Chinese and European hackers gained access to government computers at 10 federal agencies during a recently discovered malware attack. NetWitness, a Virginia-based private security firm, discovered the breaches at federal agencies and about 2,500 companies worldwide, and announced the findings in a Feb. 17 report. NetWitness did not disclose which agencies were attacked, but the malware appeared to be aimed more at gathering financial and personal login information from private corporations than state secrets. It affects computers running on Microsoft Windows operating systems. Affected computers are infected with a botnet named ZeuS, which collects and feeds the hackers personal information,…

We hear so much every day about the dire outlook for federal cybersecurity. Former Bush and Clinton administrations even held a war game scenario Tuesday showing how the current administration might respond to a devastating cyber attack. But John Gilligan, a noted federal cybersecurity consultant, says cybersecurity depends on us, the consumers, to demand security from our devices and developers. Our demand for new technology and new applications and software has resulted in an unstable cybersecurity environment, he said. Absolute security is unlikely with today’s devices, he told attendees at Wednesday’s Association for Federal Information Resources Management lunch in Washington,…