The Cybersecurity (CS) Digest is a curated bi-weekly news summary for cybersecurity professionals. It is transmitted in an HTML-formatted email and provides links to articles and news summaries across a spectrum of cybersecurity topics.

RECENT HEADLINES:

Data Security:

PHPmailer Bug Leaves Millions of Websites Open to Attack - ThreatPost

A critical PHPMailer bug tied to the way websites handle email and feedback forms is leaving millions of websites hosted on popular web-publishing platforms such as WordPress, Drupal and Joomla open to attack.

US Government Subcontractor Leaks Confidential Military Personnel Data - ZDNet

The leak exposed personal data including Social Security numbers to the assigned posts of critical members of the US military, some of whom hold the highest levels of security clearance.

Healthcare Security:

Managing Medical Device Cybersecurity in the Postmarket: At the Crossroads of Cyber-safety and Advancing Technology - FDA

Protecting medical devices from ever-shifting cybersecurity threats requires an all-out, lifecycle approach that begins with early product development and extends throughout the product’s lifespan.

High Performance Computing:

Researchers Use World’s Smallest Diamonds to Make Wires Three Atoms Wide - SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

LEGO-style Building Method Has Potential for Making One-Dimensional Materials with Extraordinary Properties.

Hybrid Warfare:

DHS, FBI Report Details Russian Election Hack and Defenses Against Future Attacks - Federal News Radio

While President Barack Obama chose to sanction the Russian individuals and organizations linked to the U.S. election cyber attacks, the Homeland Security Department and FBI are soliciting the help of the private sector in the wake of the network hacks.

DHS Slammed for Report on Russian Hackers - CyberScoop

The hacker groups known as Fancy Bear and Cozy Bear have been tracked for years by cybersecurity specialists — almost all of whom long accepted the detailed, public pattern of evidence linking them to Russian intelligence, including technical indicators-of-compromise.

Group That Monitors Ukraine Conflict Suffers Cyberattack - ABC News

The organization charged with monitoring the Russian-fomented conflict in eastern Ukraine confirmed on Wednesday that it suffered a data breach “compromising the confidentiality” of its computer network.

Actions in Response to Russian Malicious Cyber Activity and Harassment - White House Briefing Room

Today, President Obama authorized a number of actions in response to the Russian government’s aggressive harassment of U.S. officials and cyber operations aimed at the U.S. election in 2016.

Critiques of the DHS/FBI’s GRIZZLY STEPPE Report - Robert M. Lee

For years there has been solid public evidence by private sector intelligence companies such as CrowdStrike, FireEye, and Kaspersky that has called attention to Russian-based cyber activity. These groups have been tracked for a considerable amount of time (years) across multiple victim organizations.

Cyber Sleuths Lay Out Evidence of Russia’s Political Hacking While the White House Lays Down Sanctions - GeekWire

Two groups of Russian hackers used a blend of spear phishing, booby-trapped websites, and remote-access malware to worm their way into the Democratic National Committee’s computers and hurt the party’s prospects in last month’s presidential election, experts from the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security say in a 13-page report.

Executive Summary of Grizzly Steppe Findings from Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Todd Breasseale - Homeland Security

WASHINGTON – Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Todd Breasseale issued an executive summary today of the U.S. government’s findings of Russian malicious cyber activity known as Grizzly Steppe.

GRIZZLY STEPPE – Russian Malicious Cyber Activity - FBI

This Joint Analysis Report (JAR) is the result of analytic efforts between the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). This document provides technical details regarding the tools and infrastructure used by the Russian civilian and military intelligence Services (RIS) to compromise and exploit networks and endpoints associated with the U.S. election, as well as a range of U.S. Government, political, and private sector entities. The U.S. Government is referring to this malicious cyber activity by RIS as GRIZZLY STEPPE.

Internet-of-Things:

Police Seek Amazon Echo Data in Murder Case - Engadget

Amazon's Echo devices and its virtual assistant are meant to help find answers by listening for your voice commands. However, police in Arkansas want to know if one of the gadgets overheard something that can help with a murder case.

Network Security:

Boffins Bag Side-Channel Bugs Before They Bite - The Register

Rowhammer and similar side-channel attacks aren't caught by anti-virus, so a bunch of US boffins have set about working out how to catch their signatures.

Public Sector:

FBI Probes FDIC Hack Linked to China’s Military – Sources - Reuters

The FBI is investigating how hackers infiltrated computers at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation for several years beginning in 2010 in a breach senior FDIC officials believe was sponsored by China's military, people with knowledge of the matter said.

FEEDBACK FROM PREVIOUS DIGEST:

Most Popular:

IEEE Computer Society Predicts the Future of Tech for 2017 and Next Five Years - IEEE Computer Society

After grading itself on its 2016 vision, IEEE Computer Society has plunged into technology predictions for 2017 and for the next five years by 2022.

Cybersecurity’s Next Phase: Cyber Deterrence - The Conversation

For decades, deterrence has effectively countered the threat of nuclear weapons. Can we achieve similar results against cyber weapons?

Pentagon: China Threatened to Bankrupt Defense Contractor - Washington Free Beacon

A U.S. defense contractor was threatened with bankruptcy by Chinese hackers seeking jet fighter logistics secrets, according to the Pentagon’s Joint Staff.

CSIAC SUPPORTED COMMUNITIES:

Upcoming Events - CSIAC

View Upcoming Events around the world on the CSIAC website.

Cyber Security of Critical Infrastructure - Department of Homeland Security

CSIAC serves on the EO 13636/PPD-21 Research & Development (R&D) Working Group (WG) run by DHS S&T. If you would like further information, contact Dr. Paul Losiewicz at plosiewicz@csiac.org

Cyber Community of Interest (COI) Group - CSIAC

The Cyber COI engages in multiple activities and forums for coordinating cyber S&T strategies, sharing innovative ideas and technical approaches, promoting technology transfer and upcoming business opportunities, and in jointly planning programs across the Department of Defense and other government agencies. Membership is based upon approval by the Cyber COI group administrator.

The Cyber Shield Newsletter - New Mexico Counterintelligence Working Group (NMCIWG)

The Cyber Shield is a Cyber Newsletter for Counterintelligence, IT and Security Professionals associated with DoD and USG agencies. There are no distribution constraints. If you would like to subscribe, please contact Paul Losiewicz at plosiewicz@csiac.org

TECHNICAL RESOURCES:

DIB CS/IA Voluntary Information Sharing Program - DoD DIBNet

DoD's DIB CS/IA program is a voluntary program to enhance and supplement DIB participants' capabilities to safeguard DoD information that resides on, or transits, DIB unclassified information systems.

US-CERT Bulletins - Department of Homeland Security

Bulletins provide weekly summaries of new vulnerabilities. Patch information is provided when available.

US-CERT Alerts - Department of Homeland Security

Alerts provide timely information about current security issues, vulnerabilities, and exploits.

National Vulnerability Database - NIST

NVD is the U.S. government repository of standards based vulnerability management data represented using the Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP). This data enables automation of vulnerability management, security measurement, and compliance. NVD includes databases of security checklists, security related software flaws, misconfigurations, product names, and impact metrics.

POLICY RESOURCES:

Presidential Policy Directive – United States Cyber Incident Coordination - The White House

The DoD Cybersecurity Policy Chart (Formerly the IA Policy Chart) - CSIAC

DHS Cyber Security Strategy (“Blueprint for a Secure Cyber Future”, 2011) - Department of Homeland Defense

Trustworthy CyberSpace: Strategic Plan For The Federal Cybersecurity Research and Development Program - NITRD

Committee on National Security Systems (CNSS) - Committee on National Security Systems

GUIDANCE:

Opportunities Exist for DOD to Share Cybersecurity Resources with Small Businesses - GAO

DOD OSBP officials acknowledged that cybersecurity is an important and timely issue for small businesses -and therefore the office is considering incorporating cybersecurity into its existing outreach and education efforts. During the review, GAO identified 15 existing federal cybersecurity resources that DOD OSBP could disseminate to defense small businesses.

DHS S&T Collaboration Community - Ideascale

The National Conversation is intended to bring together everyone to play a role in shaping the future of homeland security technology. This means responders, operational users, citizens, academia, and industry.

The Department of Defense Cyber Strategy - Department of Defense

The purpose of this strategy is to guide the development of DoD's cyber forces and strengthen our cyber defense and cyber deterrence posture. It focuses on building cyber capabilities and organizations for DoD's three primary cyber missions.

Information Sharing Environment - ISE

The Information Sharing Environment (ISE) broadly refers to the people, projects, systems, and agencies that enable responsible information sharing for national security.

Standards & Reference Documents - CSIAC

View all Best Practices and Reference Documents on the CSIAC website.

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