Power Grid: A Growing Challenge in Cyber Security

The Cyber- Security attack that left 700,000 power outage in Ukraine was statement to what the future of modern warfare is headed now.

While cyber warfare has been predicted as the modern warfare, hacking power grid through the use of digital to hack a system will blow everyone’s mind because it looks such a complex task to hack a power grid or knock-out the Ukraine power.

The attack on 23 December has been described as a major milestone in cyber security. It is the first known power outage caused by hackers and also the most complex cyber-attack on infrastructure to date.

Source: https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2017-02-24/cybersecurity-of-the-power-grid-a-growing-challenge

Gov.Mark Dayton Seeks $74 million in cyber security

Here is Minnesota, they at least understand the important of having these systems running without interruption or compromise. Its one step forward to upgrade the current security and data centers. We all know the consequences that arise when government servers are attacked and penetrated. Its certainly effect the government employees and Minnesotans including businesses and contractors. I think its really a great opportunity for also anyone really interested in cyber security to dive in to or maybe secure a job.

 

Source : http://www.inforum.com/news/4214234-dayton-seeks-74-million-cyber-security-updates-state-computers

‘A major bank will fail’ According to BBC Article

This article investigates the unforeseen cyber security threats our nations will face this year. After a busy year for private and government sectors experiencing the deadly attacks in cyber world I find it easy to believe this moment is moment of truth and we all need to be aware of.

This article covers new emerging technologies and their vulnerabilities such as; automation, Artificial Intelligence, Augmented and virtual reality. Its absolutely interesting to discover that no matter what we accomplish in tech world, we are  open to attacks and eventually the attacks will penetrate our system. Its so scary to see that everything will fall apart including the banks.

How are we going to function properly without the banks ?.. I have no idea… we’ll see if the events occur in 2017?

Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-38517517

Russian Hackers v.s D.N.C Party

Tens of thousands of hacked emails were released weeks before the election due cyber attacks on computers of Democratic party officials and their email accounts were compromised as well. This massive cyber attack conducted by the Russian hackers were confirmed by top intelligence agencies in U.S..

Due to little or no understanding of hacking the officials were warned by FBI agent but took no action and thought it was just a prank. D.N.C. network were comprised then later phishing was deployed to gain access to their email accounts. Emails were then released to public that led to  resignation of chairwoman of the D.N.C. due to dividing Bernie supporters and Clinton’s campaign.

This explains the deadly nature of cyber attacks conducted successfully. The U.S. needs protect its critical infrastructure such as power plants, electrical grids and its private sector from hackers.

Its vital for every elected American officials to understand the basic of computer security and the nature of cyber attacks as this will achieve awareness to secure our critical infrastructure.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/13/us/politics/russia-hack-election-dnc.html?_r=0

 

 

Amazon Echo Murder Case Witness

Authorities investigation the death of Arkansas man whose body was found in a hot tub filed a search warranty asked Amazon to provide electronic data.

This issue raised privacy concern among consumers in regards to legal concept in home appliances connected to internet such as; water meters,thermostats, lighting system etc.

Amazon echo speakers are used by 80 million users and the number is keep increasing imagine the device you’ve bought for your convenience puts you in jail.

The privacy and civil liberties issues concerned with these technology are simply weak and do not protect the consumers. For example AT & T and NSA spying on Americans exposed by whistle blower Edward Snowden has serious  impact in trusting big companies privacy policy and claims they make saying we protect our customer.

Source: http://www.techrepublic.com/article/amazon-echo-murder-case-raises-iot-privacy-questions-for-enterprise-users/

 

Web Browsers and Risk Associated

To a great degree, Web browsers are the ultimate in computer convenience. The Internet started out as an academic information exchange enabler. Then Web browsers made the Internet easy to use and  individuals to make use of the power of information exchange.  In a few years, it has landed in nearly every corner and most homes throughout the World.

The convenience, productivity, and popularity of Web browsers make them a prime target for hackers and would be attackers. As the convenience of a product increases, so does the security risk, so Web browsers by their very nature should be expected to be risky. The productivity of the Web browser also makes it a prime target for attacks because the hacker can get the biggest strike for the effort put forth.

Finally, the popularity of a product plays important role by helping hackers increasing the scope of the attacks or vulnerabilities discovered. The hacker who develops an attack for a common Web browser is sure to find many vulnerable targets.

For More Info: https://us.norton.com/yoursecurityresource/detail.jsp?aid=web_browser_security

 

Tips to stay Secure

Tips on how to Protect against deadly computer threats  and ways to mitigate the attacks to ensure the safety of our assets.

Training

is a tool that can increase  security awareness and capabilities in identifying, reporting, and handling compromises of confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information systems.

For More Info: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc723503.aspx