cybersecurity

New homeland security tool to detect Conficker worm

The US Department of Homeland Security released a tool on Monday to detect whether a computer is infected by the Conficker worm. The department, in a statement, said the detection tool for the Conficker worm, also known as DownAdUP, had been developed by the US Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT). "While tools have existed for individual users, this is the only free tool -- and the most comprehensive one -- available for enterprises like federal and state government and private sector networks to determine the extent to which their systems are infected by this worm," said US-CERT director Mischel Kwon. (AFP) ›
CyberATTACK

Wide Cyber Attack Is Linked to China

Security researchers said they have discovered software capable of stealing information installed on computers in 103 countries from a network that targeted government agencies. The software infected more than 1,200 computers, almost 30% of which were considered high-value targets, according to a report published Sunday by Information Warfare Monitor, a Toronto-based orga ›
CyberSECURITY

Creation of White House cybersecurity office remains uncertain

It's unclear whether a report being prepared for the President on federal information security preparedness will support recent calls for the creation of a new cybersecurity office within the White House, two lawmakers said today. Instead, the report may recommend a more collaborative and cooperative strategy between federal agencies on the issue of cyber ›
CyberATTACK

Hackers Deface Aussie Censorship Board's Website

Australia's official online censorship board's web page was offline Thursday, hours after hackers hijacked it to protest revelations the government was going to require ISPs to block public access to thousands of websites, many of which aren't obscene. Anonymous hackers defaced the Censorship Board's homepage -- classification.gov.au -- and restated the boa ›
CyberWAR

The Fourth Front: Russia’s Cyber-attack on Georgia

“Last summer, Russia invaded Georgia on four fronts,” Georgian National Security Council Secretary Eka Tkeshelashvili told a recent Washington conference. “Three of them were conventional—on the ground, through the air and by the sea. The fourth was new—their attacks via cyberspace.” The era of cyber-warfare has begun. “When a tank crosses our ›
CyberSECURITY

Firefox fix due next week after attack is published

Online attack code has been released targeting a critical, unpatched flaw in the Firefox browser. The attack code, written by security researcher Guido Landi was published on several security sites Wednesday, sending Firefox developers scrambling to patch the issue. Until the flaw is patched, this code could be modified by attackers and used to sneak unauth ›
CyberSECURITY

Senator asks DHS for cybersecurity documents

The top Republican on the Senate Homeland Security Committee is requesting detailed information, including financial figures, from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to explain why the department has been seemingly unable to fulfill its cybersecurity responsibilities. (CNet) ›
CyberTHREATS

Will Conficker Botnet Trigger 'Unthinkable Disaster'?

The 12-million-computer strong Conficker botnet will fall under human control on April 1, leading some to speculate feverishly about what horror awaits an unsuspecting internet on what may be our last April Fools' Day ever. Will Conficker become an evil twin to Google that lets criminals easily search for the valuable secrets of people running unpatched, pi ›
CyberTHREATS

Fleury: Insider threat is the 'weakest link'

Things have changed quite a bit since the early days of Lynda Fleury's career. She remembers when the IBM 8086 running MS-DOS was hot technology. Fleury, who has almost three decades of experience in information security, was recently named a Compass Award winner by CSO. The chief information security officer of Chattanooga, Tenn.-based insurance company Unu ›
CyberCRIME

Hacker pulls KD 45,000

Police are looking for an Internet pirate who reportedly hacked the account of an unidentified Kuwaiti man and withdrew KD 45,000, reports Al-Qabas daily. The Kuwaiti has filed a complaint with the Jahra Police Station. However, police investigations revealed the hacker used a computer from the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) and the theft was committed in ›
CyberSECURITY

Smart Grid Lacks Smart Security

Smart grid technology, which aims to make the nation's power grid more efficient and interactive, may not be the bright idea its backers suggest unless it can be made more secure. Without some thought given to security as Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) Smart Meter devices are developed and deployed, we risk repeating the same dumb mistakes that leave networked com ›
CyberTHREATS

Site Hacks, Fake Security Rakes in Serious Cash

Here's a recipe for illicit online riches: 1. Hack a Web site to insert pages full of keywords to popular terms. 2. Redirect the millions of people who click on the search result links to the fake pages to a site selling rogue antivirus software. 3. Sit back and collect affiliate fees from the rogue software seller, to the tune of up to $10,000 a day. Web ›
CyberCRIME

'The Analyzer' Hack Probe Widens; $10 Million Allegedly Stolen From U.S. Banks

Ehud Tenenbaum, an Israeli hacker arrested in Canada last year for allegedly stealing about $1.5 million from Canadian banks, also allegedly hacked two U.S. banks, a credit and debit card distribution company and a payment processor in what U.S. authorities are calling a global "cashout" conspiracy. The U.S. hack ›