The Case for a Government Bug Bounty Program

Once upon an Internet, a security researcher who discovered a vulnerability had very limited options for what to do with that information. He could send it to the vendor and hope someone cared enough to patch it; he could post it to a mailing list for all to see; or, if he had the right contacts,...

FBI sponsored Ragebooter DDoS attack service

A website that can be described as "DDoS for hire" is perfectly legitimate, according to the owner. Malicious sites that offer attack services are not strangers on the Internet, but web sites sponsored by law enforcement is another story altogether. Ragebooter, is one of many sites that accepts...

FBI sponsored Ragebooter DDoS attack service

A website that can be described as "DDoS for hire" is perfectly legitimate, according to the owner. Malicious sites that offer attack services are not strangers on the Internet, but web sites sponsored by law enforcement is another story altogether. Ragebooter, is one of many sites that accepts...

U.S. Department of Defense Officials are potential target of cyber espionage via social networking sites

In the recent months I had the opportunity to conduct an interesting study on the use of Social Media in the Military Sector, large diffusion of media platforms makes them very attractive for governments and intelligence agencies. Social media platforms reveal enormous potentiality that could be...

Watering Hole Attack Hits US Department of Labor Website

The United States Department of Labor website is the latest high-profile government site to fall victim to a watering hole attack. Researchers at a number of security companies reported today that the site was hosting malware and redirecting visitors to a site hosting the Poison Ivy remote access...

Verizon DBIR 2013: Months Pass Before Attacks Detected

It’s a familiar refrain: Attackers often have months of unfettered access to corporate networks; and security and network managers remain in the dark until they’re notified of serious breaches by third parties. Enterprises, regardless of industry, dread that fateful knock on the door by the FBI,...

Anonymous #OpIsrael, cyber crime and assumptions on state-sponsored interference

Last April 7th the Anonymous collective hit the Israeli networks with a huge as historic offensive, for the first time an independent group of hackers declared war to a Governments to protest against its policy. Many web sites of the country were hit by DDoS attacks, the data on the event reporte...

Anonymous #OpIsrael, cyber crime and assumptions on state-sponsored interference

Last April 7th the Anonymous collective hit the Israeli networks with a huge as historic offensive, for the first time an independent group of hackers declared war to a Governments to protest against its policy. Many web sites of the country were hit by DDoS attacks, the data on the event reporte...

Air Force Classifies Some Cybersecurity Tools as Weapons

The United States government for years has been developing and deploying offensive cyber capabilities, most of it done without much in the way of public notice. That’s been changing of late, as government and military officials have become more open in discussing these capabilities and under what...

Activists on Front Lines Bringing Computer Security to Oppressed People

Security-related policy or legislation is enacted and then enforced to protect corporate, government or military interests. Civil organizations are often left flailing in the wind, fending for themselves with fewer IT resources and experience than a Middle America mom-and-pop operation. Yet these...

Gmail warning Myanmar Journalists about State-sponsored attacks

Several Myanmar journalists have recently received warnings from Google that their Gmail accounts may have been targets of state-sponsored attacks. After they login to their Gmail accounts, warning message,"We believe state-sponsored attackers may be attempting to compromise your account or...

Gmail warning Myanmar Journalists about State-sponsored attacks

Several Myanmar journalists have recently received warnings from Google that their Gmail accounts may have been targets of state-sponsored attacks. After they login to their Gmail accounts, warning message,“We believe state-sponsored attackers may be attempting to compromise your account or...

Avoid the Landmine That is Hacking Back

Rarely a day goes by without mention of a targeted attack against some government-related website, massive disruptions in online banking services, or critical vulnerabilities in specialized software running our power plants and water supplies. And all the while, IT and security organizations have...

2012: What Have We Learned

There’s a natural inclination for people at the end of each year to look back, take stock and try to draw some grand meaning or life lessons out of the events of the past 12 months. This is a particularly risky and difficult thing to do in the security industry, given its inherent unpredictabilit...

Council on Foreign Relations Website Hit by Watering Hole Attack, IE Zero-Day Exploit

UPDATE – Another high profile watering hole attack has been discovered, this one targeting visitors to the Council on Foreign Relations website. The CFR is a Washington, D.C.-based think tank that provides foreign policy and foreign affairs resources to government officials, journalists, and...

Instagram Privacy Changes Start Clock Ticking for Users Who Want to Opt-Out

Instagram users have some soul searching to do between now and Jan. 16 when new terms of service kick in that give the photo-sharing social network the right to sell personal photos without the user’s permission or compensating them. The most startling change reads: “To help us deliver interestin...

Korean Cyber espionage attack Targets Russia

Ask an expert on cyber espionage and he for sure he will speak of China, the most active and advanced country in this sector, this time a clamorous campaign apparently originated from Korea has been discovered. Security company FireEye collected evidences of a cyber espionage campaign, named...

Korean Cyber espionage attack Targets Russia

Ask an expert on cyber espionage and he for sure he will speak of China, the most active and advanced country in this sector, this time a clamorous campaign apparently originated from Korea has been discovered. Security company FireEye collected evidences of a cyber espionage campaign, named...

Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters threaten American Banks again

The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters published a new message on their Pastebin profile , warning of a new round of cyber attacks against U.S. financial institutions, beginning this week. In September and October, al-Qassam launched widespread distributed denial-of-service DDoS attacks against...

Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters threaten American Banks again

The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters published a new message on their Pastebin profile , warning of a new round of cyber attacks against U.S. financial institutions, beginning this week. In September and October, al-Qassam launched widespread distributed denial-of-service DDoS attacks against...