Security

Details of more than 500,000 online bank accounts and credit and debit cards have reportedly been stolen by a virus described as "one of the most advanced pieces of crimeware ever created." (Source: bbc.co.uk ) The RSA Fraud Action Research Lab, ... part of EMC's security unit, discovered log-in information on more than 270,000 banking accounts and 240,000 credit and debit card accounts that had been compromised from hundreds of thousands of financial institution in countries including the U.S. the U.K., Australia and Poland by a cybercrime gang using the Sinowal Trojan, first detected in ... (view more)

Disgruntled Republicans may find some solace in recent news that Chinese and Russian hackers recently hacked the computer systems of president-elect Barack Obama -- unfortunately, they also infiltrated John McCain's system, too. The news appears ... much more serious than it sounds. These aren't your average basement-dwelling nogoodniks, but instead are reportedly sophisticated hackers that may even represent government elements in both China and Russia. The news stunned the Obama campaign. According to reports, the FBI and Secret Service recently visited the Democrats to tell them that their ... (view more)

No matter how protected we think our computers are, no matter how much money we invest in acquiring the latest antivirus software, hackers still find a way to target our computers. While computer viruses are almost as old as computers themselves, a ... new type of spam has surfaced that not only victimizes computers, but shames the good name of the innocent end-user. If you have experienced "undeliverable" email messages that bounce back into your inbox, or if you notice this happening in the near future, it may be the result of "backscatter". The latest rave in the field of spamming is the ... (view more)

Think a blog site could compromise national security? Well, the military feels that it's certainly a possibility. A recent report on the American Scientists web site by the 304th Military Intelligence Battalion believes Twitter has become a tool for ... a number of threatening groups. The American intelligence community clearly isn't tickled with Twitter. The 304th warn that the web site's combination of GPS (Global Positioning System) technologies, digital maps, and other mobile tools could help terrorists plan and execute attacks on U.S. targets. The military isn't just worried about terrorists ... (view more)

A new variation of a fake Microsoft security notification email is reportedly being circulated. Attackers appear to be taking advantage of Microsoft's Patch Tuesday to send legitimate looking emails claiming to be a security email from Microsoft ... with an executable file attached, which it claims is the latest security update. It encourages the recipient to run the attached executable so their computer will be safe. The email is different than previous versions as it claims to be signed by Steve Lipner, an actual Microsoft employee, and has what appears to be a PGP signature block attached to ... (view more)

In a stunning turn of events, hackers have broken into vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin's Yahoo email account, brazenly publishing several critical messages. The chaos isn't just limited to the Republican party, however; according to reports, ... the son of a prominent Democrat is under suspicion following an FBI raid. Serious questions are being raised this morning about the security of Palin's account, and whether the Alaskan senator should admit some responsibility for using Yahoo Mail for official business. The hacker, from a group calling itself Anonymous, published some of the stolen ... (view more)

Last fall, several communications companies reportedly conducted trials, in some cases lasting up to 6 months, of network-based technology designed to track a customer's Internet actions, attempting to amass refined data on web-surfer habits that ... may be sold at premium rates to advertisers. Cable One's 'trial' affected about 700,000 customers. Bresnan Communications conducted a similar 'trial' that was limited to about 6,000 broadband customers in Billings, Montana from April 1 to June 26, 2008. Knology tested it on about 230,000 of their customers from January until July 2008. WideOpenWest ... (view more)

Like covering your tracks online? Then you'll be happy to hear that Microsoft has recently announced a host of new privacy tools for Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) capable of better protecting users' privacy during and after their surfing. It's a major ... step for Microsoft, which has in the past been criticized for failing to improve IE's privacy settings. With a dominant market share over primary competitor Firefox (from Mozilla), it seemed the impetus for change simply wasn't there. Now that Firefox presents a greater challenge to Microsoft's browser dominance than ever before, the Redmond-based ... (view more)

It's one of the first rules of Internet 101: visiting questionable websites leads to viruses, which entices hackers to access your hard drive and monitor your every click. But can someone still be monitoring your web activity even if you're extra ... careful when selecting online destinations? The answer may just depend on which Internet provider you use. A few months ago, The U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce sent out an open letter to 33 companies inquiring about their online targeting practices, or in other words, the extent to which the web activity of their customers is being ... (view more)

The US government has changed its rules on carrying laptops through airport security checkpoints. Whereas passengers previously had to keep their laptops in clear display, they can now keep them packed away in approved bags. While there's no ... official register of which bags are suitable, most existing laptop bags will not make the grade. That's because the guiding principle now is that security agents should be able to lay the bag flat on the X-ray belt and get a clear view of the contents when they scan it. The guidelines follow tests of 40 manufacturer prototype bags for Transport Security ... (view more)