Around The Horn vol.1,109

Report: Spam now 90 percent of all e-mail

By Lance Whitney

Spam now accounts for 90.4 percent of all e-mail, according to a report released Monday from security vendor Symantec. This means that 1 out of every 1.1 e-mails is junk. The report also notes that spam shot up 5.1 percent just from April to May.

Spam on ...

Obama To Create Cyber Security Czar In White House

By Darknet on white house

It looks like Obama is taking a serious stance on Cyber Security and Cyber Crime with his introduction of a new position which will be known as the ‘Cyber Czar’. As a senior White House official this is quite a serious position with the responsibility of protecting both the US government networks and looking out for [...]

Security Experts Raise Alarm Over Insider Threats

Insider threats escalating as economy continues to struggle, security experts say

NSA-Funded 'Cauldron' Tool Goes Commercial

Vulnerability analysis tool aggregates, correlates, and visually maps attack patterns and possibilities

Royal Air Force Breach Exposed Potential Blackmail Data

In Risk Management

Last year, the British Royal Air Force admitted three USB devices with personnel data were lost. What they didn't say was that the data included information on extra-marital affairs and drug abuse that could be used for blackmail.

Audit: TSA has weak IT security controls

The agency took some corrective action in fiscal 2008 but still fell short in critical areas, according to a recent audit.

Obama, White House To Oversee Cybersecurity Leadership

The national security staff will include new positions for addressing cybersecurity, information sharing on terrorism, border security, and preparedness and response.

Firefox Extension Malware Raises Security Questions

Mozilla's diligent cleanup rather than catching malicious add-ons before they reach the public has rankled some in the security community.

Bad Program Logic Amplifies Baofeng Attack

By HongZheng Zhou on Web and Internet Safety

A distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) attack on DNS servers of a domain registrar coupled with bad program logic in a popular media application caused network outages in parts of China last week. Baofeng is a widely popular media player in China, with a total of 200 million users and several million users online simultaneously. The player starts [...]

Security metrics research

One of the most difficult aspects of managing risk in information assurance (IA) is that our statistical information is so poor. We don't know about security breaches that we have not noticed; we don't report all the breaches that we do notice to any central collection point; and we use dreadful methodology for collecting information using poorly-constructed surveys that have tiny percentages of respondents, no internal validation, and no follow-up verification.

90 percent of e-mail is spam, Symantec says

Spammers seem to be working a little bit harder these days, according to Symantec, which reported Tuesday that unsolicited e-mail made up 90.4 percent of messages on corporate networks last month.

Report: Obama to name cybersecurity czar this week

President Obama is expected to name a cybersecurity czar later this week, the Washington Post reports.

New attack vectors in Greater China: TippingPoint

The US-based network security solutions provider TippingPoint ThreatLinQ has uncovered a significant amount of data on the state of network security in China, including:

7.6 cases of 'spamvertising' and phishing in HK each year

The numbers of 'spamvertising' and phishing cases using '.hk' domains have continued to decrease over the past year, according to the Hong Kong Internet Registration Corp. (HKIRC)." '

Tipping Point: Attacks from Hong Kong on the rise

The number of attacks originates from Hong Kong is increasing, said Tipping Point recently.

Mobile phone location technology fights card fraud

Ericsson is courting major banks with a security service the company thinks could cut down on credit card fraud as well as eliminate an inconvenience for travelers using cards overseas.

Watchful eye better than Web filters

The federal government's Internet filters will be outpaced by the emergence of offensive Web pages and won't stop offensive material appearing in e-mail inboxes, according to the Internet Society of Australia.

Junk email volumes hit two year high

Spam volume increases despite swine flu

Nine in ten emails in circulation are spam, resulting in junk mail volumes not experienced since September 2007, according to the latest stats from email security services outfit MessageLabs.…

BNP pleads for cash after reported DDoS assault

'Largest cyber-assault in history'

Updated The website of the British National Party is back online following a reported distributed denial of service attack over the weekend.…

Water utility auditor resigns, transfers $9m offshore

In that order

California and federal officials are searching for a former employee of a large water utility who is suspected of trying to transfer more than $9m to an offshore account after quitting the company.…

Obama to invent cybersecurity czar

Announcement expected this week

President Obama is expected to announce late this week his decision to create a senior White House official responsible for protecting the nation's government-run and private computer networks from attack, according to a published report.…

Vista & Win2K8 SP2 available, (Tue, May 26th)

Microsoft Windows Vista and 2008 Service Pack 2 is now officially available for download (32 bit and ...(more)...

A new Web application security blog, (Tue, May 26th)

If you have any interest in Web application security, you might want to check out this new SANS Web ...(more)... 

White House cybersecurity czar faces major hurdles

By Robert Westervelt

A new cyberczar must reduce interagency squabbles, work with Congress on legislation, but avoid getting bogged down in red tape and bureaucracy, experts say.

Organizations struggle with data leakage prevention, rights management

By Eric Ogren

Employee use of Web-based services and poor judgment can easily defeat the technologies. But better use of the audit, discovery and reporting features can make them more effective.

Obama Set to Release Cyber-Security Review

U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to name a cyber-security czar this week and release the results of the 60-day review on cyber-security he ordered earlier this year. The review was completed last month but has been under wraps since then.
- U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to name a cyber-security czar and release the much-anticipated results of an extensive security review of the countrys cyber infrastructure on Friday, according to press reports. The cyber-security position would be part of a newly consolidated body ...

Nokia Ovi Store Lays Out Security Policy for Third-Party Apps

Nokia opened the Ovi Store today, offering mobile applications, games and other tools. Some of the apps available through the Ovi Store are developed by third-parties, and Nokia wants to ensure those apps are secure enough for primetime before users download them.
- Nokia officially put the welcome mat at the door of its Ovi Store today, stocking its virtual shelves with mobile applications, games, productivity tools and more for dozens of models of Nokia phones. Just like in the Apple App Store, some of those applications are developed by third-parties ...

Correcting the Rhetoric: Windows Vista Is Secure

NEWS ANALYSIS: Windows Vista has come under fire for not being as secure as some would like. But is that criticism really fair? We take a look.
- Windows Vista has come under fire for not being as secure as some would like. At the same time, Vista security can be enhanced when IT managers simply force employees to run as users with limited rights. It effectively creates a situation where the employee can only engage in business activities ...

The Scrap Value of a Hacked PC

In Latest Warnings

Computer users often dismiss Internet security best practices because they find them inconvenient, or because they think the rules don't apply to them. Many cling to the misguided belief that because they don't bank or shop online, that bad guys won't target them. The next time you hear this claim, please refer the misguided person to this blog post, which attempts to examine some of the more common -- yet often overlooked -- ways that cyber crooks can put your PC to criminal use. The graphic above (click it for a larger version) shows the different reasons criminals may want access to your system. I've explained each category in more detail below: Illicit Web Hosting Cyber criminals commonly use hacked PCs as a host for a variety of dodgy Web hosting schemes, including: - Spam Web sites - Phishing Web sites - Malware download sites - "Warez" servers, or hosts

90 Percent of E-mail Is Spam, Symantec Says (PC World)

In technology

PC World - Spammers seem to be working a little bit harder these days, according to Symantec, which reported Tuesday that unsolicited e-mail made up 90.4 percent of messages on corporate networks last month.

SB09-146: Vulnerability Summary for the Week of May 18, 2009

Vulnerability Summary for the Week of May 18, 2009

Cisco Security Center: IntelliShield Cyber Risk Report

May 18-24, 2009

Report Highlight: Examining Business Privacy Challenges in the Cloud

Obama's Supreme Court Pick Schooled in Cyberlaw

By David Kravets

Sonia Sotomayor, President Barack Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court, would come to the court schooled in cyberlaw, having already ruled on hot-button issues ranging from copyright law in a digitized world, warrantless computer searches, so-called click-wrap agreements and national security letters.

Judge Threatens Sanctions in NSA Wiretap Case

By David Kravets

A federal judge in a closely watched wiretapping case is threatening to rule against the Obama administration for "failing to obey the court's orders."

Vista Service Pack 2 Now Ready for Download

Microsoft has released the final version of Windows Vista Service Pack 2.

Hands On With Intel's Moblin Linux for Netbooks

Intel's Moblin 2.0 Linux desktop for netbooks is really still too raw to be called a beta, but it's showing great promise.