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:

Free CSIAC Webinar Tuesday Dec 19th @ 12:00 EST – Blockchain: Applications, Security Promises and Internals - CSIAC

In this webinar, Blockchain technology will be introduced from the perspectives of applications, extensible interfaces, security promises and internal mechanisms. Blockchain supports the secure storage of transactions and honestly runs smart contracts. Blockchain's internal mechanisms are sophisticated and can be viewed from different angles. This webinar will present the transaction, storage, mining-based consensus and other mechanisms under the hood.

RECENT HEADLINES:

Cyberwarfare:

U.S. Government Shares Technical Details on North Korean Hacking Campaign - Reuters

The alert, from the FBI and Department of Homeland Security, said North Korean hackers were using a type of malware known as "FALLCHILL" to gain entry to computer systems and compromise network systems. The FBI and DHS had issued a warning in June that squarely blamed the North Korean government for a raft of cyber attacks stretching back to 2009 targeting media, aerospace and financial sectors, as well as critical infrastructure, in the United States and globally. Tuesday's alert included the publication of IP addresses the FBI said were linked to the hacking campaign and was intended to help private industry guard against the attacks.

A Fight Is Brewing Between Congress and the Military Over Cyber War - Next Gov

U.S. military commanders want more authority to launch cyber operations. But Congress is mulling new restrictions and reporting requirements, setting up a showdown that will shape American defense in the network era.

KREMLINVADERS: Russian Hack Attack on Britain’s Energy Grid Confirmed by Cyber Security Chief - The Sun

The power grid hack this summer triggered alarms, and experts from eavesdropping spy service GCHQ were called in to flush out 'sleeper' worms. It is believed the Russian state-sponsored hackers intended to lie dormant inside the energy network after having penetrated it, to then cause significant damage at a later date. Speaking at The Times Tech Summit tomorrow, Ciaran Martin will say: "I can't get into precise details of intelligence matters. But I can confirm that Russian interference, seen by the National Cyber Security Centre over the past year, has included attacks on the UK media, telecommunication and energy sectors."

Data Security:

After Getting Hacked, Uber Paid Hackers $100,000 to Keep Data Breach Secret - TheHackerNews

Uber is in headlines once again - this time for concealing last year's data breach that exposed personal data of 57 million customers and drivers.

The Dark Side of ‘Replay Sessions’ That Record Your Every Move Online - Wired

When internet users visit Walgreens.com, a software company may record every keystroke, mouse movement, and scroll, potentially exposing medical conditions such as alcohol dependence, or the names of drugs a user has been prescribed, according to Princeton researchers.

Microsoft Word Vuln Went Unnoticed for 17 Years: Report - DarkReading

Researchers at Embedi, a firm specializing in security for embedded devices, today released a report on a 17-year-old remote code execution vulnerability in Microsoft Office, which was patched today. They claim it has not been patched and Microsoft did not know it existed.

New ICEDID Trojan Targets US Banks - Threat Post

The IcedID Trojan was spotted in September by researchers at IBM's X-Force Research team. They said the Trojan has several standout techniques and procedures, such as the ability to spread over a network and the ability to monitor a browser's activity by setting up a local proxy for traffic tunneling.

Blockchain and Digital Currency:

The Blockchain Does Not Eliminate The Need For Trust - Phys.org

A common idea about the blockchain, the technology that powers Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, is that it can "create trust", or allow two parties to make a transaction "without relying on trust". The blockchain does not create or eliminate trust. It merely converts trust from one form to another. While we previously had to trust financial institutions to verify transactions, with the blockchain we have to trust the technology itself.

Healthcare Security:

ABILIFY MYCITE, The First FDA Approved Digital Medicine That Tracks Its Own Ingestion - Medgadget

The ABILIFY MYCITE (aripiprazole) is a tablet with a tiny sensor embedded in its interior. After the tablet is swallowed and dissolved, the sensor meets the stomach juices, which activate it and allow it to communicate with a patch worn by the patient. The patch transmits its readings to a smartphone or tablet, communicating every time that the pill is swallowed. The tiny ingested sensor is then passed by the GI system and leaves the body.

Legislation and Regulation:

FCC Chief Plans to Ditch U.S. ‘Net Neutrality’ Rules - Reuters

FCC chief Ajit Pai, said the commission will vote at a Dec. 14 meeting on his plan to rescind the so-called net neutrality rules championed by Democratic former President Barack Obama that treated internet service providers like public utilities.

Regulators to Press Uber After it Admits Covering up Data Breach - Reuters

Struggling ride-hailing firm Uber faces a fresh regulatory crackdown after disclosing it paid hackers $100,000 to keep secret a massive breach last year that exposed personal data from around 57 million accounts.

Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence:

Trying to Turn Cores Into Neurons, Start-Up Poaches Intel Chief Scientist - Electronic Design

Eta Compute is trying to make chips that run on so little power that they act almost like neurons in the human brain, running artificial intelligence locally in sensors and other devices.

AI Can Help Hunt Down Missile Sites in China - Wired

Intelligence agencies have a limited number of trained human analysts looking for undeclared nuclear facilities, or secret military sites, hidden among terabytes of satellite images. But the same sort of deep learning artificial intelligence that enables Google and Facebook to automatically filter images of human faces and cats could also prove invaluable in the world of spy versus spy. An early example: US researchers have trained deep learning algorithms to identify Chinese surface-to-air missile sites-hundreds of times faster than their human counterparts.

Mobile Security:

Apple IPhone X Face ID Fooled by a Mask - Threat Post

Researchers from Vietnamese security company Bkav demonstrated that they could fool the technology to unlock the phone with a mask constructed with a 3D printer, some silicone, makeup and two-dimensional images—about $150 in materials.

Public Sector:

Fledgling Air Force Cybersecurity Office Stressed by CR, But Powering Through - Federal News Radio

A longer continuing resolution in 2018 could add unneeded stress to a fledgling office trying to build cybersecurity into Air Force weapons systems.

Amazon’s New ‘Secret Region’ Promises Easier Sharing of Classified Data - Defense One

Amazon Web Services unveiled a cloud computing region for the CIA and other intelligence community agencies developed specifically to host secret classified data.

White House Releases VEP Disclosure Rules - Threat Post

The release of the 14-page document offers new insights into who makes up the VEP’s Equities Review Board and outlines how the government will publicly release information related to its vulnerability assessment work.

Quantum Computing:

Quantum Computing With Molecules for a Quicker Search of Unsorted Databases - ScienceDaily

Research teams headed by Professors Wolfgang Wernsdorfer and Mario Ruben of KIT, together with scientists of the Institut Neel (Grenoble), have succeeded in applying Grover's algorithm to a molecular magnet and, thus, created a quantum system, whose task is the rapid finding of search elements in unsorted data.

FEEDBACK FROM PREVIOUS DIGEST:

Most Popular:

IOT is Insecure, Get Over it! Say Researchers - Threat Post

Noted security experts Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek said the Internet of Things can't be secure, but it can be tamed. Drawing from their car hacking experience, the two spent the morning contemplating the larger universe of IoT security and conceded that there will always be thousands of connected devices that will never be secure, and that industry should prioritize personal safety and the security of automobiles and medical devices, for example, over toothbrushes and door locks.

The Human Element: Insider Behavior Facilitates Cyber Attacks, Erodes Business Trust - Security Magazine

The mysterious foreign villains striking the largest companies and political organizations from the dark corners of the Internet tend to get the splashy headlines. However, the network openings that allow outside cyber-attackers to burrow in, infect databases, and potentially take down an organization's file servers overwhelmingly originate with trusted insiders.

The Devil Targets Japan with Bad Rabbit-like Wiper-Ransomware - Infosecurity

The name ONI, can mean "devil" in Japanese, and it also appears in the email address found in its ransom note. Attacks observed by Cybereason suggest that the malware lives up to its name. Aside from encrypting files on the infected machines, ONI can encrypt files on removable media and network drives - and there's evidence that the true purpose of the attack is to exfiltrate and destroy data.

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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