NASA Gives Astronauts Remote-Controlled Assistants

A volleyball-sized, free-flying robot on the International Space Station helped astronauts complete tasks with a smartphone controller, according to a recent report by NASA. The first successful flight took place last month.

As part of NASA’s Technology Demonstration Missions,…

Alleged Hacker Faces 35 Years in Jail for Theft of Scholarly Articles

Of all the things to steal, scholarly articles may not top many hackers’ wish lists. However, a former fellow at Harvard’s Center for Ethics is accused of doing just that: stealing millions of academic texts with the intent of sharing them online.

According to the Boston Herald, prosecutors allege Aaron Swartz, 24, used the name Gary Host or “ghost” to hack into the MIT computer network and download…

MIT Keeps System Online During Cyber Attack

Previously, when a system was under cyber attack, the only solution to mitigate the threat was to take the server offline. However, there may now be another option. MIT researchers have developed a system that allows servers and computers to continue to operate even while under cyber attack.

The research, predominately funded by the U.S. Defense Department’s Defense Advanced…

Northrop Grumman Reaches Out to Academia

Northrop Grumman has reached out to three major cyber research universities to help advance research and develop effective cybersecurity solutions. The three schools, Carnegie Mellon, Purdue University and MIT, were asked to join a Cybersecurity Research Consortium.

The consortium is meant to leverage the collective capabilities and expertise of the various universities and industry in an effort to develop effective cybersecurity solutions.

Robert Brammer, CTO of Northrop Grumman’s Information…

Safety in the Cloud?

Researchers at MIT and the University of California, San Diego, have found that attacks can target specific data held within the cloud. The report claims that operating in the cloud brings new security risks that organizations should consider.

The researchers conducted a fake attack against a well known cloud service provider. The researchers were able to locate, target and monitor a series of computers…

Melissa Hathaway Joins Harvard’s Belfer Center

Melissa Hathaway, the National Security Council’s former acting senior director for cyberspace, a senior adviser on cybersecurity at the Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center.

Specifically, she well be working on the Minerva Project, which is a collaborative effort between the DoD, Harvard, and MIT.

One of her primary responsibilities at the center will involve examining the policy gaps in the international arena. According to…