Infosecurity News
Hackers hold Mitt Romney's tax returns for ransom
An unidentified hacking group claims to have hacked PricewaterhouseCoopers's Franklin, Tenn., office to obtain access to Mitt Romney’s tax returns. It’s now attempting to hold the information for ransom, asking for $1 million, deliverable via Bitcoin, the encrypted digital currency.
Cloud, mobile security top of mind for the Feds
The cloud is still just a nascent service environment for the US federal government, for which meeting security compliance requirements is the top concern. Meanwhile, mobile security is the most dynamic area for the government.
The creators of BEAST now present CRIME
From the producers of BEAST, Juliano Rizzo and Thai Duong, comes a brand-new production: CRIME. CRIME will get its first showing at the Ekoparty security conference in Buenos Aires later this month.
The Elderwood project – it started with Aurora, but continues today
The Elderwood project is the name given by Symantec to attacks emanating from the same group implicated in the Aurora hack and Hydraq trojan used against Google two years ago. This group has never ceased being active.
Good Technology targets BYOD security with Copiun acquisition
Enterprise mobility software vendor Good Technology is looking to bolster security for the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend with the acquisition of mobile security firm Copiun.
Cambodia targeted by hacktivists over Pirate Bay arrest
Arrrrrgh: Cambodia is finding itself under attack from hacktivists protesting the arrest of one of the founders of The Pirate Bay file-sharing website. Cambodian authorities apprehended Gottfrid Svartholm Warg last week.
‘Warbiking’ enters the security lexicon
While the term is not new, the growth of WiFi is making it increasingly viable and attractive. It is the search for insecure WiFi access points by bicycle – and Sophos has been doing it around the streets of London.
Bitfloor becomes the latest hacked Bitcoin exchange
Bitfloor, one of the world’s leading online Bitcoin-to-cash exchanges, has been hacked and taken offline. It follows two earlier hacks this year on the UK trading site Bitcoinica, and has been called the fifth biggest heist of virtual currency.
What the Anonymous attacks on MI5 and MI6 tell us
As Infosecurity reported yesterday, both the MI5 and MI6 websites were attacked by Anonymous in the name of OpFreeAssange. Both sites were down for about an hour, demonstrating that few sites can withstand a concerted DDoS attack.
DSW Shoe Warehouse awarded $8.6M in cyber-insurance payout
Time for a shopping spree? For the owners of the DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse it may be. It has been awarded $6.8 million in insurance coverage, according to a federal appellate court ruling, after a 2005 data breach that exposed transaction information from 1.4 million credit card transactions.
UK schools put kids' information at risk through faulty security policies
The safety of schoolchildren in the U.K. is at risk, according to a new study from the British Educational Research Association, which found that 48% of schools have no personal data policy implemented. That means that a range of exploitable information, including addresses, routes to school and fingerprints are easy game for hackers.
Hackers claim FBI is tracking iPhone users
Is the government spying on your latest Plants vs. Zombies session or watching what you post on Facebook via your smartphone? Some hackers say yes.
Armenian cyber-warriors target Azeri websites after Safarov pardon
A cyber-war of sorts has broken out between Armenian and Azeri hackers over the August 31 extradition and pardon of Azeri murderer Ramil Safarov.
Sony hacked by NullCrew; Anonymous attacks MI5 and MI6
NullCrew, a new hacking group that has been particularly active over the last couple of months, has hacked Sony mobile websites – adding to its rapidly growing list of victims (Cambridge University, Yale University, Cambodia Army, PMT Air and many more).
LulzSec Sony Pictures hackers were school chums
The two hackers from the nefarious cybercriminal group LulzSec arrested in conjunction with the Sony Pictures data breach have turned out to be college friends, sharing a history of cyber-research and seemingly well-meaning training in the arts of security intrusion and detection.
Guild Wars 2 and the hackers’ gold rush
Guild Wars 2 was launched a few days ago, and already users are finding themselves locked out of their accounts. The reasons are primarily twofold: a crackdown on unacceptable behavior and the rise of gold selling.
Apple bans ‘drone strike’ app
An iOS app developed to heighten awareness of the US drone war has been rejected by Apple for the third time – just three weeks after the Electronic Frontier Foundation warned that a proposed new US bill “would have broad consequences for press freedom and the public’s right to know.”
OpFreeAssange turns into a feeding frenzy in the UK
It was always to be expected that hacktivists would respond vigorously to the effective house arrest of Julian Assange within the Ecuador Embassy in London, and the UK’s apparent determination to extradite him to Sweden.
Spyware takes over iPhones, Androids
Call it Invasion of the iPhone Snatchers: a new FinFisher-based spyware is built to infect iPhones and iPads (and Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone gadgets too) in order to take over the device completely – all unbeknownst to the user.
UK data breaches skyrocket more than 1,000%
The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has discovered skyrocketing growth in the number of self-reported data breaches in the last five years, with staggering quadruple-digit figures in the mix. The average percentage increase across sectors since 2007 is 1,014%.
