Drones emerge as new dimension in cyberwar

It sounds a little bit sci-fi, but make no mistake: The next front in cyberwar is literally above your head. Military technology companies from around the world are rushing to design, build and sell drones that hack and track, while others want to own the business of hacking of the drones themselves. The burgeoning market is foreshadowing battles that could play out in the skies and, for some companies, bring significant profits. It’s an immature set of technologies — lots of marketing, precious few finished products — but there is a growing appetite for them. “This market is about to blow up,” said Francis Brown, a partner at the cybersecurity consultancy Bishop Fox. “Everybody’s trying to grab market share. The next year or two is going to decide who will become Pepsi and Coke out of all these products.” As an act of research, as opposed to selling a product, Brown and Bishop Fox […]

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Ethiopia using Israeli spyware to spy on dissidents, journalists

The Ethiopian government targeted dissidents around the world with spyware developed by the Israeli firm Cyberbit, according to the Toronto-based research institute The Citizen Lab. Dissidents in the United States, United Kingdom and approximately 20 total countries are targeted with phishing emails containing spyware pretending to be Adobe Flash updates and PDF plugins. Targets included Ethiopian media, a lawyer and a PhD student. A Citizen Lab researcher, Bill Marczak, was also targeted during the course of the investigation. Cyberbit, a subsidiary of the publicly traded company Elbit Systems, markets their wares at all the major offensive hacking industry conferences including ISS World and Milipol. Researchers found a public log file on the spyware’s infrastructure suggesting the company’s other clients include Thailand, Zambia and the Philippines. “Our analysis of the spyware indicates it is a product known as PC Surveillance System, a commercial spyware product… offered by Cyberbit — an Israel-based cyber security company that is a […]

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