Security vendor FireEye has uncovered a series of attacks against targets in Europe and the US that occurred between 29 April and 27 May. FireEye says a group of Middle East-based hackers called the Molerats are responsible for the attacks, launched via remote-access tool exploits known as Poison Ivy. The group, which also engages in phishing attacks, is become more active, according to researchers, who traced Molerats attacks to campaigns launched against the BBC, an unnamed US financial institution, and government organizations in Israel, Latvia, Macedonia, New Zealand, Slovenia, Turkey, the UK, and the US. Although the attackers typically use free, commonly available malware, FireEye says the group appears to be adapting its attacks to be increasingly difficult to detect. (SlashDot)(eWeek)(FireEye)
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
France Seeks Sanctions against Google for Flaunting Privacy Laws
Google faces financial sanctions in France after failing to obey with an order to bring the way in which it stores and shares user data in compliance with the nation’s privacy laws. The company faced scrutiny by various European data-protection authorities after changing its privacy policy in 2012. Google was ordered on 20 June 2013 to comply with French privacy laws within three months, but it has reportedly did not do so by the time the deadline passed. Google faces a maximum fine of €150,000 (US$202,562) for a first offense with an additional €300,000 for a second offense. It could also be ordered to change aspects of how it processes personal data for three months. (SlashDot)(CMO)(C.Nationale de L'Informatique et des Libertes)
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Study: Individuals Increasingly Push Back against Technology
University of Washington researchers have identified a trend in which a growing number of people want to resist constant connectivity with technology and disengage from the online world. They examined personal blogs and websites, popular media sources, and academic conferences and journals to determine the motivation for what they call pushback. The researchers originally speculated the trend would be driven by frustration with devices, as well as the cost of obtaining new technologies and discomfort with having to learn new technologies. However, they found it was the result of users’ feeling that technology was not meeting their needs and expressed emotional dissatisfaction, even anger. Others expressed political, religious, or moral concerns – such as wanting to adhere to “beliefs that encourage selfless behavior and face-to-face interaction with others” --, as well as the desire to better control their time and energy. The researchers found people reducing technology use are taking steps such as limiting online activities, reverting to voice-only phones, or, in a few cases, going offline completely. They will present their findings at the iConference in Berlin in March 2014. (SlashDot)(University of Washington)(S. Morrison and R. Gomez, “Pushback: the growth of expressions of resistance to constant online connectivity.”)
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Self-adapting computer network that defends itself against hackers?
Scott DeLoach, professor of computing and information sciences, and Xinming "Simon" Ou, associate professor of computing and information sciences, are researching the feasibility of building a computer network that could protect itself against online attackers by automatically changing its setup and configuration.
DeLoach and Ou were recently awarded a five-year grant of more than $1 million from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research to fund the study "Understanding and quantifying the impact of moving target defenses on computer networks." The study, which began in April, will be the first to document whether this type of adaptive cybersecurity, called moving-target defense, can be effective. If it can work, researchers will determine if the benefits of creating a moving-target defense system outweigh the overhead and resources needed to build it.
Helping Ou and DeLoach in their investigation and research are Kansas State University students Rui Zhuang and Su Zhang, both doctoral candidates in computing and information sciences from China, and Alexandru Bardas, doctoral student in computing and information sciences from Romania.
As the study progresses the computer scientists will develop a set of analytical models to determine the effectiveness of a moving-target defense system. They will also create a proof-of-concept system as a way to experiment with the idea in a concrete setting.
"It's important to investigate any scientific evidence that shows that this approach does work so it can be fully researched and developed," DeLoach said. He started collaborating with Ou to apply intelligent adaptive techniques to cybersecurity several years ago after a conversation at a university open house.
The term moving-target defense -- a subarea of adaptive security in the cybersecurity field -- was first coined around 2008, although similar concepts have been proposed and studied since the early 2000s. The idea behind moving-target defense in the context of computer networks is to create a computer network that is no longer static in its configuration. Instead, as a way to thwart cyber attackers, the network automatically and periodically randomizes its configuration through various methods -- such as changing the addresses of software applications on the network; switching between instances of the applications; and changing the location of critical system data.
Ou and DeLoach said the key is to make the network appear to an attacker that it is changing chaotically while to an authorized user the system operates normally.
"If you have a Web server, pretty much anybody in the world can figure out where you are and what software you're running," DeLoach said. "If they know that, they can figure out what vulnerabilities you have. In a typical scenario, attackers scan your system and find out everything they can about your server configuration and what security holes it has. Then they select the best time for them to attack and exploit those security holes in order to do the most damage. This could change that."
Creating a computer network that could automatically detect and defend itself against cyber attacks would substantially increase the security of online data for universities, government departments, corporations and businesses -- all of which have been the targets of large-scale cyber attacks.
In February 2011 it was discovered that the Nasdaq Stock Market's computer network had been infiltrated by hackers. Although federal investigators concluded that it was unlikely the hackers stole any information, the network's security had been left vulnerable for more than a year while the hackers visited it numerous times.
According to Ou, creating a moving-target defense system would shift the power imbalance that currently resides with hackers -- who need only find a single security hole to exploit -- back to the network administrators -- who would have a system that frequently removes whatever security privileges attackers may gain with a new clean slate.
"This is a game-changing idea in cybersecurity," Ou said. "People feel that we are currently losing against online attackers. In order to fundamentally change the cybersecurity landscape and reduce that high risk we need some big, fundamental changes to the way computers and networks are constructed and organized."
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Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Kansas State University.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Self-adapting computer network that defends itself against hackers?
Scott DeLoach, professor of computing and information sciences, and Xinming "Simon" Ou, associate professor of computing and information sciences, are researching the feasibility of building a computer network that could protect itself against online attackers by automatically changing its setup and configuration.
DeLoach and Ou were recently awarded a five-year grant of more than $1 million from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research to fund the study "Understanding and quantifying the impact of moving target defenses on computer networks." The study, which began in April, will be the first to document whether this type of adaptive cybersecurity, called moving-target defense, can be effective. If it can work, researchers will determine if the benefits of creating a moving-target defense system outweigh the overhead and resources needed to build it.
Helping Ou and DeLoach in their investigation and research are Kansas State University students Rui Zhuang and Su Zhang, both doctoral candidates in computing and information sciences from China, and Alexandru Bardas, doctoral student in computing and information sciences from Romania.
As the study progresses the computer scientists will develop a set of analytical models to determine the effectiveness of a moving-target defense system. They will also create a proof-of-concept system as a way to experiment with the idea in a concrete setting.
"It's important to investigate any scientific evidence that shows that this approach does work so it can be fully researched and developed," DeLoach said. He started collaborating with Ou to apply intelligent adaptive techniques to cybersecurity several years ago after a conversation at a university open house.
The term moving-target defense -- a subarea of adaptive security in the cybersecurity field -- was first coined around 2008, although similar concepts have been proposed and studied since the early 2000s. The idea behind moving-target defense in the context of computer networks is to create a computer network that is no longer static in its configuration. Instead, as a way to thwart cyber attackers, the network automatically and periodically randomizes its configuration through various methods -- such as changing the addresses of software applications on the network; switching between instances of the applications; and changing the location of critical system data.
Ou and DeLoach said the key is to make the network appear to an attacker that it is changing chaotically while to an authorized user the system operates normally.
"If you have a Web server, pretty much anybody in the world can figure out where you are and what software you're running," DeLoach said. "If they know that, they can figure out what vulnerabilities you have. In a typical scenario, attackers scan your system and find out everything they can about your server configuration and what security holes it has. Then they select the best time for them to attack and exploit those security holes in order to do the most damage. This could change that."
Creating a computer network that could automatically detect and defend itself against cyber attacks would substantially increase the security of online data for universities, government departments, corporations and businesses -- all of which have been the targets of large-scale cyber attacks.
In February 2011 it was discovered that the Nasdaq Stock Market's computer network had been infiltrated by hackers. Although federal investigators concluded that it was unlikely the hackers stole any information, the network's security had been left vulnerable for more than a year while the hackers visited it numerous times.
According to Ou, creating a moving-target defense system would shift the power imbalance that currently resides with hackers -- who need only find a single security hole to exploit -- back to the network administrators -- who would have a system that frequently removes whatever security privileges attackers may gain with a new clean slate.
"This is a game-changing idea in cybersecurity," Ou said. "People feel that we are currently losing against online attackers. In order to fundamentally change the cybersecurity landscape and reduce that high risk we need some big, fundamental changes to the way computers and networks are constructed and organized."
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Kansas State University, via Newswise.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.