Cybersecurity & Tech

Bits and Bytes

Paul Rosenzweig
Thursday, January 29, 2015, 9:40 AM
You go off line for 3 days and so much worth noting happens!  Here are some recent developments: DHS Ooops.  Responding to a FOIA request regarding Operation Aurora (a Chinese attack on Google) DHS accidentally also releases classified data on Project Aurora (the first demonstration of SCADA vulnerabilities in the electric grid).  Our bad!

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You go off line for 3 days and so much worth noting happens!  Here are some recent developments: DHS Ooops.  Responding to a FOIA request regarding Operation Aurora (a Chinese attack on Google) DHS accidentally also releases classified data on Project Aurora (the first demonstration of SCADA vulnerabilities in the electric grid).  Our bad! Drone on the White House.  Responding to the crash at the White House last week the manufacturer has announced plans to hard wire "no-go" zones around airports and the White House into the firmware of the drone.  Prediction:  If it can be wired in, it can be hacked. State of the IANA Transition.  The USG provides a status update on the progress being made.  Money quote: "Let me repeat, the proposal must support and enhance the multistakeholder model of Internet governance, in that it should be developed by the multistakeholder community and have broad community support.  More specifically, we will not accept a transition proposal that replaces the NTIA role with a government-led or intergovernmental organization solution. ...In addition, the proposal must maintain the security, stability, and resiliency of the domain name system.  The proposal must meet the needs and expectations of the global customers and partners of the IANA services.  And finally, it must maintain the openness of the Internet." 3D Food Printing.  Remarkable.  The additive manufacturing world is changing even faster than cyber.  Will it be better than MREs?  Will a hack mean giving the opposing army food poisoning? GCHQ Pranked. "At a time when Western leaders are clamoring for greater powers to conduct covert surveillance, a prankster in Britain has turned the tables, obtaining a private cellphone number for a top intelligence chief and apparently telephoning the prime minister in his name, British officials acknowledged on Monday."  Gotta love it.  Social engineering always wins. Ongwen to ICC.  Ugandan rebel commander remanded to the ICC to face war crimes charges.  No word on how the answered some of the vexing legal questions to get him there, but if I were his defense counsel I'd eventually want some answers.

Paul Rosenzweig is the founder of Red Branch Consulting PLLC, a homeland security consulting company and a Senior Advisor to The Chertoff Group. Mr. Rosenzweig formerly served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy in the Department of Homeland Security. He is a Professorial Lecturer in Law at George Washington University, a Senior Fellow in the Tech, Law & Security program at American University, and a Board Member of the Journal of National Security Law and Policy.

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