Staying Anonymous in a Time of Surveillance

From Googling to emailing to social networking, every day millions of Americans unknowingly leave behind digital breadcrumbs while surfing the web, sometimes at the risk of compromising their anonymity. But while there is technology available to stay anonymous in a time of surveillance, experts say policies and legislation won’t protect web users from privacy invasion or from being attacked in cyberspace.

As…

RSA Conference Yields Expert Advice

Last week, RSA held its annual conference out in San Francisco, CA. The conference brought together cyber experts from around the world, along with notable speakers like DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, FBI Director Robert Mueller and Howard Schmidt, the White House Cybersecurity Coordinator.

The topics discussed range from cloud computing to…

January, the month of Phishing

According to a recently released report by RSA, phishing attacks skyrocketed in the month of January, up over 20 percent. RSA recorded 18,820 phishing attacks in January, which is more than double the number of phishing attacks in January 2009.

Standard phishing attacks increased by 12 percent and fast-flux attacks, when malware or phishing attacks are concealed behind a network of infected computers, increased by 4 percent. The…

Experts at RSA Conference Call for Greater International Collaboration

During the RSA conference in California this week, international cyber experts have called for increased international cooperation of cybersecurity issues. Information sharing is one of the principle methods that can be used to combat cyber attacks, as was recently demonstrated in the dismantling of the Mariposa botnet.

“It is pure nonsense to attempt to handle cyberscecurity only at…

DHS Chief Announces Cyber Awareness Competition

Department of Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano announced the National Cybersecurity Awareness Campaign Challenge Competition at the RSA conference in California Wednesday. The campaign will solicit ideas from individuals and industry on the best strategy for clearly addressing the issue of cybersecurity with the American population.

During her address, Napolitano said “We need to have an ongoing, two-way conversation,…

Howard Schmidt Discusses Cybersecurity at RSA Conference

This week, San Francisco is playing host to the RSA Conference, which has seen a gathering from some of the top IT security professionals in the world. Howard Schmidt, currently serving as the White House Cybersecurity Coordinator, was a featured speaker at the event.

Today, Schmidt announced the declassification of a portion…

US Getting Closer to Finding Google Hackers

US authorities believe they may have identified the programming author who wrote the code used in the hacking attacks against search engine giant Google, according to an article in the Financial Times. After the discovery last week of the possible complicity of two schools in China with known ties to the military, US analysts say they may have determined which Chinese programmer wrote the code that…

Mischel Kwon: Cybersecurity is a Group Effort

Cybersecurity is becoming a more central portion of the US national lexicon, particularly in Washington. Recently, the House passed the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act, which has gone to the Senate for approval, and a variety of recent attacks on private organizations has brought cyber attacks into the daily news. Mischel…

Despite the Challenges, ‘Let’s Put Our Trust in Schmidt’

In December, President Barack Obama announced the appointment of Howard Schmidt to the position of cybersecurity coordinator, which has sat vacant since its creation in May 2009. Schmidt, a veteran of industry and previous administrations, will be responsible for coordinating the national effort to better secure U.S. cyber infrastructure.

The U.S. is consistently…

Diffused Cybersecurity Responsibilities

In the cybersecurity realm, a number of professionals have advocated for a centralized approach. The U.S. military has stood up a Cyber Command to coordinate cybersecurity for the DoD and DHS has gained the lead role in securing civilian government networks. Yet, one expert questions this highly centralized approach to cybersecurity.

In a recent interview with Nextgov, Mischel Kwon, former head of USCERT and currently serving as VP…