cyber-warfare

The 404 1,065: Where it's all in our heads (podcast)

Today's episode of The 404 is a valuable resource for anyone obsessed with headphones -- classic audiophiles, young audiophiliacs, musicians, producers, and casual listeners will all benefit from Steve Guttenberg's knowledge, and he brought a friend! Tyll Hertsens is largely credited for creating the first portable headphone amp and currently the editor-in-chief of InnerFidelity.

With Tyll's help, we'll run through the differences between on-ear and in-ear headphones, give credit to two companies responsible for introducing high-quality headphones to the next generation of audiophiles, and we'll even spend a little time dissecting the criteria for what makes a headphone "sound good."… Read more

Stuxnet worm hits Iranian nuclear plant

Iran's official news agency said today that a sophisticated computer worm purportedly designed to disrupt power grids and other such industrial facilities had infected computers at the country's first nuclear-power plant but had not caused any serious damage.

The Stuxnet worm, which some see as heralding a new era of cyberwarfare, appeared in July and was already known to be widespread in Iran. In fact, its high concentration there, along with a delay in the opening of the Bushehr plant, led one security researcher to hypothesize that Stuxnet was created to sabotage Iran's nuclear industry.

In addition … Read more

Congressional commission focuses on China's cyberwar capability

In war and possibly in peace, China will wage cyberwar to control the information flow and dominate the battle space, according to a new report compiled for a congressional commission.

Chinese military strategists see information dominance as the key to overall success in future conflicts and will continue to expand the country's computer network exploitation capabilities, according to the report, titled "Capability of the People's Republic of China to Conduct Cyber Warfare and Computer Network Exploitation." The report was prepared for the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission under contract by Northrop Grumman's … Read more

Israeli news site down, blames cyber attack

First real war, now a cyber war? The Jerusalem-based Debkafile said it was temporarily put out of action Saturday evening by a cyber attack.

It's not clear whether this was a denial of service attack. Debka, which specializes in military and political analysis, sent out a note to subscribers that both its English and Hebrew sites had been under attack "since 19:00 local time." It did not get more specific and the site's publishers were not immediately available for comment.

The announcement took place in the shadow of the week-long conflict between Israel and Hamas. … Read more