Hacking, Security & Privacy News - Page 82

All the latest Hacking, Security & Privacy news with plenty of coverage on new data breaches and leaks, new hacks, ways to protect yourself online & plenty more - Page 82.

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Pentagon expands its effort to recruit workers for cyber defense roles

Michael Hatamoto | Apr 2, 2014 1:42 PM CDT

The United States military is boosting its cyber capabilities as the Defense Department has almost 1,800 employees as part of its Cyber Mission Force. By the end of 2016, that staffing figure is expected to increase up to 6,000 before the end of 2016, while the US government continues to support in cyberattacks.

To try and increase the staffing level in such a short amount of time, military officials hope to recruit current military personnel - Silicon Valley cybersecurity specialists are unlikely to leave behind high-paying jobs to join the government's new programs.

"We spent a lot of time in the last two years in particular figuring out what the [recruiting] model would be,"a senior defense official recently told reporters. "Initially sometimes people will think about recruiting highly skilled people from the outside, and that is one option... but quite honestly, the way we're going to be most successful is using people within the force [including those with no cyber background] and giving them the training."

Continue reading: Pentagon expands its effort to recruit workers for cyber defense roles (full post)

Banks withdraw from class-action lawsuit against Trustwave

Michael Hatamoto | Mar 31, 2014 4:39 PM CDT

Less than one week after two banks hit Target and credit card security service company Trustwave with a class-action lawsuit, the banks have pulled the lawsuit.

It seems Trustwave was inaccurately noted as a Target IT security contractor, which doesn't appear true - interestingly, the class-action lawsuit aims to try and expand responsibility of the data breach away from just Target.

"Contrary to the misstated allegations in the plaintiffs' complaints, Target did not outsource its data security or IT obligations to Trustwave," said Robert McCullen, Trustwave CEO, in a public statement. "Trustwave did not monitor Target's network, nor did Trustwave process cardholder data for Target."

Continue reading: Banks withdraw from class-action lawsuit against Trustwave (full post)

Medical identity theft amounted to 43% of identity theft cases in 2013

Michael Hatamoto | Mar 28, 2014 2:10 AM CDT

A rather shocking 43 percent of identity theft cases last year can be traced back to medical identity theft, as security experts and healthcare providers struggle to keep up with security challenges, according to a recent study.

Unfortunately, medical records are significantly more lucrative to cybercriminals, meaning it's a popular target for attacks.

"Despite concerns about employee negligence and the use of insecure mobile, 88 percent of organizations permit employees and medical staff to use their own mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets to connect to their organization's networks or enterprise systems such as email," according to the Ponemon Institute's Fourth Annual Patient Privacy and Data Security report.

Continue reading: Medical identity theft amounted to 43% of identity theft cases in 2013 (full post)

Report says 97% of mobile malware is targeting Android devices

Michael Hatamoto | Mar 27, 2014 10:52 PM CDT

Android had a greatly successful year in 2013, capturing around 87 percent of the international smartphone market - but during the same year, the Android community had to deal with a large amount of malware and security threats.

Ninety-seven percent of current mobile malware targets Android, and users will continue to face a large amount of threats moving forward.

Security company F-Secure recommends sticking to the Google Play Store to download apps, as one in every 1,000 apps might have had malware - while purchasing or downloading apps from other sources can easily lead to malware infection.

Continue reading: Report says 97% of mobile malware is targeting Android devices (full post)

Malware drains your battery and helps bad guys mine for cryptocurrency

Michael Hatamoto | Mar 27, 2014 2:19 PM CDT

The "Coinkrypt" malware is making its rounds, infecting Google Android devices, letting cybercriminals mine Litecoin, Casinocoin and Dogecoin courtesy of hijacked devices.

Most malware today is designed to either steal information or create some type of financial incentive for criminals - and Coinkrypt follows that same strategy, but with a rather unique twist.

Although it isn't prevalent at the moment, security researchers want users to be aware of the potential ramifications if they are infected - including potentially causing batteries to drain faster - or eventually leads to overheating.

Continue reading: Malware drains your battery and helps bad guys mine for cryptocurrency (full post)

Fareit Windows trojan also loads nasty piece of ransomware on PCs

Michael Hatamoto | Mar 26, 2014 10:02 PM CDT

In a double whammy, the Fareit Trojan targeting Microsoft Windows PCs also has been found to spread the Cribit ransomware, as security researchers transition to defend against sophisticated cyber threats.

There are two versions of Cribit in the wild - one version encrypts files on the infected PC and shows an English ransom, while the other version has messages also available in Chinese, French, Arabic and Spanish, researchers note.

"After all, cybercriminals are after one goal: to get a person's money," said Christopher Budd, Trend Micro threat communications manager, in a statement to SC Magazine. "Returning/decrypting a victim's files won't certainly be a priority or major concern for these people. Additionally, paying the ransom may encourage and help expand the operations of cybercriminals."

Continue reading: Fareit Windows trojan also loads nasty piece of ransomware on PCs (full post)

Microsoft charges the government up to $15,600 for your personal info

Charles Gantt | Mar 26, 2014 4:10 PM CDT

We all know by now that the FBI, CIA and NSA request information on us from big tech giants such as Apple, Microsoft, Facebook and Google, but did you know that Microsoft sends a massive invoice every time it gives away your private information? A newly released document shows that at least in one incident, Microsoft billed the government as much as $15,600 for information that was requested.

The Syrian Electronic Army hacker group has just leaked details that show Microsoft billing the US government more than $350,000 on September 5th of 2013. The invoice appears to show that more than 78 invoices for request were sent to the government, with the highest being shown set at a whopping $15,600.00.

The government agency in question is the FBI's Digital Intercept Technology Unit. The leaked documents show that Microsoft was billing the FBI more than $100,000 per month on average between 2012 and 2013, and that each individual request cost the FBI $100 during 2012 and into 2013 until Microsoft raised the price to $200 per request.

Continue reading: Microsoft charges the government up to $15,600 for your personal info (full post)

Android corruption bug frightening security researchers

Michael Hatamoto | Mar 25, 2014 9:50 PM CDT

The recent Google Android bug discovered by security researcher Ibrahim Balic reveals a common technique could compromise the popular OS due to memory corruption - resulting in the device crashing.

In extreme cases, it appears memory code corruption vulnerability could be boosted and lead to arbitrary code execution, with users at risk of operating a rooted device.

"Although it's true that this vulnerability is capable of crashing Android mobile devices, it's important to point out that at this time there are no known instances or infections of this particular vulnerability 'in the wild,'" said Ryan Smith, Mojave Networks Lead Threat Engineer, in a statement. "Mobile malware distributors are typically motivated by money and information, and are therefore unlikely to use their established distribution channels to disseminate malware an app that simply crashes the device and doesn't gain them anything."

Continue reading: Android corruption bug frightening security researchers (full post)

Pure Hacking: Windows XP users, networks at risk as deadline looms

Michael Hatamoto | Mar 24, 2014 8:19 PM CDT

Microsoft Windows XP remains an extremely popular and well-liked operating system, but the security benefits alone of Windows 7 and 8/8.1 haven't been enough to get users to migrate. However, Microsoft and security experts are strongly urging both users and companies to upgrade, or potentially face harmful cyberattacks.

Pure Hacking has a few tips regarding XP: Disable what users don't need on the OS, replace XP with Windows 7, segregate legacy installations, and implement application whitelisting control.

"Across Australia there are tens of thousands of machines still running Windows XP - just think POS terminals, let alone all those SMBs," said Gordon Maddern, Pure Hacking CTO, in a statement. "Anyone still on XP will be wide open to attack. All new vulnerabilities - and countless numbers of these are likely - will no longer be fixed by Microsoft. I cannot stress enough, it's time to migrate, migrate, migrate."

Continue reading: Pure Hacking: Windows XP users, networks at risk as deadline looms (full post)

Time Warner Cable received less than 250 national security orders

Michael Hatamoto | Mar 24, 2014 3:10 PM CDT

Time Warner Cable processed almost 12,000 government requests in 2013, with 82 percent subpoenas, 12 percent court-ordered incidents, 4 percent were search warrants, 2 percent were emergency requests, and 0.3 percent were wiretap orders.

TWC says the company received between 0 and 249 National Security Orders, though cannot identify an exact number. The company wants to become more open about customer information requests, especially after Edward Snowden's spying disclosures made last year.

We will issue future Transparency Reports on a semi-annual basis," TWC said in a statement. "We have also provided answers to frequently asked questions related to the practices we follow to strengthen protections for the privacy of customer information."

Continue reading: Time Warner Cable received less than 250 national security orders (full post)