Posts Tagged ‘ cyber warfare ’

"The discovery of a group of servers linked to an elusive espionage campaign is providing new details about a high-tech piece of spy software that some fear may be targeting dissidents living under oppressive regimes. A Canadian research center said Wednesday that it had identified 25 different countries that host servers linked to FinFisher, a Trojan horse program which can dodge anti-virus protections to steal data, log keystrokes, eavesdrop on Skype calls, and turn microphones and webcams into live surveillance devices." (03/13/13)

"The Pentagon has approved a major expansion of its cybersecurity force over the next several years, increasing its size more than fivefold to bolster the nation’s ability to defend critical computer systems and conduct offensive computer operations against foreign adversaries, according to U.S. officials. The move, requested by the head of the Defense Department’s Cyber Command, is part of an effort to turn an organization that has focused largely on defensive measures into the equivalent of an Internet-era fighting force." (01/28/13)

"Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom has hit a roadblock with the launch of his new Me.ga cloud service. The African state of Gabon, which controls the .ga domain, has blocked access to the site. 'The reach of the US & Vivendi: Gabon Minister announced Me.ga domain will be suspended. Calls cloud storage site cyber crime,' Dotcom tweeted last night. Dotcom, however, said he has an alternative domain." (11/07/12)

"A shadowy but well-organized hacker group in the Middle East has disrupted the electronic banking operations of America’s largest financial institutions in recent days, underscoring U.S. vulnerability to online terrorism [sic]. A group identifying itself as Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters attacked the websites of Wells Fargo, U.S. Bancorp and Bank of America. The strikes left customers temporarily unable to access their checking accounts, mortgages and other services." (09/27/12)

"If you use Internet Explorer 6, 7, 8 or 9 as your default browser on a Windows PC, security experts are advising you to use a different Web browser until Microsoft patches a critical vulnerability in IE. Microsoft on Monday confirmed that hackers were actively exploiting an IE vulnerability that could allow an attacker to take over your PC. The exploit does not affect users running IE10 on the Windows 8 Release Preview." (09/18/12)

"An analysis of two newly discovered command-and-control servers sheds new light on the cyber espionage tool known as Flamer. The Flamer cyber espionage tool that targeted the Middle East has likely been operational for more than five years and as recently as May 2012, according to an analysis published by security firm Symantec on Sept. 17." (09/17/12)

"The U.S. is pursuing a wide-ranging, high-tech campaign against Iran's nuclear program that includes the cybersabotage project known as Stuxnet, which was developed by the Central Intelligence Agency in conjunction with Idaho National Laboratory, the Israeli government, and other U.S. agencies, according to people familiar with the efforts. ... The existence of Stuxnet and the presumption of U.S. and Israeli involvement have been widely reported, even though U.S. officials have never confirmed the government's role. The code name and scope of the project and other details of the effort were reported on Friday by the New York Times in an adaptation from a coming book." (06/01/12)

"The FBI is asking Internet companies not to oppose a controversial proposal that would require firms, including Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, and Google, to build in backdoors for government surveillance." (05/04/12)