TechHub: RFID-Tagging Smart Cities, Cyber Command Fights Malware, Cybersecurity Audit

‘Smart City’ Wireless Sensors Reveal Infrastructure Insights

A series of RFID (radio frequency identification tags) attached to a bridge in Pittsburgh provided data so accurate that it matched infrastructure surveys.

Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University were able to measure the 10th Street Bridge’s curvature with the “low-cost, low-power” solution. Other, more traditional methods have required high-powered sensors, cameras, motion sensors and massive amounts of computing power.

Imagine being able to monitor the integrity of bridges, walls, pipes and other types of critical — but often neglected — public infrastructure with inexpensive RFID tags that are easy to install and don’t require a battery.

The CMU researchers hope to continue to develop the technology to reduce costs and make it available for uses including RFID tags sewn into clothing so smart cars can detect pedestrian movements and gestures.

“Low-cost, low-power, and minimum-effort are the main concerns when people design smart cities,” said Jingxian Wang, a Ph.D. candidate in electrical and computer engineering.

U.S. Cyber Command Amplifies Fight Against Malware

The U.S. military announced this week that it will begin helping the global cybersecurity community by uploading samples of malware to a public, Google-owned website, where anti-malware tools can scan the samples to test their detection capabilities.

The website, Virus Total, is a malware detection service allows users to analyze suspicious URLs and files. Here’s a link to a description of how it works.

USCYBERCOM stated that it plans to “share unclassified malware samples it has discovered that it believes will have the greatest impact on improving global cybersecurity.”

Forbes reports that uploads to Virus Total are scanned by “55 different anti-malware providers including Microsoft, Symantec, Intel Security (McAfee), F-Secure, Eset, and Crowdstrike.”

“Posting a sample to VirusTotal can help speed up response times to emerging threats.”

Attend GrayMatter’s Cybersecurity Risk & Resilience Audit Webinar

Measuring the current risk and resiliency levels of a network is the first step in creating an OT cyber program. How well does the network contend with threats? How open is the network?

Join Scott Christensen, GrayMatter’s cyber security lead, as he dives into how GrayMatter looks for potential threat vectors, or circumstances that could lead to downtime.

Christensen’s expertise in the industrial space is unmatched. He’ll share how our resiliency and risk audit works, as well as recent stories and best practices from the field in this free webinar at 2 p.m. (EST) on Dec. 11.

Reserve Your Spot.