cyberthreats

Cyber Experts Have Proof That China Has Hijacked U.S.-Based Internet Traffic

"For 18 minutes in April, China’s state-controlled telecommunications company hijacked 15 percent of the world’s Internet traffic, including data from U.S. military, civilian organizations and those of other U.S. allies. This massive redirection of data has received scant attention in the mainstream media because the mechanics of how the hijacking was carried out and the implications of the incident are difficult for those outside the cybersecurity community to grasp, said a top security expert at McAfee, the world’s largest dedicated Internet security company. In short, the Chinese could have carried out eavesdropping on unprotected communications — including emails and instant messaging — manipulated data passing through their country or decrypted messages, Dmitri Alperovitch, vice pre ›
CyberTHREATS

Businesses under all-out cyber attack, says Websense

"Cyber criminals are mounting an all-out attack on businesses, which is likely to continue, according to the Websense 2010 Threat Report. The report shows that in the past year, 52% of data-stealing attacks were conducted over the Web, 9% of data stealing attacks happened over e-mail, and 90% of all unwanted e-mails contained links to spam sites or maliciou ›
CyberTHREATS

Danger to IE users climbs as hacker kit adds exploit

"An exploit of an unpatched Internet Explorer vulnerability has been added to a popular crimeware kit, a move that will probably push Microsoft to fix the flaw with an emergency update, a security researcher said Sunday. Meanwhile, a prominent vulnerability expert has sided with Microsoft, which has said the bug will be difficult to exploit in Internet Expl ›
CyberTHREATS

Top hacker 'retires'; experts brace for his return

"The programmer who wrote ZeuS — malicious software used to steal an estimated $100 million so far this year from U.S. towns, companies and individuals — says he is retiring. But security experts believe there is a good chance he will soon emerge with even more powerful ways to steal, a pattern of behavior seen after previous retirements in 2007 and 200 ›
CyberTHREATS

Adobe under attack: New PDF, Flash zero-day

"Adobe’s security response team is scrambling to respond to new zero-day attacks against a computer hijack vulnerability in two of its most widely deployed products: Flash Player and Adobe PDF Reader. The flaw, which is currently being exploited in the wild with booby-trapped PDF documents, affects Windows, Mac, Linux and Solaris users. The zero-day att ›
CyberTHREATS

UK infrastructure faces cyber threat, says GCHQ chief

"The UK's critical infrastructure - such as power grids and emergency services - faces a 'real and credible' threat of cyber attack, the head of GCHQ says. The intelligence agency's director Iain Lobban said the country's future economic prosperity rested on ensuring a defence against such assaults. The internet created opportunities for hostile states and ›
CyberTHREATS

Security firm warns of commercial, on-demand DDoS botnet

"The security firm Damballa is warning of a large and fast growing botnet created specifically to deliver distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on demand for anyone willing to pay for the service. The IMDDOS botnet is operated out of China and has been growing at the rate of about 10,000 infected machines every day for the past several months, to bec ›
CyberTHREATS

e-mail virus wreaking havoc on servers across the world

"An e-mail virus has launched a 'phishing attack' on servers across the globe, including those at ABC, NASA, Comcast, and Google and possibly US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The virus, called 'Here You Have' or VBMania, is a Trojan Horse that arrives through e-mail in your inbox with the suggestive subject line 'here you have,' and the body messag ›
CyberTHREATS

FAA computers still vulnerable to cyberattack

"Federal Aviation Administration computer systems remain vulnerable to cyber attacks despite improvements at a number of key radar facilities in the past year, according to a new government review. The Department of Transportation's Inspector General said while the FAA has taken steps to install more sophisticated systems to detect cyber intrusions in some ›
CyberTHREATS

Hackers Target Power Plants and Physical Systems

"As the most popular operating system in use around the globe, Microsoft Windows is also the most targeted OS for cyber criminals looking to steal data and exploit systems. In the past when hackers attacked a system, they were often looking to steal or change data to suit their needs. However, cyber attacks and malicious code are now being designed that loo ›
CyberTHREATS

China info warfare

"U.S. intelligence agencies have obtained a Chinese military book that will provide new insights into the Chinese military's information-warfare plans. The book is being translated, but Inside the Ring obtained its table of contents, which reveals Beijing's priorities for high-technology warfare using computers and electronic-warfare weapons. The 322-page book, 'Information Warfare Theory,' was published in May 200 ›
CyberTHREATS

US Officials Look At How To Respond To Threats To Electric Grid

"Officials in charge of the reliability of the U.S. electric grid are taking a closer look at how to respond to cyberattacks and other possible catastrophic events. The North American Electric Reliability Corp., or NERC, and the U.S. Department of Energy in a report to be released Wednesday call for a range of steps-- from increasing communication to ensuri ›
CyberTHREATS

China's Strategy for Information Warfare: A Focus on Energy

"The past decade may be portrayed as a period of growing cyber threats, or at least as a period of increasing fear and a growing conviction regarding cyber insecurity. Among many different cyber-vulnerable industries, critical infrastructure in the energy sector is paramount in facing new risks and threats due to the connection and interdependence of their i ›