Cybersecurity

Prof. Peter Shor, an expert in quantum algorithms, has been named one of four recipients for the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, reports Ian Sample for The Guardian.

Prof. Peter Shor has been named one of four honorees for this year’s Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for his contributions to the field of quantum information, reports Daniel Garisto for Scientific American. All of Shor’s work, “led to new views of quantum mechanics and computing,” writes Garisto. 

Prof. Peter Shor is one of four winners for this year’s Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, reports Zeeya Merali for Nature. Merali writes that Shor’s research “laid the groundwork for the development of ultra-secure communications and computers that might one day outperform standard machines at some tasks.”

Prof. Emeritus Stuart Madnick and Keri Pearlson, executive director of Cybersecurity at MIT Sloan, write for The Wall Street Journal about the seven actions that corporate leaders can take to ensure that employees contribute to maintaining a secure organization. “New vulnerabilities emerge every day, as malicious cybersecurity actors find fresh ways to attack or infiltrate organizations. Technology can help, but it can only do so much,” write Madnick and Pearlson. “Just as important is a culture where all employees fill in the gaps—by noticing anomalies, questioning things that might look legitimate but are slightly off in some way, or stopping compromised processes that would otherwise proceed.”

Prof. Emeritus Stuart Madnick writes for The Wall Street Journal about the importance of transparency when companies are impacted by cyberattacks. “It has become clear that through laws and regulations, we need to increase the quantity, quality, and timeliness of cyberattack reporting,” writes Madnick. “Only by having more detailed information on who is getting attacked, how they are getting attacked and what is being stolen can everybody begin to arm themselves with the right defenses.”

Researchers from MIT have discovered a hardware vulnerability in Apple’s M1 chip using an attack called PACMAN, reports Harry Guinness for Popular Science. “Attackers can only use PACMAN to exploit an existing memory bug in the system, which can be patched,” explained Guinness.

CSAIL researchers have found a security vulnerability in Apple’s M1 chip, reports Philip Tracy for Gizmodo. “The flaw could theoretically give bad actors a door to gain full access to the core operating system kernel,” explains Tracy.

MIT researchers have discovered a hardware vulnerability in Apple’s M1 chips that can allow attackers to break through its security defenses, reports Carly Page for TechCrunch. “Researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, however, have created a novel hardware attack, which combines memory corruption and speculative execution attacks to sidestep the security feature,” writes Page.

Keri Pearlson, executive director of the Cybersecurity at MIT Sloan consortium, and Prof. Stuart Madnick write for The Wall Street Journal about how managers should build and equip their organizations for cyber threats. “It is more effective to build a cybersecurity culture – an effort that goes beyond training and gets employees to see security as part of their job,” write Pearlson and Madnick.

Boston Globe reporter Aaron Pressman spotlights the work of Prof. Silvio Micali, who has been honored as one of The Boston Globe’s Tech Power Players 50 for his work in computer science and cryptography. “Micali decided to come up with a more elegant version of the underlying [cryptocurrency] technology, the public database of transactions known as the blockchain,” writes Pressman. “He formed a new startup, Algorand, to pursue a blockchain that would go far beyond bitcoin while reducing costs and electricity usage and speeding up transaction processing.”

Prof. Stuart Madnick speaks with Olivia Rockeman of Bloomberg about how the large number of vacant cybersecurity positions across the U.S. is cause for concern amid the growing risk of Russian cyberattacks.

Prof. Stuart Madnick writes for The Wall Street Journal about how flaws in a company’s cybersecurity defenses can lead to cyberattacks. “Every decision regarding cybersecurity must weigh the benefits of not doing something (cost savings or the faster growth) against the increased risk to the organization,” writes Madnick.

Indian Express reporter Sethu Pradeep writes that MIT researchers have developed a low-energy security chip designed to prevent side channel attacks on smart devices. “It can be used in any sensor nodes which connects user data,” explains graduate student Saurav Maji. “For example, it can be used in monitoring sensors in the oil and gas industry, it can be used in self-driving cars, in fingerprint matching devices and many other applications.”

Prof. Stuart Madnick speaks with Radio Boston host Tiziana Dearing about the increase of SMS phishing, a texting scam through messaging services. “People tend to fall for these things if they are in an emotional state and SMS messages often are a higher emotional phenomenon than email messages,” says Madnick.

Prof. Stuart Madnick speaks with WCBV-TV reporter David Bienick about concerns surrounding Russian cyberattacks. “Madnick suggests that in order to protect themselves from cyberattack, people should update their computer protection systems and be extra leery of suspicious emails and links,” says Bienick.