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.

CSIAC ANNOUNCEMENTS:

New CSIAC Podcast: Cloud Infrastructure Deployment - CSIAC

An increasing number of organizations are moving their existing infrastructure to the cloud because of the benefits it affords them. It is crucial that companies have an understanding of the various cloud deployment models, considerations that must be taken into account, and the benefits of moving to the cloud. In this episode of The CSIAC Podcast, Sean Bird talks with Nicholas Maida and Michael VanSteenburg, Cybersecurity Analysts for Quanterion Solutions Incorporated, about cloud infrastructure deployment models and their pros and cons.

RECENT HEADLINES:

Critical Infrastructure:

Hackers Halt Plant Operations in Watershed Cyber Attack - Reuters

Hackers likely working for a nation-state recently invaded the safety system of a critical infrastructure facility in a watershed attack that halted plant operations, according to cyber investigators and the firm whose software was targeted.

Cyberwarfare:

U.S. Military and NATO May Now Target Russia With Cyberweapons, Marking Huge Policy Change - News Week

Western military alliance NATO's recent decision to integrate cyber warfare into its command could be its biggest policy shift in decades and represents a stark 21st-century warning to foes, especially Russia, according to one of the leading officials to help draft the new strategy.

SOCOM Commander: U.S. Must Develop More Offensive Cyber Weapons - National Defense Magazine

Instead of focusing the bulk of its resources on deflecting cyber breaches from adversaries, the U.S. military must place more emphasis on developing its offensive cyber capability, said the commander of Special Operations Command on Dec. 13.

Data Security:

Home Economics: How Life in 123 Million American Households Was Exposed Online - UpGaurd

An Amazon Web Services (AWS) S3 cloud storage bucket containing information from data analytics firm Alteryx has been found publicly exposed, comprising the personal information of 123 million US households.

New ‘Polymorphic’ Banking Trojan – Emotet - Bromium

Malware authors are repacking their malicious software into a unique executable for each potential victim, avoiding any-and-all signature-based detection.

Hackers Used DC Police Surveillance System to Distribute Cerber Ransomware - Bleeping Computer

A Romanian man and woman are accused of hacking into the outdoor surveillance system deployed by Washington DC police, which they used to distribute ransomware. The two suspects are named Mihai Alexandru Isvanca and Eveline Cismaru, Romanian nationals, both arrested last week by Romanian authorities part of Operation Bakovia that culminated with the arrest of five suspects on charges of distributing email spam laced with the CTB-Locker and Cerber ransomware strains.

Massive Brute-Force Attack Infects WordPress Sites with Monero Miners - Bleeping Computer

Over the course of the current week, WordPress sites around the globe have been the targets of a massive brute-force campaign during which hackers attempted to guess admin account logins in order to install a Monero miner on compromised sites.

Computer Scientists Develop a Simple Tool to Tell if Websites Suffered a Data Breach - Phys

Computer scientists have built and successfully tested a tool designed to detect when websites are hacked by monitoring the activity of email accounts associated with them. The researchers were surprised to find that almost 1 percent of the websites they tested had suffered a data breach during their 18-month study period.

1.4 Billion Clear Text Credentials Discovered in a Single Database - 4iQ

A Massive Resource for Cybercriminals Makes it Easy to Access Billions of Credentials.

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Emerging Technology:

Small Antennas Could be a Big Deal for the Air Force - Armed with Science

Researchers at the Air Force Research Laboratory's Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, in partnership with Northeastern University, recently developed an ultra-compact antenna that uses a whole different approach in transmitting and receiving signals. This breakthrough could be a big step in the miniaturization of many military and commercial communication systems.

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Legislation and Regulation:

Pentagon Delays Deadline For Military Suppliers to Meet Cybersecurity Rules - Defense One

The Pentagon will delay a Jan. 1 deadline for all of its suppliers to meet a set of new regulations largely designed to better protect sensitive military data and weapon blueprints.

Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence:

How Machine Learning Can Help Identify Cyber Vulnerabilities - Harvard business Review

There's an emerging discipline in security focused around user behavior analytics that is showing promise in helping to address the threat from outside, while also providing insights needed to solve the people problem. It puts to use new technologies that leverage a combination of big data and machine learning, allowing security teams to get to know their employees better and to quickly identify when things may be happening that are out of the norm.

Quantum Computing:

Microsoft Readies Dev Kit, Q# Language for Quantum Computing - Info World

Microsoft is offering a developer kit to help get started in quantum computing and using the company's quantum-focused Q# programming language.

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Most Popular:

Big Step Forward For Quantum Computing - Science Daily

Harvard researchers have developed a specialized quantum computer, known as a quantum simulator, which could be used to shed new light on a host of complex quantum processes, from the connection between quantum mechanics and material properties to investigating new phases of matter and solving complex real-world optimization problems.
Tags: Quantum Computing

CSIAC Supported Communities

CSIAC supports several communities of practice, such as the Cyber Community of Interest (COI) Group and research & development working groups.

Technical Resources, Policy and Guidance

This list of related sites provides additional sources to pursue the topic of Cybersecurity. The sites include Government organizations, including federal agencies, Department of Defense and military service agencies, commercial organizations, and academic institutions.

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