MIT's Attack Detection via Super Computing

In a not-too-astounding announcement, it seems MIT Academicians have found a new use for super-computational resources: The utilization of super comuting resources targeting so-called 'compressed bundles' with the ostensible outcome of attack detection. I'll wager there are foreword thinking data scientists bent over the same workwheel using so-called 'Cloud Computing' for the same task (at tenth of a percent of the cost per flop). Just sayin...

'"If you're trying to detect anomalous behavior, by definition that behavior is rare and unlikely," says Vijay Gadepally, a senior staff member at the Lincoln Laboratory Supercomputing Center (LLSC). "If you're sampling, it makes an already rare thing nearly impossible to find."' - via The Lincoln Laboratory at the Masachusetts Institute of Technology

PRC Stealing Intellectual Property, Despite Agreements?

The International Cyber Policy Centre, as evidenced within it's latest report 'Is China Still Stealing Western IP?' authored by Dr. Adam Segal, Director: Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), Dr. Samantha Hoffman, Non-resident Fellow - ICPC, Fergus Hanson, Head of International Cyber Policy Centre and Tom Uren, Visiting Fellow - Cybersecurity arrives at the only truly possible conclusion. Read the Report's results, targeting the three countries under scrutiny.

'"Despite initial hopes that China had accepted a distinction between (legitimate) traditional political–military espionage and (illegal) espionage to advantage commercial companies, assessments from the three countries suggest that this might be wishful thinking. China appears to have come to the conclusion that the combination of improved techniques and more focused efforts have reduced Western frustration to levels that will be tolerated. Unless the targeted states ramp up pressure and potential costs, China is likely to continue its current approach." - via Is China Still Stealing Western IP

A Hoarder's Tale, A Big Banking Bitcoin Story →

Sacrebleu. Those crafty Brits (in reality, London City based Banks) are now planning on hoarding Bitcoins to pay cyberransoms to so-called cybercriminals. Translation: They are currently doing so, so come on guys, make your scurrilous demands, they're ready for you.  HatTip

"The virtual currency, which is highly prized by criminal networks because it cannot be traced, is being acquired by blue chip companies in order to pay ransoms..." via The Guardian's Jamie Doward

PhoneBoy's Existential Threat →

PhoneBoy's thought provoking post, noting the unpreparedness [from a defence perspective] of our society to cybersecurity threats. Quite obviously, today's Must Read.

Estonia, Creates Volunteer Cyberwarrior Brigade

Considering the country's highly systems-literate populis, this is one of the more interesting cases of a so-called Cybernational Guard, this time, stationed at the K5 Barracks (NATO Cyber Defense Center, Tallinn, Estonia), in quite likely one of the most astoundingly beautiful countries on our planet - Estonia!

DARPA's CyberOps Visualized Revolution →

via Sara Sorcher, writing at the Christian Science Monitor, for the Monitor's new Passcode department, comes the story of Plan X, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) push into proper management of the cyberwar battlespace.

National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence Issues Call for Comments

Earlier this month (in April 2015 if you are reading this post in the far distant future...) the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released NIST Draft NISTIR 8050; in which, an interesting summary appears of a technical workshop held at Stanford University in conjuction with the Presidents' Cybersecurity Summit.

Pursuant to completeing the draft cycle of the document, the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence NNCoE (a Center of Excellence and a component of NIST) has issued a Call for Comments, focusing on the content of that document. In this instance, related to your agency, company, buereau, department, country or other organizations' information and/or cybersecurity issues. I've included a link to NISTIR 8050 to assist in fulfilling the Call for Comments. Enjoy.

ISOC Releases 2015 Internet Governance Survey Results

ISOC - the Internet Society, has released the compiled results of the organizations' 2015 Internet Governance Survey (download the PDF here). Via the 2015 Internet Governance Survey, the primary takeaways are:

• The majority of respondents (86%) indicated that Cybersecurity is the most important issue facing the Internet community today;

• The priorities for the community are to make Internet governance easier to understand (with 75% feeling that this is “Extremely” or “Very Important”) and to develop and share best practices amongst countries and communities (70% indicating that this was Extremely” or “Very Important”);

• A high percentage of respondents (90%) indicated that informal local and regional communities should be enhanced while 87% of respondents want the global, regional, and national Internet Governance Forums (IGFs) to be enhanced; and

• 27% of respondents think NMI is needed for effective Internet governance, while 56% indicated that they are unclear as to whether NMI is needed, and 17% think it is not needed.

London Hosts Staged Cyberwar Exercises →

News, of the fifth edition of the Masterclass, a UK cyberwarfare exercise, held on board the HMS Belfast (one of the United Kingdom's five Imperial War Museums, and of course, in this case a former ship of the line, anchored on the Thames) comes to us by way of Ars Technica independent writer Emiko Jozuka.

"The competition, known as the Masterclass and developed by a group of cyber experts led by BT, is now in its fifth year and aims to plug the skills shortage currently affecting both governments and UK businesses. The competition essentially invites participants to put their skills to the test and experience a dramatized version of events faced by regular cybercrime fighting professionals. It also allows sponsors of the competition such as BT, Lockheed Martin, and Airbus, to hover on the sidelines and cherry pick the next cybercrime busting whizz kids." - Ars Technica's Emiko Jozuka