cyber-security

Seventy-seven percent of small- and medium-sized businesses believe that their companies are safe from cyberthreats and yet 83 percent of them have no formal cybersecurity plan. Um, yeah. And that was just one of the contradictions uncovered in a survey of 1,015 small- and medium-sized businesses carried out by the National Cyber Security Alliance and Symantec.

"It's not part of the culture yet," said Michael Kaiser, executive director of the NCSA, who added that he was "a little disheartened that we didn't see substantial … Read more

Eleven European countries suffered major communications outages last year, according to a new report by the European Union's top cybersecurity agency.

The report, released today by the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA), said that 11 EU member states reported 51 "severe outages" in their countries' communications networks and services during 2011.

The report said that 60 percent of the incidents affected cellular networks or mobile Internet, with the remainder involving services such as fixed phone and internet, messaging and e-mail.

According to ENISA, the main cause of the outages was hardware or software failure, which … Read more

A U.S. policy report to be released today says Congress should preempt certain state and federal regulations in order to allow companies the freedom to share with the government information about cyber security threats and attacks without fear of breaking data breach and other laws.

More information sharing is needed between companies and government agencies in order to help fend off attacks from hacktivists, criminals, and nation-states that target computer networks in the United States, according to the Cyber Security Task Force: Public-Private Information Sharing report written by the Homeland Security Project at the non-profit Bipartisan Policy Center.

"… Read more

This much is clear: More nations are seeking to acquire cyber attack capabilities as a standard feature in their military planning. But what will that mean to United States' security interests here and abroad? With Congress to consider cyber legislation this week, a House subcommittee investigating that question used the occasion to make a headline.

"There are no shells exploding or foreign militaries on our shores. But make no mistake: America is under attack by digital bombs," said Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), during a Tuesday hearing of the House subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Management.

McCaul, who also … Read more

The cybersecurity bill introduced last week in the Senate is too broad, say privacy experts who worry that it could authorize wiretapping and curtail civil liberties.

The Cybersecurity Act of 2012, introduced last week by Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Connecticut), John D. Rockefeller IV (D-West Virginia), Susan Collins (R-Maine), and Dianne Feinstein (D-California), is designed to protect the nation's critical infrastructure, which provides vital services such as water, energy, and transportation. It calls on the Department of Homeland Security to work with network operators to develop security standards, a provision that Republican lawmakers, including Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), object to … Read more

In an increasingly digital world, the real threat to citizens' privacy is data collection by corporations and not the Patriot Act, said former U.S. cybersecurity and counterterrorism advisor Richard Clarke.

Clarke, who ruffled Bush administration feathers when he complained that U.S. officials ignored warnings about the al Qaeda threat before the attacks, says Americans are safer from terrorism now, partly because of the Patriot Act. Critics, however, have maintained that the law, enacted after September 11 to root out terrorists, has been interpreted broadly to include citizens with no links to terrorism.

U.S. companies, meanwhile, are facing … Read more

Echoing concerns of security experts, a new report from the Government Accountability Office warns that smart-grid systems are being deployed without built-in security features.

Certain smart meters have not been designed with a strong security architecture and lack important security features like event logging and forensics capabilities used to detect and analyze cyberattacks, while smart-grid home area networks that manage electricity usage of appliances also lack adequate built-in security, according to the report (PDF) released last week by the GAO, the auditing and investigative arm of the U.S. Congress.

"Without securely designed smart-grid systems, utilities will be at … Read more

If you feel safer online using your PC instead of your mobile phone, you are not alone.

A majority 87 percent of people polled for a new study think their home PCs offer better defense against viruses, malware, and hackers than do their mobile phones. Released today by the National Cyber Security Alliance and Symantec, the study (PDF) also discovered that people may be overconfident in the power of their computers to protect them as less than half are using full security software.

Though only 24 percent of those polled said they feel very safe using their home computers to … Read more

A Slovakian antivirus company with its American headquarters in San Diego is trying to make good cybersecurity just as much a part of the local fabric as good beaches and Chargers football.

Eset launched the Securing Our eCity program with the San Diego Chamber of Commerce two years ago to offer free workshops to consumers and small businesses on how to stay safe online. Today it has become a model for similar initiatives being launched in Malaysia, Buenos Aires, and London. And it helped with the creation of the Stop Think Connect campaign launched last week as part of National … Read more