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Newly crowned Miss Teen USA: I was a victim of cybercrime >> TODAY.com

guardiantech — 2013-08-18T20:23:27+00:00

About four months ago, [Cassidy] Wolf said she was notified through Facebook that someone had tried to log into her account from another state. She then received an anonymous e-mail from a stranger saying he was in possession of photos of her that were taken in her bedroom via the webcam on her computer after it was hacked. The person tried to extort her in return for ensuring the photos were not made public. She cannot divulge all the specific details because the incident is now under federal investigation.

The FBI has a suspect. Her advice: put a sticker over the computer's webcam when you're not using it.

In his own words: confessions of a cyber warrior >> InfoWorld

guardiantech — 2013-07-25T21:52:20+00:00

Roger Grimes:

Much of the world is just learning that every major industrialized nation has a state-sponsored cyber army -- though many of the groups, including team USA, have been around for decades.
I've met a few cyber warriors. As you might imagine, they can't talk much about their duties. But if you work shoulder to shoulder with them long enough, certain patterns emerge. For starters, there are a lot of them. They are well armed with cyber weaponry, and they're allowed to experiment and hack in ways that, as we all now know, might be considered illegal in some circles.

The interview that follows shows they're not that much different from anyone else. Except the hacking thing, of course. And better kit (such as water-cooled computers).

Eternal Flame: speaking of security >> The RSA Blog and Podcast

guardiantech — 2012-05-31T20:30:01+00:00

Cyber reconnaissance efforts like Flame are a natural extension of good old human-based intelligence networks and, in a way, the clandestine behind-enemy-lines field work that sets the infrastructure for signal intelligence operations. It’s the digital equivalent of a state- sponsored covert reconnaissance operation. Unlike a physical operation conducted by spies or paramilitary troops, where people might actually get caught, here it’s a far cleaner operation with less traces leading to the origin and more ways to camouflage the exact identity of the attacker.

Iran admits expanded cyberattacks, claims it's identified hackers >> Computerworld

guardiantech — 2012-05-01T20:55:01+00:00

The Iranian government acknowledged today that authorities have found evidence of recent cyberattacks against several agencies, according to reports by state-sponsored media outlets.
A week ago, the country's oil ministry confirmed that it and other facilities in the energy industry had been targeted by malware attacks.
Today, the Mehr News Agency said that Esmaeil Ahmadi-Moqaddam, Iran's national police chief, had claimed that his office has "found clues about recent cyberattacks on a number of Iranian ministries and companies."

Biggest-ever series of cyber attacks uncovered, U.N. hit >> Reuters

guardiantech — 2011-08-03T06:24:17+00:00

"Security experts have discovered the biggest series of cyber attacks to date, involving the infiltration of the networks of 72 organizations including the United Nations, governments and companies around the world."

McAfee said there was just one state behind all of the attacks, but declined to point the finger. A security researcher apparently briefed on the study said that the evidence points to China. Over to you, China.

Pentagon: Online Cyber Attacks Can Count as Acts of War >> WSJ.com

guardiantech — 2011-05-31T07:25:48+00:00

"The Pentagon has concluded that computer sabotage coming from another country can constitute an act of war, a finding that for the first time opens the door for the U.S. to respond using traditional military force."