MIT Launches Kerberos Consortium

The MIT News article, "MIT Launches Kerberos Consortium," discusses "a joint effort on the part of industry and academia to create a universal authentication program based on Kerberos to protect computer networks."

Ohio to Test Its 5 Voting Systems Before Primary in March

The NY Times article, "Ohio to Test Its 5 Voting Systems Before Primary in March," discusses voting computer test plans in Ohio. "The Hart and Diebold systems decertified in California following an extensive test ordered by California Secretary of State Debra Bowen are also in use in Ohio, though Brunner emphasizes that with so little time before the March 5 primary, much of the Ohio study will focus on short-term solutions and safeguards."

US Video Shows Simulated Hacker Attack

The AP News article, "US Video Shows Simulated Hacker Attack," "depicts an electrical turbine catching fire to illustrate what could happen if hackers launched an attack on the U.S. electrical grid."

CFP: 29th IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, Oakland California

Oakland 2008 29th IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy,
The Claremont Resort, Berkeley/Oakland, California, USA, May 18-21, 2008.
http://www.ieee-security.org/TC/SP2008/oakland08.html
(Submissions due 9 November 2007)

Since 1980, the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy has been the premier forum for the presentation of developments in computer security and electronic privacy, and for bringing together researchers and practitioners in the field. Previously unpublished papers offering novel research contributions in any aspect of computer security or electronic privacy are solicited for submission to the 2008 symposium. Papers may represent advances in the theory, design, implementation, analysis, or empirical evaluation of secure systems, either for general use or for specific application domains. The Symposium is also open to the submission of co-located half-day or one-day workshops. Topics of particular interest include, but are not limited to:

- Access control and audit
- Anonymity and pseudonymity
- Application-level security
- Biometrics
- Cryptographic protocols
- Database security
- Denial of service
- Distributed systems security
- Formal methods for security
- Information flow
- Intrusion detection and prevention
- Language-based security
- Malicious code prevention
- Network security
- Operating system security
- Peer-to-peer security
- Privacy
- Risk analysis
- Secure hardware and smartcards
- Security engineering
- Security policy
- User authentication

Dutch government abandons e-voting for red pencil

Engadget's article, "Dutch government abandons e-voting for red pencil," briefly discusses reports that the Dutch government is revoking the certification of Dutch voting computer. Slashdot states, "The next elections (for the European Parliament, 2009) may see a return to paper ballots."

Jailed worm author offered job by victim

The Register's article, "Jailed worm author offered job by victim," discusses the curious case of Li Jun, 25, who was involved in the Fujacks worm, which infected hundreds of thousands of Windows machines. Mr. Jun is just started a four year prison sentence for this crime. The article states:

According to Chinese media reports, Li has been offered a job paying a million yuan ($133,000) a year as technology director with Jushu Technology, a Hangzhou City-based firm that was one of the victims of the worm.

Li's lawyers said Jushu is one of 10 firms who've offered jobs to the "precious genius".

See also the Slashdot discussion.

Two sides of the voting computer issue

Votetrust's article, "Demos Issues New Report on Voter Fraud," briefly discusses the report, "An Analysis of Voter Fraud in The U.S.."

IDG's article, "Group says e-voting paper trail wouldn't improve security," discusses the report, "Stop the Presses: How Paper Trails Fail to Secure e-Voting."

Cameras survey Chicago's toughest blocks, but do they reduce crime?

The San Francisco Chronicle's article, "Cameras survey Chicago's toughest blocks, but do they reduce crime?," discusses surveillance cameras in Chicago.

NSA to Defend Against Hackers

The Baltimore Sun's article, "NSA to Defend Against Hackers," discusses plans by the NSA to "protect government and private communications networks from cyberattacks and infiltration by terrorists and hackers."

Clock to Tick Down U.S. Privacy

The Washington Times article, "Clock to Tick Down U.S. Privacy," describes the American Civil Liberties Union Surveillance Society Clock.

The ACLU has created this Surveillance Clock to symbolize just how close we are to a "midnight" of a genuine surveillance society

The clock is currently at 11:54, symbolizing that we have 6 minutes until we reach a genuine surveillance society.

The "This is London" article, " Tens of thousands of CCTV cameras, yet 80% of crime unsolved describes analysis of crime data in London and states:

Dee Doocey, the Lib-Dems' policing spokeswoman, said: "These figures suggest there is no link between a high number of CCTV cameras and a better crime clear-up rate.

See also the Slashdot discussion.

EAC to Release Draft Voting-System Guidelines

Government Computing News reports "EAC to Release Draft Voting-System Guidelines."

The commission describes the new guidelines as a complete rewrite of the standards adopted in 2005. Although voluntary, the guidelines have been used by most states for certifying voting systems. The guidelines address the reliability, quality, usability, accessibility, security and testing of systems.

Storm Worm Botnet More Powerful Than Top Supercomputers

Information Week's article, "Storm Worm Botnet More Powerful Than Top Supercomputers," discusses the Storm Worm and how it has more power than top supercomputers. Adam Swidler, a senior manager with security company Postini, is quoted as saying "If you calculate pure theoretical throughput, then I'm sure the botnet has more capacity than [IBM(IBM)'s] BlueGene. If you sat them down to play chess, the botnet would win." The article goes on to say,

Since the botnet won't be entered in any supercomputer competition, what does this mean? The botnet actually is attacking computers that are trying to weed it out. It's set up to launch a distributed denial-of-service attack against any computer that is scanning network for vulnerabilities or malware. The warning noted that researchers have seen "numerous" Storm-related DoS attacks recently.