On June 13, Stewart Baker commented on the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation of two Chinese telecom firms. Today, Stewart was quoted by Eliza Krigman on the fine balance between security and economic concerns that this investigation brings to light.
June 2012
Taking the Offense to Defend Networks – Another Perspective
One can certainly understand the frustration of private companies that are repeatedly subject to cyberattacks, and seem to have little ability to keep the intruders out or to get overstretched law enforcement agencies interested in investigating. But the idea of changing the law to authorize “hacking back” is a dangerous one, and unlikely to fix…
Taking the Offense to Defend Networks
Joseph Menn has an interesting Reuters article on a growing sentiment within network security circles:
Frustrated by their inability to stop sophisticated hacking attacks or use the law to punish their assailants, an increasing number of US companies are taking retaliatory action. Known in the cyber security industry as “active defense” or “strike-back” technology, the…
Chinese Telecom Firms Investigated by House Intelligence Committee
The House Intelligence Committee is conducting a remarkably detailed and bipartisan investigation (subscription required) of ties between two Chinese telecom equipment giants, Huawei and ZTE, and the Chinese government. Widespread security fears have been targeted at these companies over concerns that their equipment would enable Chinese interception of US telephone calls, expanding American cybervulnerabilities…
Americans Torn on Cybersecurity
A new Washington Post poll suggests that the American public is divided over what to do about cyber threats. And the division does not correlate with party politics. People are divided pretty evenly on whether they are “very” or “fairly” concerned about major cyberattacks on US businesses or the government or “just somewhat” or “not…
Antivirus Software is Not Failproof
Mikko Hypponen of F-Secure, an antivirus company, wrote an interesting post discussing the limits of antivirus software. Of particular note is that Flame, Stuxnet, and Duqu were all reported to antivirus firms months or years before they were flagged as malware. He suggests that his and other antivirus firms failed because of the sophistication of…