In The News

Lawfare: Mueller’s Indictment of Russian Hackers Highlights Stakes of Microsoft Case

Andrew Keane Woods February 20, 2018
Since the 9/11 attacks on New York City and Washington, DC, in 2001, the United States developed sophisticated surveillance techniques. Special Counsel Robert Mueller indicted 13 Russians and three Russian organizations for interfering in the 2016 presidential elections, describing elaborate efforts to avoid detection including virtual private networks and US travel to set up servers and accounts...

CNET: Details on Big Chip Flaws Spectre and Meltdown

Laura Hautala January 4, 2018
Silicon processing chips are reported to have security flaws known as Spectre and Meltdown that could expose computer to hacking attacks. Skilled hackers could view passwords, encryption keys and other secret data on those chips. “To make computer processes run faster, a chip will essentially guess what information the computer needs to perform its next function,” explains Laura Hautala for CNET...

Financial Times: Is Facebook Spinning Out of Control Over Russian Revelations?

Hannah Kuchler and Barney Jopson October 10, 2017
Russia used social media to disrupt the 2016 US presidential election and under-cut some of the world’s most innovative companies in the process – “weaponization” in the words of the Financial Times. Facebook, Google, YouTube and Twitter encourage political comment and gather personal data, then sell targeted, automated advertising. The social-media firms can expect more regulations from Europe...

Reuters: Russian Firm Provides New Internet Connection to North Korea

Jeremy Wagstaff, Eric Auchard and Maria Kiselyova October 6, 2017
A state-owned Russian company has given North Korea a second internet connection. The first one was provided by China Unicom. North Korea has thousands of trained cyber specialists, and the new connection could increase North Korea’s hacking capabilities while helping the country evade similar attacks from the United States. “Dyn Research, which monitors international internet traffic flows, said...

Council on Foreign Relations: US Cyber Diplomacy Requires More Than an Office

David P. Fidler August 7, 2017
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has moved the Office of the Coordinator for Cyber Issues, previously an office with a direct chain of command to the secretary of state, into the State Department’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs. The move may reflect administration-wide “marginalization of cyber issues in foreign policy,” writes David P. Fidler for the Council on Foreign Relations. “...

Reuters: Security Firms Warn of New Cyber Threat to Electric Grid

Jim Finkle July 10, 2017
Cybersecurity experts have identified a new form of malicious software that could disrupt large power systems. The malware was used to cut power in Ukraine in December 2016. Dragos has sent an alert to governments and utilities with recommendations on avoiding the malware, reports Jim Finkle for Reuters, adding “Crash Override can be detected if a utility specifically monitors its network for...

The New York Times: Hacks Raise Fear Over US NSA’s Hold on Cyberweapons

Nicole Perlroth and David E. Sanger June 30, 2017
US National Security Agency cyberweapons have been used against Britain and the Ukraine before spreading to other computers around the globe. The agency – charged with securing US information systems – is the largest of 17 intelligence agencies that combined had a budget of about $70 billion in 2015. The NSA has long declined to answer questions. “But the silence is wearing thin for victims of...