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| NEWS of the Day - August 4, 2011 |
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on some issues of interest to the community policing and neighborhood activist across the country
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following group of articles from local newspapers and other sources constitutes but a small percentage of the information available to the community policing and neighborhood activist public. It is by no means meant to cover every possible issue of interest, nor is it meant to convey any particular point of view ...
We present this simply as a convenience to our readership ... |
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From Los Angeles Times
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Hackers infiltrate computer networks of thousands of companies
The hackers, who belong to a government-sanctioned group from either Eastern Europe or East Asia, not only broke in but remained embedded in the computer systems, quietly siphoning secret data for years, security analysts say.
by David Sarno, Salvador Rodriguez and Ken Dilanian, Los Angeles Times
August 4, 2011
Reporting from Los Angeles and Washington
In what security experts believe may be the largest coordinated attack ever launched, hackers have for at least five years infiltrated the computer networks of thousands of companies, organizations and governments, stealing reams of intellectual property, military information and state secrets.
The perpetrators probably belong to a government-sanctioned group from either Eastern Europe or East Asia, according to security analysts. The hackers not only broke in but remained embedded in the computer systems, quietly siphoning secret data for years.
"Even we were surprised by the enormous diversity of the victim organizations and were taken aback by the audacity of the perpetrators," Dmitri Alperovitch, vice president of threat research at Internet security firm McAfee Inc., wrote in a 14-page report released Wednesday. The theft of so much valuable information "represents a massive economic threat," he said.
The attacks are part of what analysts see as a rapidly expanding international cyber threat that few companies or governments can adequately defend against, and which costs U.S. industries and taxpayers tens of billions of dollars every year in lost information, labor and legal fees. One research institute estimated that so far in 2011, companies have spent $96 billion on security breaches.
McAfee, which discovered the operation, did not identify the perpetrators, but many analysts said China had frequently been associated with such cyber attacks, including one in 2009 that hit Google Inc. and helped persuade the company to shut down its search engine operation in that nation. In this instance, signs that a "state actor" were behind the breaches included the hacking of various nations' Olympic committees in the run-up to the 2008 Olympics.
"There is likely no commercial benefit to be earned from such hacks," McAfee said.
The Internet security firm was able to identify at least 72 companies, organizations and governments that came under attack, including a county government in Southern California, six U.S. federal agencies, more than a dozen defense contractors, as well as multinational corporations and the United Nations. McAfee believes thousands of other networks that it could not identify were hit by the same group based on digital signatures found on compromised servers used to launch the attacks. The company released the names of only a small number of the targets.
In the case of the United Nations, the intruder was able to camp out in the computer system and had access to files kept by the secretariat in Geneva for nearly two years.
"What is happening to all this data … is still largely an open question," Alperovitch said. "However, if even a fraction of it is used to build better-competing products or beat a competitor at a key negotiation [because of having stolen the other team's playbook]) the loss represents a massive economic threat."
Attackers seemed to pay special attention to government agencies and manufacturing and technology firms in Asian countries, which some analysts saw as further evidence suggesting that China was the culprit.
"One of the things that points to China is the extent of the attention to Taiwan, South Korea and Japan," said Scott Borg, executive director of the U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit, a Washington think tank that examines cyber events and collects confidential information from attack victims. "For language and other reasons, the Russians are much more inclined to go after Western Europe and the U.S."
Borg said "catch-up" economies like China derive part of their growth from copying other nations' technical achievements, many of which they purloin through industrial espionage, he said. China has vehemently denied that it sanctions hack attacks.
"They are not stealing just what people ordinarily think of as priority information," Borg said. "They are stealing all of the information: The customer lists, the supplier lists, the bidding levels, all the business communications, all of the business processes, all the schematics and layouts, all of the control settings for every valve, switch, temperature and pressure."
The U.S. engages in cyber espionage too, former Bush administration advisor Richard A. Clarke said in an interview Wednesday. But U.S. officials are focused on national security rather than gaining trade secrets that could give the nation's industries an edge.
"If they want to hack our Pentagon and we want to hack their ministry of defense to find out what the latest war plans are, that's all fine," said Clarke, who last year wrote the book "Cyber War." But it's a different story "when you start stealing all the research and development that we pay for and then you run out and do it for nothing."
A study released Tuesday by the Ponemon Institute, a research group that studies Internet security, found that cyber attacks are happening more frequently and are costing companies more money each year.
The study, which looked at 50 large U.S. companies with more than 1,000 employees, found that companies were hit by at least one successful attack every week. The price of cyber attacks is rising as well: Companies are now paying close to $5.9 million a year to remedy attacks, up from $3.8 million last year.
"The fact that costs have increased so substantially suggests that cyber crime issues are getting worse," said Larry Ponemon, chairman of the institute. "The bad guys are getting stealthier, and their attacks are getting harder to detect."
McAfee said attackers gained control of computer systems through relatively simple means — generally by tricking employees into opening infected emails. If an employee with enough access to computer systems opens a bad email, it can trigger his or her computer to download malicious software that can give hackers a "back door" into the entire computer system.
http://www.latimes.com/la-fi-cyber-attacks-20110804,0,3550373,print.story
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Cyber attacks on the rise and more costly, study says
Not only are more cyber crimes happening, but they are also costing companies more money, a recent study found.
The median cost of cyber crimes rose to $5.9 million, up from $3.8 million in 2010, while the number of attacks rose by 44% with at one successful attack on each of the companies in the study each week, according to a study released Tuesday by the Ponemon Institute, a research group that studies Internet security. Costs to targets include spending on security experts and investigations, loss of productivity, system software upgrades and the value of stolen intellectual property.
"The fact that costs have increased so substantially suggests that cyber crime issues are getting worse," said Larry Ponemon, chairman of the institute.
The study found the most expensive cyber crimes to be denial of service, Web-based attacks, malicious code and malicious insiders. The study found attacks are taking longer to resolve on average, 18 days, up from 14 last year, and are costing more as well, more than $415,000 per attack, up from more than $247,000 in 2010.
"The bad guys are getting stealthier, and their attacks are getting harder to detect," Ponemon said.
The study, which looked at 50 large companies in the U.S., is conducted each year to gauge the economic cost of cyber attacks.
"We believe a better understanding of the cost of cyber crime will assist organizations in determining the appropriate amount of investment and resources needed to prevent or mitigate the devastating consequences of an attack," the study said.
Cyber attacks have been occurring at a record pace in 2011 with the likes of the FBI, the CIA, NATO, News Corp. and Citigroup among their victims. The study found three companies that spent more than $29 million to resolve cyber attacks, and a large attack on Sony earlier this year is expected to cost the company more than $170 million. Last month, the institute reported that cyber crimes in the first half of this year cost U.S. companies nearly as much as they did in all of 2010.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/08/rising-costs-suggest-cyber-crimes-getting-worse-study-shows-.html
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From Google News
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Bloomberg Takes on Racial Divide; Gives $30M to Men's Program
New program aims to even the odds for ex-offenders.
by Melissa Russo
New York City is taking steps to hire ex-convicts as part of a sweeping social policy plan by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to lift the barriers facing young black and Latino men. An investigation into racial disparities in New York City yielded disturbing numbers. Black and Latino men were out of work, dropping out of school and living in poverty at rates dramatically higher than their white and Asian peers. Plus, 90 percent of the city's inmates and murder victims are black and Latino. With odds like these, it's no wonder 15-year-old Malik Campbell feels discouraged about his future. “The chances of me being successful is low,” Campbell said in Harlem Wednesday afternoon after hearing about the new Bloomberg plan, called the Young Men's Initiative.
Bloomberg is looking to change policies like the one that automatically blocks ex-convicts from consideration for city jobs. “There are a lot of convicted felons in this city,” said Vince Schiraldi, NYC Probation Commissioner. “We don't want them all to be unemployable because they're going to keep getting in trouble.” Asked about potential backlash from job seekers who do not have criminal convictions, Schiraldi said, “We're not trying to put our people on the head of the line. We're just trying to put people on the line.” The plan makes fiscal sense, according to Schiraldi, who points out that incarcerating one young man costs $50,000 to $60,000 dollars a year, but prevention costs only $5,000 to $8,000 a year.
Bloomberg will announce the three-year $127 million initiative Thursday morning. Thirty million dollars will come from Bloomberg's foundation, another $30 million will come from George Soros's foundation and the remaining $67.5 million will be funded by city taxpayers. Bloomberg aides say the investment will cut costs down the road. Many of the programs are aimed at helping young black and Latino men find jobs. They involve mentors, paid internships, assistance with getting ID cards and “cleaning the rap sheets” of young offenders to remove old arrests. In schools, the goal is to reduce suspensions of students, and redouble efforts to close the academic achievement gap facing black and Latino boys. "Young black and Latino boys are not doing well enough in our city,” Deputy Mayor Linda Gibbs tells NBC New York. “They're not doing as well as the girls, and they're not doing as well as their white peers. And we really need to point that out if we intend to make a difference.”
Sources say Bloomberg will hold monthly accountability meetings with more than a dozen city agencies to track progress of young black and Hispanic men.
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Bloomberg-Takes-on-Racial-Divide-126740803.html
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Oregon
Vancouver calls on citizens to pitch in community policing efforts
by Ian Larson
Neighbors on Watch at a glance:
- Citizen volunteers patrol streets, reporting suspicious activity to police
- They report crimes, but don't intervene
- To get involved, contact Kelly Cheney at (360) 487-7467 by Aug. 9 |
Participants must:
- Be 21 or older
- Be Vancouver residents
- Pass a background check
-Complete formal training |
Car prowls, graffiti and a rash of crime in late June have some Vancouver residents worried about the direction their community is heading, but now the city is asking citizens to be its eyes and ears, not just a mouthpiece of criticism.
The city is currently recruiting residents for Neighbors On Watch, a program that puts trained volunteers on shoe-leather patrols to spot suspicious activities and report them to police. The non-confrontational observers don't intervene in crimes, but police say their presence on the streets does help prevent them at a time when resources are stretched thin.
"We would never have the capacity to do the types of work that they're doing," Vancouver Police Department spokeswoman Kim Kapp said.
Leaders in some neighborhoods have complained of both benign and gang-related graffiti this summer, and a wave of crimes, including a shooting in Sunnyside in late June, led some to question Vancouver's reputation as a quiet, safe city.
As social support programs such as the Clark County YWCA reduce their outreach for budget reasons, Kapp said it will be even more important for citizen groups to shoulder some responsibility for preserving clean and safe neighborhoods.
"It's not something law enforcement can do on its own," Kapp said. The community, it seems, is heeding that call.
NOW is a growing a program that already has about 75 members. This spring, another group began organizing an effort to purge the city of graffiti. The Safe Communities Task Force, a grassroots organization that aims to keep youths out of gangs, has also grown to include police.
"We're not going to allow anyone to take over our city -- except us," said Lee McCallister, a longtime leader of the Fruit Valley Neighborhood Association. Others share his view.
"I'm out working in my streets and in my neighborhood," said Kathy Huss, a leader of the Ogden Neighborhood Association. "I've gone out against skateboarders and the Bloods and the Crips."
Some residents have downplayed the crime, and many say their neighborhoods remain peaceful places to live. While auto prowls are becoming more common, Kapp said the biggest increase in crime has been in non-random offenses such as domestic violence.
"That's not something a citizen group alone can mitigate," she said.
For their part, NOW volunteers call in the open doors, broken windows and unexpected gatherings that could signal that trouble. Though its members are trained in CPR and defibrillator-use, they defer to police in emergencies.
McCallister said whatever form the community's involvement takes, it's important residents don't rely on the city to solve problems in their own neighborhoods.
"They have to remember that they are the bottom line of the city and the county, and I'm not one that says just because I pay your wage you have to do it all," he said. "We have to work as a cohesive unit or it's not going to work at all."
http://www.oregonlive.com/clark-county/index.ssf/2011/08/vancouver_calls_on_citizens_for_now.html |
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