February 2010 Archives

On February 23, 2010 the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a committee hearing on Cybersecurity: "Next Steps to Protect Our Critical Infrastructure".  The testimony from the witnesses at the hearing and a wecast of the hearing are available on-line, click here. 

This hearing comes with a renewed focus and on the heels of two, high-profile cyberattacks. Legislation is being formulated by Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, respectively. Both lawmakers have long clamored for a federal cybersecurity bill, charging that current measures -- including the legislation passed by the House last year -- are too piecemeal to protect the country's Web infrastructure.  READ MORE

To make better cybersecurity-related decisions a senior FBI official recommends considering a simple algebraic equation:  risk = threat x vulnerability x consequence; rather than solely focusing on threat vectors and actors.  READ MORE

Each factor is important, Steven Chabinsky, deputy assistant director at the FBI's Cyber Division, said during a panel discussion at the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association Homeland Security Conference in Washington.

Chabinsky said the risk model is compelling is because risk drops down to zero if any of those three elements or variables is zero. He said the risk model is the first place he goes when he needs to step back strategically.

A report in the NY Times concludes that the series of so-called "Aurora"online attacks on dozens of other American corporations have been traced to computers at two educational institutions in China, including one with close ties to the Chinese military, say people involved in the investigation. READ MORE

Follow-up / Feb 22, 2010

U.S. Pinpoints Coder Behind Google Attack ... The man, a security consultant in his 30s, posted sections of the program to a hacking forum where he described it as something he was "working on".  READ MORE

The Security Innovation Network (SINET) hosts the Fourth Annual IT Security Entrepreneurs' Forum (ITSEF): "Bridging the Gaps" in our Nation's Cyber Security: Connecting Leadership, Innovation, and Policy at Stanford University on March 16 - 17, 2010.

Click here for more information and registration

The Winter 2010 Quarterly Meeting of the SF Bay InfraGard chapter is Thursday / Feb 18, 2010 / 9AM - noon

Hosted by Hewlett-Packard in Palo Alto, CA ...

A very topical meeting ... we have presentations on the "CLOUD" from HP, and will hear about McAfee's 2010 Threat Predictions and "Operation Aurora" ...

MORE INFO ...

According to the 2010 Silicon Valley Index recently released by Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network and Silicon Valley Community Foundation the economic recession has stalled Silicon Valley's vibrant innovation economy and left its global competitive standing at risk as never before.

PRESS RELEASE

Download the 2010 Silicon Valley Index

Writing in Homeland Security Today, Robert David Steele has an Opinion piece addressing a wide range of cybersecurity issues. READ MORE

The Director of National Intelligence, America's top intelligence official, has told lawmakers that malicious cyber activity is growing at an unprecedented rate, severely threatening the nation's public and private information infrastructure.

The reports to Congress conclude threats to the information networks of the United States come from nation-states, criminals and that terrorist groups have expressed a desire to use cyber means to target the United States.  READ MORE

Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair recently testified before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Permanent Select Committee to offer the Intelligence Community's assessment of threats to United States national security. Click here to read the Annual Threat Assessment/Statement for the Record for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Click here to read the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence version.

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The Director of National Intelligence, America's top intelligence official, has told lawmakers that Al Qaeda and its affiliates have made it a high priority to attempt a large-scale attack on American soil within the next six months. READ MORE

Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair recently testified before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Permanent Select Committee to offer the Intelligence Community's assessment of threats to United States national security. Click here to read the Annual Threat Assessment/Statement for the Record for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Click here to read the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence version.

A report, by the Harvard Kennedy School - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, portrays al-Qaeda's leaders as determined and patient, willing to wait for years to acquire the kind of weapons that could inflict widespread casualties.  READ MORE


DOWNLOAD REPORT (.pdf):  Al Qaeda Weapons of Mass Destruction Threat: Hype or Reality?