Security

The group behind a collection of 'premium' hacking tools is apparently charging hackers $10,000 a month for permission to use their product. The proceeds are helping fund rewards for anyone who shares information with the hackers about previously ... unknown software vulnerabilities. According to security firm Sophos, the 'premium' hacking kit is the work of a group called 'Paunch.' This is the same group that previously offered hackers a set of tools known as the Blackhole kit, which users could access only after paying a $1,500 per year rental fee. (Source: sophos.com ) The Blackhole kit was ( ... (view more)

Hacktivist group Anonymous is reportedly seeking approval from the United States government for its politically-motivated hacking activities. The shadowy organization recently submitted a petition to U.S. President Barack Obama seeking his 'thumbs ... up' for the group's future distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. Specifically, Anonymous wants President Obama to recognize DDoS attacks as a legal form of protest. Anonymous: Nothing Illegal About DDoS Anonymous claims that such attacks should not be considered illegal hacking. Instead, the group believes that kind of behavior should be ... (view more)

Internet users are now being warned about a new zero-day security vulnerability in Java software that could allow a hacker to gain unauthorized access to their computers. The vulnerability is related to a recently-discovered flaw in the popular Java ... software system, which is used all over the web to create a great many applications and associated plug-ins. Security experts say even fully-updated installations of Java are vulnerable to this new round of attacks. Only by completely disabling the Java browser plug-in can Internet users be sure their computers are safe from hackers attempting to ... (view more)

United States officials believe Iran is responsible for a string of recent cyber attacks on American banks. They say the sophistication of the attacks and the hacks' aim of disrupting services rather than stealing cash both suggest government rather ... than private activity. The attacks have been coming since September and have disrupted the online services of many U.S. banking institutions, including Bank of America, BB ... (view more)

Security researchers have recently claimed the leading antivirus products demonstrate just a 1-in-20 chance of detecting new malicious software. However, high-profile figures in the security industry have questioned the validity of this new ... research. The research was conducted by Imperva, a digital security firm based in California. It intentionally set out to collect samples of virus code. To make sure it was collecting new samples of brand new viruses, Imperva searched discussion forums for hackers offering tips on how to breach security defenses. After gathering 82 examples of malicious ... (view more)

'Hacktivist' group Anonymous is apparently waging a cyber war against the Westboro Baptist Church. The stated reason: Church members recently threatened to demonstrate their approval of the Sandy Hook, Connecticut, murders by attending the funerals ... of the victims. Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) is an independent religious organization based in Topeka, Kansas. Its members have previously been known to picket the funerals of soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq. God Hates Gays, Church Says The Church's doctrine states that soldiers' deaths overseas and the recent Sandy Hook killings are ... (view more)

Amazon has been hit by a simple but sneaky scam involving bogus "lost item" claims that could lead to difficulty for legitimate Amazon shoppers. The problem was highlighted by web development blogger Chris Cardinal, who received several mysterious ... emails from Amazon about an order for an expensive camera. (Source: htmlist.com ) At first Cardinal assumed the messages were part of a phishing scam, which involves tricking people into providing personal information, including log-in data and passwords. However, upon logging into his Amazon account he discovered the emails were genuine. ... (view more)

If you're an Android user, make sure you avoid clicking on any message that says you've just won a free video game or a $1,000 Target gift card. Failing to heed this advice could lead to your device becoming infected with a nasty Trojan virus. This ... new Trojan virus is spreading so rapidly, according to one report, that it has already been offered to Android users roughly 500,000 times. Problem Starts with Malicious SMS Texts Here's how the scam works: Owners of mobile devices running Google's Android operating system (OS) receive a Short Message Service (SMS) text inviting them to download a ... (view more)

The man who hacked into the email accounts of more than 50 Hollywood celebrities has now been sentenced to ten years behind bars. Christopher Chaney was arrested last year by the FBI after a lengthy investigation the agency dubbed "Operation ... Hackerazzi." Chaney was tried and found responsible for accessing and publishing explicit photographs of Scarlett Johansson, along with a number of other Hollywood stars. Johansson agreed to let officials publicize her name in order to draw attention to the case. Another actress and singer whose bare pictures were leaked by Chaney told the court the ... (view more)

Facebook has helped the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) track down the cybercriminals whose "botnet" is said to have caused losses worth more than $850 million. A total of 29 local FBI offices and departments worked on the case, along with a ... half dozen foreign police and crime agencies. Ten people have now been arrested in the United States, the United Kingdom, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, New Zealand, and Peru. (Source: fbi.gov ) Those accused of participating in the botnet scheme allegedly helped spread a worm virus called 'Yahos.' This virus reportedly self-replicated ... (view more)