Cybersecurity

Geeks All Trust Each Other But Not in China

Brian Krebs has a post up the other day on his blog indicating that the amount of spam ending in .cn has declined dramatically due to steps taken by the Chinese government making it more difficult to get a domain ending in .cn... A cursory glance seems to confirm that the amount of spam from .cn as opposed to .ru has switched places. Indeed, if the CNNIC requires people to start writing in application forms, with a business license and identity card, that is seriously going to slow down the rate at which spammers can sign up and register new domains. more

Phishers Expand Number of Top Level Domains Abused, Policy Changes Found Effective in Prevention

The new Global Phishing Survey released by the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) this month reveals that phishing gangs are concentrating their efforts within specific top level domains (TLDs), but also that anti-phishing policies and mitigation programs by domain name registrars and registries can have a significant and positive effect. The number of TLDs abused by phishers for their attacks expanded 7 percent from 145 in H2/2007 to 155 in H1/2008. The proportion of Internet-protocol (IP) number-based phishing sites decreased 35 percent in that same period, declining from 18 percent in the second half of 2007 to 13 percent in the first half of 2008. more

When Cyber Awareness Is Fundamentally Lacking

"Smartphones (and tablets, WdN) are invading the battlefield", reports the Economist on its website of 8 October 2011. On the same day the hacking of U.S. drones is reported on by several news sites. ("They appear friendly". Keyloggers???) Is this a coincidence? more

The Cyberthreats and Trends Enterprises Should Watch in 2016

Every year, Verisign iDefense Security Intelligence Services produces its Cyberthreats and Trends Report, which provides an overview of the key cybersecurity trends of the previous year and insight into how Verisign believes those trends will evolve. This report is designed to assist in informing cybersecurity and business operations teams of the critical cyberthreats and trends impacting their enterprises, helping them to anticipate key developments and more effectively triage attacks and allocate their limited resources. more

An Update From CIRA on IoT Security

Last April, I shared information about a multistakeholder process that CIRA is part of, which seeks to identify and guide the development of policy around the Internet of Things (IoT), putting security at the heart of internet innovations in Canada. Since the formation of this process, we've made quite a bit of progress and I'm pleased to share some of that with you. more

A Brave New World or Do We Need to Discuss IT and Ethics?

Every day comes with another digital security breach, surveillance disclosure and what not. The world seems to have grown used to it and continues its business as usual. It doesn't seem to be bad enough to really act. Every day comes with new stories about the end of the Middle Class, IT taking over jobs in places where up to very recently that was inconceivable, not in people's wildest dreams would these jobs disappear. more

Australia Booting Infected Computers Off Their Networks

The Australian has a good article describing the efforts some of their ISPs are making in an attempt to clean up their act: the government is encouraging ISPs to detect computers on their network that are infected and part of botnets, and to communicate to the customer that their system is compromised... Unless the customer feels a little bit of pain they will not change their ways. more

Some Hackers Earning Over 16 Times That of Full-Time Software Engineers in Their Home Country

A report from one of the largest documented surveys conducted on the ethical hacking community reveals some hackers are earning over 16 times that of full-time software engineers in their home country. more

Mega Hacks and the Employees That Lost

When a business gets hacked and its corporate information is dumped on the Internet for all and sundry to see (albeit illegally), the effects of that breach are obviously devastating for all concerned. In many ways it's like the day after a fierce storm has driven a super-cargo container ship aground and beachcombers from far and wide have descended upon the ruptured carcass of metal to cart away anything they think has value or can be sold by the side of road. more

Conflict Over Efforts to Develop a Best-Practices Document for Blacklist Operators

Neil Schwartzman writes to report: "Ken Magill covers the current rake fight on the IRTF's Anti-Spam Research Group mailing list concerning anti-spam DNS Blacklist, or Blocklist, (DNSBL) operators charging for delistings, that is well worth a read, he has quotes from many experts and leaders in the industry who are decidedly against the practice." more

BYOD Woes and Worries

Like the scene of a movie in which a biblical character holds back the mighty sea and is about to release the tide against his foes, BYOD has become a force of nature poised to flood those charged with keeping corporate systems secure. Despite years of practice hardening systems and enforcing policies that restrict what can and can't be done within the corporate network, businesses are under increasing (if not insurmountable) pressure to allow a diversifying number of personal devices to connect to their networks and be used for business operations. more

The Recent DDoS Attacks on Banks: 7 Key Lessons

Starting in mid-September, one of the largest and most sophisticated DDoS attacks ever targeted the titans of American banking. Initially, victims included Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, PNC Bank, and U.S. Bancorp. In the weeks to come, others would also feel the pain. Websites crashed, customers were unable to make transactions and IT professionals and PR gurus went into panic mode. Leon Panetta, U.S. Secretary of Defense, said the attacks foreshadowed a "Cyber Pearl Harbor." more

Canada’s Electronic Spy Agency Makes Its Malware Analysis Tool Public

Canada's Communications Security Establishment (CSE) which rarely discloses detail of its activities has taken the "unprecedented step" of releasing one of its own cyber defense tools to the public, in a bid to help companies and organizations better defend their computers and networks against malicious threats. more

Europol Warns on the Criminal Usage of ChatGPT and Its Implications for Law Enforcement

Europol's Innovation Lab released a Tech Watch Flash report on Monday, sounding the alarm on the potential misuse of large language models such as ChatGPT. Entitled 'ChatGPT - the Impact of Large Language Models on Law Enforcement,' the report provides an urgent overview of the implications of ChatGPT for criminals and law enforcement, as well as an outlook of what may still be to come. more

Web Encryption - It’s Not Just for E-Commerce, Anymore

Last week, I re-tweeted Cloudflare's announcement that they are providing universal SSL for their customers. I believe the announcement is a valuable one for the state of the open Internet for a couple of reasons: First, there is the obvious -- they are doubling the number of websites on the Internet that support encrypted connections. And, hopefully, that will prompt even more sites/hosting providers/CDNs to get serious about supporting encryption, too. Web encryption -- it's not just for e-commerce, anymore. more