SecurityWeek

In a previous SecurityWeek column in May of this year, I wrote about “Network Security Considerations for SDN”. As described in the article, SDN technology includes the separation of control plane from the data plane (onto a centralized controller), dynamic programmable flows via this centralized controller, and automation and orchestration for the various SDN components.

Experian announced on Tuesday that it has agreed to acquire 41st Parameter, a provider of web fraud detection solutions, for an undisclosed amount.

Researchers at Trend Micro say the amount of mobile malware and high-risk applications has now hit the 1 million mark. High-risk apps are defined by Trend Micro as apps that aggressively serve ads that lead to dubious sites. Among the one million apps the vendor found, 75 percent perform malicious routines, while 25 percent exhibit suspicious routines, including adware.

Researchers at Symantec sinkholed a portion of the notorious ZeroAccess botnet, disconnecting more than half a million machines from the control of cybercriminals.

Qualys, a provider of cloud-based security and compliance solutions, has released a new version of its free service designed to help users keep their browsers and plug-ins up-to-date to protect against dangerous online content and malware.

Until the first smartphone hit the shelves, enterprise security was primarily focused on protecting an organization’s perimeter, since business processes and data resided primarily inside the corporate network. However, the mobile revolution completely changed the way employees interact with, access, and share information.

TOKYO - Japan and the United States will discuss strengthening defenses against cyber-attacks, reports said Monday, as Tokyo looks to play a more active role in global security. At talks in Japan later this week, the foreign and defence ministers from both countries will undertake their first review for 15 years of how their security alliance operates.

Britain Recruiting Cyber-warriors LONDON - Britain is to set up a dedicated military unit to counter cyber attacks, the defence secretary announced Sunday as he issued a call for tech-savvy new recruits.

WASHINGTON - Microsoft said Friday it received more than 37,000 government requests for information in the first half of 2013 -- excluding any national security requests. In only its second report on the matter, the US tech giant's figures appeared to be on pace with 2012, when it got 75,378 requests.

Vulnerability management software company Rapid7 has launched an ambitious community project to scan the public Internet, organize the results and share the data with the IT security industry.

CloudPassage, a San Francisco, California-based provider of tools to help companies secure their cloud infrastructure, this week launched Halo Enterprise, an offering purpose-built to protect heterogeneous cloud infrastructure environments at scale.

PARIS - France's data protection watchdog said Friday it would take action against US giant Google for failing to comply with national privacy guidelines.

WASHINGTON  - Some National Security Agency employees have illegally eavesdropped on the phone calls of their boyfriends, girlfriends and spouses over the past decade, the US spy service admitted.

WASHINGTON - The US Congress launched its effort to reform surveillance law Thursday in the wake of leaker Edward Snowden's revelation of the vast scope of the government's digital dragnet. President Barack Obama insists the electronic espionage exposed by Snowden was legal, but the furore surrounding the leaks convinced many lawmakers of the need for change.

Costin Raiu of Kaspersky Lab's global research and analysis team joins the podcast and talks to Ryan Naraine about the global implications of the