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"Somali Pirates 'Free Arms Ship'"
BBC News (02/05/09) Somali pirates who seized the Ukrainian ship MV Faina and its crew of 20 last September as it headed for the Kenyan port of Mombasa have left the vessel. The move came after the pirates received a ransom of $3.2 million on Wednesday. The crewmembers appear to be healthy and safe, according to a statement from the Ukrainian presidency. The statement also noted that the ship would travel from the waters off the coast of the town of Harardhere, where it had been moored since September, to its original destination of Mombasa under the protection of the U.S. Navy. Once the ship is underway, an effort will likely be made to determine the intended destination of the MV Faina's cargo of tanks, rocket launchers, and small arms. The Kenyan government says the weapons are theirs, though the manifest suggests the arms were destined for South Sudan. Analysts say that Kenya could be embarrassed by a revelation that the weapons were headed for South Sudan, since it helped end the civil war between rebels in South Sudan and the Sudanese government in 2005.
(go to web site) "Workplace Vigilance"
State Journal (WV) (02/05/09) ; Darst, Paul To improve productivity and worker safety, more employers in West Virginia have added mandatory drug testing to their employment policy. Observers believe employers are embracing the trend despite concerns about privacy rights due to safety issues. "It's a lot more common that it used to be," says William Webb of Oasis Behavioral Health Services LLC. "Primarily, it's about safety and productivity. When people are identified early enough, they can be rehabilitated and saved." The push comes as demographics of the drug-using population shifts. "The treatment age is younger, and the drug of choice is different," observes Genise Lalos, director of addition services at Prestera Center. Still, Lalos says some companies are reluctant to enforce drug screening because of the privacy issue. "You do see a lot of pre-employment screening, but a lot of them are unclear (about post-employment tests), so they err on the side of caution I think."
(go to web site) "Comcast Calls Super Bowl Interruption 'A Malicious Act'"
Arizona Daily Star (02/03/09) ; Pedersen, Brian A graphic clip of an adult film that interrupted the Super Bowl broadcast for thousands of Comcast subscribers in Tucson, Ariz., was the result of an "isolated malicious act," according to a Comcast spokeswoman. Comcast officials have yet to determine how the signal was interrupted, though any sort of equipment malfunction has been ruled out. "We did an extensive preliminary check on our technical systems, and everything appeared to be working properly when the incident occurred," says spokeswoman Kelle Maslyn. "We're aggressively pursuing all leads until we come to a resolution." The U.S. Attorney's Office in Phoenix is also looking into the interruption. "We take this matter seriously," says spokesman Wyn Hornbuckle. "We're working with appropriate agencies to review the incident."
(go to web site) "Suit Alleges Internet Espionage"
Wall Street Journal (02/02/09) ; Bulkeley, William M. Massachusetts-based NewRiver Inc., a closely held company that services the brokerage industry, has filed a lawsuit against the investment-research firm Morningstar in state court accusing it of using Internet espionage to copy information from its system for handling mutual-fund prospectuses. According to the lawsuit, Morningstar gained access to a secret Web-site address for the data warehouse NewRiver uses to store prospectuses the Securities and Exchange Commission releases for mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, and annuities. NewRiver noted in its lawsuit that Morningstar was able to gain access to the address shortly before discussions about Morningstar possibly taking over NewRiver broke down. After gaining access to the Web site, Morningstar then allegedly copied thousands of prospectuses and used them to try to convince NewRiver's customers to switch to Morningstar. NewRiver's customers then asked for significant pricing reductions, which they were able to get. The lawsuit seeks to prevent Morningstar from accessing the site again, as well as unspecified trebled damages. For its part, Morningstar acknowledged accessing the information but said it did so solely for benchmarking purposes and that it did not use it to develop its own product. The Chicago-based company also noted that it never accessed a password-protected site.
(go to web site) "Special Workplace Benefits Help Relieve Stress, Improve Bottom Line"
PhysOrg.com (02/02/09) Business professors at the University of Michigan are urging businesses to offer a variety of complementary alternative benefits to help reduce stress and improve camaraderie among their employees, which in turn can reduce the potential for workplace violence. Among the benefits that companies can offer their employees to reduce stress are flexible work hours, telecommuting, employer-paid health care premiums, and discounted tickets to social activities such as movies and sporting events. In addition to reducing employee stress, these and other complementary alternative benefits can have a positive impact on a company's bottom line. According to Cindy Schipani and Norm Bishara, professors of business law at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, companies on the Forbes list that offered generous complementary alternative benefits had employee turnover rates that were significantly lower than the industry average. In addition, these firms collectively saved an average of roughly $275 million in 2007, Schipani and Bishara noted. They added that complementary alternative benefits can also help to increase worker productivity and reduce employee health care costs.
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"Pakistan Officials Deflect Charges of Mumbai Role"
Wall Street Journal (02/06/09) ; Hussain, Zahid; Rosenberg, Matthew Pakistani officials appear to be drawing conclusions from their investigation into the terrorist attacks on Mumbai that are different than the conclusions India reached in its investigation. According to a Pakistani official who is familiar with the country's investigation, Pakistani authorities have not uncovered any evidence to indicate that the attack was planned or carried out in Pakistan, despite India's assertion to the contrary. The official also noted that while Pakistani authorities have found evidence that the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba was involved in the attack, it may have also worked with Bangladesh-based Harkat-ul-Jihad al Islami and al-Qaida. This is not the first time that a Pakistani official has said that India's belief that the Mumbai attacks originated in Pakistan may not be correct. Last week, Pakistan's high commissioner to Britain said the attack was planned outside of Pakistan and may have been part of a transnational plot. However, neither statement is necessarily a reflection of the conclusion of Pakistan's investigation. The results of that investigation are expected to be released soon.
(go to web site) "U.S. Presses Europe for Aid in Afghanistan Amid Political Chill With Russia"
Wall Street Journal (02/06/09) ; Dreazen, Yochi J.; Solomon, Jay The annual Munich Conference on Security Policy will test President Barack Obama's influence with European allies and their continued support in Afghanistan. The U.S. delegation headed by Vice President Joe Biden seeks to fortify the political and military commitment of Europe in the face of the U.S. military's possibly eviction from a critical air base in Kyrgyzstan used to supply U.S. troops and allied forces from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization stationed in Afghanistan. White House officials say the configuration of the U.S. delegation is intended to express the Obama administration's resolve to move past the fractious tone the Bush administration occasionally allowed to interfere in diplomatic relations between the U.S. and its European allies. The delegation is also expected to push for greater military involvement from Europe in Afghanistan, support for U.S.-led peace negotiations in the Middle East, and a tougher stance on Iran's pursuit of its nuclear program. "Biden is going to push these leaders to do more than they have in the past," the official said. "It's not just about us moving closer to them; they need to step up to the plate as well."
(go to web site) "Cheney Warns of New Attacks"
Politico (02/04/09) ; Harris, John Former Vice President Dick Cheney warns that there is a "high probability" that terrorists will attempt a catastrophic nuclear or biological attack in coming years, and asserts that President Barack Obama's policies could make it more likely to succeed. "I think there's a high probability of such an attempt. Whether or not they can pull it off depends whether or not we keep in place policies that have allowed us to defeat all further attempts, since 9/11, to launch mass-casualty attacks against the United States," Cheney says. He predicts that President Obama will either backtrack on his stated intentions to end the Bush administration's support for the Guantanamo Bay prison and coercive interrogation of terrorism suspects or put the county at major risk. "When we get people who are more concerned about reading the rights to an Al Qaeda terrorist than they are with protecting the United States against people who are absolutely committed to do anything they can to kill Americans, then I worry," Cheney says. Citing intelligence reports, Cheney says at least 61 of the inmates who were released from Guantanamo during the Bush administration have "gone back into the business of being terrorists."
(go to web site) "Border-Fence Project Hits a Snag"
Wall Street Journal (02/04/09) ; Simon, Stephanie The federal government's effort to build the last 70 miles of a 670-mile security fence along the U.S. border with Mexico is getting bogged down by a number of different challenges. For instance, environmentalists are calling for a top-level review of the final 70-mile portion of the fence, which runs mostly through the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. Environmentalists are concerned that this section will block some wildlife from reaching critical habitat. Meanwhile, property owners along the border are contesting the federal government's seizure of their land. Flooding concerns in the area around the fence also still need to be addressed by engineers. Opponents of the fence have cited these problems as a reason why the Obama administration should halt construction of the fence and instead use aerial surveillance and motion detectors to secure the border. However, neither President Obama or Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano have shown that they intend to stop construction. According to a White House spokesman, President Obama supports the fence as long as it is part of a border security strategy that includes using more Border Patrol agents and technology.
(go to web site) "Iran Launches First Homemade Satellite"
Guardian Unlimited (UK) (02/03/09) ; Tait, Robert Iran today launched its first homemade satellite, the Omid (Hope) satellite, into orbit on the back of an Iranian-made Safir rocket. The launch of the satellite, which appears to have been timed to mark the 30th anniversary celebrations of Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, is likely to spark renewed concerns about the Islamic Republic's missile capabilities. Experts say that having a satellite in place is necessary for launching intercontinental ballistic missiles because the rockets are guided by satellite technology. Iran, however, says the satellite will only be used to improve phone and Internet technology and to track natural disasters.
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"New Style of DNS Amplification Can Yield Powerful DDoS Attacks"
SC Magazine (02/09) ; Moscaritolo, Angela A new movement of denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, which can overtake mainstream commercial sites, is gaining momentum, warns Don Jackson, SecureWorks' director of threat intelligence. The network security provider executive says a new variant in the code lets criminals attack sites without using phony user datagram protocol (UDP) packets to barrage recurring DNS name servers. "This new tactic uses a very short query, asking simply the name servers for the '.' domain [a single dot]," Jackson writes in an examination of DNS amplification. "This domain is the root server domain, so the answer is large [or long]. A list of all the root domain name servers is sent back in response." Jackson says he is absolutely certain this tactic will be employed in the next significant DDoS attack.
(go to web site) "SRA Warns of Possible Data Breach"
Washington Technology (02/04/09) ; Weigelt, Matthew SRA International has told the Maryland Attorney General's Office and its customers that the personal information of as many as 1,400 state residents may have been compromised when a virus infected one of its computer networks last month. SRA says hackers may have been able to use the virus to access information such as names, addresses, dates of birth, health information, Social Security numbers, and information related to employees' security screenings. SRA says the security breach could affect other organizations as well. The company says it is continuing to investigate the breach with its in-house IT security team and its cybersecurity experts. So far the investigation has not uncovered any evidence that a SRA employee is responsible for the breach.
(go to web site) "DNS Security Extensions Not a Panacea"
CNet (02/03/09) ; Oltsik, Jon The U.S. federal government is likely to face a number of challenges in its effort to implement DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC) across the .gov domain by the end of this year. For instance, getting DNSSEC to scale across the massive federal network could be a painstaking process requiring new software development and lots of trial-and-error. In addition, there are a number of unanswered questions about public key infrastructure (PKI), a component of DNSSEC that is used for authentication and digital signatures in the DNS system. For example, it remains unclear whether DNSSEC will be integrated into the federal PKI architecture or remain separate. Another unknown is whether there will be a master PKI implementation for DNSSEC and another independent PKI for another federal initiative to secure the Border Gateway Protocol. Finally, the government will have to deal with the vulnerabilities that exist in DNSSEC if the technology has software vulnerabilities or is configured incorrectly.
(go to web site) "White House to Assume Key Role in Cybersecurity"
Federal Times (02/02/09) Vol. 44, No. 45, P. 4 ; Carlstrom, Gregg U.S. President Barack Obama has announced that he will keep his campaign promise to create the position of national cyber adviser. Under Obama's plan, the national cyber adviser will report directly to him and will be responsible for developing a national cyber policy and coordinating the federal government's cybersecurity strategy. The coordination of the government's approach to cybersecurity had previously been the responsibility of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It remains unclear who Obama is considering to fill the new position. Allan Paller, the director of the Maryland-based SANS Institute, says that whoever the adviser is will have to face the dual challenges of prioritizing the many steps that need to be taken to shore up the nation's cybersecurity and keeping the various federal agencies that are involved in the effort focused. Meanwhile, other efforts are being made to improve the nation's cybersecurity. For instance, Obama has declared the national cyberinfrastructure a strategic asset, and the designation means that the nation's IT networks will receive high-level attention from the White House. In addition, Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano has asked for a review of her department's cybersecurity efforts as part of a larger review of DHS programs.
(go to web site) "Report: Business Failing to Protect Site Visitors From Malware Threats"
E-Commerce Times (02/02/09) ; Morphy, Erika Corporate Web sites are not doing enough to contain the growing malware threats that are placing site visitors at risk, concludes IBM's X-Force Trend and Risk Report. The online threat is two-pronged: Commercial software and applications are rife with vulnerabilities, and many malware attackers are injecting SQL attacks into legitimate Web sites, making it difficult for investigators to spot attacks right away. More than 50 percent of all the security flaws discovered in 2008 were related to Web platforms, nearly three-fourths of which had no patch, the report states. Additionally, nearly 50 percent of the vulnerabilities discovered in 2006 and 2007 still had no patches by the end of 2008. Companies must combat this problem by testing any off-the-shelf and custom-built applications, and by spending more money on security solutions. Relying too heavily on a firewall for complete protection also is risky, warns Guardium executive Phil Neray. "Companies need to move beyond the perimeter network security model of relying on firewalls and move to newer security technology that allows them to monitor in real time who is accessing their Web site," the database expert says. Finally, firms should educate their employees about phishing schemes and other common malware attacks that are frequently missed by malware filters.
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