Flame and Stuxnet makers 'co-operated' on code

Source code was shared between the teams making the malware attacks, researchers said

Teams responsible for the Flame and Stuxnet cyber-attacks worked together in the early stages of each threat's development, researchers have said.

Flame, revealed last month, attacked targets in Iran, as did Stuxnet which was discovered in 2010.

Kaspersky Lab said they co-operated "at least once" to share source code.

"What we have found is very strong evidence that Stuxnet/Duqu and Flame cyber-weapons are connected," Kaspersky said.

Alexander Gostev, chief security expert at the Russian-basedsecurity company added: "The new findings that reveal how the teams shared source code of at least one module in the early stages of development prove that the groups co-operated at least once."

Vitaly Kamluk, the firm's chief malware expert, said: "There is a link proven - it's not just copycats.

"We think that these teams are different, two different teams working with each other, helping each other at different stages."

The findings relate to the discovery of "Resource 207", a module found in early versions of the Stuxnet malware.

It bears a "striking resemblance" to code used in Flame, Kaspersky said.

"The list includes the names of mutually exclusive objects, the algorithm used to decrypt strings, and the similar approaches to file naming," Mr Gostev said.

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Vitaly KamlukKaspersky Labs

Direct orders

Recently, a New York Times investigation - based on an upcoming book - singled out the US as being responsible for Stuxnet, under the direct orders of President Barack Obama.

The report said the threat had been developed in co-operation with Israel.

No country is yet to publicly take responsibility for the attack.

Speaking about Flame, a spokesman for the Israeli government distanced the country from involvement following an interview in which a minister seemed to back the attacks.

"There was no part of the interview where the minister has said anything to imply that Israel was responsible for the virus," the spokesman said.

'Completely separate'

Last week, the UN's telecommunications head Dr Hamadoun Toure said he did not believe the US was behind Flame, and that reports regarding the country's involvement in Stuxnet were "speculation".

Prof Alan Woodward, a security expert from the University of Surrey, described the findings as interesting - but not yet a clear indicator of who was behind the attacks.

"The fact that they shared source code further suggests that it wasn't just someone copying or reusing one bit of Stuxnet or Flame that they had found in the wild, but rather those that wrote the code passed it over," he said.

"However, everything else still indicates that Flame and Stuxnet were written designed and built by a completely separate group of developers.

"At the very least it suggests there are two groups capable of building this type of code but they are somehow collaborating, albeit only in a minor way."

Source: abc

Mole-rats varied life boosts the brain

The findings shows brain plasticity - the 'use it orlose it' paradigm - at work 

A varied life helps improve the brain, according to a study comparing wild and captive mole-rats.

The international study, led by Associate Professor Martin Whiting at Macquarie University, shows the brain's cognitive performance is negatively affected by extended periods of low stimulation in confined surroundings.

It also provides further evidence that the brain is more 'plastic' than thought, and adds weight to evidence that males have better navigational abilities than females.

Published recently in the journal Animal Cognition, the study compares the spatial cognitive abilities of wild mole-rats with those held captive in a laboratory for a long time.

The team, which also included researchers from South Africa and Canada, collected 14 male and 10 female adult Natal mole-rats (Cryptomys hottentotus natalensis) from Glengarry park in KwaZulu-Natal Province in South Africa.

Another 12 male and female mole-rats that had been kept in captivity for between 16 and 18 months were added to the study group.

Whiting says mole-rats were chosen for the experiment because they live in a subterranean burrow system that requires a degree of learning to navigate, similar to the maze-style approach needed for the test.

The mole-rats were made to navigate through a maze of tunnels covering an area of one metre by 1.2 metres with each animal undertaking the trial five times each day for three consecutive days.

Wild winners

The wild mole-rats completed the navigation task in less time than their captive counterparts, making fewer mistakes and covering less distance.

Whiting says the findings suggest the greater complexity of their habitation in the wild plays a role in stimulating cognitive development, shows brain plasticity - the 'use it or lose it' paradigm - at work.

"[The study] is pretty convincing for showing if you are not using that part of the brain it can regress," says Whiting.

He adds the reverse was also true, in that areas of the brain in constant demand could expand.

"In breeding season, for example, some regions of the brain might be larger," says Whiting. "But if you are an animal in a simple environment and not using the brain to navigate you are going to regress."

The researchers were surprised to find a marked difference between the spatial cognitive ability of the males and females

"We didn't predict this result because the subterranean complex [of the mole-rat] is so well defined," Whiting says.

"It might be the case males are more likely to disperse during breeding season and therefore have an increased ability to navigate and sense direction."

Whiting says the study is significant because it "demonstrates you do require stimulation to maintain cognitive performance".

Following on from that, he says, it reinforces the need for captive populations in institutions such as zoos, to provide enrichment and stimulation for their animals.

Source: abc

HPV vaccine creator receives top honour

Professor Ian Frazer is no stranger to winning prizes. But receiving Australia's highest civic honour has taken him by surprise.

His groundbreaking work on developing the human papillomavirus vaccine, which protects against cervical cancer, has already earned him more than 20 scientific awards, including the 2008 Prime Minister's Prize for Science.

But when a letter arrived in the post recently telling him that he had received Australia's highest civic honour, theCompanion of the Order of Australia (AC), even he was taken by surprise.

"I wasn't expecting it at all," says Frazer, who leads the newTranslational Research Institute in Brisbane. "I've had a number of scientific awards, but I wasn't expecting to be recognised in the civic realm."

The Companion of the Order of Australia is awarded for achievement and merit of the highest degree in service to Australia or humanity at large.

Considering that more than 60 million women worldwide have now received a human papillomavirus vaccine, it is not hard to see why Frazer was nominated.

And although the honour was unexpected, Frazer says he will use the opportunity of being on the Queen's Birthday honour list to extol the benefits of medical research.

"It's a great thing to see the benefits of science being recognized through the civic system," he says. "After all, that's what it's all about - we are doing this work in the hope that it will bring public benefits."

"I think the major message that we have to get across is that medical research produces a tremendous benefit for your children. There is a time lag of about 20 years between when you do the research and when the benefits become apparent, but the more funding you put in, the more you get out."

Born in Scotland, Frazer moved to Australia in the mid 1980s. His work on the human papillomavirus vaccine dates back to the early 1990s, and work he did with virologist Jian Zhou, and Zhou's wife, Xiao-Yi Sun.

Twenty years later, he is now looking forward to the vaccine being made more available to women in developing countries. More than 85 per cent of the 275,000 women who die every year from cervical cancer live in the developing world.

Investgating skin cancer

Frazer is also currently investigating whether viruses might play a part causing skin cancers. There's a growing body of evidence that in addition to sun exposure, viruses may be involved, he says.

For example, people whose immune systems are suppressed are much more likely to develop skin cancer. This indicates that in healthy people, the immune system might be helping to control viruses that contribute to skin-cancer risk.

"The obvious smoking gun points to a group of viruses known as polyomaviruses," Frazer says. "These infect skin and are oncogenic, and the numbers of these viruses are markedly increased in immunosuppressed people."

This research is in the early stages, but the ultimate end-point might be a vaccine that could reduce your risk of developing skin cancer. "It wouldn't eliminate your risk, but it could significantly reduce it if there was a vaccine available," he says.

Meanwhile, Frazer says he is also looking forward to the November opening of the Translational Research Institute. The institute will focus on translating the benefits of basic research into patients, particularly in the areas of diabetes, the liver, arthritis and cancer.

Source: abc

Search find genes related to migraine

Migraine affects roughly one woman in six and one man in eight 

European and Australian scientists say they have snared four more genes that highlight an inherited cause for common migraine.

The genetic variants were spotted in a trawl through the DNA code of 4800 people with a history of "migraine without aura," which accounts for two-thirds of migraine attacks.

But the telltales were absent among more than 7000 counterparts who did not suffer from these debilitating headaches.

In previous work, researchers uncovered three genes associated with migraine.

But this is the first to find genes not linked to migraine with aura - the sensation in which patients have the impression of looking through frosted glass.

Migraine affects roughly one woman in six and one man in eight, and is a major cause of work absence.

The precise cause is unknown, but inherited vulnerability as well as environmental triggers are the suspects.

Scientists describe the condition as a brain disorder in which neurons, or brain cells, respond abnormally to stimuli.

Two of the newly-identified genes back the theory that blood vessels, and thus blood flow, play an important part in the process.

The study, published in the journal Nature Genetics, was led by the International Headache Genetics Consortiumand included researchers from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research.

Source: abc

Russian Activists Fighting to Save Ancient Forest Face Continued Threats

The Crusade to Save Khimki Forest has Become a Symbol of the Struggle Between Russian Civil Society and a Corrupt State

In April, about a month after Russian President Vladimir Putin returned to office for a third term amid massive public protests and widespread allegations of election fraud, Evgenia Chirikova, a young, middle-class mother from the Moscow suburb of Khimki, came to San Francisco to receive the Goldman Prize for her efforts to save a forest near her home.

Thirty-five year old Evgenia Chirikova's efforts to save her beloved forest quickly grew into a

popular campaign

Chirikova, an engineer and businesswoman by profession, has been fighting since 2007 to stop the construction of a highway through Khimki Forest — a 2,500-acre, federally protected parkland north of Moscow. The forest is one of the region’s last old-growth stands and home to an abundance of wildlife, including numerous threatened plant and animal species.

Today Chirikova is in jail. Again. She was locked up on May 17 with no access to her lawyer. Her crime this time — demonstrating against Putin’s presidency. On the other side of the bars, her fellow activists are being bullied, threatened and beaten up by local officials, hired thugs, and riot police.

Chirikova's story, like that of so many other grassroots women activists, starts with her desire to save the world as she knows it for her children. She said as much during her acceptance speech at the awards ceremony: “I want to preserve this forest because I have two children and I believe that they should live in a land with forests and clean air."

Chirikova and her husband, Mikhail, moved to Khimki from Moscow in 2007 so that their two daughters could grow up closer to nature. The young family loved the outdoors and often took long walks in the forest. It was during one of these walks that they discovered trees marked with a red “X” that tagged them for removal.

Chrikova was puzzled because she knew the forest was federally protected land. On investigating further, she found that the government planned to construct a highway connecting Moscow to St. Petersburg through the forest and develop the surrounding land. The contract for the project (worth billions of dollars) had been handed to a subsidiary of the French construction giant, Vinici, that has deep ties with Russian oligarch Arkady Rotenberg, a close friend of Putin.

The road would relieve a major traffic bottleneck, but the route had been chosen over others that would have bypassed the reserve. Environmentalists say a better highway route would follow a railway line that has connected the cities since the early 20th century. (But maybe access to all that old forest timber proved irresistible.)

The 2,500-acre forest north of Moscow is one of the region’s last old-growth forests and is home to 

numerous threatened plant and animal species. Construction is now underway on a highway

project that will bisect the forest.

Though she had no experience in grassroots organizing and had never been interested in politics, Chirikova was outraged enough to quit her engineering job to form a local protest group, Defend Khimki Forest. The group received widespread support, including unlikely allies like the Moscow chapter of the Russian Federation of Motorists, and collected over 50,000 signatures protesting the highway plan.

The activists convinced two of Europe’s top financial institutions that were backing the highway — the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development and the European InvestmentBank — to withdraw their funding. Chirikova even ran for mayor of Khimki in 2009 with a single agenda, rerouting the highway. She lost, but the huge following she garnered spoke volumes about regular Russian folks' growing disenchantment with the establishment.

That same year, Putin signed a decree changing Khimki forests’ protected status to allow for “transport and infrastructure”. Soon, bulldozers moved into the woods.

Not surprisingly, the backlash against the movement has been violent. Protestors are often wrongfully arrested and detained. Thugs likely associated with the construction company or local officials routinely beat up activists and journalists questioning the project. The most egregious example is of journalist Mikhail Beketov, who was attacked in broad daylight in November 2008. His assailants smashed his skull, broke both of his legs, pulverized his hands, and left him to die in the freezing cold. Beketov suffered permanent brain damage and lost a leg and four fingers. He can no longer speak.

Chirikova herself has been arrested and detained numerous times before. She’s been accused of being an American spy, and had to fight false claims of neglect and mistreatment from child protection authorities who threatened to take away her children.

But none of this has managed to kill the grassroots movement to save Khimki forest. In the face of widespread opposition to the highway project, and possibly because of the political unrest related to the elections, work on the project had stopped for the past few months. Yesterday, I received a press release from Khimki that says construction work has been back in full swing since June 1.

Defend Khimki Forest activists were roughed up by construction company goons on June 3

“Construction workers have not only resumed removal of fertile soil from the clearing, but also destroyed about 5 -7 more hectares of still untouched forest, enlarging thus the clearing up to about 300 meters,” the release said. When local activists who have been camping out in the forest went to investigate, they were badly beaten up by company goons. Yesterday (June 6), six activists, who were camping out in the forest to keep an eye on the construction work, were arrested by local police but later freed by a local court because the cops couldn’t provide any “meaningful evidence” against them.

“It has not prevented police press-service from distributing lie(s) about activists 'attacking construction workers',” Chirikova's husband, Mikhail, informed me in a midnight email. “The camp in the forest is still working.”

And so goes the good fight.

In these past few years, the local struggle to save Khimki Forest has become a symbol of the struggle between Russia's beleaguered civil society and a corrupt State. Back in April, Chirikova called on the US to help “solve the problem” by passing the Magnitsky Bill.

The legislation is named after Sergei Magnitsky, a 37-year-old Russian lawyer who was imprisoned and tortured to death after he uncovered a massive tax fraud by Russia's Interior ministry in 2008. The new law would impose a visa ban and freeze international bank accounts of not only of officials linked to Magnitsky's death, but also of officials who commit human rights abuses against citizens who “expose illegal activity” by Russian officials or who seek to “defend or promote internationally recognized human rights and freedoms.”

The good news is that today (June 7) the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee approved the bill — a first step in advancing a legislation that has bipartisan support among lawmakers. Of course, if the bill passes it will add to tensions between US and Russia, but sometimes you just have to stand up to the bully.

As Chirikova said in a recent interview: “Every time [someone was beaten up], I said to myself: ‘One more time and I’ll run away.’ But you can’t spend your life running away. If we’re afraid, then we’ve lost.”

Source: earthisland