Too many stories tonight . . .

A quick survey of cyber news.

***

Al Jazeera reports that [h]ackers have targeted Twitter, gaining ‘limited’ access to around 250,000 user accounts.  . . .”  Interestingly, Twitter (relayed via Al Jazeera) said the attack was “not the work of amateurs” and was “extremely sophisticated.”  No explicit connection to China, but one has to wonder . . .

***

Siobhan Gorman, Devlin Barrett, and Danny Yadron write for The Wall Street Journal on how Chinese hackers may have broken into the WSJ, much like the NYT . . .

Oh, and Craig Timberg & Ellen Nakashima inform us that The Washington Post has also fallen prey to sophisticated cyber intrusions, most likely from our Chinese friends.

Max Fisher for The Washington Post on China’s “willingness to create its own rules of engagement in cyberspace.”

Tedblogguest, for TED, on the Wild West of the Internet/Reflections on the NYT hack.

Jeffrey Carr writes for his Digital Dao blog questioning whether we can properly attribute the NYT/WSJ/WashPo hack back to China.  I get that we can never get 100% attribution, but c’mon . . . considering motive, timing, tactics, etc., the evidence is really adding up here.

Ben Weitzenkorn wrote for TechNews Daily and considers why most companies won’t admit they were hacked.

Foreign Policy’s Adam Segal on the People’s Republic of Hacking, covering the NYT hack and considering possible US responses.

***

This is really a big deal, I think.

Lolita C. Baldor, for the Associated Press, with the following:

The Obama administration is considering more assertive action against Beijing to combat a persistent cyber-espionage campaign it believes Chinese hackers are waging against U.S. companies and government agencies.

This new assertive action will include a damning NIE and the possibility of canceling visas or subjecting “major purchases of Chinese goods” to national security reviews.

I’m giddy with excitement.

Along similar lines, Jody Westby writes for Forbes and covers how these cyber attacks reveal a gap in US diplomacy.

***

Jaikumar Vijayan, via Computerworld, reports that the cyber EO will come in the days after President Obama’s Feb. 12 State of the Union address.  For what it’s worth, the cyber EO has “been close” for a while now.

***

Via The Guardian’s Dominic Rushe, Google’s Eric Schmidt believes China is the “most sophisticated hacker.”

***

Aliya Sternstein wrote an article for Nextgov titled “Defense Positions A Military Cyber Squad On DHS Turf.”

***

The Heritage Foundation’s Sarah Friesen on how CyberComm’s expansion could be threatened by budget cuts.

***

NIST’s Joint Cloud and Big Data Workshop Webcast . . .

Too many stories tonight . . .

A quick survey of cyber news.

***

Al Jazeera reports that [h]ackers have targeted Twitter, gaining ‘limited’ access to around 250,000 user accounts.  . . .”  Interestingly, Twitter (relayed via Al Jazeera) said the attack was “not the work of amateurs” and was “extremely sophisticated.”  No explicit connection to China, but one has to wonder . . .

***

Siobhan Gorman, Devlin Barrett, and Danny Yadron write for The Wall Street Journal on how Chinese hackers may have broken into the WSJ, much like the NYT . . .

Oh, and Craig Timberg & Ellen Nakashima inform us that The Washington Post has also fallen prey to sophisticated cyber intrusions, most likely from our Chinese friends.

Max Fisher for The Washington Post on China’s “willingness to create its own rules of engagement in cyberspace.”

Tedblogguest, for TED, on the Wild West of the Internet/Reflections on the NYT hack.

Jeffrey Carr writes for his Digital Dao blog questioning whether we can properly attribute the NYT/WSJ/WashPo hack back to China.  I get that we can never get 100% attribution, but c’mon . . . considering motive, timing, tactics, etc., the evidence is really adding up here.

Ben Weitzenkorn wrote for TechNews Daily and considers why most companies won’t admit they were hacked.

Foreign Policy’s Adam Segal on the People’s Republic of Hacking, covering the NYT hack and considering possible US responses.

***

This is really a big deal, I think.

Lolita C. Baldor, for the Associated Press, with the following:

The Obama administration is considering more assertive action against Beijing to combat a persistent cyber-espionage campaign it believes Chinese hackers are waging against U.S. companies and government agencies.

This new assertive action will include a damning NIE and the possibility of canceling visas or subjecting “major purchases of Chinese goods” to national security reviews.

I’m giddy with excitement.

Along similar lines, Jody Westby writes for Forbes and covers how these cyber attacks reveal a gap in US diplomacy.

***

Jaikumar Vijayan, via Computerworld, reports that the cyber EO will come in the days after President Obama’s Feb. 12 State of the Union address.  For what it’s worth, the cyber EO has “been close” for a while now.

***

Via The Guardian’s Dominic Rushe, Google’s Eric Schmidt believes China is the “most sophisticated hacker.”

***

Aliya Sternstein wrote an article for Nextgov titled “Defense Positions A Military Cyber Squad On DHS Turf.”

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