Cyber Hackers Attack Natural Gas Lines

Story first appeared in USA Today.

Homeland Security has warned U.S. utilities that the computer networks controlling natural gas pipelines have been under attack since December, according to news reports out of Washington.

Canadian pipelines may also be affected by the cyber intrusion campaign, according to confidential Homeland Security alerts first reported by the Christian Science Monitor.

A Homeland Security spokesman today told The Hill that DHS is working with the FBI and other federal agencies to address the spear-phishing attacks, which involve fraudulent e-mails sent to gas company employees. The companies were not named.

DHS has issued at least three "amber" alerts -- the second-highest warning -- since March 29. Those warnings were reiterated late Friday in a report from Homeland Security's Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team based in Idaho.

ICS-CERT has recently identified an active series of cyber intrusions targeting natural gas pipeline sector companies. Multiple natural gas pipeline organizations have reported either attempts or intrusions related to this campaign. The campaign appears to have started in late December 2011 and is active today.

But DHS has asked utilities to not remove any malware or patch security holes if they don't jeopardize safe operations, according to people who have seen the alerts. One would expect stronger Security Solutions to be put in place once this is resolved.

The newspaper says that about 200,000 miles of pipelines deliver 25% of U.S. energy.


For more national and worldwide related business news, visit the Peak News Room blog.
For local and Michigan business related news, visit the Michigan Business News blog.
For healthcare and medical related news, visit the Healthcare and Medical blog.
For law related news, visit the Nation of Law blog.
For real estate and home related news, visit the  Commercial and Residential Real Estate blog.
For technology and electronics related news, visit the Electronics America blog.
For organic SEO and web optimization related news, visit the SEO Done Right blog.

Murdoch Unfit for Leadership

Story first appeared in The Associated Press.

News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch is unfit to lead his global media empire, an influential group of British lawmakers said Tuesday.

In a scathing report, the lawmakers said his company misled Parliament about the scale of phone hacking at one of its tabloids.

Parliament's cross-party Culture, Media and Sport committee said News International, the British newspaper division of Murdoch's News Corp., had deliberately ignored evidence of professional malpractice, covered up evidence and frustrated efforts to expose wrongdoing.

Murdoch has insisted he was unaware that hacking was widespread at his now-shuttered News of the World tabloid, blaming underlings for keeping him in the dark.

The legislators said if that was true, he turned a blind eye and exhibited willful blindness to what was going on in his companies.

It was concluded that Rupert Murdoch is not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company," the report by the panel of 11 lawmakers said.

A Labour Party panel member said the decision had not been unanimous, and Conservative lawmakers — who opposed condemning Murdoch — said that the split had been along party lines.

The judgment on Murdoch implies that News Corp., which he heads, is also not a fit to control British Sky Broadcasting, in which News Corp. holds a controlling stake of 39 percent.

The committee agreed unanimously that three key News International executives misled Parliament by offering false accounts of their knowledge of the extent of phone hacking at the News of The World — a rare and serious censure which usually demands a personal apology to legislators.

Murdoch closed down the 168-year-old Sunday tabloid last July amid public revulsion at the hacking of voice mail messages of celebrities and victims of crime, including murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler.

Throughout the scandal, News International's approach was to cover up rather than seek out wrongdoing.


For more national and worldwide related business news, visit the Peak News Room blog.
For local and Michigan business related news, visit the Michigan Business News blog.
For healthcare and medical related news, visit the Healthcare and Medical blog.
For law related news, visit the Nation of Law blog.
For real estate and home related news, visit the  Commercial and Residential Real Estate blog.
For technology and electronics related news, visit the Electronics America blog.
For organic SEO and web optimization related news, visit the SEO Done Right blog.

Sony Reaches Out to PS3 Hacker

Story first appeared in TG Daily.
A new interview with the infamous PS3 hacker reveals that at one point he had a confidential meeting with Sony.

The hacker is the subject of a new expose in the New Yorker, and it's revealed that after he reached a legal settlement with Sony, the company wanted to pick his brain.

He shot to online stardom last year as the center of attention in a highly publicized lawsuit from Sony. The hacker had been publishing information on how to hack the PS3, which Sony said was a violation of the console's terms of use.

Supporters said that Sony was going too far and had no reason to sue him. Attackers took down various Sony websites and servers in protest to the Hotz case.

Not everyone agreed, though. Some said he knowingly broke the rules, facilitated illegal software piracy, and should be tried to the full extent of the law.

In the end, the case was settled for less than a slap on the wrist. He merely had to agree to end his hacking exploits.

But a couple months later, Sony reached out to him and asked him all sorts of questions, hoping to gain insights that it could use to help the company prevent future attacks.

He said he was worried there would be lawyers present, but in fact he really just met with what he described as "respectful" PS3 engineers who wanted to learn from him.

The Sony SVP explained the meeting, saying that the last year had demonstrated how sophisticated cybercriminals can be. Sony is always interested in exploring all avenues to better safeguard our systems and protect consumers. This is a good example of why sophisticated Security Solutions are a must for businesses and corporations.

The hacker went on to land a job that most people would kill for - an engineering position at Facebook. But he ended up quitting because he didn't like the monotony of office life.


For more national and worldwide related business news, visit the Peak News Room blog.
For local and Michigan business related news, visit the Michigan Business News blog.
For healthcare and medical related news, visit the Healthcare and Medical blog.
For law related news, visit the Nation of Law blog.
For real estate and home related news, visit the  Commercial and Residential Real Estate blog.
For technology and electronics related news, visit the Electronics America blog.
For organic SEO and web optimization related news, visit the SEO Done Right blog.

Cybersecurity Bill Up In The Air

Story first appeared in The Wall Street Journal.

Congress moved toward gridlock over how to improve the security of the nation's computer networks when the House of Representatives approved a measure opposed by the White House and at odds with Senate efforts on the issue.

House passage of its measure, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, came on a 248-168 vote Thursday and was supported by both Republicans and Democrats.

The House vote came despite a warning by the White House that senior advisers would recommend a presidential veto if the measure also passed the Senate, which is considered unlikely.

The White House prefers a Senate bill that would concentrate cybersecurity efforts in the Department of Homeland Security and would require companies to bolster security for critical infrastructure, such as electrical and water systems. The House bill only facilitates the swapping of threat data between private companies and the National Security Agency and other government departments.

The House version also was criticized by civil-liberties groups that said its provisions allowing businesses to share information with the government to improve cybersecurity could compromise American citizens' privacy. The American Civil Liberties Union called it "a dangerously overbroad bill that would allow companies to share our private and sensitive information with the government without a warrant and without proper oversight."

The Obama administration says cybersecurity and IT security solutions should be overseen by civilian agencies. The Senate bill favored by the White House and supported by Democrats would place Homeland Security officials in charge of the effort.

However, the Senate measure is opposed by business groups because of requirements that businesses adopt measures to improve security, steps executives see as burdensome.

The twin controversies—whether to regulate security and whether a civilian agency should head up the effort—seem likely to snarl efforts to plug the growing gaps in network security.

Earlier attempts at cybersecurity legislation drew broad, bipartisan support but little momentum. In the past year, the debate has grown more polarized over whether government should play a larger role in requiring businesses to strengthen their cybersecurity.

House sponsors of the legislation cast it as a necessary first step in the process to protect American networks from groups in places like China and Russia who are pilfering intellectual property from U.S. businesses. Government and industry experts warn that as cyberattack tools become more widely available, capabilities once reserved for governments could extend to rogue states, terrorists or so-called hacktivist groups.

Setting aside the criticism, the House put together a strong bill that will help stop cyberattacks that threaten our economy and our privacy while keeping the Internet free from government control.

But sponsors of the leading Senate measure said Friday that the House should have included provisions to protect computer systems running critical infrastructure, as the Senate bill does.


For more national and worldwide related business news, visit the Peak News Room blog.
For local and Michigan business related news, visit the Michigan Business News blog.
For healthcare and medical related news, visit the Healthcare and Medical blog.
For law related news, visit the Nation of Law blog.
For real estate and home related news, visit the  Commercial and Residential Real Estate blog.
For technology and electronics related news, visit the Electronics America blog.
For organic SEO and web optimization related news, visit the SEO Done Right blog.