I've you've begun to start understanding the world of the smartphone, some of its features may often times go overlooked depending on what type of a phone user you are. These days phones come equipped with SMS, which stands for Short Message Service. Otherwise known as "texting" or often times talked about as text messages. Since I personally own an iPhone, it's not often I'll find myself using SMS. It's just one of those features I'm not that in to, since I can usually communicate with my friends via Instant Messaging. So I was surprised that I received a cryptic message from AT&T about account information.
I found out later that the text was a scam to try and get people to respond and provide personal information. Whenever you get something out of the ordinary, never go with your first impulse just to respond and provide more info. Instead contact your cell phone carrier directly and question them on it. It is important that you use a number off of your billing statements, and not any contact information provided in the message itself. There is just no telling whether the information is accurate.
3/23/09
3/11/09
Falling behind in cyber warfare
I came across an interesting article today: The Battle Over Cybersecurity
It talks about the arguments that NSA and Department of Homeland defense have about taking on Cybersecurity. The term cybersecurity is an interesting term, and as discussed in the article really deals with protecting against cyber-terrorism. There are currently organized crime rings in China and Russia dedicated to taking down America's financial sense of well-being by attacking various points of interest that we've come to rely on now that our monetary system is virtually paperless. Sadly these two countries are leaps and bounds ahead of us when it comes to experience and methods of intrusion.
The major problem we currently have is a resource problem. Investigations are being processed by local agencies, state agencies, and federal agencies. The problem with local agencies is that often these crime are committed by people overseas utilizing compromised systems as hosts. Everyone out there who has malware installed on their computers had directly contributed to terrorism. On a Federal level, the agencies continue to fight for jurisdiction and each may hold a piece of the puzzle without communicating with other levels. This is a huge weakness within the system. The less people communicate, the easier it is for criminal computer hackers to get away with their activities. The crime rings are organized and often with the backing of the government that protects them, in order to succeed in security we too must be organized and cooperative with all agencies. From the local police who may not have technology resources to conduct proper forensics, all the way up to the level of FBI/NSA/DoHD/DoD.
If we know it: Government Needs to Get Its Cybersecurity In gear
The criminals definitely know it.
It talks about the arguments that NSA and Department of Homeland defense have about taking on Cybersecurity. The term cybersecurity is an interesting term, and as discussed in the article really deals with protecting against cyber-terrorism. There are currently organized crime rings in China and Russia dedicated to taking down America's financial sense of well-being by attacking various points of interest that we've come to rely on now that our monetary system is virtually paperless. Sadly these two countries are leaps and bounds ahead of us when it comes to experience and methods of intrusion.
The major problem we currently have is a resource problem. Investigations are being processed by local agencies, state agencies, and federal agencies. The problem with local agencies is that often these crime are committed by people overseas utilizing compromised systems as hosts. Everyone out there who has malware installed on their computers had directly contributed to terrorism. On a Federal level, the agencies continue to fight for jurisdiction and each may hold a piece of the puzzle without communicating with other levels. This is a huge weakness within the system. The less people communicate, the easier it is for criminal computer hackers to get away with their activities. The crime rings are organized and often with the backing of the government that protects them, in order to succeed in security we too must be organized and cooperative with all agencies. From the local police who may not have technology resources to conduct proper forensics, all the way up to the level of FBI/NSA/DoHD/DoD.
If we know it: Government Needs to Get Its Cybersecurity In gear
The criminals definitely know it.
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