“There’s a war going on, and it’s raging here at home — not in the streets or the fields, but on the Internet. You can think of it as a war on the digital homeland. If you work for a power company, bank, defense contractor, transportation provider, or other critical infrastructure type of operation, your organization might be in the direct line of fire. And everyone can become collateral damage”
Unseen, All-Out Cyber War on the U.S. has Begun.
(Shared from CIO)
Middle Tennessee Cyber Summit: Building Partnerships and Understanding the Threat
Date: May 7 and 8
Location: MTSU New Student Union Building
Registration: March 1, 2013
Middle Tennessee Cyber Summit: Building Partnerships and Understanding the Threat will be held on the MTSU campus May 7 and 8. This event will address criminal, intelligence, disruptive, and information cyber threats and be of particular interest to city/state/federal governments, healthcare, education, transportation, financial, utilities, and business industries.
Presentations from Department of Homeland Security, TN Department of Safety and Homeland Security, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and private sector cyber security. Registration information can be found at http://www.csimtsu.com beginning March 1, 2013.
Hackers attacking SCADA systems and wreaking havoc in a nation’s critical infrastructure has become a justified concern for all countries. But, setting aside Iran and attacks against its nuclear program for a moment, the U.S. seems to attract a seemingly disproportionate amount of these kind of assaults Hackers destroy pump in U.S. water utility attack.
Over the past 10 years I have taught students that SCADA systems that are related to infrastructure or manufacturing should be guarded and off of the web if it could not be protected. With computer security hitting headlines everyday, the infrastructure behind America is often overlooked and a natural assumption that our infrastructure is safe can be misleading. Being on the internet, critical systems (SCADA) are computer systems that control many necessary and vital things such as electrical power, manufacturing, communications, water treatment, waste water, oil and gas systems.
Even when SCADA systems are protected properly, security analyst also have to look at the remote access into these systems from home computers of workers who may be on call. Infections from botnets, worms, viruses or vulnerabilities on home computers could possibly lead to infections on the SCADA systems. Work based computers that are given to workers (laptops, tablets, netbooks) should be used for work only and by the employee only. The computers (issued to the employee) should be locked down and encrypted when communicating with the SCADA system and the computer should not allow any other type of access to the web.
A recent ZDNet article, China’s cyber-militia behind U.S. blackouts? is an excellent article on the research and analysis of reports suggesting that China may be behind blackouts in the Northeast and in Florida. The article truly concludes that regardless of who may have broken in or who may have caused the blackouts the threats against our infrastructure is real.
*credit to Tech Paul for posting the article.
*The Dark Visitor - Inside the World of Chinese Hackers – Interesting blog…
*U.S. lawmakers point to China as cause of cyberattacks - source Computerworld
*Android Malware Using Blog as C&C Server (Researchers at Trend Micro have discovered a unique feature circulating in some Android-based malware. The malicious application is using a blog in China to act as a Command and Control (C&C) server.) – source Security Weekly
A recent Chinese video for the military let slip the attacking of an Alabama University. more
On Facebook? Watch what you click and don’t fall for scams. Recently I saw Facebook Security had posted to my wall. But I knew a friend was hacked. How? When you use Facebook, you will see associated friends in the top right corner. In fact Facebook Security and I had 24 mutual friends. So I knew instantly.
If you see an email or a name on your wall that says Facebook Security, hover your mouse DON’T CLICK on the name Facebook Security (this is the fake name they will be using and not just in email). If you look in the lower left corner of your screen you will see your real friend’s name that has been hacked. Call them and let them know. Do NOT Communicate with them on Facebook! You can be talking to the hacker…
Here’s some rules and tips!
There are tons of other privacy items you have to worry about. Think about it this way. You meet someone in the mall and you have never met them before. Do you give them all of your information? Are they your friend after one meeting? Would you give them your cell number?
Do you have a tip?
The REAL Facebook Security
“When you begin college, you are probably on your own for the first time. You are taking on new responsibilities, making your own decisions, and becoming part of the campus community. There is an important role that you can play in your college’s cybersecurity efforts that combines these elements of responsibility, decision-making, and community.” StaySafeOnline
TTC Shelbyville supports the National Cyber Security Alliance and has once again submitted to be a partner (2011 NCSAM Champions) under the National Cyber Security Alliance.
Get Involved!
“When you begin college, you are probably on your own for the first time. You are taking on new responsibilities, making your own decisions, and becoming part of the campus community. There is an important role that you can play in your college’s cybersecurity efforts that combines these elements of responsibility, decision-making, and community.
You use your computer almost daily, for homework, research, social networking, online purchases, and more…” Read More
TTC Shelbyville supports the National Cyber Security Alliance and has once again submitted to be a partner (2011 NCSAM Champions) under the National Cyber Security Alliance.
Get Involved!
Department of Homeland Security Information
Tips – Resources and Documents
Check your computer for viruses or malware:
TrendMicro HouseCall Virus Scan
Paul’s Home Computing Blog is in the process of writing articles in a multi-part series on cyber security. Paul does and excellent job covering many areas in computer security.
1: Text-Message Malware
3: Social Network Account Spoofing
4: Cyber Stalking
Look for the two more upcoming articles in the series-
We like other fellow bloggers have decided to promote Cyber Security Awareness Month. I follow several dozen bloggers but here are a few of the best bloggers out there talking about Cyber Security every month.
Cyber Security Awareness is everyone’s responsibility. Visit StaySafeOnline.org TTC Shelbyville with other universities, colleges, and organizations recognize the need to be safe online and recently endorsed the campaign to be safe online. See Full list on endorsing organizations at the above link. Also read the tips and the ‘what-ifs’ and ‘how-to’ information.
Also STOP-THINK-CONNECT launched in Seattle marking the start of National Cyber Security Awareness Month. This safety awareness kicked off with the Special Assistant to the President and Cyber security Coordinator White House, Howard Schmidt, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Jane Holl Lute and many leaders of private and non-profit organizations.
Do your part and take this information to your place of business, to your children’s educators, to community leaders and anyone you know.
With October being Cyber Security Awareness Month, these links help you see if you are secure.
http://daol.aol.com/security/computer-checkup
http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html
http://shop.ca.com/STContent/Resources/Resources.aspx
http://www.eset.com/online-scanner
http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm?s_cid=sah
http://www.kaspersky.com/virusscanner
http://us.mcafee.com/root/mfs/default.asp
http://www.pandasecurity.com/activescan/index/?track=1&Lang=en-US&IdPais…
http://www.symantec.com/securitycheck
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/housecall/start_corp.asp
http://www.webroot.com/En_US/land-ss-promo-freescan.html
We are always repairing computers that have P2P file sharing software on them. Usually viruses such as trojans or even bots are on the computer after the person came in and complained that the computer has became slow and unresponsive. We also see more and more computers that have been infected or an email identity stolen from a social networking site.
First off to correct the problems, users should never download what they think is ‘free’ music or movies regardless of how safe they think it is. This is illegal and breaks copyright laws unless the artist has elected to give away their music.
Have Children?
Excellent video on Cybersecurity and International Law
Information security experts warn of the threat to the U.S .due to the lack of an international rule of law. Terry McCarthy reports on the dangers posed by hackers. (CBS News)
