CommunityDNS News Bits, April 30, 2009.
Provided by CommunityDNS, the information in this post consists of news items in the security-based Internet community.
Companies plan for possible swine flu pandemic
While the World Health Organization has raised the pandemic alert level to 5, indicating a pandemic is imminent, the question for businesses is what are the contingency plans to retain operations if people are not able to come to the office? The following article talks about efforts by several businesses.
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Conficker worm hits hospital devices
Security experts were alarmed to find an MRI system placing calls to the Internet to receive instructions. Researchers found more than 300 similar devices around the world had been compromised.
The common denominator? All devices running a modified version of Windows.
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Facebook hit by phishing attacks for a second day
For a second day in a row Facebook users have been susceptible to receiving a message from a “friend” only to be redirected to what appears to be a Facebook log-in page. After receiving their login information the worm then sends a copy of the message to all members of the infected member’s contacts on Facebook.
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The Cyber Defense Perimeter
Organizations contracting with the government are finding themselves as much of a valued target as the U.S. government’s systems. Housing the same sensitive and classified information found in the government’s systems, hackers are finding these private contracting firms prime targets for harvesting information.
While not in full operation until 2008 the Pentagon has, through the Defense Industrial Base initiative (DIB), been sharing classified information on hacker threats with the country’s largest defense contractors.
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Report: U.S. Cyber Warfare Needs Oversight, Debate
The working arm of the National Academy of Sciences, the Research Council, released a report concluding the government needs to develop a clear decision-making process for cyber actions, provide classified accounting of cyberattacks and should work with other nations to establish a better legal and ethical framework for such attacks.
“Undeveloped and uncertain nature” of the government’s current policies on cyber warfare could result in poor use of hastily and poorly-crafted use during a crisis.
The report, prepared by an independent council of academics and cyber security experts, is the first to take a comprehensive look at American cyber war capabilities and its policy effects.
Click here for more information.
Hacker behind P2P botnet gets no jail time
One of the first creators of a peer-to-peer botnet architecture, a model used by today’s Conficker worm, has received a lenient sentence for creating the Nugache Worm. The sophisticated network was used the Nugache worm to steal user names, passwords and account numbers. He also used the botnet to initiate a DDoS attack against a Los Angeles area-based online business.
While no jail time received, the defendant received a 1 year home confinement, 5 years of supervised probation, and a reduced fine. The lenient sentence was a result of assistance he provided to prosecutors.
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Tags: Anycast, Botnet, Business Continuity, Business resilience, CommunityDNS, Conficker, Cyber Terrorism, Cyber Warfare, Cybercrime, Cyberwar, DDoS, DNS, DNS Resolution, DoS, Facebook, Global resolution, Internet, ISP, P2P, Pentagon, Phishing, Resolution Service, Security
