Security

Mobile Industry Castigated for Limp Response to Cellphone Theft
May 03, 2013

The mobile industry isn't doing enough to prevent cellphone theft or to help its victims, critics allege. Theft of mobile devices is on the rise. In some cities, notably Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, it represents a significant portion of all robberies. Device manufacturers could offer tech solutions to help quickly trace devices or disable them once they are reported stolen.

Facebook's New Security Feature Puts Friends First
May 03, 2013

Have you forgotten or lost your Facebook password? Relax. You can now turn to friends for help. Facebook on Thursday rolled out Trusted Contacts account recovery, a feature it has tested with a limited number of people as the Trusted Friends capability since 2011. Users can select three to five trusted contacts from their security settings at any time.

ESEA Users' Systems Plundered in Bitcoin Mining Scam
May 02, 2013

The E-Sports Entertainment Association on Wednesday admitted that users' graphic cards had been hijacked to mine Bitcoin virtual currency. The mining was surreptitiously set in motion by a rogue employee without the knowledge of other ESEA staff or users of the network. ESEA is known for anti-cheat software and systems that allow players to compete in online matches.

The Real Mozilla Stands Up to Firefox-Cloaked Spyware
May 02, 2013

Mozilla, the creator of the Firefox browser, has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Gamma International, a German company that sells spyware to governments and law enforcement agencies. The move was a reaction to the news that a booby-trapped Microsoft Word document -- sent out for upcoming Malaysian elections -- embeds a copy of Gamma's FinSpy spyware that masquerades as a Firefox executable.

Airbnb Declares No Vacancies for Anonymity
May 01, 2013

Authentication requirements for some travelers looking for shared accommodations around the world will be getting a little tougher. Airbnb -- which allows people to list, discover and book unique accommodations through a sharing model -- announced Tuesday that it will be asking for more personal information from U.S. consumers who want to use its services.

Big IT Firms Apply Talents to Fed Cybersecurity Research
April 30, 2013

Protecting Internet information has become a costly enterprise, with worldwide spending on security estimated at $60 billion in 2012. That figure will grow to $86 billion by 2016, according to a Gartner study. To help ensure that those investments are being spent wisely -- and to keep technology a step ahead of threats -- 11 major companies have joined a program designed to research data security.

Millions of Livingsocial Users Now Prime Phishing Targets
April 29, 2013

LivingSocial's customers received some bad news on Friday: The popular daily deal site had been hacked, compromising some 50 million members' customer data. There was some good news -- credit card data was not affected, the company promised in its notice to customers. Also, the Facebook credentials of users who connected to LivingSocial using Facebook Connect were not compromised.

Report: Criminals Put a Bull's-eye on Web Infrastructure
April 29, 2013

Cybercriminals have begun focusing their malicious endeavors on the sinew of the Internet to reap greater rewards. For months now, Net bandits have targeted key infrastructure elements -- from the domain-naming service to certificate-issuing authorities to hosting services -- in order to spread cash-producing malware. "They're going after the infrastructure of the Internet," said Dave Jevans, chairman of Marble Security.

The Future Is Now With AT&T's New Home Automation Tech
April 26, 2013

AT&T has introduced Digital Life, a home security and automation system that realizes a goal the company set more than a decade ago of creating tools that would allow people to manage lights and security systems remotely. Digital Life will allow homeowners to control appliances, lock and unlock doors, and monitor their homes remotely using a number of mobile apps.

Aussie Police Nab Possible Lulzsec Ringleader
April 24, 2013

Police in Australia have arrested a 24-year-old who claims to be a high-level member of the international hacking collective Lulzsec. The IT worker was charged with two counts of unauthorized modification of data and one count of unauthorized access to/modification of restricted data. In other words, he attacked and defaced a government website.

Report: State-Sponsored Cyberattacks Heat Up in 2012
April 23, 2013

State-sponsored cyberespionage incidents tripled over last year, according the 2013 Verizon Data Breach Report. 96 percent of those attacks were attributable to East Asia. Verizon's study, which analyzed 47,000 security incidents, expanded its contributors this year to 19, including a wider range of worldwide law enforcement agencies. Three key types of cyberattackers were identified in the report.

Fed Budget Makes Room for Cloud, Cybersecurity Upgrades
April 23, 2013

From partial unpaid furloughs of personnel to travel cutbacks, U.S. government agencies are scrounging to come up with ways to save money. In that light, the Obama Administration's proposed 2014 federal budget for information technology resources is good news for agency IT shops -- and for vendors serving the market. The administration has proposed spending $82 billion for information technology in fiscal 2014.

Social Sharing May Be Eroding Office Security
April 22, 2013

It's no secret that security experts don't have a lot of love for social media. Information freely available at social media sites makes it easier for net marauders to fashion targeted attacks on organizations. However, social media may be undermining data security in a more profound way. Much has been made of the growing willingness of people to cough up personal information about themselves.

Transforming an Enterprise From Sluggish to Sleek
April 22, 2013

When it comes to the enterprise, thin is in -- as in slimming down business processes and reducing the level of complexity that comes with running organizations in the 21st century. That goal would be challenging enough without the arrival of trends like Big Data and mobility. There are also the continuing struggles to secure company data, manage risk and meet compliance deadlines.

The Hidden Risks of Mobile CRM, Part 2
April 19, 2013

Mobile marketing may just be in its infancy, but it already has ushered in a world of new risks -- or rather, existing risks that have been repackaged. They range from running afoul of still-developing regulations to security concerns, to consumers misinterpreting content. As people connect with the Internet through multiple access points, keeping a marketing message consistent is becoming more essential.

Feds Sue to Pry Crammed Charges From Cellphones
April 18, 2013

The Federal Trade Commission filed a suit against Wise Media this week, accusing the company of slipping unauthorized charges into consumer cellphone bills. Wise Media allegedly charged cellphone users fees for services to which they'd never subscribed, a practice referred to as "cramming." The company used short codes, which have legitimate purposes within the mobile landscape.

CISPA on Collision Course With Obama Veto
April 18, 2013

The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, which faces a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday, may end up vetoed by President Obama. CISPA encourages private companies to share security information among themselves and with the government. The House Rules Committee on Tuesday rejected a bipartisan amendment that would have addressed user privacy.

DDoS Attacks Hammering Targets Harder
April 17, 2013

The number, size and impact of distributed denial of service attacks increased sharply in the first quarter of this year, according to a new report from Prolexic. The average attack bandwidth in this period was 48.25 Gbps, 718 percent more than the 5.9 Gbps chalked up by attacks in the previous quarter. The average packet-per-second rate hit 32.4 million, and the average duration of an attack increased 7.14 percent.

Google Takes Another Step Toward Omniscience
April 16, 2013

Google has engaged the Behavio team in a "hiring exercise." The startup uses mobile sensors to collect data and predict behavior. Its technology recognizes data such as location, contacts, nearby destinations, recent phone activity, daily movement, and surrounding physical information. Data can be analyzed to let consumers know anything from whether their morning coffee stop is unusually crowded to which traffic routes are clear.

Lame U/P Combos Make WordPress Irresistible to Hackers
April 16, 2013

An attack of unprecedented proportions has been hitting sites using WordPress, a free and open source blogging tool and content management system that powers more than 60 million websites worldwide. It appears the hackers are trying to take over WordPress servers to give them added muscle for future attacks. Poor choice of passwords and inadequate server security are making their task easier.