Computer Security Day
Details about this annual event (November 30) "to remind people to protect their computers and information." Features a list of over 50 suggestions for Computer Security Day activities, such as backing up data and eliminating dust from computer areas. Also includes thematic posters. From a group of professional organizations and security software companies.
URL: http://www.computersecurityday.com/



Insecure Servers
http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/hottype/071115/
We think we know cybercrime. Those white-collar scuzzballs Woody Guthrie
sang about, the ones who used to rob us with a fountain pen instead of a
six-gun, now tap a few computer keys instead.
But the October 2 heist at 900 N. Franklin was curiously old-fashioned.
Instead of hacking into cyberspace, a crew of thieves sawed through a
wall and carried away about 20 high-end servers worth tens of thousands
of dollars. They probably even worked up a sweat.


 Security Breach Costs Jump 30%
http://www.baselinemag.com/article2/0,1540,2223732,00.asp
The cost of recovering from a single data breach now averages $6.3
million-that's up 31 percent since 2006 and nearly 90 percent since
2005, according to the Ponemon Institute, which studies privacy and
information management.
Two-thirds of that cost is spent recovering business that's lost after a
breach, a cost that has risen 30 percent since last year. More customers
stop doing business with a company after their information is exposed,
and it's getting more expensive to replace them.
"As consumers and end users get more educated, I think there's less
tolerance," says John Dasher, the director of product management for
PGP, which, along with Vontu, co-sponsored the Ponemon study. Companies
known to have suffered a breach were contacted by Ponemon, and 35 agreed
to respond.


Global hackers threaten net security in cyber warfare aimed
 at top targets
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/nov/29/hacking.news
A "cyber cold war" is developing as international web espionage and
cyber-attacks become the biggest threats to internet security, according
to a report.
The computer security firm McAfee said governments and government-allied
groups were engaging in increasingly sophisticated cyber spying, with
many attacks originating from China.
Some 120 countries could be developing the capacity for such activities.
What started as probes to see what was possible have become well-funded
and well-organised operations for political, military, economic and
technical espionage, the report said, with perpetrators aiming to cause
havoc by disrupting critical national infrastructure systems.


Security risks of temp workers being ignored
http://www.techworld.com/security/news/index.cfm?newsID=10785



Hacker steals non-profits' data from marketing firm
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9049798


Security central to Parliament WiFi
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22840792-15306,00.html
A new wireless internet system in Canberra's Parliament House will need
to be bulletproof from attacks by cyber hackers, according to the senior
public servant responsible for the building.
Department of Parliamentary Services secretary Hillary Penfold told The
Australian last night the new system would "take into account security
issues" and she admitted it would be of interest to unauthorised users.
However, she said it was a beat-up to suggest the decision to involve
the country's most secretive spy agency to provide guidance was an
indication of more serious security concerns.



U.S.-China company merger deemed 'threat'
http://washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071129/NATION/111290108/1001
U.S. intelligence agencies informed a Treasury Department-led review
committee recently that a merger between 3Com and a Chinese company
would threaten U.S. national security, The Washington Times has learned.
Bush administration intelligence officials said the office of the
Director of National Intelligence (DNI) recently submitted a required
threat assessment to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United
States, known as CFIUS, which is conducting a 30-day investigation of
the proposed deal between 3Com and China's Huawei Technologies.
The assessment, which is classified, described the deal as posing a
"threat" to U.S. national security, according to officials familiar with
the document.
"The deal is in trouble," said one official who noted that pro-business
officials who in the past dismissed critics of the deal are now worried
the merger will be blocked because of the assessment.


FBI Cracks Down (Again) on Zombie Computer Armies
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/11/fbi-cracks-down.html
The FBI announced Thursday it had indicted or successfully prosecuted
eight individuals in a crack down on black hat hackers who use armies of
zombie computers to commit financial fraud, attack web sites with floods
of traffic and send spam. The crimes at issue involved more than $20
million in losses, according to the FBI.
The FBI dubbed the eight cases "Operation Bot Roast II" -- the second
round of its investigations against botnets, one of the most dangerous
threats online today. The first FBI crackdown on botnets was announced
in June.
Hackers build their botnets by infecting computers with emailed trojans
or with by infecting people through malicious code on web pages. They
then tell the computers what to do from a central server or through chat
applications. Botnet sizes vary, but the largest can comprise over a
million computers, according to security researchers' estimates.



Russia Okays Crackberry Blackberry Use
http://mnweekly.ru/business/20071129/55293105.html
MOSCOW (AFP) - Russia's secret services have authorised the use of
Blackberry phones on condition that they are informed by operators on
who subscribes to the service, RIA Novosti news agency reported on
Tuesday.
MTS and VimpelCom, which owns the operator Beeline, have been given a
one-year licence and will start offering the service for their corporate
customers, the report quoted executives from the two companies as
saying.
The Blackberry, produced by Canada-based company Research in Motion, can
be used in Russia but the service has been restricted because the
Federal Security Service (FSB) cannot gain access to the system.
Yekaterina Osadchaya, a spokeswoman for VimpelCom, said that the company
would have to inform the FSB on Blackberry users and that the service
could not be used by any executives or officials with access to state
secrets.


Cyberwarfare Now 'Business as Usual'
http://www.darkreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=140145
After a year's worth of reports from regions such as Estonia, Russia,
and China, it may not surprise you that security and terrorism experts
consider international cyber-spying as the biggest threat for 2008.
And the bad guys are going mainstream: Competition has gotten so stiff
that malware suppliers are now offering customer service perks for bad
guys who buy their wares.
These, as well as cyber-spying trends, are among the many findings of
McAfee's annual Virtual Criminology Report released today.
"What struck me through most of this report is the threat is more
evolutionary than revolutionary -- things we've talked about as
potentially developing are now status quo," says David Marcus, senior
research and communications manager for McAfee. "That's the disturbing
part. Cyberwarfare, or state-sponsored malware, is business as usual."
The report, which is based on input from more than a dozen security
experts from NATO, the FBI, SOCA, The London School of Economics, and
the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism, says the underworld
market offers tools that make it easy for criminals with little
technical know-how to commit their crimes. With the black market for
these malware tools growing and becoming more competitive, many now
advertise their 'products,' and offer support services as a value-add.


Electrical supe charged with damaging California canal system
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/30/canal_system_hack/
A former employee for a federally-owned canal system in California was
charged with installing software that damaged a computer used to divert
water out of a local river.
Michael Keehn, of Willows, California, faces a maximum penalty of 10
years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Federal court documents claim the
former electrical supervisor with the Tehama Colusa Canal Authority
"intentionally caused damage without authorization to a protected
computer."
The TCCA operates two canals that move water out of the Sacramento River
for using in irrigation and agriculture in Northern California. As part
of its duties, the TCCA uses a supervisory control and data acquisition
(SCADA) system to regulate the system.