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IT Security News Headlines
The latest developments in IT security: your rights online, securing your systems via timely patching, updates on anti-malware tools, and relevant stories on hacking and system vulnerabilities.
UK LulzSec hackers sentenced to varying prison terms
- Four LulzSec hackers have been sentenced in the UK to varying prison stints. The men pleaded guilty to denial-of-service attacks on 20th Century Fox, the CIA, Nintendo, Sony and others and accepted their sentencing as part of a plea bargain.
US federal officials warn about corporate sabotage cyberattacks
- Officials from the US government are warning of another wave of cyberattacks primarily targeting American corporations, reports the New York Times. Unlike the statements concerning Chinese cyber-espionage issued by the Pentagon in its recent report to Congress, these attacks are…
Google's five-year stronger consumer authentication roadmap
- Google has revealed its five-year roadmap for stronger authentication and security, which includes a number of proposed adjustments to the way users login to its services, such as hardened access controls and long-life tokens. The roadmap shifts practices away from…
India launches national surveillance system, monitors Internet, calls, texts
- Last month, India's government deployed what is known as the "Central Monitoring System". The several-million dollar surveillance initiative gives Indian government agencies unprecedented power to silently monitor communications, not the least of which include Internet activity, text messaging and phone…
Spotify patches web player exploit that allowed free MP3 downloads
- Spotify recently patched an exploit that allowed Chrome users to download any of the company’s 20 million songs free and clear. By using a browser extension called Downloadify, subscribers were able to take advantage of an exploit (or simple lack…
Government lab admits to running "quantum internet" for years
- A government-owned lab in Los Alamos claims it has been running a "quantum internet" for more than two years, MIT Technology Review reports. Researchers worked around the traditional difficulties of interlinking quantum-based networks by creating something of a classical-quantum network…
Pentagon accuses China of trying to hack US defense networks
- Accusations of cyber-attacks allegedly perpetrated by China have been floating around for years, but today, for the first time, the Pentagon is directly accusing the Chinese of trying to break into US defense computer networks.
Internet Explorer zero day exploit may have targeted nuclear workers
- Security researchers at Invincea discovered an exploit in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 8 late last month that would allow an attacker to remotely execute malicious code on a victim’s computer. Normally such a flaw wouldn’t be particularly newsworthy but malicious code…
Pentagon to grant security clearance to select Apple, Samsung devices
- Department of Defense employees will soon be able to use smartphones from Apple and Samsung on the job. Specifically, Apple’s iPads and iPhones as well as Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones will be granted security approval from the Pentagon according to sources…
Consumer Reports: Smartphone safety is lacking
- Smartphones may be one of the most convenient electronic gadgets in this day and age but they also pose a huge security risk as highlighted by Consumer Reports in their annual State of the Net report. The publication found that…
Police arrest Dutch man believed to be responsible for massive DDoS attack
- Law enforcement officials in Spain have arrested a Dutch man they believe is linked to cyber attacks that took place last month. The man was arrested at his home in Barcelona at the request of Dutch authorities. Police seized his…
Google joins the FIDO Alliance's board of directors
- Google recently joined the FIDO (Fast Identity Online) Alliance’s board of directors in order to bolster their two-factor authentication efforts. NXP and CrucialTec have also joined the board according to a press release published by FIDO.
LulzSec leader arrested in Australia, authorities say
- Australian authorities claim they have arrested the self-proclaimed leader of the hacking group LulzSec. The unnamed individual was charged with two counts of unauthorized modification of data to cause impairment and one count of unauthorized access to, or modification of,…
AP Twitter account compromised, tweets White House attack
- The Associated Press’ Twitter account was hacked earlier today and used to distribute a tweet claiming explosions at the White House had injured President Barack Obama. The account was suspended by Twitter shortly after the tweet was sent out.
Ex-Hostgator employee allegedly installed backdoor on 2,700 servers
- A former Hostgator employee has been charged with felony breach of computer security for allegedly installing a backdoor that granted nearly unimpeded access to more than 2,700 servers owned and operated by the popular web hosting company.
Google implements new measures to protect Chrome from malware
- Google is implementing additional security measures to protect Chrome users from malicious browser extensions. Users will begin to see Safe Browsing malicious download warnings within the next week when attempting to download software that has been flagged as malicious, the…
Malwarebytes update disables thousands of machines, fix released
- A botched software update by Malwarebytes disabled thousands of systems around the globe this week, according to a blog post penned by CEO Marcin Kleczynski. Around 3PM PST on Monday, April 15, the security vendor released a definitions patch that…
Microsoft rolls out optional two-factor authentication for user accounts
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If you care about the security of your Microsoft account enough to click a few buttons in exchange for an extra layer of safety, you may want to head here. That'll bring you to straight to the security section of your account page where you can enable two-factor authentication, a feature Microsoft...
A fourth of all PCs are unprotected from virus and malware threats
- Nearly a quarter of all PCs in the world are unprotected from virus, malware and other malicious threats according to Microsoft’s latest Security Intelligence Report. In it, Redmond said computers without any protection are 5.5 times more likely to become…
Android infections tripled in 2012, "Bill Shocker" costliest mobile malware ever
- Android has become an increasingly popular target for malware authors, a recent report (pdf) by NQ Mobile indicates. The security firm claims that it discovered over 65,000 types of malware -- more than double the amount from 2011 -- and bills…
Microsoft pulls the plug on buggy security update
- Microsoft has pulled the plug on a buggy security update released as part of Patch Tuesday earlier this week. The issue first came to light a couple of days ago when some PCs in Brazil were rendered unbootable after installing…
Study says Bing is five times more likely to find malware than Google
- An 18-month study has concluded that searches on Bing are five times more likely to link users to malicious websites than searches through Google. The study, conducted by German independent testing firm AV-Test, noted that although strides have been made…
Hacker demonstrates how to hijack an airplane using an Android app
- A security consultant by the name of Hugo Teso claims he has created an Android app called PlaneSploit that would allow him to remotely attack and hijack commercial aircraft. He recently presented his findings at the Hack in the Box…
Vudu resets user passwords after burglars steal hard drives
- Vudu has issued a mandatory password reset for its users after experiencing a security breach late last month. With these types of stories, "security breach" usually implies that a hacker has compromised a company's servers remotely, gaining access to sensitive…
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