DefenceTalkWith the outsourcing of microchip design and fabrication worldwide, a $350 billion business, bad actors along the supply chain have many opportunities to install malicious circuitry in chips. These “Trojan horses” look harmless but can allow attackers to sabotage healthcare devices; public infrastructure; and financial, military, or government electronics. Siddharth Garg, an assistant professor of […]https://www.defencetalk.com/cybersecurity-researchers-design-a-chip-that-checks-for-sabotage-68062/

DefenceTalkDams, the power grid and other such infrastructure were once closed network systems. Then they were added to the Internet. “We still thought of them as closed networks — but they’re not,” said Lt. Gen. Edward Cardon, commander of U.S. Army Cyber Command and Second Army. “Other systems touch them and that starts to create […]https://www.defencetalk.com/iot-attacks-threaten-national-security-say-cyber-experts-67358/

DefenceTalkA Chinese national pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges stemming from the hacking of trade secrets from US defense contractors, including plans for transport and fighter jets, officials said. Su Bin, 50, had been charged in a 2014 indictment with hacking into the computer networks of Boeing and other contractors, as part of a scheme to […]https://www.defencetalk.com/chinese-national-admits-hacking-us-defense-firms-67165/

DefenceTalkWith enough computing effort most contemporary security systems will be broken. But a research team at the University of Sydney has made a major breakthrough in generating single photons (light particles), as carriers of quantum information in security systems. The collaboration involving physicists at the Centre for Ultrahigh bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems (CUDOS), an […]https://www.defencetalk.com/breakthrough-technology-to-improve-cyber-security-67149/

DefenceTalkThe Army’s efforts to integrate operational cyberspace capabilities into its tactical units took another big step forward during a recent training rotation at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California. Cyber forces provided support to offensive and defensive cyberspace operations, intelligence, information operations and opposing forces for the NTC rotation for the Lancer Brigade […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-army-integrates-cyberspace-capabilities-into-tactical-units-66904/

DefenceTalkThe Pentagon plans to spend an additional $900 million in the coming year to boost cyber defense measures, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Thursday. US officials are still reeling from last year’s revelation that personal data from some 20 million federal employees, contractors and others had been hacked in a massive breach at the Office […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pentagon-boosts-spending-to-fight-cyber-attacks-66866/

DefenceTalkPeterson Air Force Base: A major milestone was achieved on 7 January 2016 when the Air Force Intranet Control (AFINC) Weapon System became the first cyberspace weapon system to reach FOC status. Achieving FOC means the AFINC weapon system is fully capable to serve as the top-level defensive boundary and entry point for all network […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-air-force-says-first-cyberspace-weapon-system-fully-operational-66525/

DefenceTalkWith renewed focus on how encrypted messages can be used to plot terrorist attacks, President Barack Obama’s administration is stepping up pressure on the tech sector to help in the battle. Although issues around encryption have been ongoing for decades, the prickly topic has sprung to the fore in recent weeks following killing sprees in […]https://www.defencetalk.com/data-encryption-in-sharp-focus-after-deadly-attacks-66091/

DefenceTalkAcross the United States, 3200 separate organizations own and operate electrical infrastructure. The widely dispersed nature of the nation’s electrical grid and associated control systems has a number of advantages, including a reduced risk that any single accident or attack could create a widespread failure from which it might take weeks to recover. Since the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/darpa-protect-nations-electrical-grid-from-cyber-attack-66088/

DefenceTalkEU member states and lawmakers have clinched a deal to prevent cyber attacks by requiring Internet firms like eBay, Amazon and Google to boost their defences and report breaches, officials said Tuesday. They said the first EU-wide draft rules agreed late Monday would also oblige power companies, financial institutions as well as transport, health care […]https://www.defencetalk.com/eu-to-impose-rules-on-internet-firms-to-prevent-cyber-attacks-66017/