Wary of China, US to approve Sprint director

Wary of China, U.S. Steps Into Sprint's Board - WSJ.com: "SoftBank has agreed to give the U.S. government the right to approve one of the directors it names to Sprint's board. The director, one of 10, would be responsible for making sure that Sprint complied with the agreement on network security that it is negotiating with federal agencies. The government is also concerned about Chinese gear in a network that might be controlled by Sprint. Clearwire Corp., CLWR +1.18% an affiliate that Sprint is in the process of acquiring, uses some Huawei radio base stations to transmit phone calls and data. The equipment is on the edge of its network, not core infrastructure."

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Espionage and sabotage in the virtual world

Espionage and sabotage in the virtual world
Financial Times
Cyber security – protecting computers, data, networks and programmes against unauthorised access or attack – is a growing financial investment for companies. Why does cyber security matter to business? Vulnerability to cyber attack exposes companies to ...

CISPA cybersecurity bill backers hope second time's a charm - NBC ...
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Six months after a U.S. cybersecurity bill died in the Senate, some Obama administration officials and lawmakers...
www.nbcnews.com/.../cispa-cybersecurity-bill-backers-hope-s...

Top U.S. admiral puts cyber security on the Navy's radar | Reuters
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Cyber security and warfare are on par with a credible nuclear deterrent in the defense priorities of the United States, the U.S. Navy's top ...
www.reuters.com/.../us-usa-defence-cyber-idUSBRE94C0B32...

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Instagram Food Photo Leads to Identity Theft Arrest

Instagram Food Photo Leads to Identity Theft Arrest - Crime Wire - Eater National: "Be careful what you Instagram, would-be criminals. This seemingly benign photo of steak at a Morton's in South Florida led to the arrest of Nathaniel Troy Maye and Tiwanna Tenise Thomason, who recently pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft. According to the Sun-Sentinel, an undercover IRS witness told investigators about a man who claimed to have access to 700,000 identities, which could be used to file fake tax returns. The only problem was how to find him; obviously, the investigation turned to Instagram. A flash drive the couple gave the witness — which contained 50,000 identities — held data that linked it to a Troy Maye, which also happened to be Maye's Instagram handle. Investigators were able to link the steak photo, which was captioned "Morton's," to a meeting between the witness and Maye at the steakhouse chain. That meeting and Maye's user ID photo helped investigators make the arrest. Maye and Thomason are currently awaiting sentencing. "

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Honeywords

Fake 'honeyword' passwords could be planted to trip up hackers - Technology on NBCNews.com: "The creators of the system, Ari Juels of RSA labs and MIT's Ronald Rivest, note in their paper (PDF) that other security measures, like strong passwords and two-factor authorization, are still necessary. But "honeywords" would be fairly easy to implement, and would act as both deterrent and early warning system — so wary administrators may be installing it soon." (read more at link above)

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Decoys Entrap Hackers Trawling the Internet

Decoys Entrap Hackers Who Trawl the Internet Trying to Tamper with Industrial Control Systems | MIT Technology Review: "Last year, the then-defense secretary Leon Panetta warned that successful attacks had been made on the control systems of U.S. electricity and water plants and transportation systems. But since then, little has been disclosed publicly about such incidents. A March newsletter from the Department of Homeland security’s Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team contains one of the few public disclosures of such an attack, saying that energy management systems at a factory and a state government building in New Jersey were compromised in 2012." (read more at link above)

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Global Network of Hackers Steal $45M from ATMs

Global Network of Hackers Steals $45M From ATMs - ABC News"Hackers got into bank databases, eliminated withdrawal limits on pre-paid debit cards and created access codes. Others loaded that data onto any plastic card with a magnetic stripe — an old hotel key card or an expired credit card worked fine as long as it carried the account data and correct access codes. A network of operatives then fanned out to rapidly withdraw money in multiple cities, authorities said. The cells would take a cut of the money, then launder it through expensive purchases or ship it wholesale to the global ringleaders. Lynch didn't say where they were located. It appears no individuals lost money. The thieves plundered funds held by the banks that back up prepaid credit cards, not individual or business accounts, Lynch said." (read more at link above)

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How Syrian Electronic Army Unpeeled The Onion

How Syrian Electronic Army Unpeeled The Onion - Security -: "Early Monday morning, attackers used the compromised account to send the same phishing message to more employees. "Coming from a trusted address, many staff members clicked the link, but most refrained from entering their login credentials. Two staff members did enter their credentials, one of whom had access to all of our social media accounts," according to the Onion's recap."


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Army database of US dams compromised by Chinese hackers?

Report: Sensitive Army database of US dams compromised, Chinese hackers suspected | Fox News: "U.S. intelligence agencies traced a recent cyber intrusion into a sensitive infrastructure database to the Chinese government or military cyber warriors, according to U.S. officials. The compromise of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' National Inventory of Dams (NID) is raising new concerns that China is preparing to conduct a future cyber attack against the national electrical power grid, including the growing percentage of electricity produced by hydroelectric dams. According to officials familiar with intelligence reports, the Corps of Engineers' National Inventory of Dams was hacked by an unauthorized user believed to be from China, beginning in January and uncovered earlier this month." (read more at link above)

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Why passwords can not have symbols

Why your password can’t have symbols—or be longer than 16 characters | Ars Technica: " . . . as Microsoft noted, many successful password attacks have little to do with the content of the password itself (though the situation is getting worse) and more to do with phishing or other manipulations of the user, rather than his or her password. Except in extreme cases (ahem, looking at you, Chuck Schwab), specific length and character restrictions are unlikely to have significant effects on account security . . ." read more at link above

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QinetiQ hacked - US military secrets leaked to Chinese hackers for years

US military secrets leaked to Chinese hackers for three years — RT USA: "When QinetiQ finally caught on in 2010 and hired two outside firms to help combat the hackers. It was soon revealed that Comment Crew had established near permanent residence in the company’s computers. The firms also discovered that the hackers had walked away with information on microchips that control the company’s robots. The chip architecture could help China test ways to take over or defeat US robots or aerial drones, said Noel Sharkey, a drones and robotics expert at Britain’s Sheffield University. The hackers also targeted at least 17 employees working on the Condition Based Maintenance program, which collects data on Apache and Blackhawk helicopters deployed around the world. Thus far, there has been no word from the State Department regarding Comment Crew’s hacks into QinetiQ systems. Washington has the power to revoke the company’s charter to handle military technology if it finds negligence. However, it appears the US government is doing just the opposite. In May 2012, QinetiQ received a $4.7 million cybersecurity contract from the US Transportation Department." (read more at link above)


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Kaspersky cyber-terror apocalypse warning

'End of the world as we know it': Kaspersky warns of cyber-terror apocalypse — RT News: " . . . Kaspersky believes the evolution from cyber war to cyber terrorism comes from the indiscriminate nature of cyber weapons. Very much like a modern-day Pandora’s Box, Flame and other forms of malware cannot be controlled upon release. Faced with a replicating threat that knows no national boundaries, cyber weapons can take down infrastructure around the world, hurting scores of innocent victims along the way. Kaspersky believes that it necessary to view cyber weapons with the same seriousness as chemical, biological and even nuclear threats. Mutually assured destruction should exclude them from the arsenals of nation states. . ."
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Cybersecurity is everyone's concern

Cyberspace security is everyone's concern - latimes.com: "Last year's joint work by groups in the U.S. and Russia to take down the Grum botnet, which was responsible for sending vast quantities of commercial spam to email addresses worldwide, is an example of the kind of international cooperation required. By jointly locating the computers and sub-networks used to issue commands to this botnet and disconnecting them from the Internet, groups in the U.S., Russia and other countries rendered it ineffective. Only cooperation between law enforcement agencies and computer network operators across borders makes such remedies possible." (read more at link above)

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