The new year is likely to bring a distinct shift in U.S. national security priorities, as the Obama Administration and Congress sharpen their response to China’s continuous assault on U.S. information networks. Although intelligence-community analysts believe the most sophisticated intrusions are being executed by a relatively small number of agents linked to the general staff of China’s Peoples Liberation Army, the damage they are inflicting on U.S. security and economic competitiveness is judged to be extensive.
Thus far, China’s cyber campaign consists mainly of espionage aimed at stealing military secrets and intellectual property. However, Gen. Keith Alexander, head of the Pentagon’s joint Cyber Command established to counter such campaigns, said in November that, “We see a disturbing track from exploitation to disruption to destruction.” Alexander wasn’t talking just about the Chinese, but there’s little doubt among intelligence analysts that Beijing is the biggest and most persistent perpetrator of cyber crimes.
The question is what to do about it. To date, U.S. cyber efforts have been focused mainly on defensive measures, seeking to repel network intruders in a fashion that Alexander likens to the famously failed Maginot Line. The National Security Agency and other U.S. security organizations are known to have developed their own network-attack capabilities, but former White House cyber-security advisor Richard Clarke has warned that it would be dangerous for the U.S. to step up its own campaign against Chinese networks while U.S. safeguards against retaliation are so weak.
Under the leadership of a few forward-thinking policymakers such as former Deputy Secretary of Defense William Lynn, the Department of Defense and intelligence community have greatly strengthened their information defenses and begun helping industry to protect critical infrastructure. But insiders say the asymmetries between U.S. and Chinese society make it hard to cope with China’s cyber onslaught. Not only is America a much more open and porous place, but U.S. agencies and private companies have a lot more information that’s worth stealing.
Read more…
Diaspora, the social network that sells itself as a privacy-conscious alternative to Facebook, is relying on user donations instead of advertising to get it going.
And by contrast to its other competitor, Google+, Diaspora also allows pseudonyms. The decentralised service aims to address some of the multitude of privacy and content control issues that have dogged Facebook and, arguable to a lesser extent, Google+, while still giving users the ability share content and ideas with their friends online.
Users retain the copyright of uploaded photos and the like, which is only shared among groups that users actively define, not friends-of-friends or the whole network (often the default options on Facebook).
The service was launched in November 2010 and remains in alpha. However having signed up to try the invitation-only service months ago, El Reg finally received an invitation to try it on Thursday, so things appear to be moving (albeit slowly). The emailed invitation (extract below) was nothing if not enthusiastic:
Finally – it’s here
The social network you have been waiting for has arrived. Revamped, more secure, and more fun, DIASPORA* is ready to help you share and explore the web in a whole new way.
Sign up now
Read more…
United States intelligence officials, in a just-published report, substantiate the widely held belief that the Chinese and Russians are spying on U.S. corporations over the Internet, stealing trade secrets that could prove harmful to America’s prosperity and security.
“China and Russia view themselves as strategic competitors of the United States and are the most aggressive collectors of U.S. economic information and technology,” says the report, Foreign Spies Stealing U.S. Economic Secrets in Cyberspace.
The report from the Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive, foresees virtual spying from those nations, as well as others, intensifying in the coming years. “Cyberspace provides relatively small-scale actors an opportunity to become players in economic espionage,” the annual report to Congress says.
What will they target? The report identifies four major areas of interest among foreign spies:
1.Information and communications technology that forms the backbone of nearly every other technology.
2.Business information pertaining to supplies of scarce natural resources that could provide foreign actors an edge in negotiations with the American government and businesses.
3.Military technologies, particularly marine systems, unmanned aerial vehicles and other aerospace/aeronautic technologies.
4.Civilian and dual-use technologies in sectors likely to experience fast growth, such as clean energy and healthcare/pharmaceuticals.
Read more…
The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has launched a new online service to reduce the cost to business of requesting patent documents.
Named Ipsum, the service allows users to obtain a document for free rather than pay a £5 application fee. The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills claimed the service could save UK businesses nearly £100,000 a year.
The department also made the point that, under the old system, patent documents were often out of date once they had been sent in the post.
Ipsum is open to anyone, although the department expects the main users will be businesses researching patents, and patent attorneys helping clients to protect their IP rights and potential investors to understand specific patent applications.
Minister for intellectual property Baroness Wilcox said: “Ipsum is free so it removes unnecessary costs for businesses. The service will give businesses, universities and consumers instant access to the information they need so they can understand the progress of patent applications and save money.
Read more…
The North Carolina man who unknowingly purchased what turned out to be a prototype Apple notebook computer earlier this year has had some of the parts he added to the machine returned roughly a month after the company reclaimed it.
Carl Frega, a North Carolina resident who had purchased the machine from someone on Craigslist for parts to fuel his repair business, today told CNET that Apple has shipped back a handful of parts he used to get the machine back into working condition.
That list includes a hard drive, notebook battery, and two sticks of RAM, which arrived in an otherwise unmarked FedEx box at Frega’s house earlier this week.
Frega says those parts were returned after he made multiple requests with Apple’s security team to get them back, following a private investigator coming to his house to recover the computer for Apple on September 1.
The prototype notebook became an item of intense interest both on the Web and briefly on eBay after Frega put the device up for sale on the auction site, pitching it as an “unreleased prototype.” Beneath the notebook’s metal frame was a slot for a SIM card and on the lid was an external antenna, suggesting Apple was testing built-in cellular networking in its notebook computers right around the time the first iPhones were hitting store shelves.
Read more…
Bloggers rejoice! No longer will the recording, movie and software industries retain exclusive rights to the FBI’s familiar anti-piracy logo.
The “FBI Anti-Piracy Warning Seal,” which has been draped on Big Content’s wares since 2004, is going to be made available for use on all copyright content. Even personal websites can proudly display the logo without violating federal law, which carries a maximum six-month sentence and other penalties for using the insignia without FBI approval.
The FBI has only allowed its use by members of the Recording Industry Association of America, Business Software Alliance, Entertainment Software Association, Software & Information Industry Association, and of course the Motion Picture Association of America, which likes to make sure you can’t fast-forward through the DVD while the warning is displayed, thus driving you to download an MPEG from the Pirate Bay.
The Justice Department is taking public comment on the proposed new rule through November 7, and the changeover will likely be approved by the attorney general soon thereafter.
The FBI, in announcing the proposal in the Federal Registrar on Wednesday, said the insignia was an important warning to “users of copyrighted media about the potential consequences of intellectual property crime, and the FBI’s role in investigating such crime. It serves as a vivid and widely recognizable reminder of the FBI’s authority and mission with respect to the protection of intellectual property rights.”
Read more…
A little more light has been shed on the odd story of Apple losing another iPhone prototype in a Bay Area bar.
The man who’s home was searched by what he believed to be San Francisco Police Department officers was Bernal Heights resident Sergio Calderón, SF Weekly discovered. And the police officers? They may have been investigators working for Apple who were actually impersonating police officers.
Impersonating a police officer is a misdemeanor in California, and is punishable by up to a year of jail time. Another option is that Apple was working with police officers, and a proper report was never filed. When the SFPD has been called and asked about the Apple incident, representatives said they had no knowledge of the search.
“This is something that’s going to need to be investigated now,” SFPD spokesman Lt. Troy Dangerfield told SF Weekly. “If this guy is saying that the people said they were SFPD, that’s a big deal.”
On Wednesday CNET News.com reported that in late July an Apple representative lost a “priceless” next generation iPhone prototype in San Francisco bar Cava 22. Apple reportedly used GPS to track the phone to a Bernal Heights area home, where police officers were given permission to search the home for the device. The resident was offered money by Apple for the iPhone’s safe return, but it was not turned in. The phone was sold on Craigslist for $200, according to CNET, but no independent evidence of the post has surfaced.
Read more…
Global software piracy reached a record figure of $59 billion last year, a new study from the Business Software Alliance has found.
That figure represents a 14 percent increase compared with 2009 and a doubling since 2003, the trade group said today. Forty-two percent of PC software was pirated worldwide last year, the group added, down one point from the previous year.
“The software industry is being robbed blind,” BSA CEO Robert Holleyman said in a statement. “Nearly $59 billion worth of products were stolen last year–and the rates of theft are completely out of control in the world’s fastest-growing markets.”
The Business Software Alliance operates on behalf of the software industry. Its members include Adobe Systems, Apple, Microsoft, and Symantec.
Emerging markets are the most troublesome for software makers, with the majority of all software piracy–$32 billion worth–occurring in those markets. In 2010, the BSA said, 50 percent of all PCs shipped around the world went to emerging markets. However, less than 20 percent of all paid software license revenue came from those areas.
Read more…
The young man stood before the judge, his usually neatly trimmed hair now long enough to brush the collar of his prison jumpsuit.
Glenn Duffie Shriver had confessed his transgressions and was here, in a federal courtroom with his mother watching, to receive his sentence and to try, somehow, to explain it all.
When the time came for him to address the court, he spoke of the many dreams he’d had to serve his country.
“Mine was to be a life of service,” he said. “That was originally my plan.”
American spy
He had been a seemingly all-American, clean-cut guy: No criminal record. A job teaching English overseas. In letters to the judge, loved ones described the 29-year-old Midwesterner as honest and caring — a good citizen. His fiancée called him “Mr. Patriot.”
Read more…
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) recently released the results of its review of “notorious markets.” The results identify marketplaces both online and in various locations associated with counterfeiting and piracy enforcement actions.
The notorious markets include the Web site Baidu, which was recently ranked the number one most visited site in China and is among the top ten sites in the world. The site contains links to online locations that contain counterfeit or copyright-infringed items.
According to the press release that accompanied the release of the report:
“Piracy and counterfeiting undermine the innovation and creativity that is vital to our global competitiveness. These notorious markets not only hurt American workers and businesses, but are threats to entrepreneurs and industries around the world,” said United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk. “The review we are announcing today shines a light on examples of many offending markets, and highlights an opportunity to work together with our trading partners to curb illicit trade and expand legitimate commerce in creative and innovative industries.”
Among the notorious markets that have brick and mortar locations is the Silk Market in Beijing.
The USTR and the U.S. government are consulting U.S. trading partners to crack down on counterfeiting and piracy. One such plan with the government of Ukraine was recently announced with the intention of acting against mp3 sites.
View Source…
The FBI should rethink its step-by-step approach in training agents on how to investigate national security intrusion cases to ensure its field offices have qualified investigators.
That’s one recommendation from a just-released Department of Justice inspector general audit, which revealed that 36 percent of FBI field agents assigned to national security-related cyber investigations – and interviewed by inspector general staffers – say they lack the networking and counterintelligence expertise to investigate such intrusions. For the audit, IG investigators interviewed 36 agents in 10 field offices, and five of them admitted they lacked the qualifications to probe national security intrusions effectively.
The IG surmised that the way the FBI trains and rotates field agents could impede an agent’s ability to acquire the training and on-the-job experience needed to investigate national security intrusion cases effectively.
Each of the 56 FBI field offices in the United States has at least one cyber squad consisting of special agents, intelligence analysts and, in some cases, linguists and computer scientists. Larger offices have multiple cyber squads, with each investigating different types of cases: such as national security intrusions, criminal intrusion, online child pornography, intellectual property rights and Internet fraud. In small offices, a single squad could investigate all types of cyber cases.
Read more…
More than 26 million pieces of pirated and illegal publications were destroyed across China on Friday to mark the World Intellectual Property Day on April 26, a sign of the country’s determination to protect intellectual property rights (IPR).
Pirated discs and books as well as unauthorized newspapers and periodicals were destroyed on Friday after being confiscated by authorities in all 31 province-level regions on the Chinese mainland.
Authorities will further crack down on piracy and focus on illegal printing houses and disc production lines, said Yan Xiaohong, deputy director of the State Press and Publication Administration and of the National Copyright Administration.
In Yunnan Province, anti-piracy authorities targeted their campaigns to areas nearby schools. Pornographic discs, books and pirated software were confiscated, said Yang Wenhu, head of the provincial Press and Publication Bureau.
Online piracy is a recent development, so Hainan Province targeted its campaign not only toward illegal publications but also to pirated content available online, said Wang Yangjun, deputy secretary general of Hainan provincial government.
Read more…
