cyberterrorism

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They Cheered Against India, Now Face Sedition Charges

At least 7 arrested in India for cyberterrorism after celebrating Pakistan's cricket win

(Newser) - If you're in India, you'd better cheer for India. That's the message from authorities in Uttar Pradesh, where police have arrested at least seven people for allegedly celebrating Pakistan's victory over India in Sunday's T20 World Cup cricket match in Dubai. All seven face charges...

Scarier Than CyberTerrorists? Sucky Software

Band-Aids on creaky infrastructures can hold them together for only so long

(Newser) - "Don't be scared. Don't even be worried." That was Felix Salmon's advice on Fusion after computer glitches darkened the New York Stock Exchange , took the Wall Street Journal offline, and grounded United flights . But today on Medium , Zeynep Tufekci writes that while she gets Salmon'...

US Spy Chiefs: Cyber Threat Is on Par With Terrorism

Cyber Command looks to go on offense

(Newser) - With China , Iran , and other countries increasingly hacking the United States, its infrastructure, and its companies, the Pentagon is stepping up its cyber defense operations in a major way—provided Washington's budget battles don't hamstring its efforts, reports the Washington Post . Gen. Keith Alexander, the head of the...

Pentagon: Cyber Attacks Can Qualify as Acts of War

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...

Spencer Pratt Ditches Hills to Fight Cyber Crime

MTV reality villain in talks with LA firearms-training firm

(Newser) - Spencer Pratt aims to remove both the “reality-TV” and “villain” facets of his character, as he’s planning a break from MTV’s The Hills to focus on fighting cyber crime. Pratt, 26, is studying software engineering, and, inspired by President Obama’s recent pronouncement that online threats...

Pentagon's Cybercommand Raises Privacy Fears

Militarization of cybersecurity fuels debate on rules of engagement

(Newser) - Plans to put America's cybersecurity under the control of the Pentagon are raising some thorny privacy and diplomacy issues, the New York Times reports. President Obama has insisted that the military, under the cybercommand being developed, will not be monitoring private sector networks and Internet traffic—but Pentagon officials say...

Pentagon Plans New Command for Online War

Military unit will complement Obama's new civilian office

(Newser) - The Pentagon is pushing ahead with a new military command devoted to cyberspace as the armed forces ramp up abilities to not only defend against computer attacks but launch them as well, the New York Times reports. The new command will work in concert with a civilian organization, which President...

Pentagon to Create 'Digital Warfare Force'

(Newser) - The US military is creating a digital warfare force as part of a complete reorganization of its cyber operations, says NSA director and top cyber warfare commander Keith Alexander. In blunt testimony prepared for the House Armed Services subcommittee today, Alexander says the Pentagon’s current cyber training is woefully...

Suicide Prompts Uproar Over Cyber-Insults in S. Korea

Officials push for tougher punishments for 'cyber-terrorism'

(Newser) - The suicide of a popular actress is prompting South Korean officials to get tough with “cyber-terrorists,” the Los Angeles Times reports. Choi Jin-sil hanged herself this month after Internet rumors blamed her for the death of a fellow actor. “People who inflict cyber-terrorism must pay the appropriate...

Terror Trackers Tackle Jihadis Online

Two firms spearhead web war on terror

(Newser) - Two low-profile private contractors are at the forefront of the fight against cyber-jihadis, Der Speigel reports. From secret US locations, IntelCenter and SITE track footprints that al-Qaeda and other groups leave online. They detect new statements in the maze of terror-linked sites and rapidly transmit them to the world's counter-terror...

Al-Qaeda Plenty Safe, Thriving on Web

US missed badly on chance to foil terrorists' propaganda network

(Newser) - Americans might think of al-Qaeda as a cave-dwelling group of primitives, but the terror group operates one of the most sophisticated propaganda operations on the web, the Washington Post reports. Al-Qaeda releases documentary-quality videos every 3-4 days through tightly secured channels. “It’s beautifully crafted propaganda,” said one...

Renegade Geek to Head Cyber Security

DHS taps outsider as Silicon Valley ambassador

(Newser) - Outre tech entrepreneur Rod Beckström will top the White House’s new secretive cyber security initiative, the Wall Street Journal reports, to the surprise of many Washington insiders. Beckström is a Silicon Valley transplant without security experience, but he has developed a cult following in the security and...

Feds Prepare for Cyberwar
Feds Prepare
for Cyberwar

Feds Prepare for Cyberwar

Attack by hackers, likely from China, could cut communications, power, banking

(Newser) - Readying for a new cyber doomsday in which Americans wake to find the power off, cell phones dead, and no access to cash, the Bush administration is considering creating an agency to protect critical public and private computers. Experts say that any attack, which would likely originate in China, would...

Estonia Attack Prompts Cyber Security Blitz

Experts from all over studying how to soup up digital security

(Newser) - In the wake of what some are calling the first digital act of war—when hackers using as many as a million computers attacked Estonia's  web-based infrastructure—cyber security experts from all over Europe and the US are huddling to study how to prevent future disasters, reports the New York ...

Estonia Suspects Russia of Cyberattack

NATO geeks dispatched after barrage cripples e-government

(Newser) - Estonia is under cyberattack after removing a Soviet war memorial from its capital, reports the Guardian.  A barrage of mysterious spam assaults crippling government ministries, banks, corporations, political parties and news organizations has prompted NATO to deploy counter-cyberterrorism experts to the Baltic state, as officials cast a suspicious eye...

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