cybersecurity

Conficker botnet 'could take Australia offline'

THE Conficker worm has become so powerful that it could be used to take a country like Australia off the grid, a security expert says. Kaspersky Lab chief Eugene Kaspersky said the worm, also known as Downadup or Kido, could have infected as many as 10 million computers since it began spreading late last year. "It's a very dangerous weapon – it's an army," Mr Kaspersky said. With so many infected computers at their disposal, the worm's creators could attack and overwhelm key servers to take an entire country off the grid. (News.com.au) ›
CyberSECURITY

Cyberthieves steal millions from US banks-FBI

U.S. banks have lost hundreds of millions of dollars to cyberthieves who have electronically broken into ATMs and forged electronic transfers, a top FBI agent said on Tuesday. "Particularly in the last couple of years, the threats have spiked," said Shawn Henry, the agency's assistant director of its cyber division. "Attacks on our financial sector are sig ›
CyberSECURITY

Israeli intelligence issues Facebook warning

Israel's internal intelligence service urged the public Monday to exercise caution when using Facebook, saying Arabs are trying to recruit spies on the popular social networking site. The Shin Bet security agency warned Israelis against answering unsolicited messages or sharing telephone numbers and other sensitive information over the Internet. It said th ›
CyberSECURITY

IIS 6 attack could let hackers snoop on servers

Security vendors are warning users of Microsoft's Internet Information Services 6 Web-server software that a new online attack could put their data at risk. The flaw was made public Thursday, when security researcher Nikolaos Rangos posted details of the vulnerability to the Full Disclosure security mailing list. By sending a specially crafted HTTP request ›
CyberSECURITY

Homeland Security chief: Cyber defense a priority

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says her department will emphasize cyber security because it's an area that's "ripe for attack by different sources." (NBC) ›
CyberATTACK

Information-sharing platform hacked

The Homeland Security Department’s platform for sharing sensitive but unclassified data with state and local authorities was hacked recently, a DHS official has confirmed. The intrusion into the Homeland Security Information Network (HSIN) was confirmed to Federal Computer Week by Harry McDavid, the chief information officer for DHS’ Office of Operations Coordination ›
CyberWAR

General: We Just Might Nuke Those Cyber Attackers

How would the American military respond to an attack on its networks? If we take the commander of U.S. strategic forces at his word, they’d nuke those hackers, if need be. Speaking to reporters at a press breakfast last week, Gen. Kevin Chilton, the head of U.S. Strategic Command, said the president retained the option to retaliate with military force in ›
CyberSECURITY

Microsoft says hackers seek to attack PowerPoint users

Microsoft Corp said on Tuesday that hackers are seeking to attack users of its PowerPoint presentation software for Windows PCs and released patches to protect them against the threat. The world's No. 1 software maker said that a version of PowerPoint for Apple Inc's Mac computers is also vulnerable, though it has yet to find any evidence that hackers are a ›
CyberSECURITY

DHS to Bolster Protection of Civilian Computer Networks

The Department of Homeland Security will step up operations to secure civilian computer networks against cyber attacks in coming years, getting increases in funding and personnel, and coordinating responsibilities now scattered across government agencies, administration officials said this week. (Washington Post) ›
CyberATTACK

Hackers broke into FAA air traffic control systems

Hackers have broken into the air traffic control mission-support systems of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration several times in recent years, according to an Inspector General report sent to the FAA this week. In February, hackers compromised an FAA public-facing computer and used it to gain access to personally identifiable information, such as Socia ›
CyberWAR

No options ‘off the table’ for U.S. response to cyber attacks

The U.S. military’s response to a cyber attack would not necessarily be limited to cyberspace, the head of U.S. Strategic Command said Thursday. "The Law of Armed Conflict will apply to this domain," said Air Force Gen. Kevin P. Chilton. The United States’ response to a cyber attack would be decided by the president and Defense secretary, Chilton told ›
CyberATTACK

UC Berkeley Computers Suffer Hacker Attack

University of California, Berkeley officials say hackers have infiltrated restricted computer databases. The university is notifying 160,000 current and former students, alumni and others whose personal information may have been stolen. (Fox40) ›
CyberCRIME

Heartland Breach Cost Company $12.6 Million So Far

Heartland Payment Systems reported on Thursday that the hack it experienced last year has cost the company $12.6 million so far. The amount includes legal costs and fines from Visa and MasterCard, who say the company was not compliant with payment card industry rules. (Wired) ›