In-brief: The CIA has concluded in a secret assessment that Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump win the presidency, sharpening an earlier analysis that found evidence for Russian tampering with the election.
Government
Opinion: the Lack of Women in Cybersecurity is both a Problem and a Threat
In-brief: The author argues that the devaluation of traditionally “soft” skills like empathy, communication and collaboration in the information security space may be hampering the ability of IT security teams to respond to human-focused threats and attacks.
Ransomware Used Against Muni Known As Harsh, Virulent
San Francisco’s Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA) was hit with a ransomware attack over the weekend, disrupting a number of agency computer systems including email, the MTA said in a statement on Sunday. And security experts say that the ransomware used has a reputation for virulence. Computer terminals observed at MTA (or “Muni”) stations displayed a message that read, in part, “You Hacked. All Data Encrypted” over the weekend, paralyzing toll collection operations and forcing the MTA to open its turnstiles and let the public ride for free. According to a report by The San Francisco Examiner claims that the ransomware thieves have infected more than 2,000 of the agency’s 8,000 computers, affecting not only fare collection, but also systems that assign routes to bus drivers. The thieves are demanding $73,000 in ransom, paid in bitcoin. In a statement on Sunday, San Francisco MTA said that the attack “disrupted some of our […]
Netherlands Calls for EU Safety Standards for Internet of Things Devices | NL Times
A report from NL Times about calls from the Dutch Democratic Party (D66) for Europe-wide safety standards for devices connected to the Internet of Things. From the article: Devices that do not meet these standards should be banned, parliamenterian Kees Verhoeven said in an interview with NU.nl. He will submit a proposal addressing this to Dutch parliament next week. The European Commission is currently investigating whether such safety standards are an attainable goal. But the D66 thinks that the Netherlands can already take some steps to increase safety itself, such as a Dutch label that can inform consumers about the security on their devices. “This subject requires real attention, because there are so many devices that are increasingly designed to connect to the internet”, Verhoeven said to the newspaper. “In the Netherlands we can already take steps to ensure that people buy advices that at least have a greater chance […]
Department of Defense Sets Ground Rules for Hackers
In-brief: The U.S. Department of Defense published guidelines on Monday for independent security researchers to disclose vulnerabilities in DoD’s public facing systems. The program, managed by the firm HackerOne, provides a legal route for hackers to disclose vulnerabilities to the military.
