June 27, 2012
U.S. Makes Arrests in Operation Targeting Cyber Fraud
The United States arrested twenty-four people in thirteen countries (Bloomberg) in an undercover sting operation following an FBI investigation targeting online credit card hacking, U.S. officials said yesterday.
U.S. cybersecurity has made progress, but relies heavily on the private sector to secure infrastructure critical to national security.
Showing posts with label cyber security. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cyber security. Show all posts
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Cyber Security Bill Approved by House Panel
December 1, 2011
Cyber Security bill approved by House panel
A bill to let U.S. spy agencies share intelligence on cyber threats with private companies was backed by a House of Representatives intelligence panel on Thursday.
In a 17-1 vote, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence approved the legislation that would expand a pilot Pentagon program for sharing classified and sensitive threat information with defense contractors and their Internet service providers.
Under the measure, a longer list of companies would be eligible for access to classified data from the National Security Agency and other agencies.
The bill was amended to expand privacy protections for data that companies give the government, including, potentially, data that Internet providers give about their customers. That data could be used only for cyber or national security, according to the amendment.
Some critics have worried that this type of sharing arrangement amounts to government surveillance of private data.
The government would also be barred from searching collected data except to secure cyber networks from attack.
Cyber Security bill approved by House panel
A bill to let U.S. spy agencies share intelligence on cyber threats with private companies was backed by a House of Representatives intelligence panel on Thursday.
In a 17-1 vote, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence approved the legislation that would expand a pilot Pentagon program for sharing classified and sensitive threat information with defense contractors and their Internet service providers.
Under the measure, a longer list of companies would be eligible for access to classified data from the National Security Agency and other agencies.
The bill was amended to expand privacy protections for data that companies give the government, including, potentially, data that Internet providers give about their customers. That data could be used only for cyber or national security, according to the amendment.
Some critics have worried that this type of sharing arrangement amounts to government surveillance of private data.
The government would also be barred from searching collected data except to secure cyber networks from attack.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
U.S. Arrests 14 for Roles in PayPal Cyber Attack ...
July 19, 2011 U.S. arrests 14 for roles in PayPal cyber attack
Washington, U.S. authorities on Tuesday arrested 16 people on charges they participated in major cyber attacks, including the crippling of eBay's PayPal website as retribution for dropping WikiLeaks as a client.
FBI agents arrested 14 people in nine states and Washington, D.C., for the PayPal attack, which occurred last December and was allegedly coordinated by the hacking group Anonymous. It was the biggest take down so far tied to the high-profile cyber attack.
Financial institutions like PayPal, Visa and MasterCard withdrew services from WikiLeaks last year after the website published thousands of sometimes embarrassing secret U.S. diplomatic reports that have caused strains between Washington and numerous allies.
Hackers responded with so-called distributed denial-of-service attacks that flooded the companies' websites and rendered them unavailable to legitimate users, according to the indictment filed in California.
PayPal suffered attacks for several days last December.
The 14 individuals were charged with conspiracy, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison if convicted, and intentional damage to a protected computer, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Law enforcement authorities believe Anonymous is mostly made up of hackers believed to be in their teens and early 20s.
"The fact that they have been tracked back and that some of them have been arrested is a significant development," said Mark Rasch, a former chief of the Justice Department's cyber crimes unit and now director of Cybersecurity and Privacy Consulting for the government technology services firm CSC.
In addition, U.S. authorities executed more than 35 search warrants around the country as part of its investigation into coordinated cyber attacks against major companies and organizations, the Justice Department said.
The Justice Department and FBI have been under pressure to crack down on hackers who have stepped up their attacks on corporate and government websites over the last several months in a bid to thwart their activities.
Stewart Baker, a former top official of the Homeland Security department, said the FBI probably gave the case extra attention because of the public taunting the bureau received from Anonymous and related groups.
"It does look like some of these guys (hackers) were just fools. The PayPal attack in particular," said Baker, now at the law firm Steptoe and Johnson LLP. "It looks like these bozos must have just said 'Cool, an attack on PayPal. You can use my machine.'
"I think it makes it a lot less likely that that people will join the next digital lynch mob," he said.
Another related arrest came in New Mexico where an employee for a contractor for AT&T's wireless service faced charges of accessing a computer without authorization by allegedly downloading thousands of documents related to its 4G data network and LTE mobile broadband network.
The data was subsequently downloaded to a file-sharing web site in April and another one of the loosely organized groups of hackers, Lulz Security, subsequently publicized the data breach, the complaint said.
AT&T had no comment on the arrest.
http://www.newsmeat.com/news/meat.php?articleId=102964380&channelId=2951&buyerId=newsmeatcom&buid=3281
Washington, U.S. authorities on Tuesday arrested 16 people on charges they participated in major cyber attacks, including the crippling of eBay's PayPal website as retribution for dropping WikiLeaks as a client.
FBI agents arrested 14 people in nine states and Washington, D.C., for the PayPal attack, which occurred last December and was allegedly coordinated by the hacking group Anonymous. It was the biggest take down so far tied to the high-profile cyber attack.
Financial institutions like PayPal, Visa and MasterCard withdrew services from WikiLeaks last year after the website published thousands of sometimes embarrassing secret U.S. diplomatic reports that have caused strains between Washington and numerous allies.
Hackers responded with so-called distributed denial-of-service attacks that flooded the companies' websites and rendered them unavailable to legitimate users, according to the indictment filed in California.
PayPal suffered attacks for several days last December.
The 14 individuals were charged with conspiracy, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison if convicted, and intentional damage to a protected computer, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Law enforcement authorities believe Anonymous is mostly made up of hackers believed to be in their teens and early 20s.
"The fact that they have been tracked back and that some of them have been arrested is a significant development," said Mark Rasch, a former chief of the Justice Department's cyber crimes unit and now director of Cybersecurity and Privacy Consulting for the government technology services firm CSC.
In addition, U.S. authorities executed more than 35 search warrants around the country as part of its investigation into coordinated cyber attacks against major companies and organizations, the Justice Department said.
The Justice Department and FBI have been under pressure to crack down on hackers who have stepped up their attacks on corporate and government websites over the last several months in a bid to thwart their activities.
Stewart Baker, a former top official of the Homeland Security department, said the FBI probably gave the case extra attention because of the public taunting the bureau received from Anonymous and related groups.
"It does look like some of these guys (hackers) were just fools. The PayPal attack in particular," said Baker, now at the law firm Steptoe and Johnson LLP. "It looks like these bozos must have just said 'Cool, an attack on PayPal. You can use my machine.'
"I think it makes it a lot less likely that that people will join the next digital lynch mob," he said.
Another related arrest came in New Mexico where an employee for a contractor for AT&T's wireless service faced charges of accessing a computer without authorization by allegedly downloading thousands of documents related to its 4G data network and LTE mobile broadband network.
The data was subsequently downloaded to a file-sharing web site in April and another one of the loosely organized groups of hackers, Lulz Security, subsequently publicized the data breach, the complaint said.
AT&T had no comment on the arrest.
http://www.newsmeat.com/news/meat.php?articleId=102964380&channelId=2951&buyerId=newsmeatcom&buid=3281
Friday, May 13, 2011
White House to unveil cyber-security strategy
Related article ~ May 26-27 ~ Internet Titans to Meet, Advise G8 ...
May 13, 2011
White House to unveil cybersecurity strategy
The White House plans to unveil its policy proposals next week for international cooperation in cyberspace.
The White House said Friday that it plans to release a policy document -- "US International Strategy for Cyberspace" -- at an event on Monday.
"This first-of-its-kind policy document offers our comprehensive vision for the future of international cooperation in cyberspace," the White House said in a statement.
It said the document outlines the US agenda "for partnering with other nations and peoples to ensure the prosperity, security, and openness that we seek in our increasingly networked world."
The State Department said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who has made Internet freedom one of her priorities, will deliver keynote remarks at the event.
"The strategy lays out a comprehensive, principled vision for the future of cyberspace," the State Department said.
It said Clinton's remarks "will address the role of cyberspace in advancing the full range of US interests and the importance of international cooperation in advancing cyberspace as a foreign policy priority."
The White House said other top officials attending the event will include John Brennan, President Barack Obama's counter-terror chief, Attorney General Eric Holder, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.
The announcement came a day after the White House proposed draft legislation aimed at toughening the defenses of government and private industry against the growing danger from cyberattack.
Obama has identified cybersecurity as a top priority of his administration and the White House legislation joins some 50 cyber-related bills introduced during the last session of Congress.
The White House bill would require critical infrastructure such as the power, financial and transportation sectors to come up with plans to better protect their increasingly Internet-connected computer networks.
The White House is hoping for action by Congress on the bill this year.
http://www.newsmeat.com/news/meat.php?articleId=98678276&channelId=2951&buyerId=newsmeatcom&buid=3281
White House to unveil cybersecurity strategy
The White House plans to unveil its policy proposals next week for international cooperation in cyberspace.
The White House said Friday that it plans to release a policy document -- "US International Strategy for Cyberspace" -- at an event on Monday.
"This first-of-its-kind policy document offers our comprehensive vision for the future of international cooperation in cyberspace," the White House said in a statement.
It said the document outlines the US agenda "for partnering with other nations and peoples to ensure the prosperity, security, and openness that we seek in our increasingly networked world."
The State Department said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who has made Internet freedom one of her priorities, will deliver keynote remarks at the event.
"The strategy lays out a comprehensive, principled vision for the future of cyberspace," the State Department said.
It said Clinton's remarks "will address the role of cyberspace in advancing the full range of US interests and the importance of international cooperation in advancing cyberspace as a foreign policy priority."
The White House said other top officials attending the event will include John Brennan, President Barack Obama's counter-terror chief, Attorney General Eric Holder, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.
The announcement came a day after the White House proposed draft legislation aimed at toughening the defenses of government and private industry against the growing danger from cyberattack.
Obama has identified cybersecurity as a top priority of his administration and the White House legislation joins some 50 cyber-related bills introduced during the last session of Congress.
The White House bill would require critical infrastructure such as the power, financial and transportation sectors to come up with plans to better protect their increasingly Internet-connected computer networks.
The White House is hoping for action by Congress on the bill this year.
http://www.newsmeat.com/news/meat.php?articleId=98678276&channelId=2951&buyerId=newsmeatcom&buid=3281