On November 22nd, 2011, Ivan Watson reported for CNN on the continued cyberwar going on in Syria. The article explains how the Syrian Electronic Army, a group of hackers under the patronage of the Syrian government, has been responsible for hacking attacks against the opposition movement. However, opposition movement members have been able to get around the Syrian regime's internet controls and avoid monitoring by the Syrian security services by utilizing an encryption technology called Psiphon (which is funded by the US State Department).
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Gautham Nagesh reported for The Hill on how DHS has a new cyberchief. Mark Weathford recently became the DHS Deputy Undersecretary for Cybersecurity, and his arrival is supposed to "herald an era of greater balance in national cybersecurity leadership." The article quoted one cyber-expert as saying "For the first time in many years, the U.S. cybersecurity program will be run by a technologist rather than by a lawyer. There are good reasons to believe that this change will herald an era of greater balance in national cybersecurity leadership between [the National Security Agency] and DHS."
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Angus Batey reported for The Montreal Gazette on how there is a new arms race in cyber-weapons. Specifically, the article explores how one businessman sells a piece of software called a "Remote Control System" that can "invade a digital device undetected, bypass the most sophisticated electronic defences so far devised and, if the user so desires, disrupt the running of anything from a railway signalling system to a nuclear power station." Batey reports that the software is billed as an investigative tool for law enforcement, so its sale is legal. However, the software can be sold to any country that is not under UN or EU embargo.
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The Republican candidates are having a national security debate tonight at 8pm. I'll be one grumpy blogger if there is no mention of cybersecurity. CNN has a background on all of the candidates national security views.
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