Chinese hacking continues to build anger in American business and government circles. As a result, private companies may be encouraged to do more than passively defend their networks as evidenced by the recent report of a commission headed by two Obama appointees, former US Ambassador to China (and minor GOP Presidential candidate) Jon Huntsman and… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Cybersecurity and Cyberwar
Subscribe to Cybersecurity and Cyberwar RSS FeedLessons From the New York ATM Heist
Posted in Cybersecurity and Cyberwar, Data Breach, International, Security Programs & PoliciesThe announcement yesterday of charges in New York against eight members of a cybercrime ring that stole $40 million from ATMs in 24 countries, all within 10 hours, is the latest in a series of episodes that illustrate the constant threat of cyber attacks against our corporate networks. This case should be a wake-up call… Continue Reading
Amendments to CISPA a Threat to Cybersecurity?
Posted in Cybersecurity and Cyberwar, Privacy RegulationIn response to some of the privacy criticisms of the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), the House Intelligence Committee is proposing amendments to the bill. Politico’s Tony Romm reports on some of the likely amendments: Still another amendment specifies clearly that CISPA won’t allow companies to “hack back” their hackers in pursuit of… Continue Reading
The Question of ‘International Law of Cyberwar’
Posted in Cybersecurity and Cyberwar, International, Security Programs & PoliciesWill international law and diplomacy limit cyberwar? Those who believe in international “norms” for cyberwar usually argue that cyberattacks on financial institutions are beyond the pale. For example, Harold Koh has declared the State Department’s view that cyberwarriors “must distinguish military objectives … from civilian objects, which under international law are generally protected from attack.”… Continue Reading
Europe Tries to Catch Up on Cybersecurity
Posted in Cybersecurity and CyberwarEurope has typically been seen as the world’s leader in protecting privacy (for good or ill). But it has generally lagged behind the US when it comes to cybersecurity. Last month, it began playing catch-up when the European Commission put forth a cybersecurity strategy as well as a proposed Directive on network and information security… Continue Reading
Cyberattacks Ranked As Top Global Threat To US National Security
Posted in Cybersecurity and CyberwarTen to fifteen years ago, some of us on this blog (well, both of us) were called fear-mongers, and worse, for trying to raise the alarum about the threat to our security posed by cyberattacks. Times certainly have changed—or at least attitudes. Today, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, in testimony before the US Senate,… Continue Reading
Hacking Hollywood
Posted in China, Cybersecurity and Cyberwar, Data Breach, International, Security Programs & PoliciesThat might sound like breaking news from 1983, but this time we’re not talking movie plots, we’re talking business. Specifically how Chinese cyberespionage could affect Hollywood’s bottom line. The Hollywood Reporter asked me to talk about that impact in a guest column, out this week. Here’s some of what I said: Hollywood might be blinded… Continue Reading
The Hackback Debate Revisited
Posted in Cybersecurity and Cyberwar, Data Breach, International, Privacy Regulation, Security Programs & PoliciesLast fall, Orin Kerr and I engaged in an online debate over the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act — specifically whether it is lawful for the victim of computer crime to follow his stolen data into networks controlled by the thief. The debate spread across several posts and into the comments, but it’s been pulled… Continue Reading
Found: The PLA’s University of Hacking
Posted in China, Cybersecurity and Cyberwar, International, Security Programs & PoliciesBloomberg Businessweek has a remarkable story about the identification of another Chinese hacker. It’s a long, tangled, and fascinating tale of good sleuthing by several researchers, but the trail ends with Zhang Changhe, a digital entrepreneur and teacher — at a People’s Liberation Army school that is suspected of training PLA hackers. In the denouement,… Continue Reading
A Soft Counterattack on Private Counterhacks
Posted in Cybersecurity and Cyberwar, Data Breach, Privacy Regulation, Security Programs & PoliciesHerb Lin of the National Research Council has launched the first, soft counterattack on those who think victims of cyberespionage should have greater leeway to respond directly to intrusions. Herb always strives for some balance in his work, but it’s clear that he’s a skeptic, concluding “It is not clear that the use of offensive… Continue Reading
Up the Ladder We Go
Posted in China, Cybersecurity and Cyberwar, International, Security Programs & PoliciesOnce again, Ellen Nakashima of The Washington Post has broken a cybersecurity story: A new intelligence assessment has concluded that the United States is the target of a massive, sustained cyber-espionage campaign that is threatening the country’s economic competitiveness, according to individuals familiar with the report. The National Intelligence Estimate identifies China as the country… Continue Reading
Anonymous Attacks Again
Posted in Cybersecurity and Cyberwar, Data Breach, Privacy Regulation, Security Programs & PoliciesAnonymous is claiming to have struck a blow in Aaron Swartz’s memory. It has hacked the website of the US Sentencing Commission and posted a long manifesto and a group of files named after Supreme Court Justices. The manifesto suggests that the files contain embarrassing secrets and says that the secrets will be revealed in… Continue Reading
Iran Targets US Banks, While Privacy Groups Target NSA
Posted in Cybersecurity and Cyberwar, Data Breach, Security Programs & PoliciesThe wave of service disruptions to several major US financial institutions are widely attributed to Iran. These distributed denial of service attacks have grown so serious that US banks have asked the National Security Agency for help. However, privacy advocates tell us who we should really be worried about: “’The dual mission of the NSA,… Continue Reading
Corporate Network Defense: When Seconds Count, the FBI is Years Behind
Posted in Cybersecurity and Cyberwar, Data Breach, Security Programs & PoliciesThe Washington Post’s Ellen Nakashima wrote another cutting-edge article on innovative approaches to network defense. I’ve blogged before about honeytokens, deceptive files that leave hackers with false data while flagging the intrusion to defenders. The article suggests that their use is growing, as other defensive techniques prove ineffective: Brown Printing Co…began planting fake data in… Continue Reading
Prosecuting Cyberespionage – Justice’s New Strategy
Posted in Cybersecurity and Cyberwar, International, Security Programs & PoliciesThe National Security Division of the Justice Department may be getting on the cyberspace attribution/retribution bandwagon — and in the process, reshaping US strategy for deterring cyberespionage. First, they are creating a new liaison position in US Attorney offices across the country — the National Security Cybersecurity Specialist, or NSCS (rhymes with “discus meniscus” for you… Continue Reading
Finding Cyberspies
Posted in China, Cybersecurity and Cyberwar, International, Security Programs & PoliciesFor a while now I believe that attribution of hacker attacks has been rapidly improving. Well now we have confirmation from a Ken Dilanian scoop in the LA Times. Dilanian reports that “the U.S. intelligence community is nearing completion of its first detailed review of cyber-spying against American targets from abroad, including an attempt to calculate U.S. financial losses from… Continue Reading
Why Do the Feds Care About Officials’ Private Emails?
Posted in China, Cybersecurity and Cyberwar, International, Security Programs & PoliciesFor those who have wondered why the feds cared about what former CIA Director David Petraeus was doing on his private email account, recent reports on hacks into the personal computers of former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen provide at least a clue. Mullen’s personal computers, which he used while working… Continue Reading
More on Cybersecurity and Attribution: Si Chuan University and Tencent
Posted in China, Cybersecurity and Cyberwar, International, Security Programs & PoliciesPreviously, I told the story of how Trend Micro identified “Luckycat,” a Chinese hacker who had attacked the Dalai Lama, aerospace firms, and other targets. Based on what we know so far, the likely hacker is Gu Kaiyuan, formerly a student at Si Chuan University’s Information Security Institute and currently employed by the large Chinese instant… Continue Reading
The Importance of Cybersecurity
Posted in China, Cybersecurity and Cyberwar, InternationalFor those who think I’m a little paranoid on the subject of cybersecurity, I share this story – a nightmare made in China for a small US businessman. Brian Milburn’s parental control software was pirated and used in a China’s infamous Green Dam software. When he sued, hackers tied to the Chinese government attacked his networks… Continue Reading
The Hackback Debate
Posted in Cybersecurity and Cyberwar, Privacy Regulation, Security Programs & PoliciesThe vulnerability of computer networks to hacking grows more troubling every year. No network is safe, and hacking has evolved from an obscure hobby to a major national security concern. Cybercrime has cost consumers and banks billions of dollars. Yet few cyberspies or cybercriminals have been caught and punished. Law enforcement is overwhelmed both by… Continue Reading
RSA CEO Speaks Out on Privacy
Posted in Cybersecurity and Cyberwar, Privacy Regulation, Security Programs & PoliciesIn a speech earlier this week to RSA 2012 in Europe, Art Coviello challenged privacy laws as a threat to, well, privacy: “Intelligence-based security also requires information sharing at scale,” said Coviello. But these changes are held back by a number of things, including current privacy laws. Coviello recounted a discussion he had with a… Continue Reading
Good News for Cybersecurity and Attribution?
Posted in Cybersecurity and Cyberwar, Data Breach, Security Programs & PoliciesHow should the US respond to massive state-sponsored cyberespionage? Right now, policymakers are intent on improving network security, perhaps by pressing the private sector to improve its security, or by waiving outmoded privacy rules that prevent rapid sharing of information about attackers’ tactics and tools. This would improve our network security, but not enough to alter… Continue Reading
Rethinking Cybersecurity, Retribution, and the Role of the Private Sector
Posted in Cybersecurity and Cyberwar, Security Programs & PoliciesIn upcoming testimony before the House Homeland Security Committee, I’ll be assessing the Department of Homeland Security, with particular focus on cybersecurity. Probably the most important point I’ll be making is a simple one: We will never defend our way out of the current cybersecurity crisis. That’s because putting all the burden of preventing crime… Continue Reading
Sneak Peek of the Cybersecurity Executive Order Draft
Posted in Cybersecurity and Cyberwar, Security Programs & PoliciesFederal News Radio’s Jason Miller reports that he’s seen a draft of the executive order on cybersecurity. What he describes is quite plausible: The order creates a council chaired by DHS to coordinate the mission. This provision would be a defeat for the business lobbyists who fought to keep DHS from getting a central cybersecurity… Continue Reading