Human Factor Missing in Cybersecurity?

There is too much of an emphasis in cybersecurity on “technical solutions,” and not enough focus on the nitty-gritty unknowns of human behavor in cyberspace, says Eric Bonabeau, the founder and chairman of cutting-edge “idea-incubator” Icosystem Corporation.

“The extent to which research and development in cybersecurity has been skewed toward ‘technical solutions’ is mind-boggling,” Bonabeau,…

Kelly Collins of Fortify Software: Possible Creation of Cyber Weapon ‘Significant Concern’

President of Fortify Software Public Sector, an HP company, Kelly Collins has a mantra for software security: Find, fix and (from the title of her firm) fortify.

For too long, software security assurance has slipped under the radar. But now, Collins said the government is beginning to move to patch up “gaping holes…

Bruce Schneier: Stop ‘Battle of Metaphors’ when Discussing Cyber

The threat of cyber warfare is greatly exaggerated and using salacious phrases such as “cyber Armageddon” will only make the situation worse, according to a security expert.

Bruce Schneier, chief security technology officer for BT, told BBC News there is a power struggle going on, involving a “battle of metaphors.”

He suggested the notion…

McAfee 2011 Threat Index: Sophisticated Cyber Threats Hiding in Plain Sight

2010 was a breakout year for cybersecurity: from the revelations of the attack on Google, Operation Aurora, and the controversy surrounding WikiLeaks, to the Stuxnet worm, which targeted Iran’s critical infrastructure and spawned a number of cyber conspiracy theories.

But like a block-busting, splashy Hollywood sequel, cybersecurity in 2011…

Howard Schmidt: Cyber Threat ‘Exaggerated’

You can barely turn a page in a newspaper–or on your e-reader–without getting bombarded with an impending sense of doom originating from cyber attacks and malicious hackers. However, according to White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard Schmidt, that threat has been overplayed–”exaggerated,” as the cyber czar put it in a recent interview.

“Things…

WikiLeaks’ Latest Disclosure Connects China to Aurora Attacks

With the latest disclosures from WikiLeaks, it became clear what many already suspected about the culprits behind the 2009 Google attacks: They originated from China.

The whistle-blower site on Sunday released another massive batch of diplomatic cables that contained communications between the Department of State and some 270 embassies and consulates, The New…

Return of the Aurora Attackers?

Researchers at Symantec say a new round of targeted web assaults appear to come from the same group responsible for last year’s attacks against Google and other major U.S. businesses.

Writing on the Symantec Security blog, researcher Karthik Selvaraj said evidence collected on the new targeted attacks have  many of the…

Two Schools in China Implicated in Operation Aurora Attacks

In the latest news regarding the Aurora attacks, which targeted search engine giant Google and a number of other companies, two Chinese schools have come under suspicion of possible involvement in the attacks. Chinese computer science schools, Shanghai Jiaotong University and the Lanxiang Vocational School, both with ties to the Chinese military, are being investigated for possible links with the attacks, according to a report in the…

Hunting Down the Aurora Creator

Earlier this year, search engine giant Google announced it had been subjected to cyber attacks back in December and more than 20 other companies experienced similar attacks. The attacks, termed Aurora, now appear to have hit even more companies than originally reported, according to DarkReading.com.

However, researchers may be closing in on the identity of the creator of the malware used in the attacks.

Greg Hoglund, founder and CEO of…