Security

The chief executive officer and founder of prominent Russian security firm Kaspersky Lab says that the nations of the world now face cyber attacks with the potential to seriously disrupt national infrastructure. Kaspersky Lab CEO Eugene Kaspersky ... recently appeared before British police and politicians. Kaspersky's presence at the gathering is seen as evidence that UK authorities are taking the threat posed by cybercriminals very seriously. Cybercriminals Could Bring "Nations to their Knees" "Today, sophisticated malicious programs -- cyberweapons -- have the power to disable ... (view more)

A new report finds that phishers are increasingly targeting online gamers. The report, which was released this past week by the Anti Phishing Work Group, says that phishing attacks targeting gamers increased from 2.7 per cent in September 2012 to ... 14.7 per cent in December. Phishing involves luring targets into giving up important personal information, such as a name, address, password, and credit card number. Usually phishers use fake web forms accessed via bogus emails to get people to give up this critical data. Virtual Items Exchanged for Real-World Cash So, why target video gamers? ... (view more)

Spanish police have arrested a man on suspicion of masterminding one of the largest online attacks ever recorded. The suspect appears to be the chief of a controversial web hosting company who had begun a rivalry with the anti-spamming group hit by ... the attack. According to Dutch prosecutors the man arrested was a 35-year-old Netherlands resident with the initials 'S.K.' That appears to match Sven Kamphuis, a senior figure at Cyberbunker. (Source: om.nl ) Cyberbunker is a web hosting company known for having a particularly relaxed attitude to the online activities of its customers. That led to ... (view more)

Back in February 2013, Dom Del Torto's MacBook was stolen from his London, England, apartment. In an effort to get it back, in March Del Torto began using the tracking software he'd previously installed on the device. The results were shocking. ... Using the tracking program 'Hidden', Del Torto found that the laptop had in just one month's time travelled all the way from London to Tehran, Iran. Laptop Outside UK Police Jurisdiction Because the Hidden app allows a user to take pictures of the person using the device on which it's installed, Del Torto was able to see the laptop's new owners. He was ... (view more)

Most of us carry credit and debit cards equipped with a special chip that makes it faster and easier to buy an item. But new applications available for the latest smartphones could give scam artists an opportunity to make charges on your credit card ... account. The cards feature a chip that allows customers to tap or quickly swipe their cards in order to make a purchase. However, Near Field Communication (NFC) technology could place users of those cards at risk. That's because NFC applications, which can be downloaded to Google Android-based smartphones, can be used to acquire information about ... (view more)

Security researchers have discovered a new type of Trojan downloader capable of covering its tracks by deleting the files it downloads. That makes it harder for security experts to find and remove the downloader. The downloader, which is called ... Win32 / Nemim.gen!A, shows how malware writers are producing progressively more sophisticated tools. By deleting all of the files it downloads and uses, this Trojan makes it almost impossible to recover, isolate, and analyze component files. Sophisticated Malware Difficult to Confront According to Microsoft Malware Protection Center researcher Jonathan ... (view more)

Microsoft says that approximately one in four computers around the world are completely vulnerable to cyber attack. That finding is one part of Microsoft's newest Security Intelligence Report. According to the fourteenth volume of Microsoft's ... Security Intelligence Report, 24 per cent of all computers worldwide are not protected by up-to-date antivirus or anti-malware software. The problem with that, Microsoft says: "Computers without antivirus software are 5.5 times more likely to be infected." (Source: digitaltrends.com ) Microsoft's report also highlights the dangers posed to computers ... (view more)

According to a new study from Verizon, almost one in three of the world's cyber attacks originate in China. The study also revealed that Chinese attackers are more interested in cyberespionage than stealing money. The figures are part of Verizon's ... annual Data Breach Investigations Report. The report aims to bring together data from cybercrime experts from around the world. This year the data covers a total of 47,000 "security incidents," though the vast majority of these incidents appear to have been failed attacks. Only 621 cases are known to have involved an actual breach of security with ... (view more)

If you're an Android user, take note: security experts have discovered more than thirty applications on Google Play that contain malicious software known as BadNews. BadNews is just that: when installed on smartphones -- like Samsung's Galaxy phone ... or the LG Optimus -- the software racks up charges by repeatedly sending expensive text messages. BadNews is also very hard to detect: according to security experts, it can remain dormant on a device for weeks without affecting performance. Two to Nine Million Downloads So Far It's not clear how many apps containing the BadNews have been downloaded ... (view more)

LulzSec hacker Cody Kretsigner has been sentenced to one year in prison for his role in the hacking of Sony Pictures' website. Following the completion of his prison term, the 25-year-old Kretsigner faces a period of home detention. Kretsinger will ... also have to perform 1,000 hours of community service. LulzSec is affiliated with the better-known hacking (or 'hacktivist') organization Anonymous. In recent years the group has taken credit for attacks on organizations in both the private and public sectors. Kretsinger Stole, Shared Customer Data LulzSec member Kretsigner, who also goes by the ... (view more)