Fwd: [ISN] MI5 chief: Cyber spying 'relatively straightforward' to beat

[Paul Ferguson <fergdawgster () gmail com>]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

"...'relatively straightforward' to block attempts to steal data."

Right.

The only way to get even close to block attempts to steal data from
classified networks is to disconnect them from the freekin' Internet.
Period.

And then you have a different set of manageable problems.

I guess that is why it is at epidemic levels -- this concept is just too
hard for some bureaucrats to grasp.

Somehow, I get the heebie-jeebies anymore when people from any government
organization say they understand what is going on on the cyber crime
forefront, unless I know them personally (and can vouch).

Most of these blow-hards have no idea what is happening "on the ground".

$.02,

- - ferg



- ---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>
Date: Sun, Sep 19, 2010 at 10:46 PM
Subject: [ISN] MI5 chief: Cyber spying 'relatively straightforward' to beat
To: isn () infosecnews org


http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/09/17/mi5_cyber/

By Chris Williams
The Register
17th September 2010

Jonathan Evans, the head of MI5, has claimed the internet has made the
threat of espionage by foreign countries higher than ever before, but
insisted it is "relatively straightforward" to block attempts to steal
data.

"The overall likelihood of any particular entity being the subject of
state espionage has probably never been higher, though paradoxically
many of the vulnerabilities exploited both in cyber espionage and
traditional espionage are relatively straightforward to plug if you are
aware of them," he said.

The common sense call is relevant to ongoing work by the year-old Office
of Cyber Security in the Cabinet Office to improve basic information
security across government and in businesses.

MI5, officially known as the Security Service, is responsible for
counter-espionage. Evans has previously written to the bosses of big
British companies to warn them of the threat online, particularly from
hackers with links to the Chinese intelligence services.

Cyber security is a key issue for the ongoing Strategic Defence and
Security Review, which is due to report next month. Following the first
national Cyber Security Strategy last year, efforts to protect UK
networks and data are expected to receive a large budget boost, against
a background of cuts to other areas of defence and security.

[...]


_______________________________________________________
Subscribe to InfoSec News - www.infosecnews.org
http://www.infosecnews.org/mailman/listinfo/isn

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: PGP Desktop 9.5.3 (Build 5003)

wj8DBQFMlwTzq1pz9mNUZTMRAs+yAKCClUE9FiaugtyMS78/CThFT/QmtgCgyTi5
02AtknNFvgi67gLdcGKP9Z8=
=DFcq
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----



-- 
"Fergie", a.k.a. Paul Ferguson
 Engineering Architecture for the Internet
 fergdawgster(at)gmail.com
 ferg's tech blog: http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/

_______________________________________________
Fun and Misc security discussion for OT posts.
https://linuxbox.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/funsec
Note: funsec is a public and open mailing list.