ClearSky Cyberdefense Forum

NEW DELHI: Investigators have unearthed a new and deadly pattern of cyber attacks in which Indian government servers have been used by foreign entities to target the computer networks of third countries.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/news/internet/Govt-servers-used-for-cyber-attacks-on-China-other-countries-networks/articleshow/10760699.cms

As we informed you earlier, we’ve recently been conducting an investigation into a number of incidents in connection with a Duqu trojan infection. Thankfully we’ve been able to make some headway in getting to the bottom of Duqu and putting together several of the previously absent components without which it has been difficult to understand what’s actually been going on.

http://www.securelist.com/en/blog/208193243/The_Duqu_Saga_Continues_Enter_Mr_B_Jason_and_TVs_Dexter

Federal authorities are concerned about new research showing U.S. prisons are vulnerable to computer hackers, who could remotely open cell doors to aid jailbreaks.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons is “aware of this research and taking it very seriously,” spokesman Chris Burke told The Washington Times.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/nov/4/feds-concerned-about-hackers-opening-prison-doors/

Security researchers from antivirus vendor Kaspersky Lab warn that cybercriminals hacked into the DNS (Domain Name System) servers of several Brazilian ISPs and used them to redirect users to websites that distributed malware.

http://www.csoonline.com/article/693479/brazilian-hackers-use-dns-poisoning-to-infect-users-with-banking-trojan

Israeli secret service and army websites disrupted for several hours after video threat from Anonymous hacker group

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/07/israel-anonymous-cyber-attack-websites

The book argues that computer security has evolved from a technical discipline to a strategic
concept. The world’s growing dependence on a powerful but vulnerable Internet – combined
with the disruptive capabilities of cyber attackers – now threatens national and international
security.

Strategic challenges require strategic solutions. The author examines four nation-state approaches to cyber attack mitigation:
• Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6)
• Sun Tzu’s Art of War
• Cyber attack deterrence
• Cyber arms control

The four threat mitigation strategies fall into several categories. IPv6 is a technical solution.
Art of War is military. The third and fourth strategies are hybrid: deterrence is a mix of military and political considerations; arms control is a political/technical approach.

About the Author
Kenneth Geers, PhD, CISSP, is the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) Cyber Subject Matter Expert. He was the first U.S. Representative to the NATO CCD COE in Tallinn, Estonia.

Download The Book :

http://www.ccdcoe.org/publications/books/Strategic_Cyber_Security_K_Geers.PDF

A Lecture about the book :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB1y7c4ooyc

Britain has backed away from confronting China over cyber attacks preferring instead to emphasise the threats and opportunities it said all countries faced through the rapid growth of cyberspace.

William Hague, the foreign secretary, said on Wednesday that theLondon Cyberspace Conference he hosted was not “judgmental” and that the source of cyber attacks was “very difficult to verify”.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/nov/02/hague-backs-off-criticism-china-cyber

Computer security researchers are warning that a new version of the sophisticated cyberweapon that sabotaged Iran’s nuclear program could be the precursor to a new wave of cyberattacks.

The new weapon, dubbed Duqu, appears to use portions of the original source code from the Stuxnet worm that attacked computers at the Iranian nuclear plant at Natanz in 2009 and 2010.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/oct/24/new-cyberweapon-threatens-vital-infastructure/?page=all#pagebreak

At least 48 chemical and defense companies were victims of a coordinated cyber attack that has been traced to a man in China, according to a new report from security firm Symantec Corp.

Computers belonging to these companies were infected with malicious software known as “PoisonIvy,” which was used to steal information such as design documents, formulas and details on manufacturing processes, Symantec said on Monday.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45105397/ns/technology_and_science-security/#.Tq76lUOF9tM

SAN JOSE, Calif. — When a computer attack hobbled Iran’s unfinished nuclear power plant last year, it was assumed to be a military-grade strike, the handiwork of elite hacking professionals with nation-state backing.

Yet for all its science fiction sophistication, key elements have now been replicated in laboratory settings by security experts with little time, money or specialized skill. It is an alarming development that shows how technical advances are eroding the barrier that has long prevented computer assaults from leaping from the digital to the physical world.

The techniques demonstrated in recent months highlight the danger to operators of power plants, water systems and other critical infrastructure around the world.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/23/power-systems-hack_n_1027132.html