E!Online Official Twitter Account Hijacked By Syrian Electronic Army (#twithackery)

E!Online Official Twitter Account Hijacked By Syrian Electronic Army (#twithackery) Fake Tweet Claimed Justin Bieber is Gay

The massive ongoing twitter hijacking also known as twithackery carried by carried by the infamous pro-Assad group of hackers known as the Syrian Electronic Army targeted another high profile twitter account. After the successful hijack of three high profile twitter account of CBS news followed by the hack of BBC and the Associated Press twitter account, now Syrian Electronic Army aka SEA have caught another big fish  that is E! Online -one of the leading resource of entertainment and celebrity gossip news. The official twitter account of E!Online that has over five million followers fallen victim to these dangerous hacker collective group. As per several legitimate sources this high valued twitter account was hacked on Saturday afternoon and subsequently posted several false tweets about a few celebrities, most specifically Justin Bieber. After the successful hijack, exactly like earlier the hacker group started tweeting false message. Among those One tweet read, “Exclusive: Justin Bieber to E!Online: I’m a gay,” followed by a shortlink.  Another read, “Exclusive: Selena Gomez tells E! she will fully supporting Justin in his coming out” [sic], also followed by a shortlink.  (Selena Gomez was Bieber’s girlfriend up until recently).  And another made reference to Angelina Jolie blaming Jordan for “the Syrian refugees’ atrocious conditions.” Here is screen capture of those fake tweets:- 

After this mishap security experts have figured out that many of those links associated with the above fake tweets redirecting users to malicious webpages. So users were urged not to click on the links. Not only the official twitter account, but also the hacking group also managed to infiltrate the E!’s text messaging system, sending hundreds of thousands of subscribers similar messages including an obscene message relating to President Barack Obama. 

While talking about twitter hacking, widely known as #twithackery; we would like to remind you the following names, WWE champion John Cena, Star Rita Ora, Justin Bieber, Teyana Taylor,American pop singer Kesha, NBC News, Fox News Politics, USAToday, Lady Gaga’s Twitter Account, Anders Breivik, Mahesh Bhatt, Huffington Post & CBS; these are the famous names who have fallen victim to twithackery before E!Online. In the wake of all the recent cyberattacks on news organizations, Twitter has warned media accounts that they will continue to be targets of hackers, and has advised them to take all appropriate steps to further secure their Twitter accounts. 

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Several Twitter Accounts of CBS News (60Minutes, 48Hours & CBSDenver) Hacked

Several Twitter Accounts of CBS News (60Minutes, 48Hours & CBSDenver) Hacked By Syrian Electronic Army [#twithackery]

Yet again CBS one of the major commercial broadcasting television network of United States faced cyber attack. First it was hacker collective Anonymous who targeted CBS and managed to hack the TV network of CBS in January last year. The attack was done under the banner of Operation Megaupload. And now CBS have fallen victim of what it called twithackery, where hacker managed to gain temporary access of popular twitter accounts and broadcast fake tweets. This Sunday such twithackery targeted and compromised several twitter account of CBS. Infamous hacker community going by the name of Syrian Electronic Army claimed to have hijacked the twitter accounts of CBS, the list of the hijacked accounts include "60 Minutes" and "48 Hours" which is maintained by CBS news program. Later it has been reported that another twitter account @CBSDenver has also been hacked, during this ongoing cyber attack. CBS acknowledged the whole phenomena and later a CBS spokeswoman confirmed that the accounts had been compromised. "PLEASE NOTE: Our Twitter account was compromised earlier today. We are working with Twitter to resolve." - said the CBS spokesman. Another message from CBS said, "A message that was posted earlier to this account was not written or sent by @60Minutes or its staff."

Here is the list of those fake tweets came from the hijacked accounts of CBS:- 

From @60Minutes account we got the following message -

• "The US government is hiding the real culprit of the Boston bombing"
• "The US government is sponsoring a coup in Venezuela and a terrorist war in Syria"
• "Your duty is to protect your nation from the parasites that have taken your government"
• "Obama wants to destroy the Syrian and American people. We must stop this beast" 

Other messages claimed: "Syrian Electronic Army Was Here via @SyrianCyberArmy" and suggested the action was in response to the suspension of the @Official_SEA account. Tweets sent out on the @48Hours account reportedly included: "General Dempsey calls for #Obama's arrest under new anti-terror laws #48hours" As soon as the issue get spotted, CBS regain those hijacked accounts and immediately deleted those rouge messages. Later the two accounts @60Minutes and @48Hours has been suspended. 

While talking about twitter hacking, widely known as #twithackery; we would like to remind you the following names, WWE champion John Cena, Star Rita Ora, Justin Bieber, Teyana Taylor,American pop singer Kesha, NBC News, Fox News Politics, USAToday, Lady Gaga’s Twitter Account, Anders Breivik, Mahesh Bhatt, Huffington Post; these are the famous names who have fallen victim to twithackery before CBS. 

-Source (BBC & Reuters)

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Controversial Cyber Security Bill CISPA Passed Again By The US House

Controversial Cyber Security Bill CISPA Passed Again By The US House

Couple of months ago we reported that the White House is planning for an executive cyber security order, from some official sources it has also come to know that the U.S. President Mr. Barack Obama has a special plan to re-introduce the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA). Today that deceleration get executed as the US House of Representatives has passed the controversial Cyber Information Sharing and Protection Act. This is the second time when CISPA have been passed by the White House, first it was rejected by the Senator while saying that the bill did not do enough to protect privacy. But yet again with the initiative of Obama and a substantial majority of politicians in the House backed the bill. Though there is a huge chance of getting rejected. According to some relevant sources it has been came to light that, this time also CISPA could fail again in the Senate after threats from President Obama to veto it over privacy concerns. Sources are saying that the main reason of re-introducing CISPA is the the President Barack Obama expressed concerns that it could pose a privacy risk. The White House wants amendments so more is done to ensure the minimum amount of data is handed over in investigations.  The law is passing through the US legislative system as American federal agencies warn that malicious hackers, motivated by money or acting on behalf of foreign governments, such as China, are one of the biggest threats facing the nation.  "If you want to take a shot across China's bow, this is the answer," said Mike Rogers, the Republican politician who co-wrote CISPA and chairs the House Intelligence Committee. 

On the other hand CISPA has also secured the backing of several technology firms, including the CTIA wireless industry group, as well as the TechNet computer industry lobby group, which has Google, Apple and Yahoo as members. By contrast, some other big names like Mozilla, Reddit has been vocal in its opposition to the bill. In the beginning the social networking giant Facebook supported CISPA but later they took back its support. The American Civil Liberties Union has also opposed CISPA, saying the bill was "fatally flawed". The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Reporters Without Borders and the American Library Association have all voiced similar worries.

-Source (BBC)

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'The Secret Files'- Hackers Exposed Personal Details of Celebrities, Public Figure, FBI Director & National Leaders

'The Secret Files'- Hackers Exposed Personal Details of Celebrities, Public Figure, FBI Director & National Leaders 

Yet again celebrities fallen victim to cyber attack, no this time not the nude photo but confidential personal information. Renowned public figure, national leaders, celebrities like Kim Kardashian, US Vice President Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Mel Gibson, Michelle Obama, Ashton Kutcher, Jay Z, Beyoncé, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Sarah Palin, Hulk Hogan, Donald Trump and Arnold Schwarzenegger together became prey. The list does not end here, the hacker catches two more big fishes in his net and they are head of the Los Angeles police force Charlie Beck and FBI Director Robert Mueller. Many of you might be astonished of how such big public figure, including Vice President, FBI Director became victim in single round of cyber attack! Let me tell you what exactly happened- the hacked data dubbed "The Secret Files" by the hackers contains personal information and credit reports (including social security numbers, details of their mortgages, addresses, and details of their credit card and banking details) was made public by those hackers on a new website, as shown in the picture below. 

The hacker left a message or in other word a satire while saying "The Secret Files - If you believe that God makes miracles, you have to wonder if Satan has a few up his sleeve." Such hack, is very rare, where numbers of big fish get caught. The nature of this hack can be categorized as a clear identity theft. But the question is how? Well the answer is some of the United States' top credit bureaus have come forward and acknowledged that fraudulent and unauthorized access to the records of well-known figures have taken place. Most of the reports were apparently obtained from one of the three major U.S. credit ratings agencies Equifax, TransUnion and Experian — via a special Internet portal they maintain for the public to check their own credit ratings. All three companies have said that some of their reports had been fraudulently accessed since Monday by someone using personal data about the victims. Security experts said that suggests the attack is a “social hack” rather than a classic cyber security data breach. 

-Source (Sophos & WT)

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White House Calls China to Stop Hacking & Cyber Espionage Against U.S.

White House Calls China to Stop Hacking & Cyber Espionage Against U.S.

The story of cyber espionage by Chinese hackers used to remain on the spot light due to its consistency, but now the situation get nasty and takes a new way as the national security adviser of U.S. President Obama directly pointed his finger to China. Many of our readers might take this issue lightly as earlier China has been blamed for engaging cyber attacks against different countries for many times. But this time there is a twist as the U.S. government vows to take the issue in a very serious manner. In his speech the national security advisory Tom Donilon said that "The international community cannot afford to tolerate such activity from any country," Like earlier China has denied any type of involvement and condemned the report for lack of hard evidence. But this time such reaction will not at all be entertained as the president said in the State of the Union, "we will take action to protect our economy against cyberthreats." The above two statements can be taken in both friendly warning or also in a serious threat. The White House already warned China to end the campaign of cyber espionage against U.S. companies, saying in its toughest language yet on the issue that the hacking activity threatens to derail efforts to build stronger ties between the two countries. 

Donilon did not directly accuse the Chinese government of launching the attacks on U.S. computer systems, only noting that the attacks are coming from inside the country. "Increasingly, U.S. businesses are speaking out about their serious concerns about sophisticated, targeted theft of confidential business information and proprietary technologies through cyber intrusions emanating from China on an unprecedented scale," he said. Another important message came from the Obama administration saying United States “will not accept North Korea as a nuclear state” and called on Chinese leaders to get serious about cracking down on cyber-related crimes. 

While covering this story we would like to remind you that couple of weeks ago Chinese officials issued a same complain against United States where they blamed U.S. for engaging massive cyber attacks against Chinese military and defense system. If you look at the story of major cyber attacks of last few days we will find that the name of China has been involved several times for engaging cyber attacks against several high profile websites and organization of U.S. including New York Times, Twitter, NBC and so on. And if you refresh our memory then then we will find the scenario of big cyber attack and espionage by Chinese hackers have been spotted several times. In 2012 Chinese hackers had  breached Telvent's corporate network & gained control of US Power Grid. Also in the middle of last year, we have seen that Chinese hackers have broken into Indian Navy's Computer System & stolen sensitive data. Few months before this hack, Tokyo based computer security firm Trend Micro confirmed that Chinese hackers were responsible for biggest cyber-espionage in India, Japan & Tibet. Also the director of National Security Agency (NSA) General Keith Alexander confirmed that hackers from China was responsible for the serious attack on one of the leading IT security & cyber security company RSA. Also in 2011 China was responsible behind the attack on US Chamber of Commerce, Satellite System of U.S, Nortel Network & so on.  But few days ago National Computer Network Emergency Response Coordination Center of China (CNCERT/CC), China's primary computer security monitoring network claimed that China fallen victim of one of biggest cyber attacks originated from US, Japan & South Korea. We must have to say that this statement is truly irrelevant. Cyber crime investigator have found that China was directly responsible for the hack into Japan's Biggest Defense Contractor Mitsubishi, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) & Parliament of Japan. In case of South Korea  more than 13 Million of MapleStory players data has been stolen, there also hackers from China was responsible. 

-Source (The Hill, Cnet & WT)

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#opSOTU By Anonymous To Oppose Executive Cyber Security Order (The Revised CISPA)

#opSOTU By Anonymous To Oppose Executive Cyber Security Order (The Revised CISPA)

Last year the Internet and its trillion of users across the globe has faced several barrier when, number of approach from Senate and government, along with few corporate and other organization were in the target to make the entire Internet censored. To engage this motive they have approached and introduced a number of regulations and act such as SOPA, PIPA, CISPA & ACTA. But to implement those enactment was not that easy, as huge number of organization (including White House, Wikipedia & so on), billions of mass people stand against those controversial act, and as expected those acts were ruled back, that said protest might not get the full success, if hackers around the globe did not take part in it. It was the hackers communities who forced the govt to roll back those rules. But the victory was not that easy to achieve, as the president of U.S. appeared before a joint session of Congress to deliver the State of the Union Address and he plans to sign an executive order for cyber-security as the House Intelligence committee reintroduces the defeated CISPA act which turns private companies into government informants. As soon as the deceleration of the executive order for cyber-security came, immediately protest came. Hacktivist group Anonymous yet against stand against the controversial CISPA, and called an operation dubbed Operation SOTU (#opSOTU). In the campaign the hacker group states a clear intent to obstruct Internet broadcasts of the president's State of the Union address, an action the group justifies by pointing to renewed interest in Congress to pass the Cybersecurity Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), a measure Anonymous has long opposed. 

Press Release of Anonymous (#opSOTU):- 

Citizens of the Internet,
Last year we faced our greatest threat from lawmakers. We faced down SOPA, PIPA, CISPA and ACTA.

And we won!

But that victory did not come easily. Nor did it come without a price.

Aaron Swartz was one of the leading voices in the fight against these idiotic and destructive efforts to control the last free space on Earth.

Aaron Swartz was persecuted. Now Aaron Swartz is dead.
Tonight, the President of the United States will appear before a joint session of Congress to deliver the State of the Union Address and tomorrow he plans to sign an executive order for cyber-security as the House Intelligence committee reintroduces the defeated CISPA act which turns private companies into government informants.

He will not be covering the NDAA, an act of outright tyrannical legislation allowing for indefinite detention of citizens completely outside due process and the rule of law. In fact, lawyers for the government have point-blank refused to state whether or not journalists who cover stories or groups the Government disfavors would be subject to this detention.

He will not be covering the extra-judicial and unregulated justifications for targeted killings of citizens by military drones within the borders of America, or the fact that Orwellian newspeak had to be used to make words like “imminent” mean their opposite.

He will not be covering Bradley Manning, 1000 days in detention with no trial for revealing military murders, told that his motive for leaking cannot be taken into consideration, that the Government does not have room for conscience.

He will not be covering the secret interpretations of law that allow for warrant-less wiretapping and surveillance of any US citizen without probably cause of criminal acts, or the use of Catch-22 logic where no-one can complain about being snooped on because the state won’t tell you who they’re snooping on, and if you don’t know you’re being snooped on, you don’t have a right to complain.

We reject the State of the Union. We reject the authority of the President to sign arbitrary orders and bring irresponsible and damaging controls to the Internet.
The President of the United States of America, and the Joint Session of Congress will face an Army tonight.
We will form a virtual blockade between Capitol Hill and the Internet. Armed with nothing more than Lulz, Nyancat and PEW-PEW-PEW! Lazers, we will face down the largest superpower on Earth.

And we will win!

There will be no State of the Union Address on the web tonight.

For freedom, for Aaron Swartz, for the Internet, and of course, for the lulz.

We Are Anonymous,
We Are Legion,
We Do Not forgive,
We Do Not forget,
Expect Us.

..."

But unlike last year, this time the approach of CISPA is more organized, as not only Congress but also the White House will also unveil President Barack Obama's long-awaited executive order on cyber security. So to stand against such an organized and well planned act, the protester need to be more decent and more united. As we all want and prefer freedom and privacy in our personal life as well as in the Internet, so we will fight and expect to win. So stay tuned with VOGH, and lets see what is coming for us. 

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President Obama & Congress Will Issue Long Awaited Executive Cyber Security Order

President Obama & Congress Will Issue Long Awaited Executive Cyber Security Order 

Last week we reported that Pentagon has declared that they are moving toward a major expansion of its cyber security force to counter increasing attacks on the nation’s computer networks, as well as to expand offensive computer operations on foreign adversaries. Just one week after this declaration another crucial movement came from the U.S. government.  A secret legal review on the use of America’s growing arsenal of cyber weapons has concluded that President Obama has the broad power to order a pre-emptive strike if the United States detects credible evidence of a major digital attack looming from abroad. According to sources President Barack Obama will issue a long-awaited cyber security executive order this week. Two former White House officials told the publication that the order is expected to be released after Tuesday night's State of the Union address. 

Given his status as commander-in-chief, Obama seems to be the clear choice, but since cyber warfare is such a new and unknown thing, the government hasn't actually figured out the rules of engagement yet. In the past couple of decades, the power to use America's cyber weapons has been shared between the Pentagon and the various intelligence agencies. With the exception of a series of strikes on the computer systems that run Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities an attack that Obama ordered himself the U.S. hasn't launched any major cyber attacks in recent memory, however. This probably won't be the case in the future. So the government is working on new rules of engagement, as it realizes that the capabilities of cyber weapons are evolving at a startling rate. The rules will be not unlike the set that governs how drone attacks are ordered and who orders them. Cyber warfare certainly stands to affect the average American more, though.  On Capitol Hill this week, Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.) and Rep. Mike Rodgers (R-Mich.) are set to reintroduce the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) during a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

According to an exclusive report the bill would allow the government to share classified cyber threats with the private sector so that those companies can then protect their systems from cyber attacks. The bill was killed last year due to privacy concerns. Civil-liberty groups argued that the bill allows companies to exchange too much personal information back and forth without regulation. 

-Source (Bloomberg, NY Times & Atlantic Wire)

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NSA Refused to Disclose Obama's Secret Cyber Security Directive

NSA Refused to Disclose Obama's Secret Cyber Security Directive

The cyber security directive of United States President Barack Obama has been twisted a little as the National Security Agency (NSA) has refused to release details of a secret presidential directive document that would establish a broader set of standards that would guide federal agencies in confronting Cyber threats. Several experts are presuming that the cyber security directive could allow the military and intelligence agencies to operate on the networks of private companies, such as Google and Facebook. According to the last week report by Washington Post, cited several U.S. officials saying that Obama signed off on the secret cyber security order, believed to widely expand NSA’s spying authorities, in mid-October. “The new directive is the most extensive White House effort to date to wrestle with what constitutes an “offensive” and a “defensive” action in the rapidly evolving world of cyber war and cyber terrorism,” the report states.  

The Electronic Privacy and Information Center (EPIC), filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to make the document public because it said the measure could expand NSA’s Cyber security authority. “Transparency is crucial to the public’s ability to monitor the government’s national security efforts and ensure that federal agencies respect privacy rights and comply with their obligations under the Privacy Act,” said EPIC’s request.
EPIC said that NSA denied the request on Nov. 21 arguing that it doesn’t have to release the document because it is a confidential presidential communication and contains information that is classified “Secret” and “Top Secret” by the agency. NSA said disclosure of the order could “reasonably be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security.” The agency said EPIC could file an appeal with the NSA/Central Security Service denial and EPIC said it plans to do so. The privacy group said it is litigating similar FOIA requests with NSA, including the release of NSPD 54, a 2008 presidential directive setting out the NSA’s cyber security authority. The group called NSA a “black hole for public information about cyber security” in an official statement to Congress earlier this year. National Security Agency whistle blower William Binney said in Mid July that the U.S. government is secretly gathering information “about virtually every U.S. citizen in the country”, in “a very dangerous process” that violates Americans’ privacy.
Former President George W. Bush signed a presidential order in 2002 allowing the National Security Agency (NSA) to monitor without a warrant the international (and sometimes domestic) telephone calls and e-mail messages of hundreds or thousands of citizens and legal residents inside the United States. The program eventually came to include some purely internal controls -- but no requirement that warrants be obtained from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court as the 4th Amendment to the Constitution and the foreign intelligence surveillance laws require.

-Source (GSN Magazine & Press TV)

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US National Archives Has Blocked Search Containing 'WikiLeaks'

US National Archives Has Blocked Search Containing 'WikiLeaks'

The movement of WikiLeaks faced another bar, as the searches for “WikiLeaks” in the public search engine for the US National Archives have been blocked. Any search containing the word “WikiLeaks (like “Congress” and “WikiLeaks”; "Obama" and "WikiLeaks") turns up an error message saying "The page you have requested has been blocked, because the URL is banned" as shown the picture below.

The whistle blowing website of WikiLeaks already lashed out at the move, saying the Archives has  literally turned into “Orwell’s Ministry of Truth.” In a tweet the official twitter account of WikiLeaks said “The US state is literally eating its own brain by censoring its own collective memories about WikiLeaks.” And, in another tweet WikiLeaks said, “The US National Archives censoring searches for its records containing the word ‘WikiLeaks’ is absolutely absurd.” 

The block is likely to be in line with the “Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act,” a form of internet censorship the US adopted back in 2010. It did not become law, but it prompted various US government agencies such as the White House Office of Management and Budget and the US Air Force to advise their employees not to read or access classified documents being made available by sites like WikiLeaks. The Library of Congress went further by blocking access to WikiLeaks content from its server in 2010. According to the official blog post of  Library of Congress “The Library decided to block Wikileaks because applicable law obligates federal agencies to protect classified information.  Unauthorized disclosures of classified documents do not alter the documents’ classified status or automatically result in declassification of the documents.” The White House’s Office of Management and Budget today provided the guidance that “federal agencies collectively, and each federal employee and contractor individually, are obligated to protect classified information pursuant to all applicable laws, as well as to protect the integrity of government information technology systems.” -said Matt Raymond in the blog post of LOC. 

Though it is unknown when the Archives began blocking searches, but according to diplomatic cables released over the past months the US Justice Department’s investigation targeting of both Assange and WikiLeaks is real. So may be this block has connection or may be a return from the U.S. Govt of the last release of WikiLeaks that is  'Detainee Policies'  in what it said more than 100 classified or otherwise restricted files from the United States Department of Defense covering the rules and procedures for detainees in U.S. military custody. At the moment WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London as the UK has forcefully asserted that it will deny him safe passage to Ecuador. Ecuador granted Assange political asylum in August over fears that if extradited to Sweden, Assange could be transferred to the US and once there, face execution.

-Source (RT)

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DHS & Public Safety Canada Started Joint Cybersecurity Action Plan

DHS & Public Safety Canada Started Joint Cybersecurity Action Plan

A joint venture Cyber Security plan has been announced by US Department of Homeland Security and Canada. According to the official website of Public Safety Canada - PS Canada along with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are pursuing a coordinated approach to enhance the resiliency of our cyber infrastructure. The Cybersecurity Action Plan (the Action Plan) between PS and DHS seeks to enhance the cybersecurity of our nations through increased integration of PS' and DHS' respective national cybersecurity activities and improved collaboration with the private sector. This Action Plan represents just one of many important efforts between Canada and the United States to deepen our already strong bilateral cybersecurity cooperation.

As the Internet knows no borders, all countries have a responsibility to prevent, respond to, and recover from cyber disruptions and to make cyberspace safer for all citizens across the globe. Due to a shared physical border, Canada and the United States have an additional mutual interest in partnering to protect our shared infrastructure. This Action Plan aims to articulate a shared approach to fulfill PS' and DHS' vision of working together to defend and protect our use of cyberspace and to strengthen the resiliency of our nations. These efforts, combined, advance the objectives articulated by President Obama and Prime Minister Harper in the February 2011 declaration, Beyond the Border: A Vision for Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness.

This Action Plan outlines three goals for improved engagement, collaboration, and information sharing at the operational and strategic levels, with the private sector, and in public awareness activities, for activities conducted by PS and DHS. The Action Plan establishes lines of communication and areas for collaborative work critical to enhancing the cybersecurity preparedness of both nations. The Action Plan's goals and objectives are to be conducted in accordance with the June 2012 Statement of Privacy Principles by the United States and Canada. This Action Plan is intended to remain a living document to be reviewed on a regular basis and updated as needed to support new requirements that align to the Plan's key goals and objectives. It intends to support and inform current and future efforts to advance the goals of Beyond the Border, which ultimately seeks to enhance broad bilateral cooperation on cybersecurity efforts across both governments.

Goals and Objectives:-

1. Enhanced Cyber Incident Management Collaboration between National Cybersecurity Operations Centers

PS' Canadian Cyber Incident Response Centre intends to work jointly with DHS' United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team and Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team towards the following objectives:

• 1.1 Increase real-time collaboration between analysts by improving existing channels for remote communication and arranging in-person visits;
• 1.2 Enhance information sharing at all classification levels and collaborate on training opportunities, while promoting inter-agency coordination, as appropriate, as well as the proper protections for information, as outlined in the Statement of Privacy Principles;
• 1.3 Coordinate on cybersecurity incident response management, relating to defense, mitigation, and remediation activities and products, including with other public and private entities consistent with each country's laws and policies;
• 1.4 Align and standardize cyber incident management processes and escalation procedures; and
• 1.5 Enhance technical and operational information sharing in the area of industrial control systems security.

2. Joint Engagement and Information Sharing with the Private Sector on Cybersecurity

Due to the shared nature of critical infrastructure between Canada and the United States, PS and DHS intend to collaborate on cybersecurity-focused private-sector engagement for cybersecurity activities for which they are responsible through the following objectives:

• 2.1 Share engagement approaches for private sector;
• 2.2 Exchange and collaborate on the development of briefing materials for the private sector;
• 2.3 Jointly conduct private sector briefings;
• 2.4 Review approaches and align processes for private sector engagement through requests for technical assistance and non-disclosure agreements; and
• 2.5 Standardize protocols for sharing information.

3. Continued Cooperation on Ongoing Cybersecurity Public Awareness Efforts

Cybersecurity is a shared responsibility and everyone, including our citizens, has a role to play. With increased media attention devoted to cybersecurity incidents and with the continuing growth of electronic commerce and social media, it is imperative that citizens receive clear and trustworthy information on how to manage cyber threats to themselves and their families. Ensuring that government's cybersecurity awareness messages are consistent across our border helps to deliver that information effectively and consistently. PS Communications, the DHS Office of Public Affairs, and the National Protection and Program Directorate's Office of Cybersecurity and Communications (CS&C) intend to continue to work together as they:

• 3.1 Collaborate on public awareness campaigns (websites, social media activities, education material, etc.);
• 3.2 Collaborate on Cybersecurity Awareness Month (October); and
• 3.3 Share and coordinate messaging on issues of common interest.

Governance of the Joint Action Plan:-

Senior officials within PS and CS&C intend to review and provide additional guidance in order to update this Action Plan on a quarterly basis. This Action Plan is intended to be a part of broader inter-governmental coordination across government agencies in both the United States and Canada.

To Download The Full Cybersecurity Action Plan Between Public Safety Canada and the Department of Homeland Security Click Here

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WikiLeaks Releases 'Detainee Policies' The Dark History of U.S. Post-9/11 Military Prisoners

WikiLeaks Releases 'Detainee Policies' The Dark History of U.S. Post-9/11 Military Prisoners 

The WikiLeaks website began publishing the 'Detainee Policies' on Thursday what it said more than 100 classified or otherwise restricted files from the United States Department of Defense covering the rules and procedures for detainees in U.S. military custody. “The Detainee Policies,” a collection of more than a hundred once-secret files outlining America’s military detainee practices from Guantanamo to Iraq since 2002. WikiLeaks says it plans to release the files in chronological order to paint a picture of the evolution of America’s military detainee practices since September 11th in prisons from Guantanamo to Iraq to Europe. Unlike other recent releases, with the Detainee Policies WikiLeaks seems to be focusing on history more than news: Its first release is the 2002 Guantanamo Camp Delta standard operating procedure manual, a kind of prequel to the 2003 and 2004 manuals from camp it’s already published in past years. Other documents in the collection, WikiLeaks says, will show American attempts to “disappear” detainees by delaying the process of entering them into the detainment system’s records, or detail psychological torture methods. According to WikiLeaks official site - "Over the next month, WikiLeaks will release in chronological order the United States’ military detention policies followed for more than a decade. The documents include the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) of detention camps in Iraq and Cuba, interrogation manuals and Fragmentary Orders (FRAGOs) of changes to detainee policies and procedures. A number of the ’Detainee Policies’ relate to Camp Bucca in Iraq, but there are also Department of Defense-wide policies and documents relating to Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay and European U.S. Army Prison facilities." 

According to the press release of WikiLeaks :-  The previously unpublished 2002 manual went on to shape successive years in the Guantanamo Bay prison complex and other U.S. military prisons around the world, such as Abu Ghraib. "This document is of significant historical importance. Guantanamo Bay has become the symbol for systematised human rights abuse in the West with good reason," said WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. "But how is it that WikiLeaks has now published three years of Guantanamo Bay operating procedures, but the rest of the world’s press combined has published none?"

In relation to Iraq, the release includes Operation Orders (OPORD) regarding policies for screening and interrogating detainees. The documents also include routine instructions relating to staffing, scheduling of legal visitation, procedures for administering medical treatment, how medical records and daily staff journals are to be kept, cigarette rationing and what items are "authorised for detainee possession".

A number of what can only be described as ’policies of unaccountability’ will also be released. One such document is the 2005 document ’Policy on Assigning Detainee Internment Serial Numbers’. This document is concerned with discreetly ’disappearing’ detainees into the custody of other U.S. government agencies while keeping their names out of U.S. military central records – by systematically holding off from assigning a prisoner record number (ISN). Even references to this document are classified "SECRET//NOFORN". Detainees may be disposed of in this manner without leaving a significant paper trail.

Another formal policy of unaccountability is a 2008 Fragmentary Order that minimises the record-keeping surrounding interrogations. Following revelations of torture tapes and pictures from Abu Ghraib and the political scandal over the destruction of Central Intelligence Agency interrogation tapes, the FRAGO eliminates "the requirement to record interrogation sessions at Theatre Internment Facilities". Although the FRAGO goes on to state that interrogations that take place at Division Internment Facilities and Brigade Internment Facilities must be recorded, it then states that these should be "purged within 30 days". This policy was subsequently reversed by the new Obama administration.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said: "The ’Detainee Policies’ show the anatomy of the beast that is post-9/11 detention, the carving out of a dark space where law and rights do not apply, where persons can be detained without a trace at the convenience of the U.S. Department of Defense. It shows the excesses of the early days of war against an unknown ’enemy’ and how these policies matured and evolved, ultimately deriving into the permanent state of exception that the United States now finds itself in, a decade later."

A number of documents relate to the policies surrounding the interrogation of detainees (2004, 2005, 2008). Direct physical violence is prohibited, in writing, but a formal policy of terrorising detainees during interrogations, combined with a policy of destroying interrogation recordings, has led to abuse and impunity. We learn of policies that apply to international forces: a 13-page interrogation policy document from 2005 relates to all personnel in the Multi-National Force–Iraq (MNF–I). It details "approved" "interrogation approaches". The documents detail the promotion of exploitative techniques such as the "Emotional Love Approach: Playing on the love a detained person has for family, homeland or comrades". In the "Fear Up (Harsh)" approach, by contrast, "the interrogator behaves in an overpowering manner with a loud and threatening voice in order to convince the source he does indeed have something to fear; that he has no option but to co-operate".

The ’Detainee Policies’ provide a more complete understanding of the instructions given to captors as well as the ’rights’ afforded to detainees. We call upon lawyers, NGOs, human rights activists and the public to mine the ’Detainee Policies’ and investigate important issues such as the denial of access to the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) to detainee facilities, as well as to research and compare the different generations of SOPs and FRAGOs to help us better understand the evolution in these policies and why they have occurred. Publicise your findings using the hashtag #WLfindDP

Here we want to give you reminder that earlier in this year we got several leaks from WikiLeaks, among them -SpyFiles, GI Files (Global Intelligence Files & Five Million E-mails From Stratfor) & The Syria Files Containing 2.5 Million Emails of Syrian Politicians, Govt, Ministries & Companies.  

For detailed information & to download to latest release by WikiLeaks on 'Detainee Policies' Click Here

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Iran Accused For Engaging Cyber Attacks Against Persian Gulf Oil & Gas Companies in U.S. (Full Story)

Iran Accused For Engaging Cyber Attacks Against Persian Gulf Oil & Gas Companies in U.S. (Full Story)

The conflict and tussle between Iran and United States continues, as U.S. authorities believe that Iranian-based hackers were responsible for cyberattacks that devastated Persian Gulf oil and gas companies. Just hours later the attack was discovered, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the cyberthreat from Iran has grown, and he declared that the Pentagon is prepared to take action if American is threatened by a computer-based assault.

The former government official, who is familiar with the investigation, said U.S. authorities believe the cyberattacks were likely supported by the Tehran government and came in retaliation for the latest round of American sanctions against Iran. Before Panetta's remarks on Thursday, U.S. officials had said nothing publicly about the Gulf attacks or the investigation. But Panetta described them in a speech to business leaders in New York City, saying they were probably the most destructive cyber assault the private sector has seen to date. A current U.S. official acknowledged Thursday that the Obama administration knows who launched the cyberattacks against the Gulf companies and that it was a state actor. U.S. agencies have been assisting in the Gulf investigation and concluded that the level of resources needed to conduct the attack showed there was some degree of involvement by a nation state, said the former official. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is classified as secret. While Panetta chose his words carefully, one cybersecurity expert said the Pentagon chief's message to Iran in the speech was evident.  

It was all about what U.S. Authorities are claiming or in other word blaming, but like earlier; this time also Iran completely denies the whole matter, besides they blamed Israel & America for engaging cyber attacks on Iran's Nuclear System. Iranian officials denied any role in recent cyberattacks against oil and gas companies in the Persian Gulf and said they welcomed a probe of the case.  Mahdi Akhavan Bahabadi, secretary of the National Center of Cyberspace, denounced as "politically motivated" American allegations of an Iranian link to the Shamoon virus that hit Saudi Arabian state oil company Aramco and Qatari natural gas producer RasGas, according to remarks carried by ISNA. "We interpret the issue politically and in light of U.S. domestic issues as well as the (U.S. presidential) election," he said. The Iranian official said Tehran has already offered help to boost the companies' cybersecurity, asIran has itself recently been the victim of cyberattacks on its offshore oil platforms. Iran periodically reports the discovery of viruses and other malicious programs in government, nuclear, oil and industrial networks. On Monday, Tehran said it had successfully blocked a cyberattack on the computer network of its offshore drilling platforms. It briefly shut down part of its oil facilities because of a cyberattack in May. Iran blames Israel and the United States for the attacks. Israel has done little to deflect suspicion it uses viruses against Iran.

While talking about the cyber attacks on  Persian Gulf oil and other gas companies, we like to remind you that couple of weeks ago U.S. Authorities also blamed Iran for engaging cyber attacks on U.S. leading banking and financial sector. There also Iran official denies the attack and said "We officially announce that we haven't had any attacks,". So far its not clear whether these two attacks are linked or not. Whatever, for all the latest update on stories like this & also other updates on cyber domain stay tuned with VOGH. 

-Source (MPR News & Yahoo) 

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