Outside the closed world of the U.S. Intelligence Community, private cyber contractors get mixed reviews. Mention the word "contractor" and the public siezes on the image of Edward Snowden, either as heroic whistle blower or betrayer of national trust. Beyond that, there is a general consensus that contractors, even when attaining top security clearance, work in a strictly … [Read more...]
Penetrating the Hype Over 5G IoT Hacking – and 5G Itself
The audience looked puzzled when Telecom Italia (TI) CTO Giovanni Ferigo veered from his talk on 5G progress into a revelation on his "personal nightmare" - 5G IoT hacking. Press and show came to Mobile World Congress to hear market leaders TI beat the drum the greatest innovation yet in mobility. They were geared up for marketing hooplah. Ferigo delivered on that count, to be … [Read more...]
First Take on CIA Vault 7 Leak – Dated & Dull
With the usual fanfare, Wikileaks fugitive-in-chief Julian Assange yesterday released the group's latest treasure trove of stolen secret documents: the CIA Vault 7 leak, comprising some 8,700 CIA documents describing, and in some cases providing specific code for, Zero Days, malware, Trojans, proxies and other forms of intrusive programs designed by the US's top intelligence … [Read more...]
Show Con Artist Wolf Intelligence the “Back Door”
In an earlier post we observed how demand for intrusive surveillance solutions in second and third world countries has fueled the emergence of new competitors such as Wolf Intelligence in a bid to compete with longstanding players in the marketplace. At least in part, these next generation malware players are getting an assist from Wassenaar Arrangement-inspired clampdowns such … [Read more...]
Cybersecurity: U.S. Safe in 2017 – Or Ripe for Attacks?
As 2016 draws to a close, the state of cybersecurity in the United States remains a mixed bag. At the highest level - protection of government intelligence and infrastructure - some progress accrued toward adoption of standards to protect government agencies from network penetration. Elsewhere it is a grim picture. In the commercial realm, widespread "cyber insecurity" … [Read more...]