The Last Watchdog

on Internet security by Byron Acohido

USAToday stories

How Facebook phishers breached a corporate network
March 4, 2010

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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

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Google-China affair shows how China does business
January 25, 2010

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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

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Finally — a solid measurement of the scale and scope of cyber attacks
September 16, 2009

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katrina3Metrics precisely quantifying the scale and scope of cybercrime activity have historically been hard to pin down. But now comes a milestone survey, buttressed by another report, that defines the degree to which the Web is infested with malicious code.

The SANS Institute’s report on Top Cyber Risks is by far the most comprehensive accounting of ongoing cyber attacks ever made public. SANS is the well-respected Washington D.C.-based tech security …More

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Melissa Hathaway steps down from consideration to be U.S. cyber czar
August 4, 2009

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melissahathawayFor Melissa Hathaway, the Mission, in the end, did prove to be Impossible.

Hathaway was widely hailed for completing a 60-day review of U.S. cybersecurity policy, setting up President Obama’s milestone May 29th speech, in which he became the first head of state to articulate the necessity for explicit national  policies to make the Internet safer.

After her appearance last April as a keynote speaker at the RSA 2009 security conference …More

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Insider intrusions escalate using very simple attacks methods
July 29, 2009

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USA TODAY

See initial version here.

By Byron Acohido, USA TODAY
Marla Suttenberg had a sinking feeling that a corporate spy was shadowing her.

In March 2008, the owner of Woodcliff Lake, N.J.-based Sapphire Marketing was preparing to give a longtime client a generous price cut on $134,000 worth of audio/videoconferencing equipment.

But before her sales rep could extend the offer, her chief rival, David Goldenberg, then regional vice president of sales for AMX, a …More

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Michael Jackson spam spike illustrates botnet infrastructure at work
July 29, 2009

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The spike in spam campaigns the began within hours after Michael Jackson’s death hit headlines on June 25th really was not much different than spam waves following the election of President Obama, the outbreak of swine flu and the death of numerous celebrities.

My story delineates how botnet controllers of Waledac, Rustock and Pushdo exectued text book attacks. You can see the story here, or read it below:

090729_michaeljackson3b-450USA TODAY

July 29, 2009

Spammers …More

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How the proliferation of ’scareware’ fuels cybercrime
June 10, 2009

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By Byron Acohido, USA TODAY
Scareware has become the scourge of the Internet.

Find initial version of this article here.

090610_scarewareThose deceptive promotions crafted to panic you into spending $30 to $80 for worthless antivirus protection can hit you just about anywhere you turn on the Web. They arrive as booby-trapped Web links in e-mail and social network messages. They lurk hidden, and set to activate, when you click to popular, legitimate websites.

BLOG: …More

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