British ISP Hit by DDoS from Latvia

Internet Service Provider (ISP) Vispa was downed for approximately 12 hours late last week by a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack emanating from within Latvia. While internet service was available to customers after 12 hours, the phone service was still affected late Friday.

Vispa commercial director Adam Binks said”As a result of a major denial of service attack on our network we suffered a severe outage between 1am and…

Maryland: ‘Silicon Valley of Cybersecurity’?

Yesterday, at a cybersecurity event at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley announced his aim of making Maryland the epicenter of cybersecurity.

O’Malley and Sens. Barbara A. Mikulski and Benjamin L. Cardin and Reps. Chris Van Hollen and C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger are campaigning to have the headquarters of the new Cyber Command centered in…

FTC to Investigate Privacy Issues in Connection with Cloud Computing

On January 28th, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is planning to hold discussions examining  the potential threats to  privacy and data security cloud computing services could pose. This development is being closely watched by Google Inc., Amazon.com, and Microsoft Corp.  The first meeting being held will primarily serve to gather information from industry players and to study the effects…

Interview with Mark Orndorff of DISA, Part II

In part I (available here) of our interview with Mark Orndorff, head of Information Assurance at DISA, we learned about some of the key areas DISA is focusing on along with how he seeks to balance the need for warfighters to have access to information while ensuring the security of data. In part II of our interview, Orndorff…

Canadian Cyber Crime Center Suffers in Recession

The recent recession has hit a number of jobs throughout the world, with cut backs in a variety of sectors, including manufacturing. Now, it appears cybersecurity efforts are also falling victim to the troubled economic times. The Global Centre to Secure Cyberspace, or CyberPol, a center in Canada, has lost a $50 million donation and is struggling to…

Cyber Crime? More Like Cyber Protest

The use of cyber hacking to forward a message and inspire a large group of people is on the rise according to a CNN article. The article cites the recent hacking of the official European Union website. The EU website pictured the Prime Minister of Spain, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, as the popular comedian Mr. Bean. On a more serious note, the official webiste of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad…

DHS to Outsource Cyber Education

The Department of Homeland Security has selected the National Cyber Security Alliance to help the department disseminate information regarding cyber security to the general public, according to an announcement on FedBizOpps.

NCSA will “support the efforts of the department’s national cybersecurity division to nationally promote cybersecurity awareness to empower citizens to use the Internet securely and safely, while protecting themselves, and the cyber infrastructure.”

The initiative will target the majority…

Iran Releases Banned Website List

Iranian judicial authorities released a list of banned websites in order to reduce cyber crime and threats. Many of the banned websites were also websites that contained immoral material.  The list was drawn up by a committee of experts banning sites that contain pornographic images, prostitution or anything deemed “contrary to the morals of society.”

Along with sites contrary to the general morality of the state websites contrary to the peace…

Police Get Help Combating Cyber Crime in India

Police in India will be aided by private cyber security experts and Indian IT companies in combating cyber crime, according to a report on IndianExpress.com. The collaborative effort to combat cyber crime, including identity theft and the stealing of intellectual property, looks to combine the expertise and skills of the private sector with the enforcement capabilities of the police.

The…

Interview with Mark Orndorff of DISA, Part I

The Defense Information Systems Agency serves as the Combat Support Agency for the Department of Defense. DISA develops and delivers enterprise infrastructure and C & C capabilities to support the modern warfighter and leaders. Central to that effort is the work of the information assurance division, headed by Mark Orndorff. The New New Internet had the opportunity recently to ask Orndorff about the current areas DISA is focused on….