We already suspected this to be the case, and now the Washington Post has confirmation from unnamed officials that yes, the U.S. was behind the Flame virus infecting computers across the Middle East, as part of a campaign to slow the development of Iran’s nuclear weapons program. In other news, America’s cyber weapons program apparently has more leaks than a watering can.
The Post reports: Read More
Apple went all-in on Steve Jobs’ vision of a PC-less future at WWDC, says Steven Levy. [Wired]
Speaking of Mr. Jobs, in 1987 he applied for security clearance and had to admit that yes, okay, there was a chance someone one day might try to blackmail him. [Threat Level]
Meanwhile, you might want to make sure LulzSec hasn’t jacked your Twitter password. And that is why you reel in those third-party authorizations. [PC Mag]
Here, for the love of God, we’ll even be a little servicey and direct you to directions for better passwords. [Information Week]
Feeling a little… targeted? Perhaps it’s because Microsoft and Yahoo are offering politicians the ability to sell highly customized ads. Will this election ever end?[ProPublica]
When we were freshmen, all we got were dorky lanyards. Now the incoming class at Seton Hall University gets Lumia 900s. [Engadget]
It’s not a cyber cold war until the wild-eyed conspiracy theorists show up. [MSNBC]
It’s going to be even harder for President Obama to distance himself from Stuxnet now. As Reuters reports, Kaspersky Lab, a leading computer security firm in Moscow, has discovered that portions of code in the newer Flame virus are “nearly identical” to code in Stuxnet, the cyber weapon reportedly used by the United States and Israel to disrupt Iran’s nuclear initiatives.
This new discovery is likely to fuel theories from security experts that Stuxnet was part of an American-led cyber program “that is still active in the Middle East and perhaps other parts of the world,” says Reuters. Not the best way to win those hearts and minds! Read More
This Message Will Self-Destruct In 3...
Could the Flame malware infection be any more straight out of a spy movie? Answer: nope. Ars Technica reports that attackers have now issued a “suicide” command to the infected computers, thereby essentially scrubbing its tracks.
Discovered by Kaspersky Lab, the malware has made headlines because of the eye-catching little detail that, at 20 megabytes, it’s much bigger than the dreaded Stuxnet and designed to collect dirt on the user of the infected machine. That said, it’s not a particularly far-reaching infection, targeting largely computers in the Middle East, including Iran. Unsurprisingly, it’s thought to be nation-state designed, rather than the work of cyber criminals. Cyber criminals can probably jack your password without designing something that big. Read More
“I would never throw a laptop at someone, like it appears in the movie. Not even at Mark.” – Eduardo Saverin [CNET]
Was buying Skype for $8.5 billion worth it for Microsoft? [New York Times]
The headphones you use to block out the sound of your annoying coworkers may actually be harming your productivity. [Wall Street Journal]
Meet Flame, the terrifying spy malware spreading across the Middle East. [Wired]
The Museum of Endangered sounds includes–of course–the sound of dial-up. [Savethesounds.info via Hacker News]
Farewell, Yellow Pages. [PaidContent]
