Crossroads Blog | Institute National Security and Counterterrorism

Current Affairs, Cyber Exploitation, NS-TIC, technology

Cyber Roundup (1/7): Los Alamos Lab & China, smartphones for spies, motion control technology, and more . . .

David Goldman, for CNN, on how nations are preparing for cyber war.  Nothing really new, but Goldman notes that 2013 may be the year “when nation-sponsored cyberwarfare goes mainstream.  . . .”

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Steve Stecklow reports for Reuters that Los Alamos National Laboratory “recently discovered its computer systems contained some Chinese-made network switches and replaced at least two components because of national security concerns.  . . .”  The components came from a company with connections to Huawei.

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Foreign Policy’s John Reed explains that the NSA and DISA are moving forward with a program “that gives government officials Android-based smart phones and tablets capable of handling classified information.”  According to Reed, this program is known as the Fishbowl pilot.

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ABC4 News, Charleston, reporting on how South Carolina lawmakers are putting cybersecurity at the top of their agenda.  Remember that South Carolina suffered a pretty large breach a few months back.  It will be interesting to see how a state government addresses the issue.

Seanna Adcox’s article for Insurance Journal: SC lawmakers have “no idea what needs to happen or what it will cost,” but they want to protect taxpayer’s personal information.

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The ABA Journal’s Martha Neil reports that a Canadian law firm “reportedly lost ‘a large six-figure’ sum” when hackers broke into the firm’s trust account.

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Patrick Ouellette writes for HealthITSecurity on how NSTIC (which the USPS recently picked up as part of that pilot program) could help the healthcare industry.

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ZDNet’s Ellyne Phneah on cyberwarfare training programs for youths.  Notably, Phneah says that “countries should take the screening process seriously to ensure only the best are recruited” and argues for government partnerships with the private sector.

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Kinda sorta cybersecurity law & policy, kinda sorta something that just looked really cool.  Aol Government’s Henry Kenyon reports on a new technology that “could make computer mice and touch interfaces obsolete with the wave of a finger.”  Specifically, a little box called a Leap Motion controller contains motion-sensing technology that “detects hand or stylus motions . . . and converts them into motion in the form of manipulated graphics, game control data, robot control or many other types of interface manipulation.”  Military applications are clear, but this is just damn cool technology.

You owe it to yourself to watch this video:

 

Obligatory Minority Report reference (via Flickr Commons).

Obligatory Minority Report reference (via Flickr Commons).

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