Europol's 2019 Internet Organized Crime Threat Assessment is out. Ransomware remains the biggest criminal problem, and organized crime continues to defraud e-commerce and financial organizations. As gangs become more "audacious" and sophisticated; Europol wants to enhance its ability to investigate crimes touching the dark web and cryptocurrencies.
US NSA Director Nakasone said yesterday that the first priority of NSA's new Cybersecurity Directorate will be to shore up the defenses of the Defense Industrial Base (DIB), with particular attention paid to securing the companies in the DIB from intellectual property theft, MeriTalk reports.
A study of code snippets available in Stack Overflow confirms that quality control is a small but real problem. But apparently developers tend to think the propagation of such vulnerabilities is an acceptable cost when balanced against the benefits of fast coding and project completion.
A US Defense Intelligence Agency analyst has been charged with two counts of willful transmission of national defense information. The Government alleges that Henry Frese gave two reporters highly classified material. The Washington Post says Mr. Frese was interested in advancing the reporters' careers. One reporter worked for CNBC, the other for MSNBC.
China is enjoying some success suppressing expressions of support for Hong Kong protesters in Western corporate circles. Apple has removed a police-tracking app used by protesters, Quartz reports, and a bipartisan group of US Senators and Representatives thinks the NBA has joined Team Beijing. CyberScoop says NSA Director Nakasone yesterday accused China of "weaponizing information" with respect to Hong Kong.