Tag archive: cybersecurity

Chinese hackers broke into the system of the US Chamber of Commerce, gaining them access to “everything” on its network, reports the Wall Street Journal. This includes personal information about the Chamber's more than 3 million members. It is not clear how much data was compromised in the breach, which was discovered by the FBI in May of last year, and shut down. The hackers may have had access to the Chamber's network… Read More

Twitter has purchased cybersecurity firm Whisper Systems, which is best known for its antivirus software for Google's Android mobile operating system. News of the purchase comes via the Whisper Systems blog. Whisper Systems' statement reads: We started Whisper Systems with the goal of improving security and privacy for mobile devices. We were attracted to this not only because we saw it as an opportunity to reinvent the security… Read More

Well if you weren’t already nervous about the dangers of sharing your information online, Take This Lollipop will make sure you are. The Facebook application pulls various pieces of your information and throws them into a short film where a very terrifying and very sweaty cyber stalker is pouring through your profile and plotting your potential death. If you have a Facebook profile, you’re well aware that there’s a possibility someone has… Read More

Anonymous' campaign against the FBI has shown no sign of relenting, despite the climbing number of global hacker arrests. A group claiming they're Anonymous is saying they've stolen documents from a big U.S. cybersecurity contractor connected to the FBI, as well as many other government agencies. As promised via tweet early Friday morning, Anonymous released seized documents from defense contractor ManTech international. The… Read More

On Friday, social networking giant Facebook announced a program that pays people to find holes in its security system. Compensation will start at $500 and so far, no financial ceiling has been set. Obviously you must be the first person to report a specific bug; no bounties for an error are given out twice. Facebook notes that some who submitted security errors in the past — who received little compensation other than maybe a t-shirt — were… Read More

The US Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) isn’t looking quite so ready at the moment as its director has just quit. US-CERT, part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is charged with the task of protecting US government agencies and networks from cyberattacks. According to an Information Week report on Monday, the former DHS official, Randy Vickers, left his post at the end of last week. He'd been in the position since… Read More

Deputy defense secretary William J. Lynn revealed in a speech on Thursday that the security systems of a defense contractor were breached by hackers back in March, resulting in the loss of 24,000 military files. The hackers are believed to be based outside of the US, though no specific information as to their whereabouts was given. According to a Huffington Post report, the cyberattack is one of the Pentagon’s biggest ever security breaches.… Read More

Ninety percent of businesses have been hacked in the past year, according to a survey (PDF) of 583 US companies sponsored by  Juniper Networks. A full 59 percent of the IT professionals interviewed for the survey reported that they had been hacked two or more times, with 9 percent saying that they had endured at least five network intrusions in the past 12 months. While more than two thirds of respondents said they were confident in their… Read More

In celebration of its 1000th tweet, the merry hacksters of Lulz Security issued a manifesto Friday that gives an inside look at the guiding philosophy behind their recent campaign of cyberattacks, and explains why the group isn't really as nefarious as their identity-theft exploits suggest. “For the past month and a bit, we’ve been causing mayhem and chaos throughout the Internet, attacking several targets including PBS, Sony, Fox,… Read More

White House officials were among those targeted by a recent phishing attack regarding Google's Gmail service, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The report cited an unnamed US official as its source. Google believes that hackers attempted to trick hundreds of users of its popular web-based e-mail service into giving away their passwords. Military personnel, journalists, and Chinese human rights activists are all thought to… Read More

A spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry, Hong Lei, has strongly denied that the Chinese government had any role in the latest round of cyberattacks against Google services in China. Speaking with reporters, Hong indicated hacking and security breaches are a global problem and China was a key player in worldwide efforts to combat backers and online criminals. “Allegations that the Chinese government supports hacking activities… Read More

Noticed an increase in sleazy posts by your Facebook friends? A new report reveals their lewd natures aren’t entirely to blame. According to AVG Technologies, Facebook users have been subjected to a huge increase in PUS (potentially unwanted sites) over the last 12 months. “These sites typically lure victims by pretending to offer ‘seedy’ or perhaps morbid video with titles such as ‘OMG, you won’t believe what this teen did on camera’ or ‘OMG,… Read More

If you bank, shop or book hotels online, it’s likely you were one of the many who received an e-mail this morning warning you of a security breach. After a hack involving marketing provider Epsilon, major companies like Chase, Barclays Bank, US Bancorp, Marriott, Ritz Carlton, Best Buy, LL Bean, Home Shopping Network, and TiVo have all released statements asking customers and subscribers to be wary of possible phishing schemes on the horizon.… Read More

It’s understandable: You put it off as long as possible, dread it all year, and when it’s finally time to confront it, you just want to get it over with as soon as possible. Taxes are the worst, but that doesn’t mean you can’t file them. Sure, you could pay for a personal accountant that will charge you an arm and a leg for your time, or shell out for this year’s edition of tax software – or, you could do them online. The benefits? You save… Read More

Pwn2Own 2011 may be coming to a close, but not before the annual hackathon exposed Safari and IE8 as the most vulnerable browsers of the lot. Cybersecurity experts and IT hobbyists alike have spent the last few days trying to find and expose gaping holes in familiar browsers, including Firefox, Chrome, and of course Safari and Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer hasn’t fared well in pasts tests, and didn’t this time either. However, Microsoft… Read More