Terror Suspect Released in Detroit Case; Microsoft Releases New Patches; DHS to Raise Profile of Cybersecurity

Terror Suspect Released in Detroit Case

A federal judge has released from prison an immigrant whose conviction in the Detroit terrorims case was thrown out. According to a report in The New York Times, Karim Koubriti, a 26-year-old Moroccan, has been moved to a halfway house. Koubriti was one of four Arab immigrants that the government though had formed a terrorism cell based in Detroit. He and another defendant were convicted last year on charges of material support of terrorism and document fraud. Another was convicted of document fraud and a fourth was acquitted. Last month, however, Judge Gerald A. Rosen threw out the convictions at the government’s request.

For more details, read the full article in The New York Times.

Microsoft Releases New Patches

Microsoft has released patches designed to fix 21 known vulnerabilities in its Windows operating system. According to a story in the Washington Post, seven of the flaws are critical and could allow attackers to hijack affected PCs by simply convincing users to visit certain websites. “I’ve never seen Microsoft release this many patches at one time,” said Darwin Herdman, chief technology officer at Red Siren, a Pittsburgh based Internet security company. “The install base for these flaws is enormous.”

For more details, read the full article in the Washington Post.

DHS to Raise Profile of Cybersecurity

Under pressure from technology executives and experts, Homeland Defense Secretary Tom Ridge said Wednesday that cybersecurity should have a higher profile within DHS. According to a Washington Post report, Ridge told a White House advisory group that the agency was creating a new position of assistant secretary in charge of cyber security and telecom security. Later a spokesperson for DHS said that Ridge misspoke and the job will instead be at the deputy assistant secretary level.

For more details, read the full article in teh Washington Post.