Cryptography

Combining a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability with a TinyURL redirect, hackers successfully broke into the infrastructure for the open-source Apache Foundation in what is being described as a “direct, targeted attack.”

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have received a $1.15 million grant from the National Science Foundation to build a new computer operating system based on virtual machines and the concept of isolation.

The Black Hat security conference will kick off next week in Barcelona, with training sessions and briefings from some of the most talented security researchers in the industry. Facebook’s chief security officer, Max Kelly, is scheduled for a keynote presentation on Wednesday morning following two days of training sessions. Read the full article. [Computerworld]

Customers of Countrywide Financial have filed a
class-action lawsuit over the 2008 data breach that enabled company
insiders to steal and sell their personal information. Read the full article. [Dark Reading]

A new type of cross-site scripting (XSS) attack that exploits commonly used network administration tools could be putting users’ data at risk, a researcher says. Read the full article. [Dark Reading]

The level of information security in systems run by some companies that
want to be linked electronically with the Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services (CMS) is so rudimentary that it is “almost
embarrassing,” said Julie Boughn, CMS’ chief information officer. Read the full article. [Federal Computer Week]

Espionage network GhostNet, first identified about a year ago, is much larger and more sophisticated than previously assumed according to a study entitled “Shadows in the Cloud”, by the Munk Centre for International Studies, the Information Warfare Monitor, the SecDev Group and the Shadowserver Foundation. Read the full article. [The H Security]