The Pentagon and Lockheed Martin, the lead defense contractor for the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, suggested yesterday that cyber-attacks had not caused any serious security breaches in the Pentagon’s most expensive weapons program.
Still, defense and corporate officials said attacks on the Pentagon as well as the F-35 program are constant, and former defense officials familiar with the program said some of the F-35′s less sensitive systems have been infiltrated by cyber-intruders.
“We know we are probed on this every day. We have very aggressive defensive systems. The more sensitive the information, the greater the safeguards are,” said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman. He said he was not aware of any sensitive F-35 technology having been compromised by a cyber-attack.
Archive
Archive for April, 2009
Redmond suffered yet another butter fingers incident over the weekend when the company let slip that the near-ready version of Windows 7 will be made available on 5 May.
The company’s partner program website revealed the date for the release candidate of its forthcoming operating system on Saturday.
Neowin picked up on the apparent gaffe and has a screen grab of the website here. Microsoft has since amended it, by removing the date from its site.
It had been carrying the message that paying subscribers to MDSN and TechNet could get their hands on the RC ahead of the 5 May release, when partners will be able to download it too.
General Dynamics Information Technology put out an ad last month on behalf of the Homeland Security Department seeking someone who could “think like the bad guy.” Applicants, it said, must understand hackers’ tools and tactics and be able to analyze Internet traffic and identify vulnerabilities in the federal systems.
In the Pentagon’s budget request submitted last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the Pentagon will increase the number of cyberexperts it can train each year from 80 to 250 by 2011.
With warnings that the U.S. is ill-prepared for a cyberattack, the White House conducted a 60-day study of how the government can better manage and use technology to protect everything from the electrical grid and stock markets to tax data, airline flight systems, and nuclear launch codes.
President Barack Obama appointed a former Bush administration aide, Melissa Hathaway, to head the effort, and her report was delivered Friday, the White House said.
While the country had detailed plans for floods, fires or errant planes drifting into protected airspace, there is no similar response etched out for a major computer attack.
David Powner, director of technology issues for the Government Accountability Office, told Congress last month that the U.S. has no recovery plan for a digital disaster.
“We’re clearly not as prepared as we should be,” he said.
Brocade® (Nasdaq:BRCD) today announced the Brocade IronView® Network Manager (INM) integration with Microsoft Forefront “Stirling.” This allows network operators to effectively track and perform configuration changes and software updates, identify and resolve network failures, and address network security breaches from a centralized location.
The Brocade INM tool acts as the Forefront “Stirling” gateway for Brocade switches, routers, and wireless LAN (WLAN) products. INM leverages the sFlow traffic monitoring capabilities embedded in Brocade IP networking solutions and combines advanced network management capabilities to expand the functionality of Forefront “Stirling” to Brocade IP devices. It further simplifies network protection, provisioning, diagnostics, and problem resolution to provide critical visibility across endpoints, messaging, collaboration servers, and Brocade IP products.
Key Benefits of Forefront “Stirling”
Forefront “Stirling” is an integrated security suite that delivers comprehensive protection across endpoints, application servers, and edge solutions with the following benefits:
* Comprehensive protection, integrating industry-leading detection technologies
* A single management console for configuring security policies and visibility across organizations
* Part of multi-layered defense that works with existing Microsoft infrastructureMicrosoft Forefront “Stirling” enables software, hardware, and services vendors to share and use security event information across the Forefront “Stirling” environment and through products developed by other members of the extensive partner ecosystem. As a result, partners can enhance the effectiveness of their security technologies and better protect customer IT environments.
Brocade INM Key Benefits with Microsoft Forefront “Stirling”
* Acts as the Forefront “Stirling” gateway for all Brocade IP devices, delivering added network layer security
* Communicates and analyzes security status with Microsoft Forefront “Stirling” products and management console, providing real-time network behavior visibility
* Simplifies Brocade IP networking and Microsoft Forefront “Stirling” network modifications from a centralized point to quickly adapt to changing business demands“This integration enhances and simplifies the user experience for our customers,” said Ben Taft, senior director of strategic alliances for Brocade. “Through our strategic relationship with Microsoft, we’re empowering network operators with the tools needed to centrally secure broad networks while making it easier to manage and coordinate security across the IT Infrastructure.”
“Microsoft is pleased to work with Brocade to develop interoperability between Forefront ‘Stirling’ and INM in order to give our customers more comprehensive and responsive security across the enterprise,” said John Chirapurath, director in the identity and security business group at Microsoft Corp. “Microsoft is committed to collaborating with top industry vendors and providing solutions that help organizations more effectively achieve their business goals. We call this ‘business-ready security.’”
The four convicted men behind The Pirate Bay — Frederik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, Peter Sunde, and Carl Lundstrom — say they can’t and won’t pay the $3.6 million in damages and promised the site will continue running. So much for Hollywood’s sweet victory and happy ending.
Posted on Pirate Bay’s website along with a press conference video:
So, the dice courts judgment is here. It was lol to read and hear, crazy verdict. But as in all good movies, the heroes lose in the beginning but have an epic victory in the end anyhow. That’s the only thing hollywood ever taught us.”
Wearing bandanas and waving Jolly Roger flags, hundreds of supporters of file-sharing hub The Pirate Bay demonstrated on Saturday against a Swedish court’s conviction of the Internet site’s organizers.
The Stockholm district court on Friday sentenced Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, Peter Sunde, Fredrik Neij and Carl Lundstrom to one year in prison each for helping millions of Pirate Bay users commit copyright violations of movies, music and computer games.
The court also ordered them to pay 30 million kronor ($3.6 million) in damages to international entertainment companies, including Warner Bros., Sony Music Entertainment, EMI and Columbia Pictures.
The entertainment industry applauded the move, calling it a landmark decision protecting the rights of those whose livelihood depend on creative activity.
All four defendants have vowed to appeal the verdict.
Target announced today a new reservation program that offers guests a chance to reserve the biggest and most popular video game titles. Beginning April 19, Target guests can purchase a collectible reservation card, only in stores, for $1. When they bring the reservation card back within seven days of release to purchase their game, they will receive a $5 Target GiftCard to put toward a future purchase.
“We’ve created a reservation guarantee that ensures guests will get their hands on popular games the day they are released, and a $5 GiftCard upon purchase adds even more value,” said Mark Schindele, senior vice president, Target. “We are constantly striving to make sure our guests find everything they need to work, live and play all in one convenient and simplified shopping experience.”
Trend Micro’s bread-and-butter security package provides protection from both viruses and spyware. AntiVirus+AntiSpyware is designed for home users and comes with a 100% money-back guarantee. Trend Micro says their software is quick to install and easy to use; read on for our take.
PRODUCT OVERVIEW
Trend Micro AntiVirus+AntiSpyware provides no-frills protection for the home user. The software is advertised to block unwanted changes to your computer and prevent computers from becoming infected with viruses. AntiVirus+AntiSpyware provides real-time protection by scanning files that are transferred, downloaded, or attached to email. The software updates itself automatically.
Embedding of the video is disabled so here is a direct YouTube video link.
47 Year old Susan Boyle wows the judges with her performance in the auditions for Britains Got Talent, singing I dreamed a dream from Les Miserables.
This is the greatest video I have ever seen. All the dynamics are here: triumph of one expected to fail miserably, cynicism to genuine appreciation, humbling of one’s self, watching something great and extraordinary happen, humor. It’s truly beautiful. Judging by the view counts of these videos you’ve likely seen it already but I’ll post anyway, just in case. It’s honestly something not to miss. Jaw dropping. Inspiring. It’ll send chills throughout your body and you will feel uplifted.
Earlier this afternoon, Time Warner Cable set aside a controversial plan to charge its users extra — in some cases, a lot extra — for using more data…
Some noted that these broadband surcharges would have the effect of making online video, whether streamed or downloaded, a great deal more expensive. Others observed how much more Time Warner proposed to charge per gigabyte than other providers.
Every time I read stories along these lines I can’t get how far behind the U.S. is in its internet infrastructure. Bandwidth should not be the issue it is today. The internet superhighway reminds me of how the local government here handles the road systems. They do not focus as much on proactively preparing for the flow of traffic but rather tries to play catch up only to perpetually remain behind while sloppily patching what is there.