For consumers
FTC finds P2P networks rife with leaked identity data
February 22, 2010
The Federal Trade Commission today finally voiced concern about the long-known problem of data leaking into criminal hands via LimeWire, BearShare, Kazaa and dozens of other peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing networks.
The FTC put nearly 100 companies and agencies on notice that their employees appear to be regularly leaking large amounts of sensitive customer and employee data on popular P2P networks
The FTC did not name names, either of …More
Why it is all too easy to become a cybercriminal
February 19, 2010
The disclosure of Operation Aurora last month and the outing of the Kneber botnet gang’s stolen booty this week have much in common.
Both involved nothing-out-of-the-ordinary cyberattacks that quixotically rose above the din to grab international headlines.
The mainstream attention is welcomed. It helps to underscore how the Internet underground has advanced to the point where a plethora of powerful hacking tools and services is readily available to …More
How Google Buzz lowers the bar for privacy, security
February 16, 2010
More bad buzz about Google Buzz seems certain to play out in coming weeks. That’s because privacy and security can’t be separated. And despite two rounds of privacy-setting revisions, the search giant’s new social network, in its current configuration, markedly lowers privacy and security.
Coming on the heels of Facebook’s controversial privacy-setting revamp, the launch of Buzz has enervated privacy advocates and cybersecurity experts. They’ve long been …More
Google-NSA collaboration draws alarm
February 5, 2010
Wanted: Inside sales rep to hawk online services to U.S. spy agencies.
Perks: Employer has search monopoly — and warm leads at top spy organizations.
That’s one takeaway of reports that Google has asked the secretive National Security Agency to help track down the cyberattackers who recently breached its network. More on this below.
Reporter Ellen Nakashima’s front page story in the Washington Post yesterday, 04Feb2010, has …More
Microsoft hustles out IE patch for zero-day vulnerability implicated in Google hack
January 19, 2010
The blowback from Google’s threat to leave China continues to escalate like a hyper-ventilated episode of Law & Order.
Microsoft has just announced that it will issue an emergency patch — something it rarely does – to staunch the Internet Explorer security hole implicated in recent data-stealing cyberattacks against Google, Adobe, Jupiter and dozens of other companies.
UPDATE: Microsoft has just announced that the patch will be …More
Yahoo, Go Daddy hosted websites targeted in two-stage phishing attack
December 8, 2009
If you control a blog or any small website, beware. Phishers are trying to lure owners of smaller websites who use hosting services from Yahoo, GoDaddy and MediaFire into divulging their administrator logons.
These criminals then will use your small corner of the Web to host faked online banking web pages used in subsequent broader phishing campaigns designed to hijack funds from online banking accounts, according to this …More
Twilight ‘New Moon’ fans targeted for scareware and viruses
November 19, 2009
Twilight fans beware. A viral marketing campaign designed to exploit your anticipation over the New Moon movie coming out tomorrow may look like normal free media you’ve come to expect on the Internet.
A scareware purveyor has been spreading bad URLs, with the help of corrupted Google search results, having to do with the movie and its stars, according to PC Tools.
Fans are being directed to chats and blogposts that …More