- Phishing Campaigns Target Critical Infrastructure (The Hill): The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), released a report last week warning critical infrastructure providers about a nefarious spear-phishing campaign, according to The Hill. According to the article, this campaign involves Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actors initiating phishing e-mails that are targeting users within the energy, manufacturing, chemical, and government sectors. This is particularly vexing in light of the article’s reference to a statement that National Security Agency (NSA) Director Michael Rogers reportedly told reporters [last fall] that China and one or more other nations possessed the capability to shut down portions of critical U.S. infrastructure during a cyberattack. The full article can be found here.
- Energy Department Struck by Cyber Attacks (USA Today): United States Department of Energy (DOE) computer systems were successfully compromised more than 150 times between 2010 and 2014, according to USA Today. Using records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), USA Today determined that the DOE which contains sensitive data related to the nation’s power grid, energy labs, as well as nuclear weapons were attacked 1,131 times during the four-year period and of those, 159 attacks were successful, according to the article. Furthermore, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) which is the agency within DOE that secures and oversees the Nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile was successfully attacked 19 times during the aforementioned timeframe, according to USA Today. Additionally, the article notes that an October 2014 audit of the DOE found that 41 DOE servers and 14 workstations were configured with either default or “easily guessed” passwords. The full article can be found here.
- Cyber Security Danger is Growing (Washington Times): Michael Rogers, the Commander of U.S. Cyber Command and National Security Agency (NSA) Director, is pushing for an extension of military capabilities as Rogers believes this should be an integral part of U.S. cyber capabilities, the Washington Times reported. According to the article, Rogers is working diligently to integrate cyberwarfare capabilities into existing war-fighting commands so they can be leveraged when attacks necessitate DoD involvement. The Washington Times article further indicates that Rogers believes that the military capabilities the U.S. possesses for cyberwarfare is somewhat hamstrung since the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the lead agency for government cybersecurity whereas Rogers argues that the NSA and Cyber Command are in better positions and have more expertise in this area. The full article can be found here.
Current Affairs, Cyber Attacks, Cyber Command, Cybersecurity, National Security
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