Archives:
Are spies on the heels of WikiLeaks?
It appears likely that Australian spy agencies tailed WikiLeaks founder and spokesman Julian Assange, but as he travels around the world, hiding out and leaking classified, sensitive information about various governments’ activities, are other intelligence agencies tapping into…
Was Stuxnet an Israeli Attack on Iran?
Referred to as a ‘worm,’ Stuxnet is malware, or a computer virus, that was discovered in June 2010 by a Belarus security firm, though it was likely unleashed the previous June. Its purpose is to disrupt industrial processes and infrastructure, and the worm’s…
In China, Telco/Internet Companies Forced to Spy
While in other countries, government places limitations on businesses to help protect citizens’ privacy, China seems hell-bent on doing exactly the opposite…that is legally enforcing telco and internet companies to spy on users and disclose private information to the government.
Indeed, China is on the verge of passing a law that would require telecommunications and internet companies…
China poised to win cyber war?
Google shocked the Chinese government – not to mention all us gmail users – by announcing on January 12 that the company had suffered a serious cyber security breach, likely perpetrated by China. Encouraged by Google’s bold step, other companies are now coming forward, and so we see…
Warning: fake DHS e-mails circulating
Officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have issued a warning about a slew of fake e-mails in circulation that claim to be from the Department’s intelligence unit. The e-mails appear to contain legitimate…
Hacker hunter turns bad
Albert Gonzalez once used his wily computer skills to help the U.S. government track down hackers. Now it seems he’s crossed over to the other side, where instead of spying to protect U.S. citizens, he’s been spying to steal millions…
Germany gears up for Chinese spy scare
While China’s busy denying its hand in the decades-long economic espionage case that recently came to light in the U.S., Germany is ramping up to deal with a spy onslaught from the Chinese. According to the widely read German weekly Der Spiegel, a German intelligence agency has created the “China Task Force,” whose purpose is to…
Pentagon taps into young hackers
In today’s world of espionage, cyber spying and cyber attacks are not to be taken lightly, and the Pentagon has decided it’s high time they build an army of geeks ready not only to defend the country’s networks but also to…
Spy costs AV company $10 million
Yes, it is annoying when every 3-6 months your work computer flashes an insistent message asking you to change your password(s). But it appears that even if all you’re dealing with is…
Swede Charged for Hacking into Cisco and NASA
Five years after hacking into Cisco and NASA computers, a 21-year-old Swede has been issued a 5-count indictment with…
Cybersecurity also a focus in Australia
As cyber espionage and computer crime are being deemed one of the most dangerous threats to national security in the United States, similar concerns are being expressed down under in Australia.
While in the U.S. the Senate has seen legislation…
Cyber Spies Strike Greenpeace
Spies have infiltrated Greenpeace. Espionage comes in many forms – and government or insurgent intelligence operatives need not always play a role, although corporate spies sometimes come from a government background, as in the recent spy flick Duplicity.
This time, Greenpeace has allegedly been targeted by EDF, the huge French nuclear energy company whose initials stand for…
National Cybersecurity Advisor for Obama
On Wednesday, legislation with the purpose of creating a new federal advisory position – with a direct reporting line to the President – was presented by two U.S. senators. We know what you’re thinking…doesn’t the President have enough advisors already? And how is this at all relevant to the world of espionage?
This is how: The legislation,…
Massive Cyber Espionage Operation Uncovered
Canadian investigators reported this weekend that the computers of government and private offices in over 100 countries around the world have been infiltrated by a huge cyber espionage operation.
Private documents were stolen by the spy system, which is allegedly controlled by computers based primarily in China. The Canadian researchers who put the report together caution against jumping…
Chinese Internet Spy Arrested for Foul Play
China has recently been in the news for allegedly spying on U.S. businesses. Turns out that their internet spies have been wreaking havoc on home turf too. Yu Bing, Beijing’s top government internet spy, was recently arrested in a case involving corporate espionage and bribery.
Yu works for the Beijing Municipal Security Bureau, where he heads up…
NSA Joins Facebook for Spies
Baltimore Sun’s David Wood reports that the National Security Agency (NSA) has finally, several months after launch, decided to join a whopping 16 other US intelligence agencies in signing up for A-Space, the secure Facebook for intelligence analysts. You guessed it (or even if you didn’t), the ‘A’ stands for ‘analyst.’
You know that social networking has…
Tracking Hezbollah’s Every Move
In the espionage trade, half the battle is figuring out how to operate in stealth mode and the other half, figuring out how to closely track everyone else (even though they too are aiming to be completely undetectable). Recent discoveries show that Hezbollah hasn’t been faring too well on the first half of that battle for…
NATO Constant Victim of Cyber Espionage
Computer Science specialists are almost a dime a dozen these days – the halls of Google, Microsoft and Yahoo pulsate with the creative energy of these modern-day architects, many of whom are self-taught. But being a computer wiz has other, less than legal and decidedly more sinister, applications.
Computer crime is on the rise and agencies who…