 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
San Francisco (AFP) March 17, 2011 US computer security titan RSA said Thursday that hackers broke into its computers and swiped data that could be used to breach defenses of some systems guarded with its technology. "Recently, our security systems identified an extremely sophisticated cyber attack in progress being mounted against RSA," the firm's executive chairman Art Coviello said in an open letter posted online. "Our investigation also revealed that the attack resulted in certain information being extracted from RSA's systems." RSA is the security division of EMC Corporation in Massachusetts. Some of the pilfered data related to SecurID "two-factor authentication products" that lets computers connecting online reliably identify one another, according to Coviello. "While at this time we are confident that the information extracted does not enable a successful direct attack on any of our RSA SecurID customers," Coviello said, "this information could potentially be used to reduce the effectiveness of a current two-factor authentication implementation as part of a broader attack." RSA is alerting its customers and letting them know what steps to take to defend against attacks. "This breach seems to present a serious security problem for RSA and many of its customers," said Steve Shillingford, chief executive of computer network forensics company Solera Networks. EMC repels multiple cyber attacks on its computer network daily and has hardened its defenses in the wake of the successful penetration, according to Coviello. RSA is working with authorities to investigate the attack. "The cyber attack revealed by RSA today underscores the serious and sophisticated cyber threat we face," US Senator Susan Collins, a member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said in a statement. "The threat of a catastrophic cyber attack is real," she continued. "Attacks are happening now." Computer systems at Congress and US executive branch agencies are "probed or attacked" an average of 1.8 billion times monthly, according to Collins.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Cyberwar - Internet Security News - Systems and Policy Issues
US military computer networks vulnerable: generalWashington (AFP) March 16, 2011 The US military has made huge strides in hardening its computer networks against cyberattack but more remains to be done, the Pentagon's top cyberwarrior said Wednesday. "I would give us today probably a 'C,' going up," General Keith Alexander said when asked during a House Armed Services Committee hearing to grade the ability of the Defense Department to defend its networks. "The reason ... read more |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook
