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Washington [US], October 8 (ANI/Sputnik): The National Security Agency (NSA) is working with big defense industrial base companies on information sharing on cyber issues, Defense Department Acting Chief Information Officer Kelly Fletcher said during an interview at the Billington CyberSecurity Summit on Thursday.

"To talk a little bit about what NSA is doing, I think it's very cool. They're focused on big defense industrial base companies, and when they say they're a collaboration center, they are a collaboration center. They are really trying to say 'Hey, we have some exquisite information.' It's the NSA. But also these commercial entities, these big companies, they have some pretty unique and interesting information. So we're working to collaborate, sort of for the common good," Fletcher said.

The US government's pivot to a so-called "zero trust" cyber architecture - which assumes all devices in a network to be untrustworthy by default - will require the support of industry partners as well as the Defense Department, Fletcher added.

In May, President Joe Biden signed an Executive Order to improve information sharing between the US government and private industry partners on cyber issues. The order also provided for implementation of stronger cybersecurity standards in the federal government by securing cloud services and developing a zero-trust architecture. (ANI/Sputnik)

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Pentagon says NSA working with big companies on cyber information sharing - Yahoo Singapore News

India has to augment its commercially available indigenous satellite communication solutions, tracking capabilities across geographies and protection of space assets, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval said on Monday.ISpA: PM Modi launches industry body to advance the cause of private space tech companies

PM Modi Monday launched a premier industry association of space and satellite companies. Indian Space Association will undertake policy advocacy and engage with all stakeholders in the Indian space domain. It is represented by leading homegrown and global corporations with advanced space and satellite technologies capabilities such as Larson & Toubro, Nelco (Tata Group), OneWeb, Bharti Airtel Mapmyindia and others.

"Economic growth and technology development are the most important ingredients of national power. In such an environment, the national governments can no longer be the only stakeholders in evolving policies for national security and development," he said.

"Hitherto, exclusive domains such as space that were dominated by the public sector, therefore, need to be opened up to the private sector to ensure that we remain ahead of the curve," the national security advisor (NSA) said.

Doval said, "Private investments in the space sector will generate high tech jobs, facilitate technology absorption, and ensure involvement of foreign partners through joint ventures."

These steps will make India a manufacturing hub of space assets, he said

Doval said that a strong private sector industry will also contribute to meeting growing security challenges.

"India needs to focus on augmenting capacities in several areas such as...commercially available indigenous satellite communication solutions, research and development into futuristic technologies, tracking capabilities across geographies and protection of space assets," Doval said.

Creating an appropriate regulatory environment to address safety, security and legal liability issues will be central to this effort, he said.

The NSA said rapid strides have been made by the private sector in development of niche technologies.

"Many of these technologies are dual use. They have revolutionised activities in several areas including navigation, remote sensing, weather monitoring, agriculture, satellite communication and broadband internet," he said.

According to some estimates, the global space industry is poised to grow exponentially, the NSA said.

"With appropriate policy and regulations, the Indian private sector can become a co-traveller on India's space journey," he mentioned.

The excellent work done by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to develop an ecosystem of high quality suppliers provides India a solid base on which to upscale the involvement of private sector in space domain, the NSA noted.

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India has to augment tracking capabilities across geographies, protection of space assets: NSA Ajit Doval - Economic Times

Kremlin strongly disagrees with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan's accusations that Russia utilises its energy resources as a weapon, according to spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

"This is an incorrect conclusion. To begin with, Europeans acknowledge that Russia is fully complying with all of its responsibilities on a state-by-state basis. Second, Russia is prepared to immediately consider new contracts, which are an undisputed damper on present market volatility; this is not a secret; it has been stated numerous times," Peskov said in a press conference.

The Kremlin official highlighted that Russia has never interrupted gas deliveries 'even in the most difficult periods,'because it never uses energy resources as a political pressure tool.

"The United States is the one that is continuously threatening penalties against purely commercial energy projects that could help to stabilise European energy markets significantly. In this case, the US is directly using energy issues as a tool for political and commercial blackmail. Russia has been and will continue to be a responsible country that is committed to its obligations and prepared to meet the growing energy resource needs of our European partners," Peskov further remarked.

The tussle began on October 7, when Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov hinted that, depending on the demand, Russia would increase natural gas providers. Following that, US NSA, Jake Sullivan stated that Russia has a history of using energy as a weapon of coercion.

After negotiations with the European Union and NATO in Brussels, Sullivan, the US NSA, claimed that the US is concerned that supply is not keeping up with rising demand for a variety of reasons.

The price of a cubic metre of gas exceeded $1,700 at the start of the bid on Wednesday, and it continued to grow throughout the day, reaching more than $1,900. However, Europe's soaring gas prices dipped on Thursday, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested his country could sell more gas to European spot buyers through its domestic market in addition to existing long-term contracts.

The European Union has been struggling to fill its gas reserves as winter approaches, as member nations rely on imports for the majority of their gas supplies.

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Kremlin refutes US NSA Sullivan's claims of Russia using energy resources as weapon - Republic World

Everything old was new again this week as ransomware came roaring back into the headlines, hitting a crucial Iowa grain cooperative, among other targets. And WIRED sat down with DeSnake, the former number two of the dark web marketplace AlphaBay, to hear about his reemergence and relaunch of AlphaBay four years after its takedown by law enforcement. "AlphaBay name was put in bad light after the raids. I am here to make amends to that," DeSnake said.

The Groundhog Day vibes continued with the annual release of Apple's latest mobile operating system, iOS 15. The new OS comes with a slew of privacy features, including more granular details about what your apps are up to, a mechanism to block email trackers, and a sort of VPN-Tor Frankenstein monster called iCloud Private Relay that protects your browsing activity. Use WIRED's handy guide to get up to speed and start changing some settings.

And if you want a DIY project that isn't tied to a tech company's walled garden, we've got tips on how to set up your own network attached storage (NAS) that plugs straight into your router and gives you a place to share files between your devices or easily store backups.

And there's more! Each week we round up all the security news WIRED didnt cover in depth. Click on the headlines to read the full stories, and stay safe out there.

A letter to Congress shared with Motherboard shows that the US National Security Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency, and other members of the Intelligence Community use ad blockers on their networks as a security protection. "The IC has implemented network-based ad-blocking technologies and uses information from several layers, including Domain Name System information, to block unwanted and malicious advertising content, the IC chief information officer wrote in the letter.

You may use an ad blocker to make your browsing experience more pleasant, but the tools also have potential defense benefits. Attackers who try to run malicious ads on unscrupulous ad networks or taint legitimate-looking ads can steal data or sneak malware onto your device if you click, or sometimes by exploiting web vulnerabilities. The fact that the IC views ads as an unnecessary risk and even a threat speaks to long-standing problems with the industry. The NSA and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency have released public guidance in recent years advising the use of ad blockers as a security protection, but the IC itself wasnt required to adopt the measure. Its members deployed ad blockers voluntarily.

The security division of Russian telecom giant Rostelecom took down a portion of a notorious botnet this week, thanks to a flaw introduced by the malicious platforms developers. The error allowed Rostelecom to sinkhole part of the system. A botnet is a zombie army of devices that have been infected with malware to centrally control coordinated operations. The platforms are often used for DDoS attacks, in which actors direct a firehose of junk traffic at a targets web systems in an attempt to overload them.

The Meris botnet is currently the largest botnet available to cybercriminals and is thought to be made up of about 250,000 systems working collectively. It has been used against targets in Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom, among others. The Rostelecom partial takedown is significant, because Meris attacks are powerful and challenging for targets to combat. Earlier this month, a Meris attack on the Russian tech giant Yandex broke the record for largest-ever volumetric DDoS attack. Yandex managed to defend itself against the assault.

European law enforcement in Italy and Spain have arrested 106 people on suspicion of running a massive fraud campaign over many years, with profits totaling more than $11.7 million in the last year alone. And police said this week that the individuals involved have ties to an Italian mafia group. The suspects allegedly ran phishing schemes, conducted business email compromise scams, launched SIM-swapping attacks, and generally perpetrated credit card fraud against hundreds of victims. The activity was also allegedly connected to drug trafficking and other property-related crimes. To actually extract funds from these digital scams, the suspects allegedly laundered stolen money through a system of money mules and shell companies. In addition to the arrests, law enforcement froze 118 bank accounts and seized computers, SIM cards, 224 credit cards, and an entire cannabis plantation in connection with the bust.

More Great WIRED Stories

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Even the CIA and NSA Use Ad Blockers to Stay Safe Online - WIRED

Earlier this year, a report from CNET explored the current state of ad blockers. Among the data cited within was a study from the software company Blockthrough, which estimated that 40% of adults in the United States make use of some ad-blocking technology. That might not come as much of a surprise to you but another recent report at Vice offers a fascinating window into some of the people and organizations utilizing ad-blocking technology.

In the Vice article, Joseph Cox covered the way the U.S. intelligence community has begun making use of ad-blocking technology. That includes the CIA and the NSA, among a number of other agencies. Last week, Senator Ron Wyden wrote a letter to the Office of Management and Budget calling for them to protect federal networks from foreign spies and criminals who misuse online advertising for hacking and surveillance.

Wyden cited guidelines from both the NSA and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency recommending that ad-blocking software be used. Wyden goes on to quote the Chief Information Officer from the Intelligence Community, who stated, The IC has implemented network-based ad-blocking technologies and uses information from several layers, including Domain Name System information, to block unwanted and malicious advertising content.

A report from CrowdStrike published earlier this year warned of the dangers of malvertising which has cropped up on legitimate websites, and has been used to give control of computers and mobile devices to a third party. Thats alarming enough in its own right, so its not hard to see why people dealing with classified information would be especially worried. Will Wydens letter find a welcome response? It could be the difference between an ordinary day and a crisis waiting to happen.

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Who's Worried About the State of Online Advertising? The NSA and CIA, For Starters. - InsideHook