The Syrian civil war again spills over into cyberspace as both sides undertake information operations to shape international opinion.

The Iranian-inspired Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters explain that their new denial-of-service campaign against US banks ("phase three of Operation Ababil") remains motivated by the same insult to Islam the Cyber Fighters say started the whole thing last year.

Don't act based on an email claiming to be from the Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit. It's probably a malware vector.

Denial-of-service attacks in the Czech Republic expand from media sites to the financial sector. Authorities are baffled, since no one has claimed responsibility. Telefonica Czech Republic reports discovering Russian IP addresses in the attacks, but the Czech government correctly says this means little: other nation's addresses have also turned up, and botnets can be run from anywhere.

Oil and gas companies, including BP, continue to undergo cyber attacks. The Electric Power Research Institute warns utilities that attacks against the power grid will increase. Smart meters are also at risk.

Symbian malware drops and Android malware rises as cyber criminals respond to their market.

Pwn-to-Own is underway in Vancouver, and white hats have already taken down Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, and Java. Controversial bughunters VUPEN announce discovery of a Windows exploit, and if you bet on form, expect it to appear in the wild soon.

Microsoft previews next week's Patch Tuesday.

Observers note that European cyber security regulations represent an industry opportunity, but also note that such initiatives can amount to stealth protectionism.