Security in a Time of Austerity

The steadily unfolding COVID-19 pandemic continues to unleash chaos and uncertainty in tandem with the disease’s impacts on human health. In just the past few days, total US new unemployment numbers for the past two weeks increased by over 10 million people, the price of crude oil continues to crash, Read more

Security Externalities and the Undefended Victim

Throughout the roiling (and often tiring) discussion over the release and disclosure of “offensive security tools” (OST – previously addressed here), one disadvantage is constantly referenced to show the harm of publicly-available hacking tools and techniques. Put most simply, individuals cite how many organizations either have little or no security Read more

The Spectre of Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency (Bitcoin, Etherium, etc.) is quite possibly the most damaging, least useful, most reprehensible technological development of the past 20 years – which is definitely saying something given the rise of “social media”. While cryptocurrency advocates continually espouse benefits such as transactional anonymity, increased access to financial services, and financial Read more

Deterrence, Attribution, and Legalism

The past several weeks have been an exciting time in the realm of cyber security – and especially the more narrow, less understood field of (potential) “cyber war”. Starting approximately two weeks ago (writing on 25 June 2019), there began a bombardment of news, with reports that: The XENOTIME activity Read more

Strategic Communication and Cyber Attacks

When reporting on cyber-attacks, articles and media frequently (if not exclusively) focus on the damage or immediate result: how many machines were impacted, how much data was compromised, or what (if any) physical consequences emerged from the event. The latter is especially the case with ICS-focused attacks, from Stuxnet to Read more

Making the Case and Its Implications

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) released a powerful – and incredibly detailed – indictment of 12 named individuals working for the Russian GRU. While many will see this as similar to the indictment of several Chinese nationals for spying in 2014, the cases seem far different in my Read more