“Terrorism is no longer the USA’s top threat according the Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper. Based on the ‘collective insights’ of the Intelligence Community, top national security threats are now in the cyber arena, cyber espionage and cyberattacks.” Source:Spy agencies list cyberattacks, not terrorism, as top national security threat to USA | Computerworld Blogs
“The Pentagon’s Cyber Command will create 13 offensive teams by the fall of 2015 to help defend the nation against major computer attacks from abroad, Gen. Keith Alexander testified to Congress on Tuesday, a rare acknowledgment of the military’s ability to use cyberweapons. The new teams are part of a broader government effort to shield [...]
“A top official in the Chinese government said Saturday that nation’s should devise a unified set of rules on cyber attacks instead of fanning the flames of cyber warfare. China has been blamed for attacks on U.S. media outlets like The New York Times and Wall Street Journal as well as a host of other attacks [...]
“Like most technologies, the exploits have a dual use. They can be used as part of research efforts to help strengthen computers against intrusion. But they can also be weaponized and deployed aggressively for everything from government spying and corporate espionage to flat-out fraud. Now, as cyberwar escalates across the globe, there are fears that [...]
“Iran’s uranium enrichment facility at Natanz may have had one of the most secure computer systems in the world. The building housing the nuclear program’s equipment is underground, protected by a combination of concrete walls, earth and military guards. And it was a ‘closed’ network, sealed off from the Internet and unsusceptible to vulnerabilities in [...]
“US President Barack Obama is to nominate John Brennan as the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, White House officials have said. If confirmed, Mr Brennan will replace Gen David Petraeus, who resigned last year after admitting to an affair.” Source:BBC News – Obama to nominate Brennan as CIA head
“Iran is actively trying to hack Israel’s critical online systems, the head of the Shin Bet’s new SIGINT (Signals Intelligence) unit told Yedioth Ahronoth in an exclusive interview. The Israel Security Agency officials said that aside from the hundreds of thousands of low-grade cyber attacks by Islamist hackers, who try to breach Israel’s cyber [...]
“In a secret government agreement granted without approval or debate from lawmakers, the U.S. attorney general recently gave the National Counterterrorism Center sweeping new powers to store dossiers on U.S. citizens, even if they are not suspected of a crime, according to a news report. Earlier this year, Attorney General Eric Holder granted the center [...]
“Scientists are a step closer to developing a weapon that could change modern warfare with its potential to target cyber terrorists and disable enemy nuclear facilities by blowing up their computer systems. Aircraft-maker Boeing has successfully tested the missile which has reportedly cost £24m to develop and it is claimed could cripple an entire country, [...]
“As custom government malware becomes an increasingly common international weapon with real-world effects—breaking a centrifuge, shutting down a power grid, scrambling control systems—do we need legal limits on the automated decision-making of worms and rootkits? Do we, that is, need to keep a human in charge of their spread, or of when they attack? According [...]
