Tag Archive for: INSTITUTION

Chautauqua Institution increases security, may add peace officers following Salman Rushdie attack

/in


The outside world is continuing to intrude into the vernal and intellectual world of the Chautauqua Institution, most visibly in the assassination attempt last week on world-famous writer Salman Rushdie.

The New Jersey resident accused of the attack, Hadi Matar, pleaded not guilty Thursday to a felony indictment charging him with the assault on Rushdie. He’s locked up awaiting further court action.

After the attack, the Institution tightened security, from requiring photo ID at the gates to barring bags in most venues on the grounds.

The Institution has security officers on the grounds and has long been working in Albany to get peace officer status for those officers, particularly when past practice went away of them being deputized by the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Department.

“Complexity of it, the schedule of it, does require that additional support, and that’s why we’re pursuing it,” said Chautauqua Institution Senior Vice President and Chief Brand Officer Emily Morris.

Both State Sen. George Borrello and Assemblyman Andy Goodell are pushing legislation, even asking Gov. Kathy Hochul to call a special session of the New York State Legislature to get the bill passed.

The governor has said she would sign the legislation if it gets to her desk, according to Morris.

Peace officers would have the power to make arrests or issue appearance tickets, access law enforcement computer networks and use physical or deadly force, if necessary.

The Many Activities on the Chautauqua Institution Grounds
The Many Activities on the Chautauqua Institution Grounds

“For Chautauqua Institution as a complex organization to ensure that there is a police officer support for this operation that works in tandem with the regional and State Police agencies, the peace officer status would enhance that capability for us in ways that we think are very important,” Morris said.

Morris estimates 100,000 people visit the grounds in the course of the season, with its theaters, religious sites, homes, hotels and restaurants.

“That’s a lot of the same characteristics of a corporately independent town, but, of course, we are not a corporately independent town,” she said. “But we do…

Source…

Cyber crime: There is not a single institution where the buck stops

/in


Around 1.3 billion Indians have a unique digital identity; 750 million use smartphones and 800 million use the internet. The world’s biggest public information infrastructure needs a fortress to secure its cyberspace from armies threatening to weaponise data and digitally colonise nations.

When multiple organisations are handling cybersecurity, it becomes difficult to assign roles and responsibilities to them. There must be an umbrella organisation looking after cybersecurity in the country. —Muktesh Chander, senior IPS officer

Today, the cases of cyberattacks being converted into an FIR is mere 10 per cent. This is because law enforcement agencies cannot step in unless there is a complaint…

Today, there are many hands holding bricks, but the foundation is yet to be laid. In July, 2019, a taskforce was set up under Rajesh Pant, a retired lieutenant general and national security coordinator, to draw up a national cybersecurity strategy. The strategy, which has taken shape on paper and is awaiting the cabinet nod, proposes to create a national architecture that brings all arms dealing with cybersecurity under one umbrella organisation.

Since 2013 the entire cyber landscape has changed. Earlier, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN) was the only agency issuing alerts and training experts. Now more than half a dozen agencies exist, and the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing sometimes.

The National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC) protects critical infrastructure; the Defence Cyber Agency—headed by Mohit Gupta, a rear admiral—is the first joint cyber group of the tri-services, with nearly 150 experts handling cyberthreats for military establishments. The ministry of home affairs runs the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, which is setting up regional and district cybercrime cells to act as nodal points for quick registration of crimes. The ministry of electronics and communication runs the Cyber Swachhta Kendra, separately for botnet cleaning and malware analysis. For cross-border breaches, the cyber diplomacy wing of the ministry of external affairs comes in handy.

India is not the only…

Source…

US sanctions Russian government institution tied to malware

/in


Friday’s sanctions are not related to election interference and the designation was made under a section of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).

According to Treasury, the State Research Center of the Russian Federation FGUP Central Scientific Research Institute of Chemistry and Mechanics (TsNIIKhM) supported an August 2017 cyberattack involving the Triton malware on a petrochemical facility in the Middle East.

“TRITON malware was designed to disable the last line of protection in industrial systems making it possible for hackers with control of those systems to make things very dangerous,” John Hultquist, a senior director at FireEye told CNN Friday. “Without the safety systems that TRITON overruns, human life is in danger.”

Russian hackers targeting state and local governments have stolen data, US officials say

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo echoed this assessment in a statement about the sanctions Friday.

“The Triton malware was designed to specifically target and manipulate industrial safety systems. Such systems provide for the safe emergency shutdown of industrial processes at critical infrastructure facilities in order to protect human life,” he said. “Today’s designation of the State Research Center of the Russian Federation FGUP Central Scientific Research Institute of Chemistry and Mechanics (TsNIIKhM), a Russian government-controlled research institution responsible for building customized tools that enable Triton malware attacks, highlights the threat the Russian government poses to cybersecurity and critical infrastructure.”

Pompeo said the US “remains steadfast in countering malign cyber activities by Russian actors on behalf of the Government of the Russian Federation.”

“While the Russian government claims to be a responsible actor in cyberspace, it continues to engage in dangerous and malicious activities that threaten the security of the United States and our allies.”

“We will not relent in our efforts to respond to these activities using all the tools at our disposal, including sanctions,” he said.

As a result of the sanctions, “all property and interests in property of TsNIIKhM that are in or come within the possession of U.S. persons are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with…

Source…

Is Cyber War Around the Corner? Collective Cyber Defense in the Near Future – Brookings Institution

/in

Is Cyber War Around the Corner? Collective Cyber Defense in the Near Future
Brookings Institution
Cyber warfare in the future might be far from what we might imagine. It is sure that a cyber war would not meet the rigid social scientific definition of “war” codified in the notable and long-standing “Correlates of War Project (COW)”[7] which …

and more »

cyber warfare – read more