Renegade Geek to Head Cyber Security

Attack was response to Pentagon stance on cyberattacks: hackers

(NEWSER) - Hackers have accessed and leaked the passwords of some 180 workers at FBI-partner InfraGard, says the Atlanta-based organization. "Someone did compromise the website," said the local head of the group, a volunteer public-private partnership that shares info about threats to US physical and Internet infrastructure. Victims include members of the Army, internet security groups, and top communications firms, the AP reports. The passwords were revealed online by hackers’ group Lulz Security, which has taken credit for recent attacks on Sony, Nintendo, and PBS. More»

Death and damage from online assault can result in military response

(NEWSER) - A cyber attack on the United States or its allies can be considered an act of war and result in a military response, says the Pentagon in its first formal document outlining its cyber strategy. The 30-page classified report—unclassified portions of which will be released next month—looks at the changing face of warfare in a time when hackers can do serious damage to a country's infrastructure, reports the Wall Street Journal , which spoke to three defense officials who have read it. More»

Term for former NYPD chief is harsher than prosecutors sought

(NEWSER) - A federal judge sentenced disgraced NYPD commissioner Bernard Kerik to four years in prison today, berating him for trying to exploit 9/11. The sentence was harsher than the 27 to 33 months the prosecutor had recommended in Kerik’s plea bargain, in which he admitted to eight charges, including lying to the White House, taking a payoff from a mob-linked contractor, and falsifying his tax returns. More»

Ridge tell-all dangles shocking revelation

(NEWSER) - The publisher of Tom Ridge's forthcoming book has dropped a potential bombshell: It says the Bush White House pressured the Homeland Security chief to arbitrarily raise the terror threat alert level on the eve of the 2004 election, ostensibly to boost its chances, reports US News and World Report. Ridge supposedly airs the dirty laundry in The Test of Our Times: America Under Siege...and How We Can Be Safe Again, out September 1. More»

(NEWSER) - The Supreme Court has refused to hear a challenge to the completion of the border fence between the US and Mexico, Fox News reports. Environmental groups, an Indian tribe, and the city of El Paso brought the challenge, contending that a fence will cut off access to the Rio Grande for religious, cultural, and municipal purposes. The Obama administration had encouraged the court to reject the case. More»