One important incident largely overlooked in the lead-up to January's Presidential Inauguration in Washington, D.C.: Ransomware took control of the Metropolitan Police Department's CCTV system, leading to a three-day video surveillance blackout. Police in the capital of the world's most powerful nation were blind on video surveillance for three days. Fortunately for them, the … [Read more...]
Far Surveillance Horizon: Blockchain and the Internet of Things
Is the Internet of Things (IoT) the next major avenue for tracking terrorists and criminals? If so, pioneering work is being done not just by the ISS community, but by an emerging group known as the Blockchain Alliance, a consortium of experts who help track criminals on the foremost technology backbone of both the IoT and digital currency: Blockchain. In this two-part … [Read more...]
Contego Solutions: Clean Slate or “Advanced German Technology” Redux?
When we came across Contego Solutions of Dubai UAE, we were overcome by déjà vu, but couldn’t think why. Contego is a provider of “digital forensics” solutions for mobile, audio, PC and video, that may be used for either cyber or investigative purposes. Clientele include ISS players such as PLATH Group Nexa Technologies, as well as enterprise customers. Contego … [Read more...]
Automated Cybersecurity: Machines Still Have a Long Way To Go
With summer 2016 coming to an end it is fitting to recap one of the season's signature events that, while now largely forgotten, may portend breakneck change in the years to come: DARPA's Cyber Grand Challenge, the world's first attempt at automated cybersecurity in the never ending war against bugs, viruses, Zero Days and malware. Nearly 30 months after announcing … [Read more...]
PLATH Group Expands from RF Monitoring to Cyber Security and Malware
As an acknowledged leader in military RF monitoring and analysis for more than 60 years, PLATH Group surprised many analysts in 2012 with its sudden dip into markets of primary interest to intelligence agencies and law enforcement: cyber security, forensics and malware. Was PLATH changing course? No, that is hardly the case. PLATH simply took advantage of an opportunity to … [Read more...]