Alan W. Dowd is a Senior Fellow with the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes on the full range of topics relating to national defense, foreign policy and international security. Dowd’s commentaries and essays have appeared in Policy Review, Parameters, Military Officer, The American Legion Magazine, The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations, The Claremont Review of Books, World Politics Review, The Wall Street Journal Europe, The Jerusalem Post, The Financial Times Deutschland, The Washington Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Examiner, The Detroit News, The Sacramento Bee, The Vancouver Sun, The National Post, The Landing Zone, Current, The World & I, The American Enterprise, Fraser Forum, American Outlook, The American and the online editions of Weekly Standard, National Review and American Interest. Beyond his work in opinion journalism, Dowd has served as an adjunct professor and university lecturer; congressional aide; and administrator, researcher and writer at leading think tanks, including the Hudson Institute, Sagamore Institute and Fraser Institute. An award-winning writer, Dowd has been interviewed by Fox News Channel, Cox News Service, The Washington Times, The National Post, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and numerous radio programs across North America. In addition, his work has been quoted by and/or reprinted in The Guardian, CBS News, BBC News and the Council on Foreign Relations. Dowd holds degrees from Butler University and Indiana University. Follow him at twitter.com/alanwdowd.

ASCF News

Scott Tilley is a Senior Fellow at the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes the “Technical Power” column, focusing on the societal and national security implications of advanced technology in cybersecurity, space, and foreign relations.

He is an emeritus professor at the Florida Institute of Technology. Previously, he was with the University of California, Riverside, Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute, and IBM. His research and teaching were in the areas of computer science, software & systems engineering, educational technology, the design of communication, and business information systems.

He is president and founder of the Center for Technology & Society, president and co-founder of Big Data Florida, past president of INCOSE Space Coast, and a Space Coast Writers’ Guild Fellow.

He has authored over 150 academic papers and has published 28 books (technical and non-technical), most recently Systems Analysis & Design (Cengage, 2020), SPACE (Anthology Alliance, 2019), and Technical Justice (CTS Press, 2019). He wrote the “Technology Today” column for FLORIDA TODAY from 2010 to 2018.

He is a popular public speaker, having delivered numerous keynote presentations and “Tech Talks” for a general audience. Recent examples include the role of big data in the space program, a four-part series on machine learning, and a four-part series on fake news.

He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Victoria (1995).

Contact him at stilley@cts.today.

Google Chrome update patches scary zero-day vulnerability — North Korean hackers suspected

Friday, February 5, 2021

Categories: ASCF News Cyber Security

Google has released a Chrome browser update to patch a zero-day vulnerability that security researchers suspect is part of a hacking campaign carried out by North Korean hackers.

The bug, known as CVE-2021-21148, is said to be fixed by Chrome update 88.0.4324.150, although details about it are to "be kept restricted until a majority of users are updated with a fix." However, Google is aware of reports that CVE-2021-21148 exists in the wild. The update for Chrome (top-right corner of the browser) will be available for Windows, Mac and Linux.

North Korean hackers

While Google has yet to specifically provide details, CVE-2021-21148 was reported on January 24 by Mattias Buelens, a day after Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG) and Microsoft reported North Korean hackers launched an attack against the cyber-security community (via The Hacker News).The purpose of the hacker attack is reportedly to install a backdoor on Windows, and it was done by North Korean hackers luring security researchers to visit a fake research blog. Microsoft had reported on January 28 that this was most likely due to the Chrome zero-day bug CVE-2021-21148.A zero-day vulnerability is a term used when a computer software vulnerability, usually bugs or malware, is unknown to those who would be trying to fix it. This makes it very dangerous as it lets hackers rampage while security groups are none the wiser.The events all seem to lead to Google's new Chrome update, so it goes without saying that it's best to update the browser as soon as possible. Google has also stated it won't fully release details "if the bug exists in a third-party library that other projects similarly depend on, but haven’t yet fixed."Those looking for extra privacy and protection when online should look into subscribing to one of the best VPN services.

Photo: Image credit: Google

Link: https://www.laptopmag.com/news/google-chrome-update-patches-scary-zero-day-vulnerability-north-korean-hackers-suspected

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