Chinese hackers are at it again. Recently, they’ve been attributed with the OPM hack and now it looks like a recent breach of United Airlines’ network might have come from behind the Great Fire Wall. Blackberry’s back in the news, in a good way, receiving approval from the Department of Defense, and EiQ Networks’ SecureVue Auditor License introduces a new automation system.
All this news and more in this week’s federal news round up from FTI.
BlackBerry Receives Approval from DOD for use of PKI
With government workers embracing mobility, Federal CIOs need to get smart about security for endpoints on the go. Recently, the Department of Defense approved the use of derived Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) credentials on BlackBerry OS and BlackBerry 10 smartphones, according to GCN.
This approval allows users to access, manage and share information without using a Common Access Card.
DISA STIG Compliance Checks Head Toward Automation
GCN has reported that EiQ Networks’ SecureVue Auditor License presents a new automation system without requiring an agent to be installed.
The process of automating DISA STIG compliance checks allows for the collection of data from a wide range or network devices and hosts. Additionally, it compares the configurations to the secure standards highlighted by DISA and the Center for Internet Security.
Recent Airline Breach Points Toward Suspected OPM Hackers
The controversy and fear surrounding the OPM breach has yet to cease. The big fear with the breach, given the extent of the compromise is that Chinese officials could combine the data, which includes financial and medical information, with security clearance data in order to blackmail officials or recruit informants, according to The Hill.
The same alleged Chinese hackers possibly responsible for OPM appear to be responsible for a recent airline breach, according to Bloomberg. The breach, which affected United Airlines, is believed to have occurred back in May or June, during which time United discovered a network intrusion. If true, the data breach of the world’s second-largest airline would deliver Beijing personnel specific travel records regarding millions of Americans and giving the hackers the opportunity to correlate information from these two hacks, as well as other data breaches to build more accurate profiles of targeted individuals.
