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Computer Misuse Act update: Get the balance right

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Computers and networks, and the degree to which we rely on them, have changed almost beyond recognition since 1990, but the framework of the Act remains effective. But to reflect the changed environment, the government is proposing to increase the penalties for unauthorised access and modification of computers in the Police and Justice Bill currently before Parliament. Hacking and malware have also expanded and, more worryingly, in recent years we have seen an explosion in the availability of hacking tools and services and their use by organised criminals. To target them, we are proposing a new offence to criminalise those individuals who make and distribute hacking tools.

Benjamin D. Thomas
Jul 13, 2006

FBI plans new Net-tapping push

The FBI has drafted sweeping legislation that would require Internet service providers to create wiretapping hubs for police surveillance and force makers of networking gear to build in backdoors for eavesdropping, CNET News.com has learned.

Brittany Day
Jul 10, 2006

Hong Kong drafts first anti-spam law

Hong Kong is readying its first anti-spam laws, promising fines and long prison terms for serious offenders. The Chinese territory currently has no laws specifically outlawing junk email, and recent surveys looking at the sources of spam have included Hong Kong and China among the worst in the world.

Brittany Day
Jul 07, 2006

U.S. gov't mandates laptop security

The Bush Administration is giving federal civilian agencies just 45 days to comply with new recommendations for laptop encryption and two-factor authentication.

Brittany Day
Jul 06, 2006

Concerns About Fraud Potential Continue to Plague Users of Electronic Voting Machines

Electronic voting machines will be vulnerable to fraud this election season unless countermeasures are taken, according to a report issued last week by the New York University School of Law. E-voting devices, such as touch-screen or optical scan systems, are becoming more prevalent nationwide, and most of them are vulnerable to external attack, according to the report compiled by the school's Brennan Center for Justice.

Brittany Day
Jul 04, 2006

Hacker attacks hitting Pentagon: But NSA's methods for safeguarding data are growing obsolete

(Baltimore Sun, The (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Jul. 2--WASHINGTON -- The number of reported attempts to penetrate Pentagon computer networks rose sharply in the past decade, from fewer than 800 in 1996 to more than 160,000 last year - thousands of them successful. At the same time, the nation's ability to safeguard sensitive data in those and other government computer systems is becoming obsolete as efforts to make improvements have faltered and stalled.

Brittany Day
Jul 03, 2006

A Good Start

It's a start. On June 23, the Office of Management and Budget announced that federal agencies have 45 days to put new data-protection measures in place. The new requirements (technically, they're "recommendations," but the OMB appears serious about this anyway) include encryption for all sensitive data on mobile devices, logging of all extracts from databases containing sensitive information and verification that the downloaded sensitive data is deleted after 90 days.

Brittany Day
Jul 03, 2006

U.S. Gov't Mmandates Laptop Security

The Bush Administration is giving federal civilian agencies just 45 days to comply with new recommendations for laptop encryption and two-factor authentication. The memo follows a wave of high profile data thefts and major security breeches involving remote access or the theft of government laptop computers containing sensitive personal information. The official memo (PDF) from the executive office of the U.S. president stipulates that all mobile devices containing sensitive information must have their data encrypted.

Brittany Day
Jun 29, 2006

e-voting gear at risk of hacking, study says

The nation's three most commonly purchased electronic voting machines are all vulnerable to fraud, a study released on Tuesday has found.

Brittany Day
Jun 28, 2006

New data security bill introduced

A bill introduced yesterday by Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah) and Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) both of whom serve on the Senate Banking Committee, joins a growing list of data security measures now pending before Congress. The proposed Data Security Act of 2006 seeks to create a national data protection and breach notification standard.

Benjamin D. Thomas
Jun 28, 2006

FTC laptops stolen, along with personal data

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is notifying 110 people that two laptop computers containing their personal data were stolen from a locked vehicle. The information includes individuals' names, addresses, Social Security numbers, birth dates and "in some cases, financial account numbers," the regulatory agency said yesterday. The laptops are password-protected, and the FTC said it had no reason to think the data on the laptops, rather than the laptops themselves, was the target of theft.

Brittany Day
Jun 23, 2006

Retain or Restrain Access Logs?

When you use the Internet, a certain record of your activities is invariably created and - at least for a short time - retained by your Internet Service Provider. For example, when you establish an account with your ISP - whether it is AOL, Comcast, Verizon, Time-Warner, or any of thousands of ISPs you generally provide the ISP with your name, address, telephone number, and if it is a paid service, some form of payment - credit card, bank account, etc. The ISP will typically retain this account information, and will also keep records that associate this account information with any accounts that you create. Thus, while you think you are so clever creating the online persona "cyber-stud" the ISP knows that you are really a twenty nine year old permanent undergraduate engineering student living at home in your mother's basement.

Brittany Day
Jun 12, 2006

House rejects Net neutrality rules

The U.S. House of Representatives definitively rejected the concept of Net neutrality on Thursday, dealing a bitter blow to Internet companies like Amazon.com, eBay and Google that had engaged in a last-minute lobbying campaign to support it.

Brittany Day
Jun 09, 2006

Ervin: DHS Fails Security Mission

Clark Ervin was strolling down a Manhattan street in April 2005 when the red light on his BlackBerry indicated he had a message. The former inspector general of the Homeland Security Department looked at the device and saw that the Associated Press had reported the results of the latest IG investigation on airport security. Those results showed no improvement in screeners’ abilities to detect deadly weapons, compared with the results of similar investigations done in 2001 and 2003. “It was far easier than it should have been even after the [Sept. 11, 2001] attacks for government investigators to sneak these weapons through,

Brittany Day
Jun 08, 2006

IRS missing laptop with employee data

The IRS said that one of its laptops containing data about 291 IRS employees and job applicants went missing in early May when it was lost in transit to an agency event. The information contained on the laptop included fingerprints, names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers for the 291 individuals.

Brittany Day
Jun 07, 2006

Fed plan for cybersecurity R&D released

The government has outlined its first steps for coordinating and expanding federal research and development efforts aimed at improving cybersecurity. The new Federal Plan for Cyber Security and Information Assurance Research and Development, issued in April and now available online, lays the groundwork for developing an R&D agenda that will help address critical gaps in current technologies and capabilities.

Brittany Day
Jun 02, 2006

Stronger cybersecurity bill passes House committee

The U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee today approved a bill that would significantly strengthen existing federal cybercrime law and provide law enforcement with increased enforcement tools.The bill also offers authorities greater enforcement powers and resources. Included is a section that provides an additional $10 million annually to the Secret Service, FBI and Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute cybercrimes. The bill makes failing to report breaches to the FBI or Secret Service than involve at least 5,000 customers a crime punishable by up to five years in prison.

Benjamin D. Thomas
May 31, 2006

Intelligence community to reboot security

The intelligence community is turning to Defense services and agencies, as well as representatives from industry and academia, to help them overhaul their outdated and ineffective certification and accreditation processes. This month, personnel will begin receiving invitations to participate in one of two teams—a green team and a gold team—that will ultimately make suggestions on how to improve certification and accreditation processes across the intelligence community.

Brittany Day
May 26, 2006

OMB to agencies: Review personal data protections

The Office of Management and Budget has directed agencies’ senior privacy officials to review and correct any policies and processes to ensure that they protect against misuse of or unauthorized access to personally identifiable information.

Brittany Day
May 23, 2006

Source: State Dept. to limit Chinese computer use

The State Department, reacting to security concerns after its purchase of computers from a Chinese company, will not use the equipment for classified information, an aide to Virginia Republican Rep. Frank Wolf said on Thursday.

Brittany Day
May 21, 2006

Government - Page 32

Navigating Open-Source Security Risks: The Pursuit of Memory Safety in Open-Source Software

German State Abandons Microsoft for Linux and LibreOffice

White House Warns: Move to Memory-Safe Languages