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« Previous EntriesHackers poised for Black Friday assault
Wednesday, November 21st, 2007Hackers poised for Black Friday assault
You know retailers are ready for Black Friday — but so are hackers poised to launch a slew of Web-based attacks against consumers. Your money and personal information could be at risk.
"The holiday season in general is a huge time for hackers … [and] Black Friday is typically the start," says Paul Henry, vice president of strategic accounts for Secure Computing. "This year, my biggest concern for consumers is all the Web-borne malware out there."
ComputerWorld, November 21, 2007 03:37 GMT+01
Experts: Privacy and security officers living in silos
Tuesday, November 20th, 2007Experts: Privacy and security officers living in silos
In the past, a company’s privacy and security officers worked within their own confined orbits, oblivious to the common risks each department faced. But with corporate data breaches compromising nearly 216 million private records, the two sides can no longer afford to ignore each other.
It’s possible TJX could have achieved better PCI compliance had the privacy and security teams been working more closely together. But even if that wouldn’t have made the difference, experts at the (ISC)2 event said better communication between both camps could have meant a better data breach response.
SearchSecurity, November 21, 2007 03:26 GMT+01
Swatters tricked AT&T while making fake 911 calls
Tuesday, November 20th, 2007Swatters tricked AT&T while making fake 911 calls
A Cleveland, Ohio man has pled guilty to participating in a scheme that involved using AT&T employee passwords and identities to place false 911 calls to emergency dispatch centers.
Stuart Rosoff is facing as much as five years in prison and a $250,000 fine after pleading guilty to charges of harassing people by tricking 911 operators into dispatching police SWAT (Special Weapons And Tactics) teams to the homes of their unsuspecting victims.
ComputerWorld, November 21, 2007 02:47 GMT+01
Darling admits 25m records lost
Tuesday, November 20th, 2007Darling admits 25m records lost
Two computer discs holding the personal details of all families in the UK with a child under 16 have gone missing.
The Child Benefit data on them include name, address, date of birth, National Insurance number and, where relevant, bank details of 25m people.
Chancellor Alistair Darling said there was no evidence the data had fallen into criminal hands - but urged people to monitor their bank accounts.
BBC, November 21, 2007 01:35 GMT+01
US Senate passes ground-breaking identity theft legislation
Tuesday, November 20th, 2007US Senate passes ground-breaking identity theft legislation
The US Senate has passed a new Bill that will allow victims of online ID theft cases to automatically seek compensation against the criminals concerned, without having to go to the civil courts. Experts say that the new Bill redresses the balance in favour of victims of ID theft, since it will effectively allow the criminal courts in the US to award damages to the victim.
Newswire reports say that the Senate passed the Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act unanimously late last week.
ITPro Portal, November 20, 2007 23:57 GMT+01
Microsoft delays hardware developer conference
Tuesday, November 20th, 2007Microsoft delays hardware developer conference
Microsoft plans to delay its Windows Hardware Engineering Conference, its annual strategy session with hardware partners, by roughly six months.
WinHEC will be moved from the spring to the fall of 2008 and will be held in an as-yet undisclosed location on the West Coast, according to an announcement on the WinHEC website.
CRN, November 20, 2007 23:29 GMT+01
The computer helper: Figuring out firewalls - Feature
Tuesday, November 20th, 2007The computer helper: Figuring out firewalls - Feature
If you use a computer, you have heard of firewalls. After all, there’s a firewall delivered in recent versions of Windows, and you may also have one in your high-speed modem. There are even free firewalls online, as well as ones that you can buy. Despite their ubiquity, however, a lot of folks are confused about what firewalls are and what they actually do.
Read on to find out:
Q: I hear the term "firewall" used all the time. What is a firewall, and why do I need one?
Earthtimes, November 20, 2007 23:29 GMT+01
Hackers Abuse Domain-Name Trust
Tuesday, November 20th, 2007Hackers Abuse Domain-Name Trust
Using variations on trusted, popular domains has long been a common tactic for scammers, spammers and porn sites. But cyber criminals have devised a new twist on the misspelled domain-name trick by hijacking IP addresses. And they tried it on Yahoo.
To fix the old problem, server-based security products would trace the IP address of the server behind the domain. Once the IP address resolved the misspelled domain name, the products would then compare the IP address against a database of known fraudulent sites or questionable locations. So if a site were masquerading as eBay but the filters found it was really a server in China that had only been established one week earlier, it would block access.
InternetNews, November 20, 2007 23:21 GMT+01
‘Vishing’ is newest card scam
Tuesday, November 20th, 2007‘Vishing’ is newest card scam
"Please notice that your VISA card is now disabled and you will not be able to use it. … This is a security measure made by your bank. …"
That’s the kind of e-mail message that gets your attention. And some of those who recently received it probably did just as instructed and called the provided toll-free number to re-activate their credit cards. The problem is their cards were never de-activated in the first place. And if they called in and keyed in their card numbers, they opened their accounts up to a world of criminals.
cincypost, November 20, 2007 23:18 GMT+01
FBI investigates Swedish hacker
Tuesday, November 20th, 2007FBI investigates Swedish hacker
A 19-year-old man from Uppsala was found guilty on Monday of having gained unauthorized access to the computer networks of several Swedish universities and colleges. The teenager is now being investigated by the FBI, who suspect him of hacking American network giant Cisco.
The man was just 16 when he hacked his way in to what police described as "pretty much every college in Sweden". Svea Court of Appeal gave him a suspended sentence and ordered him to pay total damages of 181,467 kronor ($28,100) to several of the colleges and universities.
The Local, November 20, 2007 23:10 GMT+01
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