Infosecurity News
American Career Aspirations Do Not Include Cybersecurity
The worldwide cybersecurity skills shortage is well-documented; and many countries have developed programs to fill the gap. These programs usually try to instill interest in schools, or tempt IT professionals into a career in security.
Sold-out Tickets to the World Cup, Beyoncé and More! For a Malware Price
There are a number of big artists touring this year, such as Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake and One Direction, and it’s also drawing closer and closer to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Given the marquee nature of the events, people need to be careful when searching the web for tickets to sold-out events.
Cross-platform JRAT Targets UK and UAE Individuals
A new spam campaign delivering a Java remote access trojan (RAT) known as JRAT has been uncovered, with the emails claiming to have attached a payment certificate to the message. The campaign has predominantly affected the UAE and the UK to date and appears to be after specific victims.
Peeling the Onion – Tor's Criminal Content Revealed
Tor was developed to provide internet anonymity to those who need it. But with the Snowden surveillance revelations came an increased interest in and demand for such anonymity – and not surprisingly that includes the criminal element. Malware C&C servers are hosted, illicit trading organizations homed, services hidden and money laundered; all within Tor.
Zeus Trojan Gets Persistent with New Rootkit
The Zeus banking trojan and botnet has had a number of iterations over the years, particularly since the source code was leaked online.
Less than Half of RSA Conference Attendees Think NSA Surveillance is Wrong
Even though Edward Snowden’s revelations about NSA mass surveillance programs have dominated headlines since last year and sparked an ongoing trend toward “transparency” on the part of the tech giants, it turns out that infosecurity professionals aren’t quite as concerned as the general public or some politicians.
Neutrino Exploit Kit Up For Sale
The (Russian) Neutrino exploit kit was first described by the French researcher Kafeine (Malware don't need Coffee) almost exactly one year ago. "A new exploit kit is being advertised since yesterday on underground forum : Neutrino," he announced. Now it is for sale.
Cymru Discovers 300,000 Compromised Home Routers
Team Cymru, a US security research firm based in Illinois has been investigating a SOHO router pharming campaign since January. So far it has identified 300,000 compromised devices, predominantly in Europe and Asia, with evidence that the campaign started at least in December 2013.
TrustyCon 2014: NSA Surveillance “a benign enemy”, says Bruce Schneier
Reuters Technology reporter Joseph Menn interviewed security expert Bruce Schneier in front of last week’s TrustyCon audience in San Francisco, where the security expert provided his analysis of the government surveillance controversy
Ask.fm Social Network for Teens Launches Safety Centre
As teens and tweens increasingly live their lives digitally and in an oversharing-friendly way, online safety has become a hot topic for concerned parents. Typically it’s seen as the families’ responsibility for monitoring their children’s internet and mobile use, but purveyors of social sites are beginning to get involved as well.
Hackers Replace 'Russian' with 'Nazi' on Russia Today
Russia Today (RT) tweeted Sunday, "Hackers deface http://RT.com website, crack admin access, place 'Nazi' in every headline. Back to normal now." Although the hackers are not known, it could be in retaliation for the increasing number of reports describing the pro-West Kiev government as 'neo-Nazi.'
Is Sears a Victim of Retail Hacking, or Retail Hacking Hysteria?
Bloomberg reported Saturday that US retail giant Sears "is investigating a possible security breach after a series of cyberattacks on other retailers have exposed the data of millions of consumers." Sears is apparently being aided in this investigation by both Verizon's digital forensics unit and the US Secret Service.
SANS Announces 2014 EMEA Schedule
The SANS Institute has released its latest training and events schedule for 2014 in the Europe, Middle East and Asia regions
Is Uroburos the First Known Russian Cyberweapon?
At a time of heightened tension between Russia and the West over Ukraine, a German security firm describes a sophisticated rootkit that it suggests may have been developed by Russian intelligence services. Named after a string found in the code, Ur0bUr()sGotyOu#, the Uroburos malware is thought to target governments, research institutes and major corporations.
Revenge Porn: One Win (Texas), One Fail (New York)
According to documents from Edward Snowden, more than 7% of Yahoo chat users send intimate photos taken via webcam. This is known because GCHQ stopped to count them from among their intercepts. But the concept and practice of 'revenge porn' should make people pause and carefully consider the possible consequences before they hit the send button.
RSA Conference 2014: Celebrating Milestones, (ISC)² also Revamps its CISSP Exam
As (ISC)² celebrates its 25th anniversary, the global non-profit is well underway to conducting the most extensive overhaul of the CISSP certification exam in its history. Infosecurity catches up with its executive director at the RSA Conference in San Francisco for a retrospective, and what to expect from the new certification exam
2014 US Cyber Challenge Kicks Off in April
The Council on Cybersecurity (CCS) has launched the 2014 US Cyber Challenge, calling on the industry and government to “get serious” about the workforce problem. The initiative aims to find 10,000 bright students and turn them into cybersecurity professionals.
Lloyd's of London Declines Infosec Cover For Energy Companies
The BBC reported yesterday that energy companies "are being refused insurance cover for cyber-attacks because their defenses are perceived as weak." Before cover is offered, applicants must undergo a security audit by the insurance companies, but "the majority of applicants were turned away because their cyber-defenses were lacking."
Lauri Love Accused of Hacking the Federal Reserve
In October 2013 the UK's National Crime Agency announced that a 28-year old Briton, simultaneously identified by the FBI as "Lauri Love, 28, of Stradishall, England," was arrested on suspicion of hacking into US Army, US military and US government computers. Yesterday the FBI further charged him with hacking the Federal Reserve.
BitCrypt Ransomware Easily Broken
A new variant of ransomware dubbed BitCrypt has been smashed open by a pair of French researchers.
