22 Aug 11. EADS North America’s ECTOCRYP(r) BLACK voice encryption device has successfully demonstrated its capabilities in the annual, DISA-sponsored Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstration (CWID) event. As part of the interoperability exercise, ECTOCRYP(r) BLACK allowed users on a combination of secret and unclassified phone networks around the country to talk to each other seamlessly through one purpose-built gateway, enabling secure teleconferencing and point-to-point communication. During the CWID event, which consisted of a simulated coalition exercise set against a real-world backdrop, the ECTOCRYP(r) BLACK gateway device was physically based at U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) in Suffolk, Va. Role players were located at Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford, Mass., U.S. Northern Command in Colorado Springs, Colo., Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command in San Diego, Calif., and a remote deployment at JFCOM itself. The exercise linked role players representing Air Component Commander headquarters, Homeland Security and Defense, Maritime Component Commander headquarters, and a Marine Expeditionary Unit.
18 Aug 11. PASPAMPRES deploys ThruVision Systems’ people screening technology. The Indonesian Presidential Security Force, Pasukan
Pengamanan Presiden (‘PASPAMPRES’), is using its advanced concealed object detection systems. PASPAMPRES is responsible for the safety and security of the Indonesian President and Vice President, as well as visiting heads of state. The Detection Detachment of PASPAMPRES has deployed ThruVision Systems’ industry leading solutions since early 2011. Its security products are being used to screen people in real time for concealed threats, metal and non-metal, over a range of distances. In country after sales support is provided by ThruVision Systems’ local partner PT Inspiration Electrindo.
17 Aug 11. The U.S. Defense Department is moving forward with a program intended to increase sharing with industry of classified and sensitive data about cyberattacks, Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn announced August 16. A three-month pilot program – the Defense Industrial Base Cyber Pilot – has “stopped hundreds of attempted intrusions,” Lynn said at Defense Information Systems Agency conference here. It also appears to be cost effective, he added. The program will be extended beyond its original end date of Sept. 30. About 20 companies initially volunteered to participate in the pilot program. “In the coming months, we will expand the pilot to the rest of the industrial base, as well as other key areas of critical infrastructure,” Lynn said. In addition to thwarting attacks against contractors, DoD says it has identified strings of malware used by hackers. That information was incorporated into DoD
network defenses and shared with companies participating in the pilot.
Knowledge of these malware signatures “dramatically increases the effectiveness of cybersecurity,” Lynn said. (Source: Defense News)
17 Aug 11. In what could be a backlash against recent takedowns of spam botnets, researchers at M86 Security have reported what they call an epic surge in spam containing malicious attachments. The volume of spam containing malware shot up in August to rates not seen in the past two years, the security company reported in a recent blog posting. For the past year or more spam containing malware has made up a small percentage of spam, but during the second week of August it made up 13 percent and shot up to 24 percent on Aug. 15. “There has been a slight increase in overall spam,” said M86 Product Manager Ed Rowley. “This subset has caused the increase.” Rowley said he suspects that the surge represents a rebuilding effort on the part of cyber criminals who have been licking their wounds from successful takedowns of botnets over the past two years. They still are trying to make money with fake antivirus scams and by stealing financial information, but “they are also trying to infect mac