DOD’s Current InfoSec Strategy Is ‘Patch and Pray’

As said here multiple times, the “patch and pray” method is the vulnerability, not the vulnerabilities themselves. Nothing will change until the IT culture changes. Businesses and governmental agencies do not want to fork out extra money to strengthen defenses until something already happens. They’re reactive, not proactive. In the end, Americans end up paying the price for years to come.

 

But DARPA Director Arati Prabhakar says that her agency is working to make computing ‘mathematically, provably secure.’

The Pentagon’s emerging technology agency faces almost continuous cyber threats. And according to Director Arati Prabhakar, its strategy so far has been to “patch and pray.”

Beware: The “Made In China” Global Recession Is Coming, Morgan Stanley Warns

The next global recession may come with a label that reads “made in China” Morgan Stanley’s Head of EM Ruchir Sharma, says.

As regular readers are no doubt aware, decelerating economic growth in China has been a major drag on worldwide demand and is one of the main reasons why global trade is in the doldrums.

Russia Images the LACROSSE Spysat

 

A Russian satellite tracking facility in Siberia has produced rarely-seen photographs of a U.S. intelligence satellite.

The U.S. Lacrosse radar satellite was captured in images generated at Russia’s Altay Optical Laser Center, apparently between 2005 and 2010. A selection of images was compiled and analyzed by Allen Thomson. See An Album of Images of LACROSSE Radar Reconnaissance Satellites Made by a 60 cm Adaptive Optics System at the G.S. Titov Altai Optical-Laser Center.

Pentagon Says Evicted Russian Hackers, Global Cyber Threat Grows

PALO ALTO, California (Reuters) – The United States on Thursday disclosed a cyber intrusion this year by Russian hackers who accessed an unclassified U.S. military network, in a episode Defense Secretary Ash Carter said showed the growing threat and the improving U.S. ability to respond.

Carter cited the newly declassified incident during an address at Stanford University, in which he also warned the Pentagon was ready to help defend America’s networks and to use cyber weaponry, if needed.

Russian Hackers Have Been in White House System for Months, Officials Say

Russian hackers penetrated the White House non-public, non-classified computer system for several months last year, forcing the White House to shut down the system for several days, U.S. officials said.

The hacked system is not used for classified information, but is used by the White House advance and press office, the general counsel’s office, and officials in the budget and legislative liaison offices.

Iowa utilities joining drill simulating knockout blow to nation’s power grid

While some measures are being taken, it might be too little, too late to be fully prepared for when the national power grid is lost. A US government commission report states that up to two-thirds of the population will die from starvation, disease and societal chaos within just a year. Another report states that it could be even worse: 9 out of 10 Americans would perish. Losing the power grid, whether it be from a terrorist attack or an overdue solar storm, would no doubt wreak havoc. Phones wouldn’t work. ATMs wouldn’t work. Hospitals couldn’t function. Airplanes would be grounded. Wall Street would come to a halt, as well as government services.

As worries increase about the vulnerability of the nation’s power grid, Iowa’s largest electric utilities will participate next week in a closely watched exercise simulating a knockout blow to United States’ electrical supply by cyber-sabotage and physical attacks.

Officials with MidAmerican Energy and Alliant Energy confirmed to the Des Moines Register they will be involved in GridEx II on Nov. 12 and 13. The event is sponsored by the North American Electric Reliability Corp., a non-profit entity whose mission is to ensure the reliability of the bulk-power system in North America.