14 Nov 12. Obama Signs Secret Directive to Help Thwart Cyberattacks. President Obama has signed a secret directive that effectively enables the military to act more aggressively to thwart cyberattacks on the nation’s web of government and private computer networks. Presidential Policy Directive 20 establishes a broad and strict set of standards to guide the operations of federal agencies in confronting threats in cyberspace, according to several U.S. officials who have seen the classified document and are not authorized to speak on the record. The president signed it in mid-October. (Source: glstrade.com/Washington Post)
19 Nov 12. Training Key to Cyberdefense. Military capabilities are an attractive target for cyberwarfare. The uncertainty surrounding the extent of the threat is a deterrent in itself: The overwhelming fear is that of unexpected cyberintrusions that cause a cascade of operational problems. Another concern is that technological capabilities may have been compromised—but in ways that are invisible until combat begins. Many defense contractors, subcontractors and major acquisition programs, including sensitive and classified projects, have been breached and compromised by cyberattacks since the Advanced Persistent Threat—the favored euphemism for China-based cyberespionage—was detected in the mid-2000s. Targeted and highly efficient data collection may now be bearing fruit, given the rapid development of the Chengdu J-20 and Shenyang J-31 stealth fighters, which bear a close resemblance to the Lockheed Martin F-22 and F-35. (Source: glstrade.com/AvWeek)
21 Nov 12. US denies report of cyber attack on France. The US embassy in Paris has taken the unusual step of flatly denying a French report that Washington was responsible for a cyber attack on the Elysée palace shortly before Nicolas Sarkozy was succeeded as president by François Hollande in May this year. The weekly magazine L’Express said in an article on Wednesday that a hacking attack had successfully inserted a computer worm on terminals of senior advisers to Mr Sarkozy, accessing secret documents and “strategic plans” on their hard disks. (Source: FT.com)