QOTD on Digital Communications

No digital communication is secure.

-- Tim Clemente, former FBI counterterrorism agent

Src: Are all telephone calls recorded and accessible to the US government? | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

QOTD on the Data Sharing vs Control

The reality is, our ability to exchange electronic information is already well beyond our ability to control it. 

-- John Leipold, CEO of Valley Hope Technology

Src: Rules on Medical-Record Privacy Face Challenges - WSJ.com

QOTD on Cyber Arms Races

As long as I have an adversary spending his treasure ... nothing static will remain secure -- that's the nature of arms races. It is a guarantee that the system will be found vulnerable. So I think to a large extent we have to stop fooling ourselves that we actually can create completely secure systems. We certainly need to create the best system we can, but that system cannot remain static. It has to change, morph, grow over time, as we learn about our adversaries' behavior.

-- Dave Aucsmith, senior dir. of Microsoft's Institute for Advanced Technology in Governments

Src: 'Aurora' Cyber Attackers Were Really Running Counter-Intelligence - CIO.com

QOTD - Clapper on Global Threats in 2013

Threats are more interconnected and viral. Events which at first blush seem local and irrelevant can quickly set off transnational disruptions that affect U.S. national interests. "War" now includes a software variant -- a soft war variation. Arms include cyber and financial weapons, and attacks can be deniable and non-attributable.

-- James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence (US)

Src: remarks on the Worldwide Threat Assessment to the Provided to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

QOTD on Bypassing AV

For someone doing a targeted attack, AV is not too much of an obstacle. The fraudster has all the information he needs to run tests against an AV program and ensure he can defeat it. Today you can buy, in the underground market, tests for banking Trojans to ensure they're not detected by AV.

-- Toralv Dirro, security strategist for McAfee Labs

Src: Enhanced Malware Targets Retailers - BankInfoSecurity

QOTD - Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community

Threats are more diverse, interconnected and viral than at any time in history. Attacks, which might involve cyber and financial weapons, can be deniable and unattributable. Destruction can be invisible, latent and progressive.

-- James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence 

Src: Report: Cyberattacks a key threat to U.S. national security - CNN.com
Direct link to testimony (PDF)