U.S., UK intel: Russian Hacking Attempts “certainly Still Ongoing”
Article Title: U S , UK intel: Russian hacking attempts “certainly still ongoing” | Network Security.
The United States and the United Kingdom both said Wednesday that Russian intelligence services had tried to hack into their national electrical grid to damage national electrical infrastructure.
In a joint statement released after a three-day cyber-focused summit in London, the U. said the attacks are “certainly still ongoing.
said intelligence agencies intercepted communications between Russian operatives in Russia and in the United States. In addition, officials said there is evidence of a “campaign of computerized interference targeting British economic, political and military institutions,” which they said would result in economic disruption and damage to institutions.
Director of National Intelligence (DNI) James Clapper said “we believe that the Russians are seeking to target the United States in part through the use of cyber tools.
The British DNI, Mark Hesson, said that “we share the view that Russia’s use of cyber-enabled tools is a continued threat to the United Kingdom and, hence, our country, and we continue to work closely with the security service to assess the threat.
The statement marks the first time there’s been a joint U. report on an apparent attempt by Russian intelligence to interfere in the U. ‘s national energy grid or a British national energy program.
“We saw intelligence reports from some of our allies, including the U. , where it’s clear that Russia is continuing to interfere in the way that they do business in the United States,” said Clapper, DNI, in the statement. “I’d also note that intelligence has been shared with our allies.
Spokesmen for the U. didn’t immediately return calls seeking comment.
The joint statement, which wasn’t made public Wednesday, builds upon similar U. joint statements from last week outlining possible cyber-based interference in U.
In a separate statement from the U. officials also outlined how they believe Russian hackers had targeted the U.
Joint advisory to network defenders
This brief report provides a joint advisory to network defenders and information systems administrators, focusing on the recent implementation of the NIDS (No-Identity-Digest) encryption system for network traffic and on the information systems security incident that has been identified as an example of the high sensitivity of this important information.
The NIDS system was implemented in the United States at NIST and NTIA’s request as a technical extension to the existing Secure Multi-Protocol Label Switching (SMPLS) system. SMPLS is the network labeling protocol used by both the Internet Protocol (IP) and the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)-based versions of the Internet Protocol, and is used to identify Internet Protocol-based services, such as web servers, and to carry network traffic between hosts. Because both SMPLS and NIDS are based on a single protocol for the label switching, the two protocols can be independently applied to the same packets as long as the packet header does not contain the NIDS-specific authentication tag. Because NIDS and SMPLS share the same hardware and software, the use of NIDS reduces the need for the implementation of SMPLS. Nevertheless, NIST and NTIA anticipate that the use of NIDS may still be required in some circumstances.
A third solution to NIDS-related problems is to deploy both NIDS and SMPLS on a single router.
The NSA warns system administrators that ongoing exploitation is.
Article Title: The NSA warns system administrators that ongoing exploitation is | Network Security.
The NSA has sent warning to IT systems administrators today, after its own systems discovered how the agency can use malware to tap into a communications network that spans the globe. The warning is the latest sign that the NSA is using cybercriminals and government surveillance to gain knowledge about people with whom it has close or even personal relationships. The warning was sent to computer users in India, China, Nigeria, South Africa, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as U. systems administrators.
The warning follows an audit of the agency’s Internet access of a small number of its staff, in which network security professionals discovered that the NSA can intercept communication traffic at the Internet backbone from many locations around the world. The NSA has also made it clear that it has no plans to stop using malware to intercept communications traffic. And the organization has not responded to queries about the extent to which its cyber espionage activities continue past the initial discovery of malware.
That warning follows similar messages sent to federal agencies in other countries, including the French Ministry of National Defense and the National Security Agency. The NSA has been expanding its international reach in recent years, with the goal of acquiring cyber credentials through a series of complex systems of cooperation and competition between its agencies.
The warning issued today from the NSA was sent in response to an independent assessment conducted by the International Organization for Standardization and the United Nations Joint Monitoring System for the Protection of Freedom of Information. The report, made public today, found that the NSA has been using malware to help the agency intercept communications from communications across the globe. In particular, the report found traces of activity on the Internet backbone in countries in which the agency is based: the United States, India, China, Nigeria, South Africa, Indonesia, and the UAE.
The report did not provide much detail on the activities of the NSA’s cyber surveillance programs. “NSA has never disclosed details of its cyber espionage activities to the public, though some of its activities are detailed in the SIGINT (Signals Intelligence) collection plan,” the report said. “In some cases NSA has provided details on how it gathers SIGINT through a series of procedures to include ‘data decryption’ and ‘network reconnaissance’ as well as other activities.
What’s next: Cyber security measures to counter future breaches
(I) Developing new defenses and capabilities to disrupt and counteract state and non-state hacking and cyber operations.
The United States Government and critical civilian infrastructure are among the most vulnerable to all forms of cyber attacks. Government had not responded well to the massive cyber attacks in 2014, and the attacks continue apace. The cyber threat to government and critical civilian infrastructure is serious, and more attacks are anticipated in the near future.
The National Infrastructure Protection Plan is an effort underway within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to increase the protections for critical infrastructure. The National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIP) will provide the framework for a wide range of activities designed to achieve this overarching goal of building the most resilient national network infrastructure.
The NIP builds on the work of the National Infrastructure Security Strategy (NISs) which identifies the steps necessary to ensure that critical infrastructure is as secure as possible. The NIP builds on the results of the National Infrastructure Secure Future Program. The NIP will set standards for the protection of critical infrastructure, enhance the cybersecurity of critical civilian infrastructure, increase coordination between organizations, establish clear accountability and provide a framework for the development of solutions.
Over the past year, the DHS has developed a framework for allocating resources for the NIP from the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), Homeland Security Council (HHSC) and the Government Information Security Oversight Office (GISOUO).
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