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100 Million Systems Vulnerable to Java Flaw January 14, 2013 
A zero-day flaw in Oracle's Java programming language could make as many as 100 million computers connected to the Internet vulnerable to attack by cybercriminals. The threat posed by the Java vulnerability was considered so serious that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security urged computer users to turn off Java on their machines.
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Bogus Google Certificate Exposes Broader Problem January 07, 2013 
Google spotted an impostor certificate on Christmas Eve and took quick action, but the event is calling into question the reliability of Secure Socket Layer security. Turktrust, a Turkish Web certificate authority, acknowledged it gave two entities the power to create certificates when it shouldn't have.
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After the Breach: Culture of Honesty Restores Confidence November 05, 2012 
The culture of security -- and the openness and responsiveness that make security systems work properly -- can have a huge beneficial impact on organizations. This is illustrated by the example of Heartland Payment Systems, which moved rapidly after allowing a massive security breach.
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Big US Banks Under Active Attack, Napolitano Warns November 01, 2012 
Hackers are actively attacking some of the largest banks in the nation, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano warned this week. Napolitano declined to go into detail about the types of breaches or what kind of information -- if any -- had been taken. She brought up her concern about attacks on U.S. financial institutions at a cybersecurity event.
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Russian Hacker Gets a Taste of His Own Malware October 31, 2012 
After a persistent series of attacks on its government computers by a Russian hacker, the Republic of Georgia got mad and refused to take it anymore. In a reversal of roles, members of the country's Computer Emergency Response Team suckered the cybermiscreant into downloading a file infected with his own spyware that allowed CERT to photograph the alleged hacker with his computer's webcam and ransack its hard drive for files.
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Legacy Applications a Threat to Windows 8 Security October 29, 2012 
Windows 8 finally made it to prime time last week. This version of Microsoft's operating system makes significant improvements in its security stance, said Alex Balan, a senior product manager at Bitdefender, but some of them are likely to be undermined by users wedded to old programs. The way the Windows 8 user interface handles applications is a significant security improvement.
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Hacking by the Books: Barnes & Noble PIN Pads Bugged October 27, 2012 
Barnes & Noble revealed this week that PIN pad devices at 63 of its stores nationwide were hacked, putting some of its customers at risk. The company discovered the hacking in September, and for the past month, the FBI has been investigating the case. Fewer than 1 percent of Barnes & Noble PIN pads reportedly were affected, but those who were could have had important data stolen.
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Icelanders Give Crowdsourced Constitution Warm Reception October 23, 2012 
Voters in Iceland have responded favorably to the government's offer to let them participate in drafting the nation's new constitution. The idea to let citizens chime in online, namely via Facebook and Twitter, was hatched by 25 people on the Constitutional Council, which was tasked with devising a new constitution.
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Open Source Ammo for the SMB Security Arsenal October 20, 2012 
Technology professionals who work in and around SMBs know that sometimes bringing up information security in a smaller IT shop can be a tough sell. In many cases, SMBs feel that they don't present an attractive or large enough target for hackers to be interested in them.
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Report: SMBs Overconfident on Cybersecurity October 18, 2012 
Small businesses in the United States are generally confident about their cybersecurity status, but they're wrong, according to a survey of 1,015 companies conducted for the National Cyber Security Alliance and Symantec. Apparently, SMBs aren't doing enough to keep their businesses safe and secure.
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MiniFlame Drops Cyberbombs on High-Value Targets October 17, 2012 
Security researchers have identified a new offshoot of the notorious Flame espionage malware. The malware, called "miniFlame," creates a backdoor in the systems that it infects. That backdoor can then be used by an attacker to gain access an infected machine. The attacker can then write files to the compromised computer, snatch files from it or snap screenshots of its display.
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Stopping the PhD Cybercriminal October 15, 2012 
The concept of intelligent containment of risk is an important approach to overall IT security. In today's environment, rapid and proactive containment of problems and breaches -- in addition to just trying to keep the bad guys out of your systems -- makes sense. To find out what other approaches to data security are gaining traction, listen to today's podcast featuring Kaivan Rahbari, senior vice president of risk management at FIS Global.
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Panetta Rattles Cybersword October 12, 2012 
In a wide-ranging speech on cybersecurity, U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta on Thursday warned about a cyber Pearl Harbor, indicated the Department of Defense would respond in such a situation, called for greater public-private cooperation in cybersecurity, and talked about the need for a presidential executive order on cybersecurity.
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Big Businesses Walloped With Climbing Cybercrime Costs October 08, 2012 
Cybercrime costs continued to climb in 2012 according to a report released Monday by the
Ponemon Institute. The study of 56 large organizations showed that the average annualized cost of cybercrime for the businesses was $8.9 million a year compared to $8.4 million a year ago. Losses for the firms ranged from one $1.4 million to $46 million. Cyberattacks have become common occurrences, said the study.
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FTC Slams Door on Tech Support Scammers October 03, 2012 
The Federal Trade Commission has put a stop to a handful of tech-support scams based mainly in India that promised to remove viruses or other malware from users' computers. The scams primarily involved telemarketers contacting people in the United States and other English-speaking countries, falsely telling them that their computers were infected with malware and offering costly solutions to the nonexistent problems.
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Apple Starts iPad Mini Production on the Sly October 03, 2012 
Apple's Asian component suppliers reportedly have begun mass-producing parts for a new tablet, which is believed to be smaller, and with a lower resolution, than the latest iPad that went on sale last March. Last month, South Korean LG Display and Taiwanese AU Optronics reportedly began mass-producing LCD screens to be used on the new devices
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Federal Grants Wed Public-Private Cybersecurity Efforts October 02, 2012 
The debate in the U.S. Congress over a comprehensive national cybersecurity program is wearing on, largely because of differences over the roles of government and business in protecting information technology. Elsewhere, however, cybersecurity awareness and research projects are being launched through cooperative efforts.
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Report: The Internet Is a Language Killer September 27, 2012 
A number of European languages could eventually vanish from the Internet, suggests a new study conducted by European nonprofit META-NET. Languages such as Icelandic, Latvian and Lithuanian don't have enough speakers to gain traction as popular languages on the Web. The report goes so far as to say that German, Italian, Spanish and French could be at risk, too.
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Cheat Fresh: Romanian Pair Cop to Subway Credit Card Hack September 20, 2012 
Two Romanian men, ages 27 and 28, have pleaded guilty to a multimillion-dollar hacking scheme targeted at Subway restaurants. The two men, arrested last December, were part of what is believed to be a four-person group that stole information from an estimated 146,000 payment cards belonging to Subway customers.
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Taliban Spies Posing as Facebook Hotties September 10, 2012 
Taliban insurgents are using photos of "attractive women" on Facebook to gather intelligence from coalition soldiers, according to The Daily Telegraph's Australia page. The threat is such that Australian soldiers are being given pre-deployment briefings about Taliban using social media to dupe the opposition.
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