Items tagged with cyberwarfare
Just as there is a traditional weapons market, a private sector cyberweapons market enables people and organizations to attack anyone worldwide for a fee. However, Microsoft takes this threat of cyberweapons seriously, and is now working to fight the problem head-on. Yesterday, Microsoft's Cristin Goodwin, General Manager for the Digital Security Unit, reported on a cyberweapon being manufactured by a group called Sourgum. This weapon was initially found by the Citizen Lab, at the University of Toronto's Munk School, after being used to attack "more than 100 victims around the world including politicians, human rights activists, journalists, academics, embassy workers and political dissidents."...
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As tension continues to build between Russia and the US over alleged cyber attacks, the US has begun contemplating issuing its own set of cyber attacks against the Kremlin. As we covered last weekend, the US government has formally accused Russia of being responsible for breaking into official servers and walking away with a trove of emails relating to the DNC. While as of last weekend, we were unaware of what counter-action the US might take, the picture this week has just become a little clearer. According to officials close to the matter, the US government is in the planning stages of deciding what kind of retaliation is suitable against Russia, while weighing the risk of potential backlash....
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Yesterday, the newly minted head of the United States' Cyber Command team and NSA head General Keith Alexander told assembled lawmakers that the US has created offensive cyberwarfare divisions designed to do far more than protect US assets from foreign attacks. This is a major change in policy from previous public statements -- in the past, the US has publicly focused on defensive actions and homegrown security improvements. "I would like to be clear that this team, this defend-the-nation team, is not a defensive team,” General Alexander told the House Armed Services Committee. "This is an offensive team that the Defense Department would use to defend the nation if it were attacked in cyberspace....
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