SecurityWeek

The European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA), Europe’s cyber security agency, has released a new report outlining incidents that resulted in “major outages” at electronic communication networks or services in the EU during 2012. The report provides an aggregated analysis of the 79 reported incidents of severe outages of electronic communication networks, or services during the year.

Groklaw, a technology news site focused on legal issues, has added its name to the list of companies saying they are closing their doors due to fears about government electronic surveillance efforts.

Alert Logic, a Houston, Texas-based provider of Security-as-a-Service solutions for cloud environments, announced on Tuesday that it has agreed to be acquired by private equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe. The transaction will put a majority of company shares in the hands of the private equity investors and Alert Logic’s executive management.

LONDON - The partner of the US journalist behind the Edward Snowden leaks launched legal action against Britain on Tuesday for holding him under anti-terror laws as the prime minister's office admitted it was kept informed about his detention. David Miranda, a Brazilian national who has been working with his boyfriend Glenn Greenwald on the leaks, was held for almost nine hours on Sunday as he passed through London Heathrow Airport.

We’ve all heard the longstanding piece of advice to “nip it in the bud” when confronted with something unpleasant or avoidable. But sometimes, we forget to take this same advice when it comes to data security. Focusing early on the preventative side of security before reactive measures are needed is pivotal when it comes to thwarting damaging attacks and data compromises.

LONDON - The British government forced the Guardian to destroy files or face a court battle over its publication of US security secrets leaked by Edward Snowden, the paper's editor claimed Tuesday.

Microsoft has re-issued a patch for a Windows Server vulnerability after discovering an issue that could prevent the Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) component to stop working.

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have found a foolproof way to bypass Apple's mandatory app review and code signing mechanisms to sneak a malicious app into the iOS ecosystem.

Researchers at Zscaler warned that the attackers behind the 'CookieBomb' attack are still hard at work compromising users through legitimate websites. CookieBomb is malicious obfuscated JavaScript injected into legitimate sites with the ultimate goal of infecting users with a Trojan.  

Microsoft has a blunt warning for computer users still using Windows XP: Upgrade to a newer operating system now or risk exposure to zero-day attacks forever.

SAN FRANCISCO - A researcher who hacked into Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg's profile to expose a security flaw won't get the customary reward payment from the social network. While Facebook offers rewards for those who find security holes, it seems that Palestinian researcher Khalil Shreateh went too far by posting the information on Zuckerberg's own profile page.

Google said on Thursday that its Cloud Storage service now automatically encrypts all data before being stored to disk, which is automatically and transparently decrypted when read by an authorized user.

McAfee on Monday announced that Dr. Phyllis Schneck, the company’s chief technology officer for public sector, has been appointed to the position of Deputy Undersecretary for Cyber Security at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The influential journalist H.L. Mencken famously waxed poetic about news reporting, describing it as being “the life of kings.” However, Mr. Mencken’s comment was made in a pre-Internet era, and a more accurate regally-themed quote for the news business may be Shakespeare’s “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.” News organizations today face a variety of challenges. Falling print circulations are forcing newspapers to look to their online properties to generate more revenue.

LONDON - British authorities faced a furore Monday after they held the partner of a journalist who worked with Edward Snowden to expose US mass surveillance programs for almost nine hours under anti-terror laws.

Since Edward Snowden started dishing on US intelligence practices, especially around the program known as PRISM, there have been folks spreading doom and gloom about public cloud. It’s all a rather silly bit of alarmist rhetoric that makes me want to twist a pun out of clouds and Chicken Little.

A security researcher has outlined an attack against the Philips hue smart lighting system that could quite literally leave victims in the dark.  Due to an authentication issue, the hue personal wireless system can potentially leave users vulnerable to hackers looking to cause blackouts.

Malicious hackers have broken into computer systems of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to hijack sensitive personally information (PII) for about 14,000 past and current employees.

PCI Security Standards Council Shares Expected Changes to PCI DSS and PA-DSS 

Google has pushed out patches to partners to address a cryptographic vulnerability tied to the theft of bitcoins from Android users.