cybercrime

Spam falls after giant botnet takedowns

"Spam volumes fell in the third quarter thanks to some massive botnets being shut down, but the problem remains severe. Both Symantec and Kaspersky have noted the spam decline, with the former finding October volumes went down 47 per cent when compared to August. Kaspersky figures showed a decline in the third quarter when compared to the previous period, with the level of spam out of all detected messages recorded at 82.3 per cent, down from 84.4 per cent." (Spam falls after giant botnet takedowns | IT PRO) ›
CyberCRIME

Police expose Estonian hacking ring

"German police are seeking to extradite four Estonians who were allegedly involved in disseminating a computer virus that stole millions of euros from online banking transactions." (Source: Police expose Estonian hacking ring) ›
CyberCRIME

Bredolab Botnet Busted

"The Bredolab botnet has been busted. So said the High Tech Crime Team, part of the National Crime Squad in the Netherlands, on Monday. According to Dutch authorities, 'the botnet network used servers hired in the Netherlands from a reseller of LeaseWeb,' one of Europe's largest hosting providers, which is working with investigators. All told, 143 servers were seized and ›
CyberCRIME

Avalanche Phishers Migrate to Zeus

"The Avalanche crime group, the world's most prolific phishing gang, has moved from using conventional phishing to solely propagating Zeus, the most famous and stealthy password-stealing malware, say security researchers in a new report. The Anti Phishing Working Group's 'Global Phishing Survey: Trends and Domain Name Use in 1H2010' says Zeus doesn't need the victim's coo ›
CyberCRIME

Metropolitan Police cracks Zeus crime ring

"The Police Central e-crime Unit (PCeU) has arrested 19 people on suspicion of using a well known malware program to steal millions from bank accounts, according to widespread reports. The Metropolitan Police unit arrested 15 men and four women aged 23 to 47 in dawn raids on Monday in the London area. The gang is suspected of stealing up to £6m in just thr ›
CyberCRIME

$9m RBS WorldPay hack mastermind avoids jail

"The Russian hacker at the centre of a massive $9.4m fraud against RBS WorldPay has avoided jail after he agreed to turn informant on his fellow cybercriminals and pay compensation to the bank. Viktor Pleshchuk, 29, of St. Petersburg, Russia, received a six year suspended sentence after agreeing to pay back 275m roubles ($8.9m) to RBS WorldPay and snitch on ›
CyberCRIME

400 iTunes Accounts Hacked, Apple Admits

"Apple said a hacker who manipulated sales data on its online App Store broke into the accounts of about 400 iTunes users in the process, according to a published report. Clayton Morris, a blogger and host of Fox News' Fox and Friends, said Apple divulged the information to him in response to his queries about the matter. 'Apple told me that an extremely small percentage ›
CyberCRIME

ACH Fraud Sparks Another Suit

"In another round of bank vs. customer, a Maine business has sued its bank, alleging that the institution failed to prevent fraudulent ACH transactions totaling more than $500,000. Patco, a Sanford, Maine-based construction company, had its corporate bank account raided over a six-day period last May by cyber thieves who were able to move over $588,000 to dozens of money ›
CyberCRIME

Two-Thirds Of All Phishing Attacks Generated By A Single Criminal Group, Researchers Say

"Like convenience stores and fast-food restaurants, phishing is no longer a mom-and-pop operation, according to a study released today. A single crime syndicate dubbed 'Avalanche' was responsible for some 66 percent of the phishing traffic generated in the second half of 2009, according to a report (PDF) publishe ›
CyberCRIME

Romania Swoops In on 70 Cybertheft Suspects

"Romanian police arrested 70 suspects on Tuesday who they claim were involved in eBay scams and other cybercrimes since 2006. The suspects, believed to be members of three separate gangs, used phishing attacks to gain the login credentials of eBay account holders, then used the accounts to auction off nonexistent goods. Approximately 800 victims have been i ›
CyberCRIME

Russia Arrests Alleged Mastermind of RBS WorldPay Hack

"Russian authorities have nabbed a man allegedly responsible for masterminding a coordinated global ATM heist that stole $9.5 million from Atlanta-based card processing company RBS WorldPay. Viktor Pleshchuk, 28, of St. Petersburg, was arrested by the Russian Federal Security Service, or FSB, according to the Sunday Mail in the United Kingdom, which broke t ›
CyberCRIME

Warrant issued for arrest of cyclist turned hacker

"Landis initially won the famous Tour de France cycle race in 2006, but was later stripped of his title when tests indicated that he had taken performance-enhancing drugs. The cyclist is now wanted in connection with a hacking incident at the French anti-doping test lab that carried out the tests that ultimately led to his being stripped of his title and ba ›
CyberCRIME

Police nab porn hacker behind Moscow traffic mayhem

"Russian police said on Tuesday they had arrested a prankster who hacked into a computer system to show a pornographic movie on a giant advertising screen, causing havoc on a busy Moscow thoroughfare. The two-minute clip, displayed on a video screen above a main road south of the Kremlin, caused midnight traffic jams and a frenzy of excitement across the Ru ›