“California is closely watching the crisis at a Japanese nuclear plant, but officials downplayed the threat that a radioactive cloud blown across the Pacific could pose for the US West Coast. While radioactivity could reach the United States from the quake-hit Fukushima plant, the levels would not be high enough to cause major health problems, [...]
“China’s growing capabilities in cyber-warfare and intelligence gathering have been described as a ‘formidable concern’ to the United States. James Clapper, the US Director of National Intelligence, made the comments in testimony to the US Senate. From Canada and Britain, France and South Korea, there have been growing reports of online attacks on computer networks [...]
“Pentagon officials are seeking $500 million for cutting-edge research that could help protect the department from emerging cyber threats. Security experts give the department high marks on cybersecurity, but note that most of the Pentagon’s efforts have centered on immediate threats.” Source: Pentagon seeks $500M to beat cyber threats – TheHill.com
“The FBI broke the news to executives at DuPont Co. late last year that hackers had cracked the company’s computer networks for the second time in 12 months, according to a confidential Dec. 9, 2010, e-mail discussing the investigation. About a year earlier, DuPont had been hit by the same China- based hackers who struck [...]
“Deep inside a glass-and-concrete office building in suburban Washington, Sean McGurk grasps the handle of a vault door, clicks in a secret entry code, and swings the steel slab open. Stepping over the raised lip of a submarinelike bulkhead, he enters a room bristling with some of the most sophisticated technology in the United States.” [...]
“The Department of Homeland Security has accidentally seized 84,000 innocent domains. This time, Immigration and Customs Enforcement accused the wrong domain of hosting child porn. Unfortunately, that didn’t just shutter one blameless domain — the knock-on effect killed all the other domains on its shared hosting service. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers ponder the implications for [...]
“Hackers have repeatedly penetrated the computer network of the company that runs the Nasdaq Stock Market during the past year, and federal investigators are trying to identify the perpetrators and their purpose, according to people familiar with the matter. The exchange’s trading platform—the part of the system that executes trades—wasn’t compromised, these people said. However, [...]
“The problem with PCs infected with bots has stymied security professionals ever since botnets came into wide use among cyber criminals. Attempts to shut down the command-and-control servers only temporarily have any effect, and investigators take months — or years — to nab the those responsible for the attacks. Now Microsoft is arguing that the [...]
“‘We have to be also prepared for the worst,’ said Kroes. ‘If we want our digital markets to grow, users need to feel comfortable spending online. If companies are to take advantage of all the potential benefits of ‘cloud computing’, they need to know their business secrets will not be intercepted. If we want to [...]
“An audacious hacker has defaced 175 Australian websites in an attack that links viewers to his personal website, email and Facebook fan page. The hacker, who is described as a 26 year old male from Tunisia, launched the attacks after a Brisbane hosting provider — which Computerworld Australia will not name — left a permission [...]
