Information Assurance and Security Community

FBI Use of Social Media

Mary Brown — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:22:56 +0000

Does it really surprise any of you to hear that the FBI and other intelligence gathering agencies are using social networking as part of their investigation? Read more here.

What do you think? Share your thoughts.

Another Twist in the Cat and Mouse Battle in Cyber Space

Dr. Steven Brown — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:06:35 +0000

While we all understand the need to be aware of our surroundings and to remain aware of threats. We must also remember the places that threats could appear. In addition to our normal guards against phishing, viruses, phone calls, etc., we must also be aware of the growing threats presented in social networks. We’ve been told not to click on Web sites that we receive from unsolicited emails. But now, with the hacking of Facebook accounts – even clicking on (so-called) friends’ Web pages can infect our systems.

Read the USA Today article and share your thoughts.

Does Google Make Us Stupid?

Dr. Steven Brown — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:06:05 +0000

This is an interesting “off-security” topic, but one that makes us think – are we becoming stupid with Google? Actually, it’s search engines in general. While they make it easier for us to find information–we spend more time skimming, browsing, and not really concentrating on deep reading. It seems our connection to the material, our analysis and our informed opinions might be based on a cursory review of material we find.

Can you see the relevance that it might play a part in, (e.g.) a security policy, combating cyber-terrorism, risk analysis or rushing to implement policy on something we read on a Web site?

Isn’t the Internet supposed to help?

School Spies on Students Via Webcam

Mary Brown — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 22:36:02 +0000

A school in Pennsylvania is reported to have used the webcams integrated into the school supplied laptop to spy on the activities of the students which has created a lot of discussion. Read more here.

How many of you consider the ability to remotely activate peripherals, such as webcams and microphones, when assessing the potential risk to an organization? What do you think about an organization or institution having the capability of engaging in this activity and what responsibility do they have to prevent abuse if they choose to accept that risk?

The United States Fails Simulated Cyber attack: Broad New Hacking Attacks Detected.

Dr. Steven Brown — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:01:35 +0000

According to the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), the organizers of Cyber Shockwave released a report today that the U.S. is unprepared for cyber threats. It was interesting to note that according to BPC, “…….that the U.S. defenders had difficulty identifying the source of the simulated attack”. A day later a Wall Street Journal reported that foreign hackers have broken into more than 2, 500 companies based in the U.S., with the use of sophisticated cyber entities known as botnets, which are basically armies of malicious code coming from infected computers. As this problem grows, much more research is needed so that we effectively identify these unknown attackers using these automated armies.

Simulated Cyber-Attack

Mary Brown — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 21:58:46 +0000

The BiPartisian Policy Center has announced plans for a simulated cyber-attack next week, as a kind of incident response exercise for government officials who may be called upon (one day) to respond to a real attack.

What do you think about spending time and resources on these activities and how would you recommend that the results be evaluated without exposing potential areas of vulnerability?

Share your thoughts.

Cracking the Security of Computer Chips

Dr. Steven Brown — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:00:44 +0000

Many system chips, like those used in identity cards, are protected by security processes including encryption. Research shows, however, that using microscopy has been able to, basically, bypass all these defenses — and it’s even able to read encryption keys.

Could be a troublesome issue if this can’t be corrected.

Read more at darkreading.com and share your thoughts.

The Jihadist Next Door

Dr. Steven Brown — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:00:10 +0000

Very interesting article from New York Times.com about a kid, no one would ever believe growing up, would become a terrorist. It’s begs the question: Can we ever understand what makes up the mind of a terrorist?

49 Congressional Websites Hacked by Brazilian ‘Red Eye Crew’

Dr. Steven Brown — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:09:20 +0000

Apparently 49 Congressional Websites were defaced by a Brazilian hacker group, the Red Eye Crew. Many are calling for for a more secured and trusted Web Infrastructure. Cisco and Microsoft are working on the next generation of Self-0defensing Web servers, but until that day happens, we may yet see more of these attacks.

Read more at thehill.com and at darkreading.com.

The CTC Sentinel

Dr. Steven Brown — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:24:49 +0000

The CTC Sentinel, a publication of the Combataing Terrorism center at West Point, is a good online journal that keeps up-to-date data on the latest in combating terrorism. It provides very good coverage of terrorist threats that face the United States. Read more here.

Share your thoughts or comments.