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.


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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.


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IT Professionals Fear Anonymous

Story first appeared on DigitalTrends.com.

According to a recent survey, IT professionals in the US and Europe for organized hacking organizations like Anonymous greatly.

What strikes terror in the hearts of IT professionals in Europe and the US? According to a recent survey, the Anonymous hacktivist group topped the list.

In its 2012 Cyber Security Research Report, security firm Bit9 surveyed more than 1,800 IT professionals and found that 61 percent considered the Anonymous hacktivists the most likely source of a cyber attack. More than 60% of the group also believed that their firms would be the subject of an attack within the next 6 months.

Those most concerned about the attacks belonged to companies with at least 500 employees, or were in charge of government security. At least 55 percent of the professionals believed that cyber criminals were in the top three likely attackers, and a number of those surveyed were also wary of nation states like China (28 percent) and Russia (13 percent).

Many of those surveyed — 61 percent — said that their fear is born from the rise in organizations of hackers, while 16 percent believe fears are due to the amount of hype generated by the media and 18 percent said their fears were based on their weak defenses.

Interestingly, the attack most feared, at 45 percent, is malware (Trojans, Rootkits, Worms), while Anonymous’ goto weapon, DDoS attacks, were only feared by 11 percent and SQL Injections were down to 4% of respondents. If breached, only 4 percent of security and IT professionals believe that the public shouldn’t be notified.

Fear can be healthy though. More than half of the respondents (58 percent) believed in their own potential and said better practices and better security policies would ensure cyber-security. Only 7 percent believed that government and law enforcement would be key, and 20 percent relied on individual employees within the organization.  A good resolution could be to outsource IT security and management to a professional Managed IT Service that specializes in network security.


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