Posts Tagged ‘cybersecurity’

schools cybersecurity

https://www.edweek.org/technology/opinion-what-can-be-done-about-k-12s-looming-tech-nightmare/2022/01

As of this past August, Politico has reported that ransomware attacks have hit 58 education organizations and school districts, including 830 individual schools. Last March, the Broward County, Fla., district didn’t pay a $40 million ransom, leading the hackers to publish 26,000 stolen files online (these included student and staff Social Security numbers and addresses).

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more on cybersecurity in this IMS blog
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blocking scam calls

Australian Tech Giant Telstra Now Automatically Blocking 500,000 Scam Calls A Day With New DNS Filtering System from r/Futurology

https://www.zdnet.com/article/automating-scam-call-blocking-sees-telstra-prevent-up-to-500000-calls-a-day/

In May, the company kicked off with DNS filtering to fight against botnets, trojans, and other types of malware, and extended to blocking phishing text messages purporting to be from myGov or Centrelink before they hit the phones of customers.

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more on scams in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=scam

China hackers

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-10-04/the-big-hack-how-china-used-a-tiny-chip-to-infiltrate-america-s-top-companies

Nested on the servers’ motherboards, the testers found a tiny microchip, not much bigger than a grain of rice, that wasn’t part of the boards’ original design. Amazon reported the discovery to U.S. authorities, sending a shudder through the intelligence community. Elemental’s servers could be found in Department of Defense data centers, the CIA’s drone operations, and the onboard networks of Navy warships. And Elemental was just one of hundreds of Supermicro customers.

interdiction, consists of manipulating devices as they’re in transit from manufacturer to customer. This approach is favored by U.S. spy agencies, according to documents leaked by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. The other method involves seeding changes from the very beginning.

In emailed statements, Amazon (which announced its acquisition of Elemental in September 2015), Apple, and Supermicro disputed summaries of Bloomberg Businessweek’s reporting.

The Chinese government didn’t directly address questions about manipulation of Supermicro servers, issuing a statement that read, in part, “Supply chain safety in cyberspace is an issue of common concern, and China is also a victim.” The FBI and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, representing the CIA and NSA, declined to comment.

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more on hackers in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=hacker

disinformation cybersecurity

It’s time to accept that disinformation is a cyber security issue from r/technology

https://www.computerweekly.com/opinion/Its-time-to-accept-that-disinformation-is-a-cyber-security-issue

Misinformation and disinformation are rife, but so far it’s been seen as a challenge for policy-makers and big tech, including social media platforms.

The sheer volume of data being created makes it hard to tell what’s real and what’s not. From destroying 5G towers to conspiracies like QAnon and unfounded concern about election fraud, distrust is becoming the default – and this can have incredibly damaging effects on society.

So far, the tech sector – primarily social media companies, given that their platforms enable fake news to spread exponentially – have tried to implement some measures, with varying levels of success. For example, WhatsApp has placed a stricter limit on its message-forwarding capability and Twitter has begun to flag misleading posts.

the rise of tech startups that are exploring ways to detect and stem the flow of disinformation, such Right of ReplyAstroscreen and Logically.

disinformation has the potential to undermine national security

Data breaches result in the loss of value, but so can data manipulation

tech companies coalition sought

U.S. Policy on China May Move from ‘America First’ to America & Co.

A tech entrepreneur in the State Department is using network theory to counter Chinese pressure.

According to Krach, the Clean Network includes 180 telecom companies and 50 national governments that represent two-thirds of the world’s gross domestic product. Although that’s impressive, all countries aren’t equally committed.

The task of forming networks to counter China’s influence has been made easier by China itself, which has frightened and angered trading partners with its “wolf warrior” diplomacy, a newly belligerent pursuit of China’s national interests.

The Clean Network is to China what George Kennan’s “long telegram” [PDF] of 1946 was to the Soviet Union, wrote David Fidler, adjunct senior fellow for cybersecurity and global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, in a blog post in October.

But trade deals alone are not enough, says Martijn Rasser, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security. For instance, they wouldn’t stop China from exporting its surveillance technology to countries such as Venezuela and Uganda, where it’s been used to target political activists, he says.

Academic Fraud and Cybersecurity Risk

Podcast: The Link Between Academic Fraud and Cybersecurity Risk

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2020/10/23/podcast-the-link-between-academic-fraud-and-cybersecurity-risk.aspx

how essay mills operate and how academic fraud websites can lead to more serious cybersecurity threats. It’s a wild ride through falsified app reviews, shoddy workmanship and a rabbit hole of malicious activity.

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https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=Academic+Fraud
more on academic fraud in this IMS blog
more on cybersecurity in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=cybersecurity

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