The 2012 Cyber Defence University Challenge (Australia's First National Cyber Security Competition)

The 2012 Cyber Defence University Challenge - Australia's First National Cyber Security Competition

The 2012 Cyber Defence University Challenge, Australia’s first national cyber security competition, has been announced  by The Gillard Government, in partnership with Telstra and Australian universities. The ultimate prize, sponsored by Telstra, is travel and entry to the Black Hat 2012 Conference in Las Vegas, USA, in July 2012. Black Hat conferences are much sought-after technical information security congresses and briefing seminars which bring together trainers and speakers from corporate, government and research sectors worldwide.
Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Senator Stephen Conroy said the Challenge would test the cyber problem-solving skills of teams of Australian undergraduates in a virtual computer network scenario. “The Challenge will raise awareness of the importance of cyber security, particularly in the university and business sectors, while also showcasing the diverse career opportunities for ICT graduates,” Senator Conroy said.
“The need for greater awareness of cyber security issues and for more high-skilled ICT graduates were two of the key themes to emerge from the public engagement process associated with the Government’s Cyber White Paper, due for release later this year. “The Challenge is a positive example of the Government partnering with industry and academia to enable Australia to overcome the challenges associated with being a modern, digital economy. “The Government is committed to working with industry to develop a safe and secure digital economy for Australians.  We are also committed to increasing the skills and expertise necessary to protect online environments from cyber crime such as data theft.”

The Challenge will run for 24 hours on 3 – 4 April 2012. University undergraduates across Australia who are studying computer science and related degrees are encouraged to register a team in the Challenge via their university.

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What Risk We are Posing! Everyone Can Become Target of the Latest Cyber Security Threats

What Risk We are Posing! Everyone Can Become a Target of the Latest Cyber Security Threats

According to a report by the Washington Post, hackers may soon be setting up a plan to unfold in 2013 that will target 30 different U.S. banking institutions. McAfee Labs, who has compiled a new cyber security report, says that banks should be on the lookout for software that creates false online transactions or targets transfers tied to large dollar amounts.

Sources say that these threats can all be tied back to “Project Blitzkrieg”, which is a program that has been around since 2008. Within the past four years, it has already stolen $5 million and plans to continue for as long as possible. During the past few months, between 300 and 500 victims located within the U.S. have fallen victim to Project Blitzkrieg’s schemes. By the spring of 2013, McAfee says that things could get even worse for U.S. banks and their customers.

Experts note that this scheme may be tied to reports from back in October by security company RSA that mentioned how a hacker out of Russia named “vorVzakone” has been openly discussing his plan to recruit a team to plan the largest Trojan attack tied to banking. McAfee warns that these threats should be taken extremely seriously as the beginning of 2013 is soon to unfold. The software can become extremely dangerous to those doing their banking online because it can replicate transactions and even delete e-mail notifications about certain transfers.

While U.S. banks will no doubt be increasing their security protocols to protect themselves from any unnecessary attacks, most already know that they are continually being cited as targets from hacking groups around the globe. Back in September, both JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America saw their sites crash because of DDoS attacks.

Samsung Smart TV Dangers

The Register has recently reported that Samsung’s newest Smart TV is completely open and vulnerable to hacking because it gives hackers the ability to steal data very quickly. According to security company ReVuln, this vulnerability most notably affects consumers who own and use their Samsung 3D TVs for internet purposes.

Those who use their Smart TVs can rent movies, browse the web for a cheap line rental, go on Facebook, and more. ReVuln claims that they have found an exploit which allows hackers to see everything the user is doing while they are using their TV, retrieve and access information like web history, and hook up an external thumb drive to the TV to conveniently steal all of this information for future use. While ReVuln noticed this exploit while using a Samsung 3D TV, the true problem is that it seems to affect all of the latest Samsung TVs with internet capabilities, which includes many different makes and models.

As these TVs continue to act more as larger PCs, it is only a matter of time until we see even more security vulnerabilities tied to them in the very near future.

Gas Station Bluetooth Skimming

News site KRCA out of Sacramento notes that crooks are using Bluetooth devices in order to steal credit card information from those who are paying for gas at the pump. The biggest issue the cyber security experts noticed is that these thieves do not even have to be near the gas station in order to steal information.

Crooks are using skimming devices that utilize Bluetooth and contain a variety of common security keys that can be used to access gas pumps for maintenance. They don’t simply pull out their device and begin swiping information for oblivious consumers. Thieves will start by installing skimmers on the pumps to collect information from those pumping gas and then pick them back up. Detectives say that these types of devices are impossible to detect.

According to experts, thieves can be up to 100 yards away and continually collect credit card information from unsuspecting users. Because of this, these crooks are impossible to detect, and the problem may only grow larger in the near future.

Troublesome QR Codes

QR codes seem to be everywhere these days. They’re typically on everything from advertisements to products that we purchase on a daily basis. In the Netherlands, hackers are posting QR codes in heavily trafficked areas like airports and major streets. When these QR codes are scanned in by a user’s smart phone, they are taken to a malicious website that may attempt to phish information from the user or possibly infect their smartphone with malware.

Disclaimer:- Before perfection, on behalf of Team VOGH, I would like to personally thank Eve Halton  for sharing this magnificent article with our readers. Eve is a very much passionate Fleet Street, she  has done her graduation in International Business and Journalism. She gained decent experience in writing articles on several fields like global politics, economics, sustainability issues, cyber security & many more.

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Pentagon Assigning More Experts to Boost Cyber Security & Protect U.S. Computer Networks

Pentagon Assigning More Experts to Boost Cyber Security & Protect U.S. Computer Networks

Cyber security has become one of the most sophisticated area of National security and defense, and in order to implement that Pentagon has increased their estimated expense on cyber security. And this deceleration has been made while publishing the budget late in last year. Now that implementation is getting executed as the Pentagon is 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. This confirmation has came from defense officials. The expansion would increase the Defense Department’s Cyber Command by more than 4,000 people, up from the current 900, an American official said. Defense officials acknowledged that a formidable challenge in the growth of the command would be finding, training and holding onto such a large number of qualified people. The Pentagon “is constantly looking to recruit, train and retain world class cyberpersonnel,” a defense official said Sunday.

As part of the expansion, officials said the Pentagon was planning three different forces under Cyber Command: “national mission forces” to protect computer systems that support the nation’s power grid and critical infrastructure; “combat mission forces” to plan and execute attacks on adversaries; and “cyber protection forces” to secure the Pentagon’s computer systems. Cyber Command’s connections to the NSA are also leading some officials to ask how much of the expansion will be focused domestically, especially considering the opening of the NSA’s new, $2 billion Utah Data Center, scheduled to go live later this year. An unnamed "senior defense official" said that the agency’s efforts would remain focused outside US networks, unless it were asked to assist "another agency with domestic authority, such as the FBI." There is significant overlap between Cyber Command and the NSA — until recently, some employees of the former had nsa.gov email addresses, for instance — and there is some doubt that the nascent offshoot of US Strategic Command will be able to achieve true independence under NSA Director Alexander.

-Source (NY Times, Washington Post)

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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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BBC Server Compromised! Russian Hackers Broke Into FTP & Tried to Sell Unauthorized Access

BBC Server Compromised! Russian Hackers Hacked Into FTP & Tried to Sell Unauthorized Access on The X-Mass Evening 

Earlier we have seen world renowned media houses like CNN, NBC, Fox News, Washington Post, NY Times, NDTV and so on have fallen victim to hackers and cyber criminals. Now it was the turn for world’s largest and oldest broadcaster -British Broadcasting Corporation, widely known to us as BBC. Sources revealed that cyber criminals have managed to breach the security system of BBC and secretly took over a computer server at the BBC and then launched a Christmas Day campaign to convince other cyber criminals to pay him for access to the system. The attack was first identified by a cyber security firm named Hold Security LLC, in Milwaukee that monitors underground cyber crime forums in search of stolen information. However, it is still not clear whether the hacker stole any information or data or caused any damage to the site. In conversation with press Alex Holden, founder and Chief Information Security Officer of Hold Security told -"So far Hold Security researchers have found no evidence the conversations led to a deal or that data was stolen from the BBC.” So far the identity of hacker has not been confirmed, but the firm researchers observed a notorious Russian hacker known by the monikers "HASH" and "Rev0lver," attempting to sell access to the BBC server on December 25. However, BBC's security team managed to secure the site on Saturday, claims a person close to clean up efforts. One of the BBC spokesman refused to comment on the issue, he said, “We do not comment on security issues.” On the other hand, Justin Clarke, a principal consultant for the cyber security firm Cylance, said that while "accessing that server establishes a foothold within BBC's network which may allow an attacker to pivot and gain further access to internal BBC resources.” So far Hold Security researchers have found no evidence the conversations led to a deal or that data was stolen from the BBC. But we all know that  ftp systems are typically used to manage the transfer of large data files over the Internet. That's why the chances of data breach cant not be denied at this time. For updates on this piece of news and other hot information of the cyber & tech world stay tuned with VOGH. 

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Oxford University Will Get £1 Million of Investment in Next 2 Year to Tackle Cyber Crime

Oxford University Will Get £1 Million of Investment in Next 2 Year to Tackle Cyber Crime

The rising amount of cyber crime has already put the world of security under a serious threat. Since last five years we have seen many devastating cyber attack which have broken almost every security measure. In short, today the entire cyber space is posing a serious risk. To get rid of this situation many developed countries have already started taking required counter measure. Cyber awareness program, campaigns are going in almost every part of the world. Such steps and countermeasures were mainly limited to government and corporate, but now as we are sitting at the edge of cyber threat, so the security system should be more enhanced. While looking at the current status OXFORD University have came forward, and they are going to open a cyber hub to tackle these ongoing cyber challenges. Acceding to the official website of Oxford Mail - OXFORD University will get £1 million of investment in the next two years to fund a center to tackle cyber crime. Funding for the Government’s Global Center for Cyber Security Capacity Building has been announced by Foreign Secretary William Hague, who pledged £500,000 a year for at least the next two years. It will be based at the home of the Oxford Martin School, with the aim of combating activists and terrorists who are posing a growing threat to our national security and economy.

The school’s director, Ian Goldin, Oxford University Professor of Globalisation and Development, said: “The whole purpose is to address critical challenges of the future. The international scale of the challenge requires new research and connections with the business world, which is part of the school’s mandate.” The centre will be based at the Old Indian Institute, a former university library building, on the corner of Broad Street and Catte Street, which is currently being refurbished. Prof Goldin, whose new book Divided Nations explores the risks brought about by rapid globalization and technological leaps like the internet, said keeping up with criminals will be far from easy. He said: “We are in a race, or struggle, between people who want to keep systems safe and secure and those who – for whatever reasons that may be commercial, nationalist or anarchical – want to undermine the system. That won’t end. 

According to some legitimate sources it has been confirmed that the new center will be a beacon of expertise and put the UK at the forefront of cyber policy development. It will operate from Broad Street from September. The two-year funding will help pay for an additional 12 specialists. Sadie Creese will head the new center as professor of cyber security.

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DARPA Is Planning Future Cyber Security Strategies

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Information Innovation Office (I2O) in Arlington, Va., is asking companies and colleges for ideas on technologies to safeguard U.s. Department of Defense (DOD) computer systems in the event of a cyber attack.
DARPA issued a request for information (DARPA-SN-11-55) this week entitled Future Directions in Cyber Security that poses three fundamental questions related to national information security:

1. At present, attackers in cyberspace seem to have the initiative and hence the advantage. What specific technologies should DARPA develop to address the imbalance?

2. Attacks on embedded computing systems have received much attention. What specific technologies should DARPA develop to secure embedded computing systems?

3. If DARPA could only invest in one cyber-security research area, what should that be and why?
 

DARPA is inviting the nation's cyber security experts to offer answers to these questions, and based on their answers, DARPA experts may invite them to a meeting on 7 Nov. 2011 called the DARPA Colloquium on Future Directions in Cyber Security, at which the DARPA director will give a keynote address, and leaders from government and industry, as well as DARPA program managers, will discuss current and future cyber research directions.

Attendance at the DARPA Colloquium is by invitation only and space is limited, officials say.

To respond to DARPA questions and become candidates for the DARPA Colloquium, e-mail answers as an attachment in a commonly used format to cybercolloquium@darpa.mil no later than Friday, 9 Sept. 2011. Representatives of DARPA and DARPA support contractors will review answers they receive.
 

For More information Click Here

-News Source (Military Aerospace)

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Chinese Hackers Breached New York Times & Stolen Employee's Password

Chinese Hackers Breached New York Times & Stolen Employee's Password 

Yet again the story of cyber espionage by Chinese hackers spotted in the wild, when the famous and one of the most popular American news daily reported that their system has been compromised by a round of sophisticated cyber attack generated from China. After the hack of White House unclassified network, it is the second time in last six month; when Chinese hackers have targeted the American cyber space. The New York Times has reported that for the last four months Chinese hackers have been infiltrating its networks, broken into the email accounts of senior staff, stolen the corporate passwords for every Times employee and used those to gain access to the personal computers of  more than 50 employees. 

According to a blog post of NYT - The timing of the attacks coincided with the reporting for a Times investigation, published online on Oct. 25, that found that the relatives of Wen Jiabao, China’s prime minister, had accumulated a fortune worth several billion dollars through business dealings. Security experts hired by The Times to detect and block the computer attacks gathered digital evidence that Chinese hackers, using methods that some consultants have associated with the Chinese military in the past, breached The Times’s network. They broke into the e-mail accounts of its Shanghai bureau chief, David Barboza, who wrote the reports on Mr. Wen’s relatives, and Jim Yardley, The Times’s South Asia bureau chief in India, who previously worked as bureau chief in Beijing. 

“Computer security experts found no evidence that sensitive e-mails or files from the reporting of our articles about the Wen family were accessed, downloaded or copied,” said Jill Abramson, executive editor of The Times. The hackers tried to cloak the source of the attacks on The Times by first penetrating computers at United States universities and routing the attacks through them, said computer security experts at Mandiant, the company hired by The Times. This matches the subterfuge used in many other attacks that Mandiant has tracked to China.

Cyber Espionage of China (2011-2012) at a Glance:-

While talking about this cyber attack, we would like to refresh your memory last two years, where 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. 

All those above stories it has been clearly identified that China was the point of those said attacks, but it doesn't necessarily prove that it the operation is backed by the Chinese government or intelligence services. It could just as easily be a patriotic group of skilled, independent Chinese hackers upset with how the Western media is portraying their country's rulers. For all kind of cyber related topics and expert reviews on those matters just stay tuned  with only VOGH. 

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Criminals and foreign spy agencies launched more than 1,000 cyber attacks on the MOD last year

Criminals and foreign spy agencies launched more than 1,000 cyber attacks on the Ministry of Defence last year in an effort to steal secrets and disrupt services, Liam Fox has revealed.
In a speech on Tuesday night, the defence secretary laid out the growing threat to the country from cyberspace, saying that government departments were now under sustained attack.
He underlined the problem by saying that "across the core defence networks there were an average of over a million security alerts every day".
These comprise mainly of spam emails that are blocked before entering government computer systems. But many turn out to be deliberate attempts to infiltrate and steal from the MoD's computer systems.
Last week the Guardian revealed that the UK is now developing a cyber weapons programme to give ministers an attacking capability in cyberspace.
It also emerged that the FBI is investigating allegations that the Google mail accounts of senior US government officials have been attacked by Chinese hackers.
In his speech, Fox set out why the government had committed an extra £650m for cyber security in last year's Strategic Defence and Security Review. He also warned more would need to be done to protect the UK's core infrastructure from cyber attack.
"Between 2009 and 2010, security incidents more than doubled," he said: "Was this in Afghanistan? No. This was in cyberspace and the target was the MoD. I and my senior colleagues are routinely alerted to incidents that could have had severe consequences if they'd not been stopped.
"Our systems are targeted by criminals, foreign intelligence services and other malicious actors seeking to exploit our people, corrupt our systems and steal information.

"To give you an idea of the challenge, last year we in the MoD blocked and investigated over 1,000 potentially serious attacks. "
Fox described it as the "war of the invisible enemy" and said the boundaries between government, business and every individual internet user were becoming blurred."This threat is growing in scale and sophistication. My department is a prime target. Across the core defence networks there were an average of over a million security alerts every day."
He said the opening of a new Global Operations and Security and Control Centre would help to coordinate the Whitehall response to cyber attacks, but conceded that government could not do this alone.
"We now see weekly reports of cyber attacks against businesses, institutions and networks used by people going about their daily lives," he said. "The cost to the UK economy of cyber crime is estimated to be in the region of £27bn a year and rising. These are attacks against the whole fabric of our society.
"There is no Maginot Line in cyber space ... our national intellectual property in defence and security industries is at risk from a systematic marauding. Not only could it severely affect the future success of British industry, our economic advantage, and the country's financial recovery, but also directly impacts upon our national security today."
Last week, the US government said it was intending to rewrite its military rule book to make cyber-attacks a possible act of war. In May, the chancellor George Osborne said foreign intelligence agencies were carrying out cyber-attacks on the Treasury, targeting it with programs designed to steal information.
Some experts have warned against government's over-exaggerating the problems in cyberspace, noting that 80 per cent of all such attacks can be thwarted with better computer 'hygiene' – such as people using less obvious passwords. 

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Indian Govt is Working on a Robust Cyber Security Structure -Said Manmohan Singh

Indian Govt is Working on a Robust Cyber Security Structure -Said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

After facing so many loses finally Indian government is taking the very cyber security issue seriously. India has already faced big damage in cyber space (both financially & reputation) from native countries like China, Pakistan, where sensitive data of Govt, defense, nuclear & space research has allegedly been stolen by cyber criminals. While expressing concern over India's escalating vulnerability to cyber crime, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh  said the government is working on a robust cyber security structure. The structure will help in mitigating threats, by building capacity to face them and enhancing research. Dr. Singh said the police leaders should also dedicate themselves to planned technological up-gradation of their forces. In his speech at the annual conference of DGPs/ IGPs;  Dr. Manmohan Singh said - ""There are many emerging areas where our police forces need to develop new expertise. I have already mentioned the use of new media by miscreants to spread rumours and falsehood. Another such area is our cyber-security. Our country's vulnerability to cyber crime is escalating as our economy and critical infrastructure become increasingly reliant on interdependent computer networks and the Internet"

"Large-scale computer attacks on our critical infrastructure and economy can have potentially devastating results. To this end, we need to build partnerships between Government, academia and the private sector," he added. Dr. Singh said the use of bulk SMSes and social media to aggravate the communal situation was a new challenge. "We need to fully understand how these new media are used by miscreants. We also need to devise strategies to counter the propaganda that is carried out by these new means. Any measure to control the use of such media must be carefully weighed against the need for the freedom to express and communicate," said Dr. Singh.

"I am sure that in the coming months our police forces would be able to work out effective strategies to deal with these tendencies," he added.

-Source (ANI)

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Iran Preparing Stronger Cyber Defense

Iran Preparing Stronger Cyber Defense 

While looking at the rise of cyber crime not only US and UK also Iran is preparing a strong cyber defense. According to the Iran's Press TV report - During the recent years cyber security has been high on the agenda in Iran. Tehran says that the reason for its special attention towards the issue is due to the growing number of attacks on Iran’s cyber space by US and Israel. That’s why the first national conference on cyber security kicked off in Iran’s interior ministry. The event which hosted high ranking executive and defense officials and experts, aimed at discussing ways to further strengthen the Iranian cyber space against any attacks.
Less than four months ago Iran launched a cyber defense headquarters with the help of its defense and communications ministries. The office categorizes Iran’s national assets to three parts including physical, human and cyber assets. The headquarters says that its responsibility is to protect the three categories with special emphasis on the country’s cyber assets.
Experts say that lack of enough security in a country’s cyber space is like sleeping in a house without locking the door. In 2009 some of Iran’s Uranium enrichment facilities were targeted by a computer worm called Stuxnet. Blaming the US and Israel, Iran managed to neutralize the cyber attack. In 2011 Iran’s nuclear program comes under another cyber threat with ‘Duqu'. Also hacker collective group Anonymous targeted Iran while performing massive DDoS attack on the 1st may last year.
The main task of cyber defense is to prevent computer worms or as some call it cyber weapons from breaking into or stealing data from the countries maximum security networks. These areas include nuclear facilities, power plants, data centers and banks. Iran has also established its own laws and definitions of cyber crime. Today there are several laws in dealing with the issue and a special branch of the police force is dedicated to patrolling Iran’s cyber space.

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Dutch Govt. Setup National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) To Protect Cyber-Crime

Now the Dutch Govt. is also paying attention to secure the Cyber Fence. To protect cyber crime and enhance cyber security The Dutch government has set up a new National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to deal with with the growing problem of online crime. The NCSC, which is a public-private partnership, commenced operations on 1 January 2012. Its ambition is to grow, in a phased manner, into the cooperation platform for cyber security in the Netherlands. In 2011 more than 123K web pages of Netherland was infected by Lilupophilupop attack and also recently a Hacker Group named The Hackers Army has hacked thousand of  Dutch sites while running their operation named #OPfreePalestine. Dutch cyber fence also been target from different part of the world. So this newly formed NCSC was indeed needed by Dutch Authorities.  

In the Netherlands several government departments are involved in the fight against cyber crime - and that's precisely the problem. The NCSC should improve coordination between them. The centre will bundle together a lot of knowledge and expertise. The NCSC is composed of over sixty people and will deal especially with the major issues. Wouter Stol is cyber safety expert at the NHL University of Applied Sciences in Leeuwarden.
He sees the NCSC as a good start:- "It's a clear move to streamline the approach to cybercrime. But it's not just about coordination. There's far too little knowledge in the public sector. How do you handle the problems with cyber crime? How do you organize it? Much remains to be done."

The fight against cybercrime is still in its infancy, according Mr Stol. First you have to map properly how cybercrime - nationally and internationally - actually works. Cyber criminals are a difficult group because they often don't operate from a fixed location. An efficient response is only possible through international cooperation that is fast and smooth. To keep up with the technical know-how of the cyber criminals, the government has suggested turning to "ethical" hackers. This is the group that detect various leaks and weak spots. They hack the sites of companies and governments to identify the problems, not for criminal reasons. Wouter Stol thinks that these hackers will soon be needed. "Developments in the digital world are rapid. Training a few internet producers isn't enough. Before you know it you'll be left behind. It's a good strategy to gain the latest knowledge in a flexible manner. So you also need the hackers."

-Source (Radio Netherlands)

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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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#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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Indian Air Force (IAF) Issued Strict Rules & Discipline to Avoid Hacking

Indian Air Force (IAF) Issued Strict Rules & Discipline to Avoid Hacking

Last month in a report we said Indian Govt is working on a robust cyber security structure, and parallely now the Indian Govt is emphasizing its security structure to fight against cyber threats. As a result of this ongoing cyber awareness, a very strict order have been issued by Indian air force to tackle and avoid cyber attacks. From now and onward every officer of the Indian Air Force (IAF) will now have to sign a declaration that they will not save or view any official document on personal computers. Failure to adhere to this directive will lead to a court marshal and prosecution. In a recent case, operational documents were found on the personal computer of a young pilot posted at an airbase in Tamil Nadu. A court of inquiry has been initiated. Over the years, cyberspace has emerged as a critical frontier for espionage as the use of computers and dependence on the internet has grown. Thus, document security has emerged as one of critical areas of concern for the government. It is perhaps alluding to these increasing instances of the cyberspace being used by foreign agencies to collect critical information. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, while addressing top cops of the country at the annual security conference hosted by the Intelligence Bureau earlier this month, said, "Our country's vulnerability to cybercrime is escalating... Large-scale computer attacks on our critical infrastructure and economy can have potentially devastating results. The government is working on a robust cyber security structure."

As a general rule, computers in which sensitive information are stored or prepared are never connected to the internet. "The IAF internal communication network, for instance, is not only a stand-alone network with no connection to the net, but also has the system configured in such a way that it doesn't allow external storage devices like pen drives or CDs," a senior MoD official told the press. Nonetheless, some officers have been found "keeping copies or preparing documents using critical information in their personal computers, which have subsequently passed out by malwares in the system or hacked," the officer added.

Beside of developing a robust cyber security structure, there is another reason behind this decision, and that is Couple of months ago we have seen that Chinese hackers have broken into Indian Navy's Computer System & stolen sensitive data. Later, inquiries revealed that a few naval officers had, against the rules, taken copies of the plans in pen drives from a naval computer, to study. The Chinese-made pen drives allegedly had malwares which transmitted the data back to IP addresses in China once they were used on computers connected to the internet. So the Indian Govt is now very strict about data privacy, so the implemented this new rule. Such bold decisions will surely make security tight and also reduce the probability of data theft & cyber espionage. 

-Source (NDTV)

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European Union (EU) Requested CBI To Join Cyber Security Project Worth $52.5 Billion

European Union (EU) has invited India to participate in a mega cyber security and cyber crime project worth 52.5 billion dollar (Rs 3.62 lakh crore) to secure economic and security interests of various countries globally. 

India has been asked to join a select group of nations to be involved in this research and information technology driven innovation project. Apart from US, Brazil and South Africa are other partners of EU in this project that will be kicked off shortly. The project that has counter-terrorism as a key component is likely to be part of a separate pact that EU and India will sign early next month at the twelfth summit between two sides.

As per the proposed pact, India and EU apart from other members would jointly fund as well as research on cyber crime and cyber security issues across the world. 

The project is intended to develop protocols and systems for preventing terror attacks physically and on information highway, an external affairs ministry official told Financial Chronicle on condition of anonymity. This massive project to be implemented over next eight years include securing electrical power systems by identifying the vulnerability, put in place defence systems and restoration in case of disruption. The project will also lead to protection of critical defence and civilian economic infrastructure from cyber attacks.

Risk prediction, analysis and reaction to critical infrastructure, is also expected to be put in place through this project. Private, public sector companies and government agencies would be involved in this project. Two rounds of consultation have already been completed between both India and EU on concluding the cyber crime and cyber security pact in February 2012. India and European Union will explore cooperation between CBI and EU’s home department for training on tackling cyber crime, establish single point of contact and also do joint research in the mega innovation project.

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