Drew Fitzgerald – WSJ.com – “Earlier this month, Brett Wentworth took Level 3 Communications Inc. into territory that most rivals have been reluctant to enter. The director of global security at the largest carrier of Internet traffic cut off data from reaching a group of servers in China that his company believed was involved in… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: PC Security
UN Report Champions Encryption and Anonymity
EPIC – “The UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression released a report today supporting strong encryption and anonymity tools. The Rapporteur finds that, “States should not restrict encryption and anonymity, which facilitate and often enable the rights to freedom of opinion and expression.” EPIC previously urged the UN to support secure, anonymous communications, stating,… Continue Reading
What Every Librarian Needs to Know About HTTPS
EFF – “Librarians have long understood that to provide access to knowledge it is crucial to protect their patrons’ privacy. Books can provide information that is deeply unpopular. As a result, local communities and governments sometimes try to ban the most objectionable ones. Librarians rightly see it as their duty to preserve access to books,… Continue Reading
The Spy in the Sandbox – Practical Cache Attacks in Javascript
The Spy in the Sandbox — Practical Cache Attacks in Javascript. Yossef Oren, Vasileios P. Kemerlis, Simha Sethumadhavan, Angelos D. Keromytis (Submitted on 25 Feb 2015 (v1), last revised 1 Mar 2015 (this version, v2)) “We present the first micro-architectural side-channel attack which runs entirely in the browser. In contrast to other works in this… Continue Reading
House Reconsiders Data Breach Bill
EPIC – “Members of the Energy and Commerce Committee have convened to rework the Data Security and Breach Notification Act. The Act, introduced by Reps. Blackburn and Welch, would require businesses to notify consumers of a data breach “unless there is no reasonable risk of identity theft or financial harm.” The bill would also preempt… Continue Reading
CRS – Cyberwarfare and Cyberterrorism
Cyberwarfare and Cyberterrorism: In Brief, Catherine A. Theohary, Specialist in National Security, Policy and Information Operations. John W. Rollins, Specialist in Terrorism and National Security. March 27, 2015. “Recent incidents have highlighted the lack of consensus internationally on what defines a cyberattack, an act of war in cyberspace, or cyberterrorism. Cyberwar is typically conceptualized as… Continue Reading
Even more unwanted software protection via the Safe Browsing API
Google Online Security Blog: ” Deceptive software disguised as a useful download harms your web experience by making undesired changes to your computer. Safe Browsing offers protection from such unwanted software by showing a warning in Chrome before you download these programs. In February we started showing additional warnings in Chrome before you visit a… Continue Reading
The Emergence of Cybersecurity Law
Prepared for the Indiana University Maurer School of Law by Hanover Research | February 2015 “This paper examines cyberlaw as a growing field of legal practice and the roles that lawyers play in helping companies respond to cybersecurity threats. Drawing on interviews with lawyers, consultants, and academics knowledgeable in the intersection of law and cybersecurity,… Continue Reading
Report – Largest global manufacturer of SIM cards hacked
The Intercept – Jeremy Scahill and Josh Begley – “American and British spies hacked into the internal computer network of the largest manufacturer of SIM cards in the world, stealing encryption keys used to protect the privacy of cellphone communications across the globe, according to top-secret documents provided to The Intercept by National Security Agency… Continue Reading
Paper – The Quest to Replace Passwords
The Quest to Replace Passwords: A Framework for Comparative Evaluation of Web Authentication Schemes, by Joseph Bonneau, Cormac Herley, Paul C. van Oorschot, Frank Stajano. “We evaluate two decades of proposals to replace text passwords for general-purpose user authentication on the web using a broad set of twenty-five usability, deployability and security benefits that an… Continue Reading
Hearing Before the Senate On Protecting America from Cyber Attacks: The Importance of Information Sharing
CDT – “Greg Nojeim’s testimony for the January 28th hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee on Protecting America from Cyber Attacks. He will explain how Congress can embrace cybersecurity information sharing policies with appropriate authorities and safeguards that enhance both privacy and security, first describing the cybersecurity threat then identifying different approaches… Continue Reading
Prying Eyes: Inside the NSA’s War on Internet Security
By SPIEGEL Staff: “…Software giant Microsoft, which acquired Skype in 2011, said in a statement: “We will not provide governments with direct or unfettered access to customer data or encryption keys.” The NSA had been monitoring Skype even before that, but since February 2011, the service has been under order from the secret US Foreign… Continue Reading
