The New York Times – The Truth About the WikiLeaks C.I.A. Cache – “On Tuesday morning [March 7, 2017] WikiLeaks released an enormous cache of documents that it claimed detailed “C.I.A. hacking tools.” Immediately afterward, it posted two startling tweets asserting that “C.I.A. hacker malware” posed a threat to journalists and others who require secure… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Cybercrime
WikiLeaks posts redacted files purported to be hacked from CIA
Washington Post – WikiLeaks posts files it says are from the CIA’s computer hacking arsenal – “The anti-secrecy organization said the trove exceeded in scale and significance the massive collection of National Security Agency documents exposed by former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden. A statement from WikiLeaks indicated that it planned to post nearly 9,000… Continue Reading
Committee Democrats Introduce Three Bills to Improve Consumer Cybersecurity
“Today, Democratic members of the Energy and Commerce Committee introduced three bills to update U.S. cybersecurity policies and protect consumers. In recent years, millions of Americans have had their personal data stolen and high profile attacks—like the denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on Dyn last year—have raised serious questions about our cybersecurity laws and our ability to… Continue Reading
Pence used personal email for state business – and was hacked
Indy Star – Pence used personal email for state business – and was hacked – “Vice President Mike Pence routinely used a private email account to conduct public business as governor of Indiana, at times discussing sensitive matters and homeland security issues. Emails released to IndyStar in response to a public records request show Pence… Continue Reading
Many ‘password challenged’ internet users don’t take steps that could protect their data
“In today’s digitally connected world, where accessing medical records, ordering groceries and paying taxes can all be done online, many internet users find it daunting to keep up with all the various passwords associated with their online accounts. One consequence is that a significant minority of users settle for less secure passwords they can more… Continue Reading
Nuts and Bolts of Encryption: A Primer for Policymakers
Nuts and Bolts of Encryption: A Primer for Policymakers, Edward W. Felten, Center for Information Technology Policy. Department of Computer Science, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, version of February 20, 2017. An up-to-date version of this paper will be available at https://www.cs.princeton.edu/~felten/encryptionprimer.pdf “This paper offers a straight for ward introduction… Continue Reading
Botnet attack analysis of Deflect protected website blacklivesmatter.com
Deflect Labs report #3. Seamus Tuohy and eQualit.ie View the report with 3D rendering (5mb) “This report covers attacks between April 29th and October 15th, 2016. Over this seven-month period, we recorded more than a hundred separate denial-of-service incidents against the official Black Lives Matter website. Our analysis shows a variety of technical methods used… Continue Reading
Cybersecurity: Actions Needed to Strengthen U.S. Capabilities
Cybersecurity: Actions Needed to Strengthen U.S. Capabilities, GAO-17-440T: Published: Feb 14, 2017. Publicly Released: Feb 14, 2017. “GAO has consistently identified shortcomings in the federal government’s approach to ensuring the security of federal information systems and cyber critical infrastructure as well as its approach to protecting the privacy of personally identifiable information (PII). While previous… Continue Reading
NSA Contractor Facing Federal Indictment for Willful Retention of National Defense Information
Follow up to previous posting – Former NSA contractor removed 50 terabytes of classified data, via DOJ – “A federal grand jury returned an indictment today charging Harold Thomas Martin III, 52, of Glen Burnie, Maryland, with willful retention of national defense information. Martin Harold Indictment “As a private contractor who worked on classified programs… Continue Reading
Open Observatory of Network Interference
“A free software, global observation network for detecting censorship, surveillance and traffic manipulation on the internet. OONI develops free software tests designed to examine the following: Blocking of websites Blocking of instant messaging apps Blocking of Tor and other circumvention tools Detection of systems that could be responsible for censorship and/or surveillance Testing methodology There… Continue Reading
Javelin 2017 Identity Fraud Study
“The 2017 Identity Fraud Study released today by Javelin Strategy & Research (@JavelinStrategy), revealed that the number of identity fraud victims increased by sixteen percent (rising to 15.4 million U.S. consumers) in the last year, a record high since Javelin Strategy & Research began tracking identity fraud in 2003. The study found that despite the… Continue Reading
New on LLRX – Cybersecurity For Lawyers: The Nitty Gritty
Via LLRX.com – Cybersecurity For Lawyers: The Nitty Gritty – Nicole Black reports that 26 states now require lawyers to stay abreast of changes in legal technology and advises colleagues on how to implement security procedures that will protect your law firm’s data and help to keep client data confidential and secure. Continue Reading
