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Category: cybercrime/malcode – Page 218

I wish the CA AG a lot of luck; however, her approach is very questionable when you think about downstream access and feed type scenarios. Example, Business in Boston MA has an agreement with a cloud host company in CA, and Boston also has data that it pulls in from Italy, DE, etc. plus has a service that it offers to all of users and partners in the US and Europe that is hosted in CA.

How is the CA AG going to impose a policy on Boston? It can’t; in fact the business in Boston will change providers and choose to use someone in another state that will not impact their costs and business.

BTW — I didn’t even mention the whole recent announcement from China on deploying out a fully Quantum “secured” infrastructure. If this is true; everyone is exposed and this means there is no way companies can be held accountable because US didn’t have access to the more advance Quantum infrastructure technology.

https://lnkd.in/b9xXVAN

Feb. 17 — California Attorney General Kamala Harris (D) has released the state’s data breach report, laying out the legal and ethical responsibilities of businesses to keep information safe and perhaps most importantly outlining what the state believes is “reasonable security” that companies must employ to avoid possible enforcement actions.

Under the state’s information security statute, businesses must use “reasonable security procedures and practices” that “protect personal information from unauthorized access, destruction, use, modification, or disclosure,” the report said.

Under the guidelines in the report released Feb. 16, failing to implement all 20 of the Center for Internet Security’s Critical Security Controls that apply to an organization’s environment constitutes a lack of reasonable security. The controls define a minimum level of information security all organizations that collect or maintain personal information should meet.

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Microsoft founder Bill Gates has broken with other Silicon Valley giants by backing the FBI in its battle with Apple over hacking into a locked iPhone as part of the investigation into last December’s San Bernardino terror attack.

In an interview with the Financial Times published Tuesday, Gates said a court order requiring Apple to help the FBI access a work phone belonging to gunman Syed Farook was” a specific case where the government is asking for access to information. They are not asking for some general thing, they are asking for a particular case.”

Gates went on to compare the FBI’s request to accessing bank and telephone records. However, he added that the government must be subject to rules about when it can access such information.

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Very concerning news for the US security; we’ll see how the US responds. Remember, our largest hackers in the US is China; so we’ll need to determine what this means as well as how vulnerable we are.

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/969692.shtml

China’s stock markets have been stabilizing in recent days after the rollercoaster ride at the start of the year. And one bright point has been stocks related to quantum communications, showing renewed investor interest in the new technology, which will play an important role in creating a safety net for the increasingly information technology-savvy economy.

The fact that China has taken an early lead in developing the technology and translating it into real-world quantum communications projects should give added fuel to the market hype about the apparently unfathomable yet promising investment theme.

Continue reading “China’s newest tech can offer quantum of security” | >

FBI not able to hack a phone is really starting to make them look really bad. Granted Apple has created a more advance encryption format on their phones; however, FBI is supposed to be a lot more advance than this.

Why would you want your smart phone encrypted? To protect the information on it should it get lost or stolen, and to ensure no one has tampered with your data.

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Rep. David Lifferth, R-Eagle Mountain, has introduced legislation to increase punishment for those who engage in Internet crimes. HB225, Cybercrime Amendments, specifically targets crimes known as “doxing” and “swatting.” The bill has been assigned to be heard by a House committee.

Doxing is the act of releasing personal information about a person publicly online. Oftentimes, these releases are accompanied by intimidating threats toward the targets of doxing. Releasing personal information online while encouraging others to commit crimes against the victim is understandably dangerous. However, issues have been raised concerning First Amendment rights.

Originally, HB225 included criminal charges against those who release personal information with the intent to “annoy, offend, and frighten.” Lifferth is removing these phrases particularly as they don’t necessarily indicate malicious intent. Critics have expressed that HB225 would be a violation of freedom of speech.

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This is a good baseline around common known issues — the real problem is cyber terrorists (as I call them) learns from each attack they instigate and like an artist, they constantly are fine tuning their own skill. So, the attacker’s approach and execution may be done one way, and by the next attack they can easily have changed their whole attack model completely which makes it very cumbersome for experts to trace at times. If we believe this is bad now; wait until AI is more widely available and adopted. Or, Quantum ends up in the hands of these guys.

Cybercrimes in today’s technologically advanced society have become much more sophisticated and progressive. We can thank mobility for the ease of extended access to our personal data, as with every use of our mobile phones, laptops or tablets in public areas we further increase our risk and vulnerability. As business owners, online shoppers, students, employees and even house wives, we remain at high risk for intrusion of our virtual systems. In this digital day in age, our personal data is used everywhere from when we make an online banking transaction to buying a new shirt at the mall, and even working on a project at the local coffee shop. It is hardly responsible to think that your information is safe anywhere.

Protecting Yourself

Lucky for us, there are many effective and efficient opportunities for protecting ourselves virtually. When it comes to building a good defense against malicious cyber attackers the best mode of attack is a good offense. This means, educating yourself and setting up parameters that protect your system and therefore your personal data from all angles. In the grand scheme of things, knowledge is power and the more power you have, the more you can leverage such as a way to build a good defense against cybercrime. Here are five facts about cybercrimes that you might not be aware of:

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US Navy fighting the real war that is ramping up by unpluging from certain networks. Well, that is an option; but also very limiting to “sneaker net” information file transfers. Definitely not uncommon across other areas of government.

SAN DIEGO — For the Navy, the best defense against a high-tech enemy may be a low-tech strategy.

After decades of building equipment, aircraft and ships designed to communicate with each other and back to shore, the Navy is now looking to “selectively disconnect” its systems to minimize vulnerability to cyberattacks, said Rear Adm. Lorin Selby, commander of the Naval Surface Warfare Center.

“We’re going back now and trying to selectively disconnect things and slow down some of these connections and only do it where we think it makes sense, where it’s safe to do it,” Selby told an audience at the AFCEA West conference in San Diego. “We’ve got to be more judicious with the things we connect to the internet or to shore, those kinds of vulnerabilities.”

Continue reading “Navy Wants to Unplug From Some Networks to Stay Ahead of Cyberattacks” | >

HYDERABAD: Telangana police and Assam police nabbed an online fraudster in Guwahati on Thursday, even as the culprit tried to open fire at the police party.

A team of Cyberabad Cyber wing police had been camping in Guwahati for the last two days to nab one Vipul, wanted in a Rs 76-lakh online fraud case. He would send emails promising to get contracts in corporate companies, but after collecting money he would cheat the aspirants. The Cyberabad police party called Vipul on the pretext of some business deal to trap him. Crime wing officials and Assam police were waiting in a car for Vipul, who arrived in a Scorpio car.

However, Vipul got alert after seeing the police party and sped away from the location. On seeing the culprit slipping from the location, police chased his car.

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