This Week, Cybersecurity Efforts Advance On Several Fronts

Tic-Tac-Toe's Not On The List! via PC Museum

From Popular Science:

Google teams up with the NSA, the DoD invests in cyberdefense, smart-grid defense costs add up, and more.

For cybersecurity wonks who see Chinese agents or al Qaeda hackers lurking behind every email from a Nigerian prince, this was one hell of a busy week. With fallout continuing from the recent attack against Google, Director of National Intelligence, National Security Agency, House of Representatives, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and Department of Defense all shifted their attention to the many threats against our Internet infrastructure.

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More Evidence That China Is Nervous About The Power Of The Inrternet

China Begins Monitoring Billions Of Text Messages As Censorship Increases -- The Telegraph

China has started scanning text messages in the latest move in the country’s increasing censorship.

Customers of China’s two largest mobile phone networks, China Mobile and China Unicom, have had their texting service blocked after sending risqué messages, the state media claims.

The disclosure comes as the country is embroiled in a dispute with Google. On Tuesday the internet giant said it could quit China because of concerns over censorship. The Global Times, a government-run newspaper, said: “Everyone seems to be under watch.”

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My Comment: Talk about paranoia .... but China has always been like this throughout its long history.

Domain Name Extension 'Could Boost Cyber-Crime'

From Times Online:

The introduction of internet addresses in non-Roman scripts could offer fresh opportunities to cyber-criminals, experts have warned.

Next year the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) will for the first time accept internet domain names in non-Roman scripts. The domain name is the part of a web address that precedes the “dot”, such as timesonline.

The new internationalised domain names will open up the internet as never before to users whose native language does not use the Roman alphabet. But Roman-reading users face a possible deluge of phishing and e-mail scams.

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U.S. And Russia In Secret Cyber Warfare Talks

Russia and the US are in talks to combat the threat of cyber warfare, according to the New York Times
Photo: CLARE KENDALL

US And Russia In 'Secret' Cyber Warfare Talks -- The Telegraph

Russia and the United States are discussing how best to safeguard the internet against hostile attacks.

The talks, which are taking place between the US, Russia and a United Nations arms control committee, are aimed at finding ways of strengthening internet security and limiting the military use of cyberspace, according to a report in the New York Times.

Online attacks against government websites, corporate computer systems and other business-critical infrastructures have increased in the last two years. Anonymous hackers have managed to access the Pentagon's computers and overwhelm government websites, and President Obama has ordered an urgent review of the United States' internet security.

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More News On These "Cyber Warfare Talks"

U.S and Russia in Talks to Heighten Security of Cyberspace -- FOX News
Russia and US in secret talks to fight net crime -- The Guardian
NY Times report: US and Russia in secret talks to deal with cyber-crime -- Top News
US, Russia talks on cyberspace security: report -- AFP
U.S., Russia discuss cybersecurity -- Times Of The Internet/UPI
US and Russia begin cyberwar limitation talks -- The Register
In Shift, U.S. Talks to Russia on Internet Security -- New York Times
U.S., Russia in Cyberweaponry Talks -- Gov. Info Security

Trying To Stop An International "Arms Race" In Cyberspace

In Shift, U.S. Talks To Russia On Internet Security -- New York Times

The United States has begun talks with Russia and a United Nations arms control committee about strengthening Internet security and limiting military use of cyberspace.

American and Russian officials have different interpretations of the talks so far, but the mere fact that the United States is participating represents a significant policy shift after years of rejecting Russia’s overtures. Officials familiar with the talks said the Obama administration realized that more nations were developing cyberweapons and that a new approach was needed to blunt an international arms race.

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My Comment: This is a major policy shift for the U.S. The key paragraph in this report is the following:

The mere fact that the United States is participating represents a significant policy shift after years of rejecting Russia’s overtures. Officials familiar with the talks said the Obama administration realized that more nations were developing cyberweapons and that a new approach was needed to blunt an international arms race.

The problem is that I do not see how it is possible to regulate and blunt the development of software that may (or may not) contravene any future agreements .... let alone establishing a monitoring agency that will have the resources to verify compliance for any future agreement.

The Cyber-Threat Grows

From City Journal:

We’ve got a lot of catching up to do before we’re secure.

First your cell phone doesn’t work. Then you notice that you can’t access the Internet. Down on the street, ATMs won’t dispense money. Traffic lights don’t function, and calls to 911 don’t get routed to emergency responders. Radios report that systems controlling dams, railroads, and nuclear power plants have been remotely infiltrated and compromised. The air-traffic control system shuts down, leaving thousands of passengers stranded or rerouted and unable to communicate with loved ones. This is followed by a blackout that lasts not hours but days and even weeks. Our digital civilization shudders to a halt. When we emerge, millions of Americans’ data are missing, along with billions of dollars.

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Report: Countries Prepping For Cyberwar

Countries armed with "cyberweapons," according to McAfee.
(Credit: McAfee)

From CNET:

Major countries and nation-states are engaged in a "Cyber Cold War," amassing cyberweapons, conducting espionage, and testing networks in preparation for using the Internet to conduct war, according to a new report to be released on Tuesday by McAfee.

In particular, countries gearing up for cyberoffensives are the U.S., Israel, Russia, China, and France, the says the report, compiled by former White House Homeland Security adviser Paul Kurtz and based on interviews with more than 20 experts in international relations, national security and Internet security.

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U.S. Must Focus On Protecting Critical Computer Networks From Cyber Attack, Experts Urge

From Science Daily:

Science Daily (Oct. 9, 2009) — Because it will be difficult to prevent cyber attacks on critical civilian and military computer networks by threatening to punish attackers, the United States must focus its efforts on defending these networks from cyber attack, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

The study finds that the United States and other nations that rely on externally accessible computer networks—such as ones used for electric power, telephone service, banking, and military command and control—as a foundation for their military and economic power are subject to cyber attack.

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Cyber Security Experts Learn From Ant Tactics

From The Telegraph:

Scientists have worked out a new way to defend computers from cyber attackers - by studying ants.

Watching how they behaved when a colony was under threat, gave programmers inspiration for a new weapon against infections known as worms and viruses.

Ants use "swarming intelligence" to deter intruders. When one ant detects a threat, he is soon joined by many others to overwhelm their opponent.

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