cyberattack

A security firm investigating the people behind the recent Anonymous cyberattacks on various Web sites has become a victim of the group's exploits.

Information security research firm HBGary Federal, which said that it had been working with the FBI to identify the leaders of Anonymous, saw its Web site hacked and the Twitter account of its CEO, Aaron Barr, compromised yesterday by the group.

"Today we taught everyone a lesson. When we actually decide to bite back against those who try to bring us down, we bite hard," Anonymous tweeted on Barr's hacked Twitter page.

Beyond … Read more

The FBI is on the hunt for the hackers responsible for a recent wave of cyberattacks launched in defense of WikiLeaks.

FBI agents yesterday executed more than 40 search warrants in the United States as part of their ongoing investigation. Pointing to the group Anonymous, which has taken responsibility for the attacks, the FBI said that the distributed denial of service (DDoS) assaults were facilitated by software the group makes available as free downloads.

Late last year, PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, and other companies were hit by DDoS attacks triggered by activists in support of WikiLeaks after the companies cut off … Read more

If the U.S. were hit by a severe cyberattack, would you want the president to be able to control or even shut down portions of the Internet?

A majority 61 percent of Americans polled by Unisys for a new security study believes the president should have the power to control or effectively "kill" portions of the Internet if key U.S. systems (military, financial, electrical) were hit by a malicious cyberattack from a foreign government.

These findings from the latest biannual Unisys Security Index suggest that the public may support a pending cybersecurity bill that would give … Read more

Spam accounted for 95 percent of all e-mail sent worldwide during the third quarter, according to a report released today.

Panda Security's third-quarter report (PDF) also found that 50 percent of all spam came from 10 countries, with India, Brazil, and Russia as the top three sources. The U.S. came in No. 8, while the U.K. dropped off the list. Much of the spam that invades in-boxes comes from botnets that hijack computers whose owners don't realize their PCs have been infected, the report noted.

Trojans now are responsible for 55 percent of all malware threats, … Read more

The U.S. government has launched a full-scale simulated cyberattack to gauge how the country might fare in the real thing.

Sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security, Cyber Storm III kicked off yesterday for a three-day series of simulated events designed to exploit holes in the nation's cybersecurity system.

Specifically, the exercise will "inject" more than 1,500 different types of threats to examine the ability of the people involved to prepare for cyberattacks, make the correct decisions to respond to them, and share sensitive information with the right parties.

Noting that the country's adversaries … Read more

If the United States wants to defend itself against cyberattacks, it needs to focus on four key areas, according to United States Cyber Command head and NSA Director Army Gen. Keith Alexander.

Speaking Tuesday on the first day of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association's LandWarNet conference in Tampa, Fla., Alexander discussed the dangers to the country's military networks and what the U.S. must do to safeguard them.

The general said the threat of cyberattack affects more than 7 million different computers on more than 1,500 individual networks maintained by the Defense Department.

"On … Read more

The Perfect Citizen project is purely a research-and-engineering effort, not an attempt to monitor companies against cyberattack, the National Security Agency said Thursday.

The NSA issued a brief explanation of the new project in response to a Wall Street Journal story that described Perfect Citizen as a government system designed to monitor vital agencies and private utilities against potential cyberthreats. The project would establish a series of sensors installed throughout various computer networks that would raise an alarm in case of a pending cyberattack, according to the Journal.

But in an e-mail statement attributed to NSA spokeswoman Judith Emmel, the … Read more

The National Security Agency is reportedly launching a program to monitor for cyberattacks against government agencies and private companies responsible for key services such as electricity, nuclear power, and transportation, according to a story in Thursday's Wall Street Journal.

The program, known as "Perfect Citizen," is already triggering mixed reactions, says the Journal. Some in industry and government see it as an attempt by the NSA to intrude into domestic matters, while others believe it's a much-needed step in fighting the threat of cyberattacks.

Perfect Citizen would establish a series of sensors across various computer networks … Read more

With Army Gen. Keith Alexander named as its first commander, U.S. Cyber Command has a challenging mission and Alexander a demanding job.

Receiving a promotion to four-star general, Alexander on Friday was officially given the reins of U.S. Cyber Command by Defense Secretary Robert Gates during a ceremony in Fort Meade, Md. That signaled the initial launch of the division, which won't be up to full capability until October 1.

The mission of U.S. Cyber Command, or CyberCom, is to synchronize the Defense Department's various networks and cyberspace operations to better defend them against the … Read more