The U.S. government, like a parent trying to stay hip, has hired younger staffers and put them in charge of using technology to build diplomacy and democracy. For example, Hilary Clinton in the State Department hired Alec Ross to head up technology and innovation in diplomacy. Terms invented include Gov 2.0, Web 2.0, Statecraft 2.0 […]
Android smartphone owners had a bad week with several pieces of malware emerging in the Android App Store – necessitating the frightening step of remote-nuking the evil apps. I have yet to hear of a significant iPhone Trojan horse or virus. It’s not that the platform is bulletproof- the jailbreakers would be out of business […]
I read yesterday that a private organization had graded the White House on its performance in cybersecurity policy. It seemed to me to be an interesting exercise. (Note: It is not my intention to judge the integrity of the report, as the organization is new to me. If you Google “cyber” “whitehouse” and “grade” you […]
We’re in that lull after the holiday season where gyms are crowded, but the days still feel short and cold (up north at least). Most everyone probably had an experience where two relatives were arguing about the best way to stuff a turkey, or who should have to sit next to Aunt Marge at the […]
Welcome to 21st Century Diplomacy, State Department. WikiLeaks’ massive cache of over a quarter million sensitive State Department cables is a bleak reminder that everything in in our Brave New World is ones and zeros- and ones and zeros are easily copied. Back when Daniel Ellsberg stole the Pentagon Papers, he had to spend long, […]
The issue of whether a country should openly sanction offensive use of “cyber attack” by their military is one of touchier issues in the world of cyber warfare. Interestingly, US Cyber Command has openly expressed an interest in developing offensive cyber capabilities. Specifically, they refer to offensive operations to prevent cyber attacks on the US. […]
Stuxnet, the worm from Russia America Israel who knows where designed to take out the American power grid Iranian Uranium refinement centrifuges BCS computer something controlled by Siemens machines has gotten a lot of attention. Rightly so, as it’s the closest we’ve actually come to something that looks like a genuine cyber attack. The worm […]
Saying “I’m writing my master’s thesis on cybersecurity” is akin to saying “I’m writing my thesis about the United States.” It is often quoted that the internet was developed more for interoperability than to address security concerns. The silver lining? Russia is still expanding its tech industry. The field is still growing and evolving. New technological developments, such as the adoption of iPv6 have yet to take hold. This means that there is still room (to a certain extent) to get in at the ground level.
Amazing how demonstrations of appalling, imminent disaster tend to clarify the thinking. Eric Butler has developed a brilliant piece of software called Firesheep that makes web site identity hijacking easy and fun for all. (Ed: First the iCow, now the Firesheep? CD: Agreed, it would behoof them to switch it up a bit.) The concern […]
It’s ten days to midterm elections in the US. Tempers are running a bit high. Now FreedomWorks, one of the larger organized vehicles driving Tea Party activism, claims to have been shut down by a “cyber attack” when they were about to start a Glenn Beck online fundraiser. The WSJ doesn’t provide many details apart […]
The main Google search page now redirects to an SSL encrypted version. Compute cycles are no longer the limiting factor on shoveling all the bits through an iron-bound SSL pipe. Privacy concerns are going to lead more people in this direction. At the same time, law enforcement types are going to scream bloody murder about […]
I grew up as a practicing member of the Cult of the Mac. As such, Microsoft was clearly of the Forces of Darkness. They’re redeeming themselves now. Russia famously used illegal pirated software as an excuse to kick the doors in and shutter NGOs that were doing annoying things like advocating for universal human rights. […]
I sometimes disagree with choices Google makes, but one note they have consistently hit is the importance of transparency. As a corporate entity they are obligated to follow the rules in the countries in which they operate – as long as they want to work there. This often means they have to be the tool […]
The Hill had a piece recently talking about Republican Senatorial angst around Chinese networking electronics giant Huawei providing equipment to Sprint. Huawei, like all firms of any importance in China, has significant ties to the CCP leadership and the People’s Liberation Army. The idea is that Sprint, being a major provider of IT to the US […]
I get pretty irritated with the CyberWar Hysteria sometimes. The logic of alamists goes something like this: 1) “Oh Noes there are Bad Haxors out there who break into computers!!” 2) “Computers are buggy and have problems and really get hacked!!!” 3) *crickets* 4) “EXPLOSIONS, MASS DESTRUCTION AND DEATH ARE COMING!!!1!11!” It is genuinely hard […]