Morning Security Brief: Surveillance, HTTPS, Cyber Asymmetrical Threats, Terroristic Threats, & Apple's Gesture-Swipe Password

♦ The recent arrest of a Saudi man on terrorism charges has some lawmakers arguing for surveillance of visa holders. "The case of [Khalid Ali-M] Aldawsari, who was in the U.S. on a student visa and enrolled at a community college in Texas, has ignited a debate among House lawmakers over whether further steps need to be taken to screen or monitor people in the U.S. on visas," reports The Hill. "House Homeland Security Chairman Peter King (R-N.Y.) wants to increase surveillance and screening measures on individuals in the U.S. on visas from countries known for terrorist activities, such as Saudi Arabia and Yemen."

♦ Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is using his bully pulpit to persuade companies to offer secure log-ins to increase Web security. "Schumer said that major websites, with a large user base, should quicken their transition to the 'https' web address protocol which is far more secure than the current 'http' protocol," reports ITProPortal.com. "The http protocol makes it easier for hackers to steal the users' personal details from a public Wi-Fi network at coffee houses and other public places. Schumer has also said that his office will contact several major websites to ask them to improve their security."

♦ Harvard professor Joseph S. Nye Jr. discusses why cyberspace is the number one asymmetrical threat of the 21st century that allows the weak to compete with the strong. "Unlike atoms, human adversaries are purposeful and intelligent. Mountains and oceans are hard to move, but portions of cyberspace can be turned on and off at the click of a mouse," he writes in The New York Times. "It is cheaper and quicker to move electrons across the globe than to move large ships long distances through the friction of salt water. The costs of developing multiple carrier taskforces and submarine fleets create enormous barriers to entry and make it possible to speak of U.S. naval dominance. In contrast, the barriers to entry in the cyber-domain are so low that nonstate actors and small states can play significant roles at low levels of cost."

♦ Researchers are investigating whether they can discern between idle and legitimate terroristic threats. "In a presentation at the recent American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) meeting here, three teams of linguistics experts turned their attention to two types of Middle Eastern groups they view as different: terrorists and extremists. Using the extremist groups, which call for political change but don't commit violent acts, for comparison to the terrorist groups, the teams went looking for telltale clues that might precede another bombing or suicide attack, particularly in the weeks or months before it happens," reports USA Today."'There is some evidence of a tightening down in language,' before a terrorist attack, said psychologist Lucian Conway of the University of Montana in Missoula, who presented one team's results."

♦ Apple is working on a gesture-swipe password similar to Google's Android devices to lock down its iPhone. "Functionally, it’s just the same as on Android: a user sets up a pattern of swipes between the nine dots, that are used instead of a PIN code or password to unlock the app," according to SlashGear.com. “'Use as many strokes as you want in your gesture' the tutorial screen suggests, with a progress bar to show if the pattern is long enough to satisfy Apple’s security paranoia."