CSC Wins $30 Million Air Force Cybersecurity Deal

CSC has been awarded a contract from the U.S. Air Force to provide cybersecurity services for the 33rd Network Warfare Squadron, according to a press release.

The deal has a one-year base period and two option years, with an estimated total three-year value of $30 million.

Under the contract, CSC will…

Foreign Cyber Crooks Attack Irish Businesses

Cyber crooks are extorting thousands of euro from Irish businesses by attacking and hijacking their computer systems and websites, the Irish Examiner reports.

The Computer Crime Investigation Unit said foreign gangs, sometimes in cahoots with Irish criminals, are flying in hackers from other countries to target Irish companies. Detective Inspector Paul Gillen said a “major problem” for law enforcement will be criminals’ ability to avoid having to possess…

Minister: Canada Faces ‘Significant’ Cyber Threat

Canada faces escalating threats from cyber attacks by foreign spies, hackers and terrorists, and experts warn more must be done to strengthen the country’s cybersecurity and response systems, according to QMI Agency

Canada’s Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said attacks on government computers have grown “quite substantial,” and attempts to tap into the federal…

Health Insurance Company Pays $55,000 to Settle Data Breach

The Vermont attorney general’s office says a Connecticut-based health insurance company has agreed to pay $55,000 to settle a complaint that it failed to inform customers that their personal information had been lost along with an unencrypted computer hard drive, The Associated Press reports.

The complaint and proposed settlement with Health Net Inc. and Health Net of the Northeast Inc. of Shelton, Conn., were both…

Survey: Online Fraud, Privacy Violations Top Biggest Internet Fears

Worried about your job or going broke? If you live in the United States, chances are online privacy violations are bigger concerns than being unemployed or declaring bankruptcy, according to a new survey by Opera Software.

Americans worry more about having their online privacy violated (25 percent) than declaring bankruptcy (23 percent)…

Hackers Halt Carbon-credit Trading

After hackers breached national trading registries and stole and sold millions of euros worth of polluting rights, the European Union extended a freeze yesterday on trading in carbon credits, AFP reported.

“Security comes before trading,” Maria Kokkonen, spokeswoman for European Union climate action commissioner Connie Hedegaard, told AFP.

Less than half of the 27 EU states are deemed by the commission to have adopted sufficient…

Richard Clarke: Stuxnet Failure Leads to Cyber Boomerang

Stuxnet is a word that has struck fear in the hearts of cyber experts the world over. The advanced computer worm, which bored its way into Iranian nuclear program computer networks, demonstrated the vulnerability of critical infrastructure to malicious hacking.

But former counterterrorism czar and cybersecurity guru Richard Clarke says Stuxnet…

DHS Prepares Launch of Einstein to Fight Cyber Attacks

The Department of Homeland Security is in the final stages of deploying version 2 of Einstein, across the government, and already is planning for version 3, according to Federal News Radio.

During yesterday’s speech at the George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute in Washington, DHS Secretary Janet…

Officials: US ‘Getting Better’ at Finding Cyber Crooks

The federal government has made significant progress in identifying who is responsible for complex cyber attacks, a fundamental first step in determining whether the United States should retaliate and whom to strike, anonymous officials told  The Associated Press.

The growing cyber threat has prompted a greater governmentwide emphasis on collecting…

Search Warrants Executed for ‘Anonymous’ Attackers

FBI agents yesterday executed more than 40 search warrants throughout the United States as part of an ongoing investigation into recent coordinated cyber attacks against major companies and organizations.

According to a press release by the bureau, Anonymous has claimed responsibility for these distributed denial of service attack, saying the attacks were conducted in protest of the companies’ and …