cybersecurity

Retailer point-of-sale systems may be at risk of malware that steals credit card data.

Israel-based security firm Seculert has identified a strain of malware, dubbed Dexter, which it asserts has infected hundreds of point-of-sale (POS) systems across 40 countries in the past two to three months. English-speaking countries appear to be a prime target, with 30 percent of infections in the U.S., 19 percent in the U.K., and 9 percent in Canada.

Rather than targeting thousands of individual machines through traditional Trojans or phishing emails, the custom-made malware targets specific POS systems. The malware injects itself into the … Read more

A United Nations agency has used a summit in Dubai to renew its efforts to gain more control over how the Internet is managed.

The International Telecommunication Union, a U.N. agency, has circulated draft language, which was leaked today, that would let the organization take what it describes as a more "active" Internet role in the future.

It shows that the ITU would become involved in "Internet-related technical, development and public policy issues" -- a broad phrase that sweeps in hot-button areas including cybersecurity, spam, surveillance, and censorship.

The draft document (PDF) was disclosed the … Read more

The inner workings of United Nations telecommunications agencies aren't usually headline news. But then again, most U.N. confabs don't grapple with topics as slippery as Internet censorship, taxation, and privacy.

A U.N. agency called the International Telecommunication Union has kicked off what has become a highly controversial summit this week in Dubai, capping over a year of closed-door negotiations over an international communications treaty that could have a direct impact on the Internet. The summit continues through the end of next week.

It's true, of course, that U.N. meetings often yield more rhetoric than … Read more

The United States faces "the cyber equivalent of the World Trade Center attack" unless urgent action is taken, a former U.S. intelligence chief warns.

John "Mike" McConnell, who served as director of the National Security Agency under President Clinton and then as director of national intelligence under George W. Bush and President Obama, told the Financial Times (subscription required) that such an attack would cripple the nation's banking system, power grid, and other essential infrastructure.

"We have had our 9/11 warning. Are we going to wait for the cyber equivalent of the … Read more

President Obama has long said cybersecurity is one of his priorities and it appears he is now acting on his words.

According to the Washington Post, he is said to have signed a secret policy directive last month that will give the military and other government authorities the ability to act quickly if the country comes under cyberattack.

Dubbed the "Presidential Policy Directive 20," this classified document allegedly outlines the rules of how federal agencies are allowed to react when it comes to online breaches of security, hacking, cyberthreats, and attacks.

One of the major elements of the … Read more

Sen. Joseph Lieberman spent years fighting unsuccessfully for a so-called Internet kill switch that would grant the president vast power over private networks during a "national cyberemergency."

Now Lieberman (I-Conn.), who did not seek re-election, is hoping a more modest version of his proposal will be approved before he leaves office in January. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has inserted the cybersecurity bill into the Senate's post-election calendar, and a vote could happen as early as this week after debate on a proposal to open more public land for hunting and fishing.

That move has reignited … Read more

Seventy-seven percent of small- and medium-sized businesses believe that their companies are safe from cyberthreats and yet 83 percent of them have no formal cybersecurity plan. Um, yeah. And that was just one of the contradictions uncovered in a survey of 1,015 small- and medium-sized businesses carried out by the National Cyber Security Alliance and Symantec.

"It's not part of the culture yet," said Michael Kaiser, executive director of the NCSA, who added that he was "a little disheartened that we didn't see substantial … Read more

In 1947, Harry Truman wanted Congress to vote for $400 million in aid to support Greece and Turkey against the threat of communist takeover.

That was a lot of money back then. What's more, Truman had to win over a Republican-led Congress dominated by isolationists. But Sen. Arthur Vandenberg of Michigan, an influential Republican who also chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, offered the president a sage piece of advice: Make a personal appearance before Congress, play up the threat of Soviet expansionism, "and scare the hell out of the American people."

Which is exactly what Truman … Read more

The U.S. military has the ability to act pre-emptively when it detects an imminent cyberattack threat, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said today.

During his first major policy speech on cybersecurity, Panetta echoed previous statements that the United States was facing the possibility of a "cyber-Pearl Harbor" perpetrated by foreign hackers, painting a grim portrait of the destructive power wielded by unnamed agents.

"A cyber attack perpetrated by nation states or violent extremist groups could be as destructive as the terrorist attack of 9/11," he said in prepared remarks during a speech at the Intrepid … Read more