Network Monitoring Can Provide Key Clues To Security Problems

Done properly, traffic analysis and log review can help administrators identify threats they might not recognize otherwise

Sep 27, 2010 | 05:03 PM

By John Sawyer, Contributing Writer @ DarkReading



Excerpted from "What's Going On? Monitor Networks to Thwart Intrusions," a new report posted this week on Dark Reading's Security Monitoring Tech Center.]

An alarmed Iran asks for outside help to stop rampaging Stuxnet malworm

Stuxnet Worm Claimed To Be Devastating In Iran                                               |
The Web site debka.com reported 


"Tehran this week secretly appealed to a number of computer security experts in West and East Europe with offers of handsome fees for consultations on ways to exorcize the Stuxnet worm spreading havoc through the computer networks and administrative software of its most important industrial complexes and military command centers. DEBKAfile's intelligence and Iranian sources report Iran turned for outside help after local computer experts failed to remove the destructive virus."


None of the foreign experts has so far come forward because Tehran refuses to provide precise information on the sensitive centers and systems under attack and give the visiting specialists the locations where they would need to work. They were not told whether they would be called on to work outside Tehran or given access to affected sites to study how they function and how the malworm managed to disable them. Iran also refuses to give out data on the changes its engineers have made to imported SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) systems, mostly from Germany.

The impression DEBKAfile sources gained Wednesday, Sept. 29 from talking to European computer experts approached for aid was that the Iranians are getting desperate. Not only have their own attempts to defeat the invading worm failed, but they made matters worse: The malworm became more aggressive and returned to the attack on parts of the systems damaged in the initial attack.

Sounds like they need help in Iran.

UN 'to appoint space ambassador to greet alien visitors'

Last week I flippantly stated that it looked like the UN should soon consider creating an "Intergalactic Intelegence and Security Service (IISS)." Read that post from Sept. 15 below about the Ex-military men who said unknown intruders have monitored and even tampered with American nuclear missiles. Six former U.S. Air Force officers and one former enlisted man will break their silence about these events at the National Press Club and urge the government to publicly confirm their reality.

I had no idea that the UN was reading my blog or was aware of aliens monitoring our nuclear missile sites. 

Check out the article below: "UN 'to appoint space ambassador to greet alien visitors' "

By Heidi Blake
Published: 11:30AM BST 26 Sep 2010

A space ambassador could be appointed by the United Nations to act as the first point of contact for aliens trying to communicate with Earth.

Mazlan Othman, a Malaysian astrophysicist, is set to be tasked with co-ordinating humanity’s response if and when extraterrestrials make contact.

Aliens who landed on earth and asked: “Take me to your leader” would be directed to Mrs Othman.

She will set out the details of her proposed new role at a Royal Society conference in Buckinghamshire next week.  The 58-year-old is expected to tell delegates that the proposal has been prompted by the recent discovery of hundreds of planets orbiting other starts, which is thought to make the discovery of extraterrestrial life more probable than ever before.

Mrs Othman is currently head of the UN’s little known Office for Outer Space Affairs (Unoosa).

In a recent talk to fellow scientists, she said: “The continued search for extraterrestrial communication, by several entities, sustains the hope that some day human kind will received signals from extraterrestrials.

“When we do, we should have in place a coordinated response that takes into account all the sensitivities related to the subject. The UN is a ready-made mechanism for such coordination.”

Professor Richard Crowther, an expert in space law at the UK space agency who leads delegations to the UN, said: “Othman is absolutely the nearest thing we have to a ‘take me to your leader’ person”.

The plan to make Unoosa the co-ordinating body for dealing with alien encounters will be debated by UN scientific advisory committees and should eventually reach the body’s general assembly.

Opinion is divided about how future extraterrestrial visitors should be greeted. Under the Outer Space Treaty on 1967, which Unoosa oversees, UN members agreed to protect Earth against contamination by alien species by “sterilising” them.

Mrs Othman is understood to support a more tolerant approach.

But Professor Stephen Hawking has warned that alien interlopers should be treated with caution.

He said: “I imagine they might exist in massive ships, having used up all the resources from their home planet. The outcome for us would be much as when Christopher Columbus first landed in America, which didn’t turn out very well for the Native Americans.”

U.S. Nuclear Weapons Have Been Compromised by Unidentified Aerial Objects

Looks like the UN may soon create an Intergalactic Intelegence and Securinty Service (IISS):

PR Newswire                          WASHINGTON, Sept. 15

Quoted directly from the Reuters article:Ex-military men say unknown intruders have monitored and even tampered with American nuclear missiles.

Group to call on U.S. Government to reveal the facts.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Witness testimony from more than 120 former or retired military personnel points to an ongoing and alarming intervention by unidentified aerial objects at nuclear weapons sites, as recently as 2003. In some cases, several nuclear missiles simultaneously and inexplicably malfunctioned while a disc-shaped object silently hovered nearby. Six former U.S. Air Force officers and one former enlisted man will break their silence about these events at the National Press Club and urge the government to publicly confirm their reality.

For the complete announcement visit the Reuters site at
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUS166901+15-Sep-2010+PRN20100915?pageNumber=1

Bipartisan bill would ramp up anti-piracy enforcement online

By Gautham Nagesh - 09/20/10 02:00 PM ET -  OntheHill Web site

A bipartisan bill unveiled Monday would make it easier for the Justice Department to shut down websites that traffic pirated music, movies and counterfeit goods.

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee including chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) introduced the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act, which would create an expedited process for DoJ to shut down websites providing pirated materials. 

“Each year, online piracy and the sale of counterfeit goods costs American businesses billions of dollars, and result in hundreds of thousands of lost jobs,” Leahy said in a statement. “Protecting intellectual property is not uniquely a Democratic or Republican priority — it is a bipartisan priority.”

“This much-needed bill will help law enforcement keep pace in shutting down websites that illegally sell copyrighted goods," Kohl said. "By cracking down on online piracy of television shows and movies, we hope this bill will encourage copyright owners to develop innovative and competitive new choices for consumers to watch video over the Internet."

Specifically the bill would authorize Justice to file an in rem civil action against domain names used to traffic infringing material. In order to obtain a preliminary court order against the owner of the domain or website, Justice would have to show the site's "substantial and repeated role in online piracy and counterfeiting."

http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/119771-bipartisan-bill-would-ramp-up-anti-piracy-enforcement-online