Latest in Bits and Bytes
Two cyber related items today:
The FCC is now in the cybersecurity business. It's $10M fine is the first of its kind to be levied against a telecom that, allegedly, stored personal information with inadequate firewalls, encryption and password protection. We now face the exciting prospect of regulatory competition -- the FCC will regulate cybersecurity and so will the FTC
A distinctly conflict oriented flavor today:
Inside Anonymous' Cyber War Against the Israeli Government. "The shadowy hacker collective known as Anonymous has announced it will launch a round of cyber-attacks this Friday against the Israeli government, in retaliation for Israel's ongoing military intervention in Gaza.
China hacks DC Think Tanks. "Middle East experts at major U.S.
While the rest of the world is watching the Supreme Court's final decision day of the year, it's been a busy time in the cyber world as well. Herewith seven (!) bits and bytes of interest, in no particular order:
Facebook's Psych Experiment. You've no doubt read that Facebook manipulated news feeds as an experiment.
Cyber Attack on Hong Kong Among Largest Ever. "The online voting platform for the unofficial referendum now underway on Hong Kong’s political future has been subjected to one of the most severe cyberattacks of its kind ever seen, according to the head of the Internet security company tasked with protecting it." [None of the attack bots were China based ....]
http://www.ibtimes.
A few items that caught my eye:
FCC unveils new regulatory paradigm -- "In recent months, the Federal Communications Commission has quietly worked to expand its role among federal agencies charged with protecting the nation's networks from cyberattack.
Two interesting items today:
Shane Harris has a look inside the FBI's efforts to track the Chinese hackers. Here's the intro: "SolarWorld was fighting a losing battle. The U.S. subsidiary of the German solar panel manufacturer knew that its Chinese competitors, backed by generous government subsidies, were flooding the American market with steeply discounted solar panels and equipment, making it practically impossible for U.S. firms to compete.
Estonian Voting. A new group, Estonia Voting, claims that there are major cybersecurity gaps in the Estonian electronic voting system: “As international experts on e-voting security, we decided to perform an independent evaluation of the system, based on election observation, code review, and laboratory testing. What we found alarmed us.
India suggests renaming the Internet. Not, apparently, a joke: "In a major diplomatic initiative, India is all set to challenge the U.S.’ hegemony of the World Wide Web at a global meet on Internet governance in Sao Paulo (Brazil) next week.
Three items of particular interest to our cyber warfare aficionados in today's Bits and Bytes (plus one lagniappe on the Internet of Things):
Developments in Iranian Cyber Warfare 2013-14. From the Institute for National Security Studies in Israel: "Over the course of 2013, Iran became one of the most active players in the international cyber arena.