Archive for the ‘NSA’ Category

NSA Taps University of West Florida to Help Expand Cybersecurity Education – ExecutiveGov

The University of West Florida will receive a $200,000 grant from theNational Security Agency to help boost cybersecurity education programs for colleges and universities in the southeasternU.S.

NSA pickedUWFasthe location ofthe National Center of Academic Excellence Cybersecurity Regional Resource Center forhigher education institutions in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Puerto Rico, the universitysaid Monday.

UWFs Center for Cybersecurity will lead efforts to advance cyber defense education in the southeast region as well assupport new and existing CAE institutions as a CAERegional Resource Center.

Eman El-Sheikh, director of UWFs Center for Cybersecurity, said the universitywill work to provide cybersecurity program development support; facilitate faculty professional development activities; and foster research and education collaborations among Southeast institutions.

The university will also collaboratewithNSAs CAE Program Officeand other regional and national centers across U.S. to drivecybersecurity education and expand the CAE program nationwide.

NSA and the Department of Homeland Security designated UWF as a CAEin Cyber Defense Education last year.

The National Centers of Academic Excellence program aims to promote higher education and research in cyber defense as well as increase the number of cybersecurity professionals who help secure the U.S. information infrastructure.

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NSA Taps University of West Florida to Help Expand Cybersecurity Education - ExecutiveGov

Angry Shadow Brokers release password for suspected NSA hacking tools – PCWorld

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Annoyed with the U.S. missile strike last week on an airfield in Syria, among other things, hacker group Shadow Brokers resurfaced on Saturday and released what they said was the password to files containing suspected National Security Agency tools they had earlier tried to sell.

Is appearing you are abandoning your base, the movement, and the peoples who getting you elected, the group wrote in broken English in a letter to U.S. President Donald Trump posted online on Saturday.

The hacker group, believed by some security experts to have Russian links, released in January an arsenal of tools that appeared designed to spy on Windows systems, after trying to to sell these and other supposedly Windows and Unix hacking tools for bitcoin.

The group also announced its retirement, which coming a few days before Trump's inauguration led to speculation that the Shadow Brokers was part of the hacking operations Russia had set up to allegedly help the new president get elected.

The group shot to prominence in August after it dumped hacking tools for routers and firewall products that they said came from the Equation Group, a cyberespionage team that is suspected to work for the NSA. The group published sample files as well as those to which they would provide the password to the winning bidder in the auction.

The U.S. attacked a Syrian government airfield last week in response to reports of an alleged chemical weapon attack by the government that killed many people including children. Trump said the chemical attack had been launched from the airfield.

Quick review of the #ShadowBrokers leak of Top Secret NSA tools reveals it's nowhere near the full library, but there's still so.... much here that NSA should be able to instantly identify where this set came from and how they lost it," former NSA contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden said in Twitter messages.

If they can't, it's a scandal, he added.

The strike on the airfield has also irked Russia, a backer of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. The Shadow Brokers' criticism of the move is likely to further fuel speculation that they are backed by the Russian government, though there have also been theories that they are cleverly disguising their identity with their broken English on Twitter and in their posts to pass off as Russians.

The group on Sunday denied it was backed by Russia stating that: If theshadowbrokers being Russian dont you think wed be in all those U.S. government reports on Russian hacking? they wrote.

The NSA could not be immediately reached for comment after business hours.

John Ribeiro covers outsourcing and general technology breaking news from India for the IDG News Service.

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Angry Shadow Brokers release password for suspected NSA hacking tools - PCWorld

NSA McMaster: ‘Prudent’ to send strike group to Korean Peninsula – ABC News

White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster on Sunday characterized the decision to relocate a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group to the Sea of Japan as "prudent," given North Korea's "pattern of provocative behavior."

"Well, it's prudent to do it, isn't it?" McMaster told Fox News' Chris Wallace on "Fox News Sunday," adding that "the president has asked to be prepared to give him a full range of options to remove that threat the American people and to our allies and partners in the region."

On Saturday, Adm. Harry Harris, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, redirected the USS Carl Vinson strike group from Singapore to the Sea of Japan, due east of the Korean Peninsula. The Navy said the strike group "will operate in the Western Pacific rather than executing previously planned port visits to Australia."

The strike group consists of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, the guided missile destroyers USS Wayne E. Meyer and USS Michael Murphy, and the guided missile cruiser USS Lake Champlain.

North Korea has already conducted four missile launches this year, marking a considerable uptick in frequency compared to recent years. The U.S. government and its allies have repeatedly condemned North Korea's nuclear and missile program as illegal.

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NSA McMaster: 'Prudent' to send strike group to Korean Peninsula - ABC News

U.S. NSA hacked Pakistani mobile system: WikiLeaks – DunyaNews Pakistan

Last Updated On 10 April,201710:39 am

WikiLeaks released hundreds of NSA cyber weapons variants.

(Daily Dunya) - WikiLeaks has unearthed documents stating USs National Security Agency (NSA) has allegedly spied on Pakistani civilian and military leadership in the past.

NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and processing of information and data for foreign intelligence and counterintelligence purposes in the USA.

Edward Snowden, a former NSA employee, has also suggested in the past that NSA used wiretapping and cyber weapons to spy on many international leaders.

On Saturday, WikiLeaks revealed hundreds of cyber weapons variants which include code pointing towards NSA hacking Pakistan mobile system.

The link shared in the tweet by WikiLeaks official account points to a Github repository containing the decrypted files pertaining to NSA cyber weapons. A complete analysis of these files by a cyber security expert is needed to further highlight the severity of the situation.

Initial impressions, however, seem to indicate that these leaks will certainly provide more substance to previous allegations against NSA.

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U.S. NSA hacked Pakistani mobile system: WikiLeaks - DunyaNews Pakistan

KT McFarland to depart as deputy NSA, take ambassadorship to Singapore, official confirms – ABC News

Deputy national security adviser KT McFarland is expected to leave her position and accept an ambassadorship to Singapore, a senior administration official confirms to ABC News.

The move is the latest indication that National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster is taking full control over the National Security Council, following up on last week's decision to remove Steve Bannon from the principals committee.

McFarland is a former Fox News commentator brought on to the job by Trump's former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn, who resigned after reports that he misled Vice President Mike Pence about the nature of his conversations with Russian officials during the campaign.

McFarland is expected to remain at her post for the next two weeks before President Trump formally submits her as a nominee for the ambassadorship.

According to the same official, McFarland is "excited" to accept the position, and McMaster thought she did a great job as deputy national security adviser.

The official characterized the move as a "promotion," because instead of working as a deputy, she will be a leader in a "critical diplomatic outpost."

ABC News' Erin Dooley contributed to this report.

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KT McFarland to depart as deputy NSA, take ambassadorship to Singapore, official confirms - ABC News