Steps forward
DefCon Kids get guidance at Vegas hackers conference
August 8, 2011
Children 8 to 16 were welcomed for the first time ever at the DefCon hackers conference, held at the Rio hotel in Las Vegas this past weekend. It was part of a series of such confabs organized by Hackid.org. Federal agents spoke to participants of DefCon Kids — to persuade them that its cool to be a good guy hacker, who helps fight crime.. The kids got to …More
Companies begin to mitigate mobile device risks
June 23, 2011
Now comes a survey positing that many companies have begun to establish specific policies to deal with security and liability risks stemming from the rising use of mobile devices and social networks in workplace settings, as LastWatchdog wrote about in this story.
The study, conducted by messaging security firm Proofpoint and Osterman Research, polled 632 IT professionals and found that 84 percent of organizations allow their employees …More
DHS has slightly reduced role in Langevin’s cybersecurity bill
June 15, 2011
Langevin
A spokesman for Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., has just contacted LastWatchdog to point out that Langevin’s cybersecurity bill, which is the major comprehensive one in the House, is not exactly the same as the White House proposal.
The major difference is that Langevin’s bill calls for a National Office for Cyberspace with the Office of the President to oversee the security of agency information systems and …More
Disclosure of IMF, Google hacks support cybersecurity legislation
June 15, 2011
By Byron Acohido, USA TODAY, 15June2011, P1B
The recent rash of disclosures about cyberspying — aimed at undermining the United States — comes as the White House is making its third attempt to push through a historic federal cybersecurity law.
The timing is no coincidence, some cybersecurity analysts say. After two previous bills went nowhere, the White House needs to garner public support for a new law …More
Visa risk chief calls for increased use of smart cards, password tokens
April 28, 2011
The data breach of Sony’s PlayStation Network notwithstanding, the frequency of major data breaches of companies that store massive of amounts of consumer data has been on a downward trend over the past couple of years.
Security experts say that’s largely due to stronger enforcement of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), a worldwide standard for secure data handling practices governing all organizations that conduct …More
Microsoft sleuths were the good guys who took down Rustock
March 18, 2011
Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit has stepped forward to take primary credit for the takedown of the Rustock spamming botnet.
This was Microsoft’s second such takedown of a major botnet. Just over a year, ago a similar operation knocked out the Waledac botnet.
“I’m happy to announce that based on the knowledge gained in that effort, we have successfully taken down a larger, more notorious and complex botnet known as …More
Good guys stop Rustock using novel botnet killer tactics
March 17, 2011
Rustock, one of the largest and most notorious spam botnets, suddenly fell silent Wednesday and has remained off line.
The takedown of Rustock’s 26 command-and-control servers appears to be the result of a coordinated effort by longstanding anti-spamming groups, the most prominent of which is Spamhaus.org, according to cybersecurity blogger Brian Krebs, who broke the story.
Rustock’s control servers directed the activities of hundreds of thousands of infected …More
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