A study comparing best-of-breed computer security vendors suggests more than half of active malware and phishing threats on the Internet go undetected, with an average detection rate of 37% for malware and 42% for phishing. "Given the dynamic nature of today's online threats and the traditionally reactive approach taken by today's malware and phishing detection technology, conventional signature-based solutions are inherently at a disadvantage to keep up," said Panos Anastassiadis, CEO and Chairman of Cyveillance. "Because the majority of damage occurs during the first 24 hours of an attack, early detection of attacks is crucial." more
C-SPAN interviews professor Gene Spafford from Purdue University on the topic of cybersecurity and how the current Internet is a conduit for all types of "cybercrime". He also talks about the much discussed article "A New Internet?" by John Markoff in the February 14, 2009, New York Times in which he was quoted. The piece argued for a new type of Internet that is more secure with the trade-off of users giving up more of their anonymity. Professor Spafford talks about alternative solutions and he responded to questions via telephone calls and email. more
The websites and digital platforms of Qatar-based Al Jazeera Media Network are undergoing systematic and continual hacking attempts, the news agency reported a few hours ago on its website. more
Lisa Schlein of the Voice of America reports: "A new system for tackling the growing number of Global Cyber Attacks has been unveiled at ITU Telecom World 2009, a mammoth exhibition, which showcases the latest advances in ICT or information and communications technology. The International Telecommunications Union, which is sponsoring the event, has put global cyber security at the heart of its agenda. 'As you well know, the next world war could happen in the cyber space and that would be a catastrophe,' said ITU secretary-general, Hamdoun Toure." more
We know more and more about the financial cost of cybercrime, but there has been very little work on its emotional cost. David Modic and I decided to investigate. We wanted to empirically test whether there are emotional repercussions to becoming a victim of fraud (Yes, there are). We wanted to compare emotional and financial impact across different categories of fraud and establish a ranking list (And we did). more
OurMine claims credit for DDoS attack on Pokemon Go servers: Several news outlets have reported the hacking group OurMine - also notorious for compromising social media accounts of various celebrities - on Monday took responsibility of hacking the game servers. more
Senior U.S. and Chinese officials concluded a four day meeting on Saturday discussing cyber security issues ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Washington later this month. more
A global cyberattack has the potential to cost $120bn in economic losses, roughly the equivalent of a catastrophic natural disaster like 2012’s Superstorm Sandy, a scenario described in new research by Lloyd’s of London and Cyence, a cyber-risk analytics modeling firm. more
During the last Computer Law Conference organized by ADIAR (Argentina Computer Law Association) and the Universidad Nacional de Sur, I gave a conference on the Internet of Things, cybercrime and dangerous situation presented by the lack of proper regulation -- a topic in which I have one of my research projects. At the moment some people argued that I was talking about something that might happen in a relatively distant future, dissenting with my view that the possibility was imminent.. more
"These vulnerabilities are as bad as it gets," says Google's Information Security Engineer, Tavis Ormandy, in reference to multiple critical vulnerabilities discovered affecting Symantec, a popular vendor in the enterprise security market. more
In a speech today from the White House, President Obama declared that the United States' computers and digital networks are strategic national assets and that he will personally appoint a cybersecurity coordinator to oversee the effort to protect this critical infrastructure. more
Whatever your personal perspective of the rights and wrongs of the current Arab-Israeli war in Gaza, there is a second front being fought on the Internet, says Jart Armin of HostExploit.com in a blog post today. "This form of warfare is a battle of words and often vivid imagery engaged by hackers from either side of the divide." more
European air travel remains disrupted today following a ransomware attack on Friday that crippled automated check-in and boarding systems across several major airports. The culprit appears to be malicious code targeting Muse, a system developed by Collins Aerospace, a subsidiary of RTX, which provides critical software to airlines. more
US House officials have confirmed hackers breaching several websites belonging to House of Representatives members in the past week. Portions of the websites were replaced by digital graffiti which began earlier this month, according to zone-h. Brian Krebs of the Washington Post reports: "Rep. Spencer Bachus has sent a letter to the House's chief administrative officer, requesting more information about the attacks. Bachus cites information provided to him by Gary Warner, director of research in computer forensics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Warner suggested that the break-ins at the House sites were caused not by password guessing [as reported initially], but by 'SQL injection,' an attack that exploits security weaknesses in Web server configurations." more
Gadi Evron writes: "China responds to Google's accusations on its CNCERT web site, here. Johannes Ullrich just brought this to my attention on Facebook. In short, CNCERT wrote that China is the biggest victim of cyber attacks, and that Google lacks evidence to link the recent attacks to China as the perpetrator. I am certain more details and analysis will become available soon." more