Kevin G. Coleman

UN Seeks Unprecedented Control Of Global Internet Traffic

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The United Nations’ International Telecommunications Union has taken the unprecedented step of adopting a standard for the Internet that would essentially permit eavesdropping on a global basis.

According to a just-published piece on the RT.com web site, ITU members decided to adopt a standard, known as Y.2770, which would permit the inspection of Internet traffic. This inspection of emails and message content would be the physical world equivalent of opening any piece of mail and reading what is inside. The only defense against this is encryption. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 6, 2012 at 11:55 AM

When Virtual-States Attack Nation-States

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If you are not familiar with the term virtual-state you are not alone – but it’s a term you’re going to hear more often.

Here is a working definition that has broad acceptance: A virtual-state is defined as a nebulous community of individuals that self-identify and share in common one or more social, political and/or ideological convictions, ideas or values. They act collectively to influence and bring about changes they deem appropriate. You can read more about virtual-states here. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 19, 2012 at 2:45 PM

The Big Intelligence Chill

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Intelligence about the tragedy in Benghazi continues to dribble out very slowly, almost one document at a time. Some of the electronic cables, messages and reproductions of other physical documents have come into view over the past several weeks. Some of these documents were classified, but still found their way to members of Congress and openly reported in the media.

However, one piece of electronic information about security concerns on that fateful day has not received the attention it deserves. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 5, 2012 at 11:31 AM

Cyber Intelligence Prompts New Warnings For US Banks

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On the heels of a well publicized distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack on U.S. financial institutions came a warning about another coordinated and planned cyber attack against this critical infrastructure sector.

Cyber intelligence uncovered a fairly large, coordinated cyber attack that is said to use fraudulent wire transfers as the means of attack. This cybersecurity attack is said to leverage session hijacking in a man-in-the-middle cyber attack.

Man-in-the-middle cyber attack is defined as a compromise where the attacker is able to insert themselves between its target and the system or service in which the target is trying to access or use. An attacker accomplishes this by impersonating the system or service that the target is attempting to connect with by falsely rerouting the traffic to and from the service or by hijacking session data.

This attack is known to be initiated by spam and phishing emails, keystroke loggers as well as Trojans with remote access. A high attack concentration has been seen in the small and medium sized organizations and the transfer amounts have ranged from $400,000 to $900,000.

Multiple cyber intelligence sources have warned that an estimated 30 U.S. based financial services institutions may be the targets of an organized cyber criminal gang that is said to be the entity behind this attack.

Just recently the FBI issued a warning about this threat. Their warning stated that the criminals behind this cyber attack were using multiple techniques to obtain customer log-in credentials. Once the criminals have these credentials, they initiate international wire transfers.

For additional information you should monitor the FBI, in association with the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC) and the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).

Kevin G. Coleman is a long-time security technology executive and former Chief Strategist at Netscape. He is Senior Fellow with the Technolytics Institute weekly blog for Breaking Gov on the topic of cyber intelligence. Keep reading →

 /  Published October 8, 2012 at 10:30 AM

Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Back

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A few years ago I was headed into a meeting with the president of a critical infrastructure provider when I saw and photographed a picture of a yellow Post-it note with the user name a password written on it.

As with most people reading this blog I was angered that this could happen in 2007 after all the efforts and training that had occurred to increase the level of user security awareness. Here we are some 5 years later and I am sorry to say we have not made that much progress. Keep reading →

 /  Published October 1, 2012 at 12:00 PM

Lieberman Alleges Iran Hacked US Banks

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For several days, Bank of America’s systems had problems. The problems – primarily denial of service disruptions – hit their web site and reportedly their mobile banking services.

For BofA, the nation’s largest bank based on assets, this was not the first issue or attack they experienced in the past year. Nor in fact, was BofA the only U.S. financial institution that has been experiencing what appears to be a series of directed cyber attacks. JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup also are reported to have been struck by similar related aggressive cyber activities, beginning last year. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 24, 2012 at 12:14 PM

A CISO’s Thumb Drive Frustration

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Recently I was with a CISO of a multi-billion dollar critical infrastructure provider in the private sector.

We were conducting a security scan and compiling a list of issues and areas that needed to be addressed as part of his overall security program. While at one of the facilities he received a notification that he shared with me. The message was that they had traced back the source of a breach that had occurred a few months back. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 17, 2012 at 3:00 PM

On Cyber Guard At The Voting Booth

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As we approach the 2012 presidential election, concerns are being raised about the likelihood of cyber attacks leading up to and during that event. There are many individuals, groups and rogue nation states that would like nothing better than to disrupt this year’s election.

Several months ago, a video was posted by those claiming to be from the well know hacktivist group Anonymous that alluded to plans for launching cyber initiatives that target the 2012 presidential election. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 27, 2012 at 1:24 PM

The Need For Cyber Defense Program Management

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After years of the public and private sectors having listened to the nearly constant cyber threat warnings issued by military and government officials, as well as industry experts, over the past few years, addressing the threats posed to our systems by cyber attacks is now appropriately considered as a work-in-process.

There are some signs that the private sector might be moving to address the new heightened level of cyber security threats, however. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 20, 2012 at 1:00 PM

Cyber Intel: Iran Sues; My Lawyer is Bigger Than Your Lawyer

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The head of Iran’s Presidential Center for International Legal Affairs has announced that Iran plans to bring legal action against those that launched cyber attacks against their uranium enrichment equipment in a move that promises to raise the stakes for the U.S. cybersecurity policy officials.

Majid Jafarzadeh made the announcement this week after consulting Iranian and foreign legal experts, saying Iran has decided to file a lawsuit against the “cyber terrorists” who have attacked the country’s nuclear enrichment infrastructure. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 15, 2012 at 12:29 PM
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