IT Security Top Headlines » news

Ukraine-based cybercriminals steal from online German banks

pinolobu — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:05:30 +0000

A report from security company Finjan said that cyber-criminals have developed sophisticated ways to remain undetected, describing how a Ukraine-based gang managed to steal 300,000 euros in 3 weeks in August 2009 from several German online banks.

It used a malicious software which:
- fooled banks’ anti-fraud systems
- forging bank statements to hide the thefts.

It also recruited innocent job-seekers as money mules.

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High profile websites attacked

pinolobu — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 13:04:22 +0000

High-profile websites including Google, Facebook and Twitter have been targeted by hackers in what is described as a “massively co-ordinated attack”. Other sites such as the blogging platform Live Journal were also reportedly targeted.

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Twitter suffers DDOS attack, reopens 2 hours later

pinolobu — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 17:45:57 +0000

Micro-blogging service Twitter was taken offline for more than two hours on 6th August in what the company believes was a co-ordinated denial-of-service (DDOS) attack.

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Apple fixing iPhone security issue

pinolobu — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 18:05:35 +0000

Apple is going to release a software patch to fix a recently reported iPhone security vulnerability, which is that specially crafted SMS messages could disconnect the phones from the network, or worse, hijacked.

And not just the iPhone, phones running Windows Mobile and Google Android Oses are also vulnerable.

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The BBC, 31 Jul 2009

Los Angeles proposes to drop own network for Google

pinolobu — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 03:03:45 +0000

Security and privacy concerns have been raised over a multimillion-dollar proposal by Los Angeles, the second largest city in the US, to tap Google Inc.’s Internet-based services for government e-mail, police records and other confidential data.

At issue is the security of computerized records on everything from police investigations to potholes as America’s second-largest city considers dumping its in-house computer network for Google e-mail and office programs that are accessed over the Internet.

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Hackers attack Facebook users by phishing

pinolobu — Sat, 16 May 2009 05:30:08 +0000

It was reported by Reuters on 16th May 2009 that in phishing attacks on Facebook’s million of users, they have successfully collected passwords from *some* of them. Exact number not revealed.

This is the latest in a series of attacks on the site.

Facebook said:
(i) it’s now “cleaning up damage”
(ii) it’s blocking compromised accounts.

Modus operandi of attackers:
(i) breaking into accounts of some Facebook members; presumably via common methods like weak password guessing?
(ii) send e-mails to friends of the member asking them to click on links to fake websites, designed to look like the Facebook home page. There, the victims were directed to log back in to the site, where in actual fact they logged into the one controlled by the hackers, hence revealing their passwords.

The fake domains include www.151.im, www.121.im and www.123.im.

As to the objective of the hackers, it’s believed that they wanted to take over a big number of accounts, then use them to send spam selling goods to Facebook members at large.

Source

More than 12 million computers are being controlled by cybercriminals

pinolobu — Wed, 06 May 2009 14:52:42 +0000

6 May 2009

Security firm McAfee monitored cyberspace since January 2009 and found that 12 million computers have been taken over by criminals.

And compared to last year, the number of zombies has increased by 50%.

The real number is likely to be higher.

The United States has 18% of the world’s infected computers. Second is China with 13%.

SOurce
The BBC

Ukrainian botnet controls almost 2 million PCs globally

pinolobu — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 01:54:47 +0000

According to security specialists Finjan, almost 2 million PCs globally, including machines inside UK and US government departments, have been taken over by malicious hackers.

The giant network of remotely-controlled PCs (botnet) has been traced to a gang of cyber criminals in the Ukraine.

Major cyber spy network uncovered

pinolobu — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 17:52:44 +0000

An electronic spy network, based mainly in China, has infiltrated computers from government offices around the world, Canadian researchers Information Warfare Monitor (IWM), comprised of Ottawa-based think tank SecDev Group and the University of Toronto’s Munk Centre for International Studies say after a 10-month investigation.

These types of attacks were not new, but they stood out because of “their ability to collect actionable intelligence for use by the police and security services of a repressive state, with potentially fatal consequences for those exposed”.

The report said the network had infiltrated 1,295 computers in 103 countries, including computers belonging to foreign ministries and embassies and those linked with the Dalai Lama – Tibet’s spiritual leader.

There is no conclusive evidence China’s government was behind it, researchers say. Beijing also denied involvement.

Researchers found that ministries of foreign affairs of Iran, Bangladesh, Latvia, Indonesia, Philippines, Brunei, Barbados and Bhutan appear to had been targeted.

Hacked systems were also discovered in the embassies of India, South Korea, Indonesia, Romania, Cyprus, Malta, Thailand, Taiwan, Portugal, Germany and Pakistan.

Analysts say the attacks are in effect industrial espionage, with hackers showing an interest in the activities of lawmakers and major companies.

Beware of scareware

pinolobu — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 07:30:30 +0000

Fake anti-virus software makers are exploiting search engines to illicitly drive people to sites selling “scareware” i.e. software that give out fake warnings about virus infections.

The criminals do this by using popular and mis-spelled search terms.

Upon visiting the sites, there will be a pop-up that claims that one’s computer is full of malware.

Motivation: monetary gains: they are making as much as USD10,000 per day out of this!