In-brief: A crippling cyber attack that could damage and destroy equipment needed to keep the lights on in major US cities is already possible. The only thing that’s lacking is a motive to carry out such an attack, according to our guest on this week’s podcast: Joe Weiss, a Managing Partner at Applied Control Solutions, LLC and a persistent, if lonely, voice calling for an overhaul of cyber security for the U.S. electric grid.
In-brief: In an interview with The Security Ledger, former Obama Cybersecurity Advisor Michael Daniel weighs in on the changing US-Israel relationship, promoting cyber security talent in the U.S. and the future of the intelligence community’s ‘vulnerability equities’ program.
In-brief: On Tuesday, a ransomware infection spread across Europe and even affected companies and systems as far away as the United States and Brazil. Iain Thomson at The Register breaks down the malware used in the attack, dubbed NotPetya because it disguises itself as the Petya ransomware, although in the end it seems it was designed to wreak havoc, not collect money.
Fast spreading ransomware dubbed Petya has crippled parts of Ukraine and hit companies in The Netherlands, France, Russia and Spain. It appears to be spreading using a combination of software exploit and stolen passwords.
In-brief: Ukraine is a ‘test bed’ for massive and disruptive cyber attacks on critical infrastructure that might be launched against other adversaries, the U.S. included, Andy Greenberg argues in an article in Wired Magazine.
