akile Simon FORMER Express editor and columnist Raoul Pantin yesterday said that he, too, was a victim of a cyber attack launched against him from the computer of Sasha Mohammed under the e-mail name Janice Thomas. He called on Prime Minister Kamla … See all stories on this topic » |
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| U.S. Raises Issue of Change.org Cyber Attack with China Social Barrel The US Government has questioned the Chinese government on the issue of cyber attack against Change.org in April, reports PCWorld. Change.org provides an online petitioning platform for people across the world. The attacks originated on April 17 th … See all stories on this topic » |
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Trinidad & Tobago Express
By Akile Simon FORMER Express editor and columnist Raoul Pantin yesterday said that he, too, was a victim of a cyber attack launched against him from the computer of Sasha Mohammed under the e-mail name Janice Thomas. He called on Prime Minister Kamla …
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| US Builds Net For Cyber War Games NewsTime The BBC on Sunday are reporting that the United States government is building its own “scale model” of the internet to carry out cyber war games. Several organisations, including the defence company Lockheed Martin, are working on prototypes of the … See all stories on this topic » |
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| The Circuit: Sega cyber attack; Skype, Microsoft get FTC nod; ICANN approves … Washington Post (blog) Sega hit with cyber attack: Game company Sega was hit with a cyber attack that breached 1.3 million users’ personal information, Reuters reported. The company said that information from subscribers to its Sega Pass online network such as names, … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Sega cyber attack breaches 1.3 million accounts Washington Post (blog) (KIM KYUNG-HOON – REUTERS) Game company Sega was hit with a cyber attack that breached 1.3 million users’ personal information, Reuters reported. The company said that accounts from its Sega Pass online network were compromised, and hackers accessed … See all stories on this topic » |
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| US declaration of cyberwar coming: FBI InfraGard president Australian Techworld Countries will continue to press the envelope to determine how much damage can be inflicted before the United States declares a cyberwar according to a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) associate. FBI InfraGard Denver chapter president, Rick Dakin, … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Has the Cyber War Begun? Big Think (blog) Sony, Google, Lockheed Martin, Citigroup, the CIA, IMF and American Senate: These powerful companies and government organizations have lately been attacked by small groups of private hackers. “Hacktivists’ assaults on state targets have prompted … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Lulz hackers on cyber attack chaos: ‘It’s funny’ New Zealand Herald Lulz Security – a hacker group that has claimed responsibility for several high-profile cyberattacks in the past month – say they’re doing it for entertainment. Photo / Thinkstock Computer hackers who have hit the websites of the CIA, US Senate, … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Nigel Stanley Presents at Jane’s Cyberwar Webinar IT-Director.com I recently took part in a webinar with IHS Janes, the defence analysts, on cyberwar, cyberterrorism and cybercrime. I presented alongside Dr Dave Sloggett, an expert on terrorism and asymmetric threats, Jerry Dixon from Team Cymru and Alex Von … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Cheery cyber attack message lulz you into a sense of security The Australian VISITING the LulzSec website, you are greeted with a blast from The Love Boat, the theme tune to the 1970s and 80s television show. It’s a cheesy Sinatra-esque number, full of retro charm. The site’s owners encourage you to sing along after greeting … See all stories on this topic » |
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Tuesday June 21st
| Sega hit by cyber attack; 1.3 million user accounts accessed Los Angeles Times The names, email addresses, dates of birth and encrypted passwords of members of a service called Sega Pass, which provides information regarding the video game developer’s new products, were collected in the cyber attack Thursday, the company said. … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Pentagon building cyberwar simulator, expected by mid-2012 FierceCIO The Pentagon is building a model of the Internet that will allow cyberwar games to be conducted, and it’s expected to be ready by this time next year. Set up by the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA), the virtual test bed is known as the … See all stories on this topic » |
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| In Pact, LulzSec and Anonymous Declare Cyberwar on Governments TAXI Design Network The two high-profile hacking collectives have joined forces to declare cyberwar against government agencies, banks and other targets in an effort they are calling “AntiSec”. Lulz Security (or “LulzSec”) and Anonymous may or may not be directly … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Cyber war: How close are we to the real thing? GCN.com Does this barrage amount to a cyberwar? Probably not — at least, not yet. “What we’re talking about is theft,” said Dmitri Alperovitch, vice president of research at McAfee. “The hyperbole of cyberwaris overused.” The thefts are a real threat, … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Government plan to combat hackers revealed ABC Online It’s being described as biggest cyber attack ever seen here. All the companies have been left without an online presence, and none of the lost material is apparently recoverable. It’s the latest evidence of a cybercrime wave hitting businesses all … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Are We in a Cyber War? IT Business Edge (blog) I saw a blog post today that posed this question as its title: “Has the Cyber War Begun?” The blog, Big Think, pointed out all the attacks of the past few months — the hacktivists out making noise, the hits on defense and government, big companies … See all stories on this topic » |
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Wednesday June 22nd
| Pentagon gets cyberwar guidelines The Associated Press Signed more than a month ago, the orders cap a two-year Pentagon effort to draft US rules of the road for cyber warfare, and come as the US begins to work with allies on global ground rules. The guidelines are much like those that govern the use of … See all stories on this topic » |
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| China says no cyber warfare between it, US Reuters Canada By Don Durfee BEIJING (Reuters) – There is no cyber warfare taking place between China and the United States, a senior Chinese official said on Wednesday, after weeks of friction over accusations that China may have launched a string of Internet … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Distribute.IT cyber attack prompts backup warning StartupSmart By Michelle Hammond A massive cyber attack on web hosting company Distribute.IT has resulted in the loss of more than 4800 Australian websites, prompting stark warnings for start-ups without data backup. Distribute.IT has belatedly revealed the full … See all stories on this topic » |
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| BC-US–Waging Cyber War,128 KGAN Pentagon gets cyberwar guidelines LOLITA C. BALDOR AP RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — In the most significant change to US cigarette packs in 25 years, the Food and Drug Administration released nine new warning labels that depict in graphic detail the negative … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Governments vs Hackers – Cyberwar Continues #AntiSec IGYAAN In a video released a few hours ago, the group urged anyone from around the world who believed in freedom of speech and anti-censorship of the Internet to stand up for their rights and join them. Thiscyber war seems to be heating up, with the hackers … See all stories on this topic » |
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| A Powerful New Weapon for Waging Global-Image Cyberwar E-Commerce Times By Naseem Javed Despite endless possibilities, ICANN plans to cap the first round of proposed applications to just a few hundred. However, based on the global pressures faced by organizations around the world to reduce customer acquisition costs, … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Government unprepared for cyber attack DutchNews.nl The Netherlands is not sufficiently prepared for a global cyber attack is the conclusion of a major exercise carried out by the government, says the Algemeen Dagblad. The government does not seem to realise the serious consequences of a cyber attack, … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Webcast: Are you at risk for an advanced persistent threat cyber attack? Business Insurance The recently revealed cyber attack on the International Monetary Fund highlights a key cyber risk that companies and organizations face: sophisticated, long-term breaches that are designed to steal market intelligence and other vital corporate … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Cyber-attack arrest Channel 4 News Arrested, in an Essex house: a teenage computer user at the centre of an FBI UK Police investigation into hacking attacks on major transatlantic institutions. . See all stories on this topic » |
Thursday June 23rd
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| Identifying the hacktivists of the emerging cyberwar Digitaltrends.com But as identities and opponents merge, the cyberwar landscape has become confusing. Consider this an introductory course to the who’s who of hackers. Anonymous first largely appeared on many radars after making worldwide headlines for its attack on the … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Ex-DHS chief warns of cyberwar with hacker networks CBS News However, it’s possible that the US government could find itself in a cyberwar with a network. Chertoff, speaking in New York at a lunch hosted by Opera Solutions, an analytics company, gave a talk largely on cybersecurity. He noted that the US needs to … See all stories on this topic » |
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| China denies cyber war with the US Fudzilla “Review: The little engine that could”. Alienware by Dell has figured out that there is a market for truly portable… “€129,29 for the A8-3850”. A quick glance of our favourite European price search engine revealed early listings of AMD’s desktop… … See all stories on this topic » |
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| LulzSec member faces 5 cyber attack charges AHN | All Headline News The Metropolitan Police said the teen used a Distributed Denial of Service attack against three British websites and constructed a network of infected computers that could be used remotely for direct attacks. British police filed five charges of cyber … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Cyber War: Worse Before Better BankInfoSecurity.com (blog) Security professionals won’t find themselves at a loss for work anytime soon. Feedback from industry leaders at this week’s Gartner Security and Risk Management Summit in DC, points to threats in the cyberworld getting worse before they get better. … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Brazil Government Websites Back Online After Cyber Attack From LulzSec Gather.com Brazil’s governmental and presidential websites are up and running once more after a cyber attackby hackers early Wednesday morning. The websites were only down for five hours. This was a straightforward denial of service attack, and the government … See all stories on this topic » |
Friday June 24th
| Pentagon Prepares for Cyber-War Forbes (blog) By MOBILEDIA The Pentagon is finishing up new guidelines on its cyber-war strategy, illustrating how serious the US government considers hacking and the complexities in responding to it. The Pentagon plans to implement a strategy to deal with the … See all stories on this topic » |
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| US Military Expanding Arsenal of Cyber-Warfare Capabilities eWeek The US government is beefing up its cyber-capabilities in order to fight a cyber-war against adversaries, according to several policy documents. The federal government is increasingly using cyber-tactics to defend it’s IT assets against attackers and … See all stories on this topic » |
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| Brazil suffers its biggest cyber attack – yet IT Decisions The service interruption of government websites and the disclosure of the supposedly personal data of top-ranking politicians claimed by hacking collective LulzSec is part of a string of cyber attacks that have taken place in Brazil in the last 48 … See all stories on this topic » |
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| IMF says identified files copied in cyber-attack Jerusalem Post By REUTERS WASHINGTON – The IMF said on Thursday it had identified computer files that were copied during a recent cyber-attack and has no evidence that information in emails or the fund’s financial systems was compromised. “We have identified files … See all stories on this topic » |
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| How to Stop Hack Attacks In One Easy Step: Whitelisting PCWorld In a blog post on Intelligent | Whitelisting, Richard Stiennon, author of Surviving Cyberwar and analyst at IT-Harvest, an independent IT security analyst firm, points out that a common denominator of malware attacks is that the malware executable is … See all stories on this topic » |
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| The hype, and the reality, behind advanced persistent threats Infosecurity Magazine (US) In a session titled “Cyberwar and APT: Hype and FUD”, Pescatore began by reflecting that, about every five years or so, the threats organizations face outpace their ability to combat them, largely because of developments in technology and the demands … See all stories on this topic » |
