Critical Infrastructure

Firms Need ‘Tough Love’ In Struggle Against APTs

Black Hat is upon us and, with it, a lot of chatter about the dangers posed by so-called “APT,” or advanced persistent threats. Rather than get trapped in the hype bubble, Threatpost editor Paul Roberts took the opportunity to check back in with a recognized expert on detecting and combating APT-style attacks: Amit Yoran, the former CEO of NetWitness Corp. and now a Senior Vice President at RSA, The Security Division of EMC. Yoran says that the darkest days may yet be ahead in the fight against APT style attacks, with mounting attacks and a critical shortage of security talent. To cope, both private sector firms and the government need to stop fighting the last war and pivot to the kinds of practices and monitoring that can spot sophisticated attackers. 

Termineter Security Framework for Smart Meters Released

It’s that most wonderful time of the year again: tool release season. With Black Hat, DEF CON and BSides Las Vegas all looming, researchers are beginning to publish the tools that they’ll be discussing during their talks at the various conferences next week. Among the more interesting releases so far is Termineter, a tool designed for testing the security of smart meters.

Religious ‘Madi’ Spyware Spies on Critical Infrastructure in Middle East

A new variety of spyware has been targeting users in Iran, Israel and the Middle East for the last eight months according to joint research from Israeli security software firm Seculert and Kaspersky Lab. The new malware is using a variety of odd techniques and misdirection to entice users to install it, and researchers say it is targeting a specific group of potentially high-value targets.

An Unhappy Birthday For Uncle Sam On Cyber Security

by Paul Roberts
5

Here’s the good news on America’s birthday: the last year has seen the U.S. emerge as an undisputed global leader in the use of offensive cyber operations. Averting another “Sputnik” moment, the nation’s longest running and most successful democracy blazed new trails in non-kinetic warfare, effectively ending speculation that the world’s lone superpower was asleep at the wheel as nations like China and Russia dashed ahead in the cyber realm. Now for the bad news: we’re screwed.

Assange’s Asylum In The Balance, Researcher Warns Ecuador’s Deliberations Are Vulnerable To Online Snooping

by Paul Roberts

With Wikileaks founder Julian Assange anxiously awaiting word from the government of Ecuador on his request for political asylum, a security researcher warns that the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is handling the Assange asylum request, is using a video conferencing system that is vulnerable to online snooping.

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