Top Stories
How Facebook phishers breached a corporate network
March 4, 2010
By Byron Acohido
USA TODAY P. 1A 04Mar2010
SAN FRANCISCO — “Hey Alice, look at the pics I took of us last weekend at the picnic. Bob”
That Facebook message, sent last fall between co-workers at a large U.S. financial firm, rang true enough. Alice had, in fact, attended a picnic with Bob, who mentioned the outing on his Facebook profile page.
So Alice clicked on the accompanying Web link, …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
Google-China affair shows how China does business
January 25, 2010
USA TODAY
25Jan2010
By Byron Acohido, Calum MacLeod and Kathy Chu
Original online posting here.
BEIJING — Zhang Nanting enjoys text messaging acquaintances while he’s at the Golden Fortune Internet café here. Lately, the 28-year-old insurance salesman has been meticulous about keeping his texts squeaky clean.
“I rarely send rude, short messages,” says Zhang, citing the government’s recent crackdown on pornographic texting. “I think it’s excessive management, …More
Spread of fake Microsoft Outlook alerts highlights rising use of DIY malware kits
January 8, 2010
Email filtering company Red Condor has been intercepting an email phishing attack that’s spreading faked Outlook alerts at a phenomenal rate.
More on that below.
But first let’s take this to the 30,000 foot level. This Outlook ruse is most likely being conducted by attackers using a Do-It-Yourself malware kit that has amazing functionality, which anybody can buy right now for less than a grand.
Over the course of 2009, …More
‘Enterprise Security’ guide calls for executive awareness, leadership
January 6, 2010
As someone who has been paying close attention since the MS Blast worm hit in Aug. 2004, I can flatly say that Internet-enabled threats have steadily escalated month-to-month since then, and currently pose an unprecedented risk to individuals and organizations. The investigative reports on this Web site support this assessment – and also illustrate how far we are from reversing the advance of cyber criminals, who continue …More
Perils of online banking: cyberrobbers escalate attacks on small businesses
December 31, 2009
By Byron Acohido, USA TODAY
A rising swarm of cyber-robberies targeting small firms, local governments, school districts, churches and non-profits has prompted an extraordinary warning. The American Bankers Association and the FBI are advising small and midsize businesses that conduct financial transactions over the Internet to dedicate a separate PC used exclusively for online banking.
See source version of this story here.
The reason: Cybergangs have inundated the Internet with …More