Swiss Defense Ministry witnessed a Cyber Attack
Swiss Defense ministry faced a cyber-attack that was actually happened in January 2016. However, the attack was avoided and the sensitive information was remained intact. It is believed that economic spying was the reason for this attack. The Government is investing about a link between earlier attack happened on defense department and industrial espionage at Swiss arms firm named RUAG.
Microsoft faces around 10M attacks on its Online Infrastructure
According to Microsoft security report, Microsoft Account (windows Live ID) and Azure active directory face around 13 billion authentication requests out of which nearly 10 million requests deemed as cyber-attack. To avoid illegal authentication events, Microsoft uses two systems: Incorrect Password Lockout system and Identity Protection Feature. Password lockout system defends against brute force attack while identity protection in Azure Active Directory requires additional passwords from incoming users.
Ransomware recorded 14% growth in 2016
Kaspersky report indicated a 14% increase in ransomware infections during 2016. The security firm Kaspersky has detected 2900 new ransomware families. During past three months, the company has detected ransomware that accounts around 20% of its entire database. In past three months, Kaspersky has stopped 372,602 ransomware attacks out of which 17% were against corporate firms. Enigma software report also stated that they examined a 158.87% increase in ransomware attacks in April compared to last month.
Google enabled HTTPS for BlogSpot
Google has announced HTTPS support for its BlogSpot finally after carried on internal testing. A user can turn on “HTTPS redirect” manually in back end. This redirect will land users forcefully on HTTPS blog version if they look for HTTP version. Earlier, Google’s update about BlogSpot was allowed to run on both HTTP and HTTPS version. However, there is NO option selected in back end, the site will run on both HTTP and HTTPS version.
DARPA launched “Enhanced Attribution Program” to identify Hackers
The President of USA – Mr. Barack Obama has signed the USA Freedom Act to end mass surveillance of domestic phones. Further, DARPA (Defense Advanced Projects Agency) is funding for security researchers under “Enhanced Attribution Program” to develop algorithm that can identify hackers. DARPA hopes that the new initiative will help agencies to track down sophisticated hackers easily along with exact behavior and physical biometrics. The program is divided into three segments: Behavior & Activity Tracking & Summarization, Fusion & Predictive Analysis, and Validation & Enrichment.
IBM has launched world’s first Quantum Computer
IBM’s scientist have launched world’s first cloud based free Quantum computer so any one can use it. It is an online simulator that offers any one to run algorithm and experiment with five-qubit quantum computer. Currently, Google and NASA are working on Quantum computer, which is now available for general users. Quantum computer is located at IBM research center in Yorktown Heights, New York.
Brazil again stopped WhatsApp service
Brazil blocked WhatsApp for the second time in last five months. As per the local newspaper, Brazil Government ordered the company to hand over information regarding drug trafficking investigation, which was denied by WhatsApp. As a result, Brazil Government has blocked WhatsApp for 72 hours. Further, the company can face a fine of $143K per day, if it fails to obey the order. This order affected 100 million WhatsApp users.
