Infosecurity News
£10 000 bounty placed on DDoS hackers
Overclockers.co.uk (OCUK), an online computer hardware reseller firm, have announced they are placing a bounty of £10 000 on the heads of hackers behind a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack on their web site earlier in the month.
Update: Lifeline for McKinnon
According to his lawyer, Karen Todner, Gary McKinnon, who may be facing extradition after confessing to hacking into US military computers, was told yesterday that the UK High Court would delay his hearing until the director for public prosecutions had considered the case following McKinnon's diagnosis with Asperger's syndrome; a procedure which is expected to take four weeks.
Government aligns with IISP
The UK government’s Infosec Training Paths and Competencies (ITPC) scheme is to transfer to the Institute of Information Security Professionals (IISP) with effect from 1 April 2009.
New Botnets on the Prowl
Two new botnets have emerged in the past few weeks, and at least one shows signs of being an upgrade to a previous botnet that wreaked havoc in the wild.
Privacy Groups Sue FBI for Activist Raid
The Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California are suing the FBI over computer searches conducted at two activist organizations' offices.
One in Four Stalking Victims Targeted Online
Approximately one quarter of stalking or harassment cases in the US include an element of cyberstalking, according to a report from the Bureau of Justice statistics this week.
Hamas, Israel Conflict goes Cyber
The ongoing battle between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza strip is creating a widening online cyber-conflict, according to reports last week. US Government web sites are the latest among hundreds that have reportedly been defaced by activists protesting the war.
Downadup Worm Continues to Spread
More evidence has appeared of the spread of a network work based on the RPC vulnerability that was found in Microsoft Windows in October. The network worm Downadup has failed to gain much traction on the open internet, according to anti-virus firm F-Secure, but is getting into corporate networks on a consistent basis.
Proof of Concept Attack Further Discredits MD5
Researchers put the final nail in the coffin of the MD5 encryption algorithm this week after using 200 PS3 consoles to fake a real-world SSL certificate.
'Drop zones' hold treasure trove of stolen goods
Millions of dollars-worth of stolen financial information harvested from nearly 200,000 computers is likely to be just the tip of the iceberg, according to a report from researchers at the University of Mannheim, Germany. The information was detected by the security team as part of an automated data analysis project designed to determine the size of the underground economy.
WPA Cracked
A newly-discovered vulnerability in a common wireless network encryption standard is a timely warning to business to upgrade to the latest encryption version, say security experts.
Russian Fake Antivirus Software Firm Rakes in $5 Million
A Russian firm at the heart of fake anti-virus software, which allegedly generates false virus and malware alerts when the package is loaded, has boasted of making $5 million a year.
Airline E-ticket Scam Infects Tens of Thousands of Users
As the holiday season approaches, millions of Americans are making their travel preparations, so it's hardly surprising that a large number have `clicked through' on an email that purports to be an airline e-ticket and boarding pass.
Information Security awards recognise honour excellence, leadership, and vision
Executive Alliance, provider of premium leadership recognition forums worldwide, has announced the winners of the Information Security Executive (ISE) and Project of the Year United Kingdom and Ireland Awards for 2008.
German Firm Develops World's First "Trojan-proof" Password System
Global IP Communications claims to have developed the world's first Trojan-proof password dialog system for Windows PCs.
Countrywide Home Loans Loses Data on Two Million
A rogue employee has been blamed for one of the largest data thefts in the United States in recent times, affecting as many as two million- plus customers of Countrywide home loans.
Breakthrough security Firefox plug-in stops man-in-the-middle attacks
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have released a security plug-in for Firefox 3 that can detect – and block – access to a Web site that has problems with its security certificate.
Ex-Countrywide Employee Arrested over Massive Info Theft
The FBI has arrested a former Countrywide Financial Corp. employee and another man in an alleged scheme to steal and sell the sensitive personal information, including Social Security numbers, of as many as two million mortgage applicants, the Los Angeles Times has reported.
“Spam Kings”: One Jailed; One Escapes and Kills Family
This week the media spotlight was turned towards “spam kings.” One was sent to jail while another escaped from his minimum security prison before killing his family and himself.
Angry Employee Disables San Francisco Network
A disgruntled San Francisco computer engineer is still in jail five days after blocking access to the city’s system to everyone except himself. On Thursday he pleaded not guilty today to four counts of computer tampering and remains behind bars on $5 million bail.
