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Over the July 4th weekend, web sites of the Treasury Department, Secret Service, Federal Trade Commission, Transportation Department, and the New York Stock Exchange came under cyberattack, as did web sites in South Korea. This was likely the work of a group of hackers, possibly working for a government somewhere, rather than the work of an individual hacker. But one hacker is all it would take to put your organization out of business for a day, a week... or forever. This week's articles can help you bolster your plans for securing your critical network and web site.

The increasing number of cyber crimes not only impacts the economy but threatens national security. (Item #1)   You have as many weakest links as you have employees. (Item #2)   Take care reporting security issues to the world before reporting them to the proper authorities. (Item #3)  

You need to shut the back door. (Item #4)   Spam continues to be a big IT headache. (Item #5)   Organized crime diversification into various forms of cyber-crime or Internet related crime is closely related to what we know as white collar crime. (Item #6)  

As always, we look forward to hearing about your concerns with regards to business continuity. If you have a topic you'd like to see covered, please email me at [email protected]

Best Regards,

Bob Mellinger
President
Attainium Corp

Quote of the Week

"You can't hold firewalls and intrusion detection systems accountable.
You can only hold people accountable."
- Daryl White, DOI CIO -

Articles

1. The Cyber Threat Today
Crooks and spies using the Internet to commit crimes against U.S. businesses and to attack government networks are getting more sophisticated, and the increasing number of such crimes not only impacts the economy but threatens national security.
http://www.fbi.gov/page2/oct08/cyberthreat101708.html

2. You are the weakest link - goodbye
When it comes to information security, the weakest part of the chain is the thing that goes between the chair and the PC - the user.
http://www.bcs.org/server.php?show=ConWebDoc.23494

3. Security and Hacking: Reporting Cyber Crime
With the increase in cyber crime and security issues, although the goal is to prevent problems, where do you go to report cyber crime if you find it or are a victim of it?
http://www.blogherald.com/2009/04/09/security-and-hacking-reporting-cyber-crime/

4. Shut that door
Malicious backdoors are designed by attackers to avoid detection by traditional security tools such as firewalls, intrusion detection systems (IDS), and anti-virus software. To these security tools, backdoor traffic looks identical to typical application traffic.
http://www.bcs.org/server.php?show=ConWebDoc.25644

5. Study: Spam is More Malicious than Ever
Spam, especially junk e-mails with malicious links or attachments, continues to be a huge IT headache. Spammers are also getting more creative in their attempts to find victims, utilizing popular sites such as Facebook and Twitter, according to a report from U.K.-based security firm Sophos..
http://edge.networkworld.com/news/2009/012309-study-spam-is-more-malicious.html?hpg1=bn

6. Organized Crime and Cyber-Crime: Implications for Business
Criminals have discovered that the Internet can provide new opportunities for illicit business. The dark side of the Internet involves not only fraud and theft, pervasive pornography and pedophile rings, but also drug trafficking and criminal organizations that are more concerned about exploitation than the kind of disruption that is the focus of the intruder community. In the virtual world, as in the real world, most criminal activities are initiated by individuals or small groups and can best be understood as "disorganized crime."
http://www.cert.org/archive/pdf/cybercrime-business.pdf