Cyberattack on Mideast energy firms was among most destructive, Panetta says

Source: The Washington Post (Read full story)

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Panetta’s remarks on the Middle East incidents were the first from any administration official acknowledging them. In the attack on Aramco, the virus replaced crucial system files with an image of a burning U.S. flag, he said. It also overwrote the files with “garbage” data, he said.

The Middle East cyber-incidents have prompted great concern inside national security agencies, with the military’s Cyber Command adding personnel to monitor for the possibility of follow-on attacks. U.S. intelligence and Middle Eastern diplomats have said they believe Iran carried out those attacks in retaliation for a Western oil embargo against Tehran, but other experts have expressed skepticism.

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Opposition raises stakes, threatens street protests – Ex-MPs warn of ‘Arab Spring’ if electoral law is changed

Source: Kuwait Times (Read full story)

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It was the first of a series of meetings and rallies planned by the opposition in protest against what they claim to be a government plan to amend the voting system to ensure the election of a pro-government National Assembly in the general polls scheduled within two months. “Kuwait today has entered a phase of autocratic rule which does not believe in democratic and popular institutions … corruption forces have dominated over the government institutions,” said Sawwagh. According to the opposition, the government plans to cut the number of votes allowed to each voter from four to two or one vote, giving more freedom to corrupt candidates to buy votes. This is seen as an attempt to cut the strength of the opposition in the next Assembly.

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Gunmen kill security chief at US mission

Source: Khaleej Times (Read full story)

Masked gunmen shot dead a Yemeni security chief on his way to work at the US embassy in Sanaa on Thursday, in an attack a Yemeni source said appeared to be the work of Al Qaeda.

The attackers, on a motorcycle, opened fire on Qassem Aqlan — who headed an embassy security investigation team — near his house in the centre of Yemen’s capital, the source told Reuters.

“This operation has the fingerprints of Al Qaeda which carried out similar operations before,” said the source, who asked not to be named.

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