Recent Posts

Illiquid: Liberty Reserve Gone, Cybercrooks Look For Alternatives

Now that authorities in Spain, Costa Rica and the U.S. have taken down online money transfer service Liberty Reserve, the cyber underground is facing a serious liquidity crunch, as criminal gangs, botmasters, spammers and malicious hackers look for a safe platform on which to transact business. But finding a ready substitute may not be easy, with Liberty Reserve’s close competitors showing less tolerance of its “no questions asked” account creation policy, and less scrupulous outlets wary of the long arm of the U.S. Justice Department. Liberty Reserve (libertyreserve.com) went offline on Friday along with dozens of other domains operated by its founder, Arthur Budovsky – a.k.a. “Arthur Belanchuk” a.k.a “Eric Paltz.” Budovsky was arrested in Spain on May 24th. Spanish authorities acted at the request of authorities in Costa Rica, where Budovsky had set up shop, and the U.S. A three-count criminal complaint filed there by the U.S. Attorney for the […]

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Report: Chinese Hackers Pinch Advanced Weapons Designs

A Washington Post story on Sunday cited a confidential report prepared by the Pentagon that claims “Chinese hackers” have compromised systems storing data on the design of more than two dozen major U.S. weapons systems. The report, prepared for the Pentagon’s senior brass by the Defense Science Board, warns that the intrusions have given China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) a leg up on the U.S., and a boost in efforts to modernize its own military for use in a possible, future conflict, The Post reported. Many of the breaches that led to theft of sensitive data occurred at private defense contractors, or at firms that acted as subcontractors to them, the report said. No specific incidents or companies are named in the report. However, the main outlines of it echo reports of leaks of classified information on weapons systems going back more than three years. In April, 2009, for example, […]

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Podcast: The Big Truth – Responding To Sophisticated Attacks

If you work at a rank and file corporation in the U.S. or Europe, stories like those about the breach at the defense contractor Qinetiq are terrifying. Here’s a company that’s on the bleeding edge of technology, making autonomous vehicles and other high-tech gadgetry for the U.S. Military. Despite that, it finds itself the hapless victim of a devastating cyber breach that lasts – by all accounts – for months, or years. In the end, the attackers (likely linked to China’s People’s Liberation Army) make off with the company’s intellectual property (likely all of it) and, soon, defense contractors in Mainland China start turning out devices that look eerily similar to the ones Qinetiq makes. Ouch! If a company like Qinetiq can’t stop an attack by advanced persistent threats (APT) – or whatever name you want to use –  what hope do overworked IT admins at rank and file enterprises […]

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DARPA Tests Smart, Augmenting Uniform

Everyone on the Left Coast is tweeting about Google Glass this week. But, let’s face it, @projectglass is really about dis-intermediating the viewing screen. Now, over at DARPA’s Web site, we really get to see what the future of intelligent apparel looks like, namely: the DARPA Warrior Web, a next generation augmenting and intelligent uniform. DARPA on Wednesday released photos and a video of a soldier wearing a Warrior Web prototype, which augments “the soldier’s own muscles to significantly boost endurance, carrying capacity and overall war fighter effectiveness.” The prototype shown is one of many under evaluation by the Army with the goal of providing increased protection to soldiers and reducing the “metabolic cost of carrying a typical assault load” – which is often in excess of 100 lbs, according to DARPA. Muscular-skeletal injuries due to wear and tear are a leading cause of soldiers not being deployed to action. Of course, […]

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IT Security A Major Stumbling Block To Smart Manufacturing

The Internet of Things holds tremendous promise for the manufacturing space. But smart factories may still be more than a decade away, due in part to a lack of solid IT security controls, according to a survey of 1,300 German manufacturing firms and academics. The survey of 1,300 members companies and universities by the German Association for Electrical, Electronic, and Information Technologies (VDE) found that only 20% anticipated adoption of “smart production” (or “Industry 4.0” – as its referred to) by the start of the next decade. In contrast, 70% of those surveyed doubted that smart manufacturing goals would be achieved by 2025, despite obvious advantages. Why the skepticism? One commonly cited reason is a lack of strong IT security. According to a write-up on SAP’s blog, IT security was the most oft-cited obstacle to setting up smart factories. Sixty six percent of those surveyed cited security concerns as a reason to […]

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