cyberattack

The Vietnam government dismissed what it called "groundless" accusations that it was involved in recent cyberattacks used to intimidate opponents of a mining project in Vietnam.

Malware disguised as a popular Vietnamese-language keyboard driver was used to create a botnet that targeted blogs rallying against a bauxite mining project in Vietman, according to blog posts from Google's Neel Mehta and McAfee Chief Technical Officer George Kurtz.

"The perpetrators may have political motivations and may have some allegiance to the government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam," Kurtz said in his blog.

"The comments are … Read more

In response to past cyberattacks against the Federal Aviation Administration, IBM is teaming up with the agency to try to create a security system to protect commercial and private aviation networks from future threats.

IBM announced on Tuesday that the new security system will move beyond the typical methods of encryption, firewalls, and antivirus software to guard against hackers, botnets, and malware. Instead, the new system for civil aviation will need to be more intelligent and analytical.

Through a series of sensors and monitors, the system will keep tabs on all network traffic and user activity in real time, said … Read more

IBM has a tall order from the U.S. Air Force--create a cloud network that can protect national defense and military data.

Big Blue announced Thursday a contract from the Air Force to design and demonstrate a cloud computing environment for the USAF's network of nine command centers, 100 military bases, and 700,000 personnel around the world.

The challenge for IBM will be to develop a cloud that can not only support such a massive network, but also meet the strict security standards of the Air Force and the U.S. government. The project will call on the … Read more

Utility companies around the world will spend $21 billion by 2015 to improve cybersecurity for the world's electrical smart grid, according to a report released Thursday by Pike Research.

As the industry has increasingly built up smart grids to better control and regulate electrical power, the threat of cyberattacks has become a greater concern. Dangers ranging from terrorist attacks to hackers to accidents to natural disasters could cause substantial damage.

To better safeguard the grid, utilities will spend a total of $21 billion over the next five years. The business segment that services this market will likely see revenue … Read more

Google is finalizing an agreement with the National Security Agency to help the search giant ward off cyberattacks, according to the Washington Post.

The electronic surveillance organization is expected to help analyze a cyberattack on Google that the company said originated in China, so that the company can better defend itself against future attacks, the newspaper reported Wednesday. The arrangement is reportedly being designed to allow the two groups to share information without violating Google's privacy policies or laws governing online communications.

Google declined to comment on the report.

The NSA said it works with a variety of partners … Read more

White House Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair says the U.S. is severely under the threat of greater cyberattacks but believes we can rise to the challenge.

Blair appeared before a Senate panel on Tuesday to deliver the Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community (PDF). A statement of Blair's remarks to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence was released for the record. While he focused mostly on non-cyberterrorism and similar threats, he led off with a stark report on the growing dangers and challenges of cyberwarfare.

Seeing the recent attacks against Google as a "… Read more

Microsoft is so concerned about the future of cloud computing that it's urging the government to step in.

In a speech Wednesday, Microsoft general counsel and senior vice president Brad Smith called on government and business to shore up confidence in cloud computing by tackling issues of privacy and security--two major concerns that have been voiced about the cloud.

During his keynote speech to the Brookings Institution's "Cloud Computing for Business and Society" form, Smith also appealed to Washington to pass new laws and update existing ones to address problems such as computer fraud and cyberattacks … Read more

Google's recent turmoil in China has prompted the company to halt the launch of two Android smartphones in the Chinese market.

The company told Dow Jones Newswire on Tuesday that it has indefinitely postponed the Chinese debut of two mobile phones manufactured by Samsung and Motorola. The phones, which were to be sold by provider China Unicom, were initially set to hit China on Wednesday.

An unnamed source told Dow Jones that Google felt it would be "irresponsible" to unveil the phones now, in light of the company's current situation in China. No details were given … Read more

The recent cyberattacks on Google and other U.S. companies became public because they prompted Google's dramatic showdown with China, but attempts to steal corporate secrets using the Internet happen under the radar on a daily basis.

"Espionage has been going on for decades. The Internet has made it a lot easier to conduct espionage," said John Bumgarner, chief technology officer at the government-funded think tank U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit. "The targets are mostly defense contractors and high-tech companies that have some type of competitive advantage that someone wants to steal."

When regular business … Read more