September of 2012 will live on in infamy for a large number of people. It was the month of the massive riots by Islamic extremists who, incited by the ever present radical imams, stormed several US embassies, allegedly over a months-old, poorly crafted Youtube video that ironically decried the violence…
On September 20th, CNet reported on a new wave of malware called ´Mirage´, embedded in PDF´s that were distributed through spear-phishing attacks against a multitude of targets, such as a Philippine oil company, a Taiwanese military organization and a Canadian energy firm. The attackers´ target set also included firms in…
Unless you happen to live in the Netherlands, chances are that you missed the outbreak of a ‘new’ piece of malware a few weeks ago called Dorifel, also known as XDocCrypt. With over 3000 infections in a matter of hours, of which 90% were systems in the Netherlands, this triggered…
In the Cyber industry, there is much to gripe about. We have a lot of very vocal experts out there, and roughly the same amount of opinions as there are experts. Most of the times, the differences of opinion are really just people being pedantic (or clueless) and while this…
At long last, the Dutch Ministry of Defense has published a crucial piece of Cyber Doctrine by publishing its Cyber Strategy [PDF Alert – Dutch]. It was given quite a nice introduction by the Dutch Minister of Defense Hans Hillen, who introduced it during the MoD’s Cyber Symposium in Breda…
The Dutch Military Intelligence agency (MIVD) recently released its 2011 yearly report (in Dutch). As is usual, they covered the events of 2011, but also did some forecasting for 2012. Its especially this last bit I was interested in, and im writing this in the hope that you feel the…
I’ve been quiet with my blogposts lately. I know and I apologise. Between writing a lengthy article on Cyber Warfare for PenTest Magazine, writing papers for the MBA degree I am working on, and snowboarding the gorgeous slopes of Val Thorens (France), it’s been sort-of busy. I must say though, that when…
In May of last year, the US Government published its International Strategy for Cyberspace. The publication made some waves in the international community because in this document the US stated that military reprisals to cyber attacks were now officially on the table. More specifically, the US government stated that it ‘encouraged responsible behavior…
On December 2nd in 1823, the US introduced the Monroe Doctrine. This article declared that the US would view further European interference in the Americas (the Western Hemisphere) as acts of aggression and reserved the right to an armed response. On march 10th, 2009 it was argued in front of…
In this closing article, last in a set of three, I discuss some international treaties that may or may not apply to Cyber Security. Again I would like to note that the answers I give are merely my opinion on the matter. This article is comprised of two questions. Without…
