WASHINGTON, Aug. 13 (UPI) — The head of the House Intelligence Committee says cyber espionage is one of the greatest challenges facing U.S. intelligence agencies today.
Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., told retired U.S. intelligence officers in a speech Friday in Washington that Russia and China appear to be the major players in state-sponsored espionage, the Los Angeles Times reported. He said cyber spying is the biggest threat aside from al-Qaida and said intelligence agencies need the resources to combat it.
Rogers warned against making large cuts in the funding for U.S. intelligence agencies.
“Nation states are investing huge amounts of time, personnel and money to steal our data,” Rogers said. “We are not as prepared as we need to be.”
Rogers said reports on cyber espionage suggest Russian and Chinese military and intelligence agencies are involved.
While U.S. government agencies are generally quiet about cyber espionage, attacks have been reported by private security companies, Google and academic researchers.
Stealthy, sometime long-term cyber-espionage attacks to steal sensitive proprietary information – what some now call “advanced persistent threats” (APT) – have become a top worry for businesses.
Last week the Security for Business Innovation Council, a group of 16 security leaders from companies that include eBay, Coca-Cola Company, SAP, FedEx Corp., Johnson Johnson and Northrop Grumman, summed up their thoughts on APT in a report, saying this type of attack is forcing IT to rethink network security. “Tackling advanced persistent threats means giving up the idea it’s possible to protect everything. This is no longer realistic.”
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Ever since reinventing himself as one of the top sluggers in baseball last season, Jose Bautista(notes) has faced questions over whether his power surge received any special help.
Now, he and his fellow Toronto Blue Jays hitters are being confronted with new accusations regarding their collective success at Rogers Centre.
An ESPN The Magazine and Outside the Lines report talked to several players from an opposing team who believe that Blue Jays batters have benefited from someone — a mysterious “man in white” — who relayed signs to them from center field, signaling what opposing pitchers are about to throw.
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Stealthy, sometime long-term cyber-espionage attacks to steal sensitive proprietary information – what some now call “advanced persistent threats” (APT) – have become a top worry for businesses.
Last week the Security for Business Innovation Council, a group of 16 security leaders from companies that include eBay, Coca-Cola Company, SAP, FedEx Corp., Johnson Johnson and Northrop Grumman, summed up their thoughts on APT in a report, saying this type of attack is forcing IT to rethink network security. “Tackling advanced persistent threats means giving up the idea it’s possible to protect everything. This is no longer realistic.”
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A Brookline, Mass., man has agreed to plead guilty to foreign economic espionage for providing trade secrets to an undercover FBI agent posing as an Israeli intelligence official, the U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Carmen Ortiz announced Friday.
Elliot Doxer, 42, a former employee with Akamai Technologies, pled guilty to providing Akamai trade secrets over the course of 18 months.
Doxer’s plea hearing is scheduled for Aug. 19. The charge of foreign economic espionage carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, a three-year term of supervised release and a $500,000 fine.
According to the FBI press release, in June 2006, Doxer “sent an email to the Israeli consulate in Boston stating that he worked in Akamai’s finance department and was willing to provide any information that might help Israel.”
He said in later communications that his desire “was to help our homeland and our war against our enemies,” and also asked for payment.
The undercover FBI agent spoke with Doxer in Sept. 2007 and established a “dead drop” where they could exchange communications.
Doxer visited the dead drop location at least 62 times to “leave information, retrieve communications or check for new communications,” between then and March 2009, the FBI press release said.
He was arrested on Oct. 6, 2010.
The U.S. Attorney’s office thanked Akamai Technology and the Israeli government for help with the investigation.
“We also acknowledge the Government of Israel for their cooperation in this investigation, and underscore that the information does not allege that the Government of Israel or anyone acting on its behalf committed any offense under U.S. laws in this case,” the press release on the plea deal said.
