The Syrian Electronic Army (SEA) successfully attacks US media outlets, including the Washington Post. The SEA (generally believed to operate on behalf of the Assad regime with significant Iranian support) used spoofed Outlook pages in a phishing campaign that compromised Outbrain as a way into media accounts.

The Chinese government continues its pressure on Tibetan sites, and TechWeek Europe alleges that cyber security researchers inadvertently aid the repression through ill-conceived honeypots.

North Korea conducts information operations against the South through what observers call an "army of trolls." Pakistani hackers continue to riot against Indian sites.

The US Department of Energy acknowledges a data breach (personal information compromised), and the New York Times recovers from what it calls (in the face of mild skepticism) an IT error as opposed to a cyber attack. Those who follow SCADA security will read with interest news of a glitch that opened a Florida prison's cells.

Obfuscation through feigned ineptitude cloaks a clever exploit kit targeting cyber security researchers.

Malware sandboxing appears to have plateaued in effectiveness. Researchers cast about for automated, non-signature-based approaches to malware detection.

China announces plans to investigate IBM, Oracle, and EMC as security risks. Understandable skittishness post-Snowden apart, the Chinese government is happy to retaliate against US strictures on Huawei and Lenovo. The US and China will inevitably grope toward a security modus vivendi.

The US Intelligence Community remains in domestic and international hot water over electronic surveillance, with new allegations of NSA privacy violations. The President's IAB shrinks surprisingly.