Financial Markets Are at Risk of a ‘Big Data’ Crash

Regulators and investors are struggling to meet the challenges posed by high-frequency trading. This ultra-fast, computerized segment of finance now accounts for most trades. HFT also contributed to the “flash crash,” the sudden, vertiginous fall in the Dow Jones Industrial Average in May 2010, according to U.S. regulators. However, the HFT of today is very different to that of three years ago. This is because of “big data.”

Cyber-attackers penetrate Reserve Bank networks

The Reserve Bank of Australia’s computer networks have been repeatedly and successfully hacked in a series of cyber-attacks to infiltrate sensitive internal information, including by ­Chinese-developed malicious software.

The RBA is sufficiently concerned about these risks that it has had a private security firm carry out “penetration testing”, or authorised hacking, of its computer networks to assess the integrity of its digital defences.

US plants hit by USB stick malware attack

Two power plants in the US were affected by malware attacks in 2012, a security authority has said.

In its latest quarterly newsletter, the US Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team (ICS-CERT) said “common and sophisticated” attacks had taken place.

Malware had infected each plant’s system after being inadvertently brought in on a USB stick, it said.

Beijing’s Backdoors

Senior members of the House Intelligence Committee said on Thursday that two Chinese telecommunications companies are helping Chinese intelligence by providing access to data moved on computer and network equipment sold to governments and companies around the world.

Rep. Michael Rogers, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp. could be compelled to assist China’s government if asked for data that passes through the company’s network routers. Furthermore, malicious code could be inserted in the companies’ software and exploited by China’s government, he said during a committee hearing.

…

Rogers (R., Mich.) warned that computer equipment is vulnerable to “backdoors and malicious” code that can be inserted by foreign countries.

According to U.S. officials, both Huawei and ZTE have close ties to the Chinese government and military.

…

In one case, according to other U.S. officials, China several years ago sold counterfeit routers disguised as Cisco Systems routers to the Pentagon. The equipment was found to be transmitting signals as part of an apparent intelligence-gathering effort. The counterfeit routers were eventually traced to China.

Full article: Beijing’s Backdoors (Washington Free Beacon)

Pentagon Attacked by Computer Virus

A computer virus that destroys documents and spreads to other networks recently infected computers at the Pentagon, the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) said on Thursday.

One of the Pentagon’s hundreds of networks “recently identified an infection after having issues opening Word and Excel documents,” DISA said in a statement.

…

Dmitri Alperovitch, a computer security specialist, told the Free Beacon, that the sophisticated attack software most likely originated from a foreign government, possibly China.

…

According to an Aug. 31 McAfee threat alert, the virus has two names: W32/XDocCrypt.a, and W32/XDocCrypt.b, that “parasitically infects” Microsoft Office Word, Excel, and related executable files.

The virus appears to be designed to destroy or disable documents by first encoding its contents using an encryption program, and then replacing the document with a malicious software file that the encrypted data attached to it. The original data is eventually deleted if the infection is not detected and steps are not taken to recover the documents.

The virus also replicates itself and spreads to other computers.

“The infection routine searches for files with ‘.doc’, ‘.xls’ or ‘.exe’ in the file name, and tries to infect them,” the report said.

To prevent digital infections, the security firm recommended blocking five Internet addresses: 184.82.162.163, 184.22.103.202, attow.com.br, http://www.zugo-bikes.com, forum.perfect-privacy.com.

Full article: Pentagon Attacked by Computer Virus (Washington Free Beacon)

Homeland Security warns of hackers targeting popular Niagara software

The Department of Homeland Security on Friday warned that a popular system used by organizations around the world to manage millions of machines and devices over the Internet is vulnerable to attack from hackers.

The software system known as the Niagara Framework enables corporate, military, health-care and other users to remotely control or monitor medical devices, elevators, video cameras, security systems and a wide array of other sensitive operations.

In an alert issued Friday, cybersecurity officials said that Niagara users should immediately prohibit guest users, bolster passwords, cut off direct access to the Internet and take other steps to prevent hackers from exploiting configuration and software flaws.

…

Last week, Niagara’s maker, Richmond-based Tridium, privately warned customers about security problems. On Thursday, months after the firm was first notified of the issues, Tridium released a public alert.

…

Tridium’s parent company, Honeywell, issued a statement Friday responding to the alert.

Full article: Homeland Security warns of hackers targeting popular Niagara software (Washington Post)