February 2010 News Archive

February 26, 2010

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Inmate Leaves Prison by Impersonating Cellmate

Authorities in Maryland were searching Friday for an inmate serving three life terms who walked out of a Baltimore prison after impersonating his cell mate. ...read full article

Twitter hits fan as scams smite banks, cabinet ministers

The Twitter phishing attacks from earlier this week stepped up a gear on Friday with huge volumes of spam from compromised accounts, some of which belonged to UK cabinet minsters and even a bank. ...read full article

Latvian hacker tweets hard on banking whistle

A hacker has become a popular hero in the Baltics, and scourge to the authorities, by leaking information on the finances of banks and state-run firms to Latvian TV. ...read full article

Theft-proofing your identity

On Monday, tough new regulations to protect personal information collected from consumers will take effect in Massachusetts, and companies throughout the US are scrambling to get ready. ...read full article

Man charged in identity theft incident

Johnson City police accused a Boston man of using the identity of another person to make unlawful purchases in the village. ...read full article

ID theft rises exponentially in Albuquerque area

A once-obscure crime has jumped nearly 5,000% over the past ten years. ID theft has jumped that much in Bernalillo County, and the district attorney says it's up to all of us to stop it. ...read full article

Identity theft, burglary charges filed in alleged theft of Social Security number

A 20-year-old man was arraigned Thursday on charges of identity theft and burglary after using another man's Social Security number to obtain an auto loan and a department store credit card. ...read full article

Facebook Glitch Sends Email to Wrong Recipients

Facebook Inc. said a glitch with a software update caused some email messages to be sent to the wrong recipients for "a short time" late Wednesday, raising questions about privacy on the site. ...read full article

Britain all atweet over Twitter phishing attack

The latest phishing attack on Twitter users swept the U.K. overnight claiming several prominent users. ...read full article

Students suspended for Facebook pranks

Australia's prime minister said Friday he would consider appointing an online ombudsman to investigate complaints about Internet bullying after a string of incidents on social network sites. ...read full article

Facebook e-mails go to wrong inboxes

Facebook inadvertently routed e-mails to the wrong addresses Wednesday night, a problem the social networking site said was quickly resolved, but not before the messages landed in the inboxes of strangers. ...read full article

FTC Issues Report of 2009 Top Consumer Complaints

The Federal Trade Commission today released a report listing top complaints consumers filed with the agency in 2009. It shows that while identity theft remains the top complaint category, identity theft complaints declined 5 percentage points from 2008. ...read full article

Pwn2Own: Hacker busts IE8 on Windows 7 in 2 minutes

Dutch researcher bypasses DEP, ASLR to bring down Microsoft's browser

Two researchers yesterday won $10,000 each at the Pwn2Own hacking contest by bypassing important security measures of Windows 7. ...read full article

February 25, 2010

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Guilty plea for hacker who took Comcast off Web

IDG News Service - A member of a telephone hacking group known as Kryogeniks has pleaded guilty to taking Comcast's Web site offline in May 2008. ...read full article

Twitter hit by another round of phishing attacks

Twitter users are being targeted by another phishing campaign, according to Webroot malware researcher Andrew Brandt. ...read full article

ATM Skimming: How to Recognize Card Fraud

Criminals are increasingly turning to card skimming as a profitable way to steal cash. Would you know what to look for at your local ATM? ...read full article

Court order helps Microsoft tear down Waledac botnet

IDG News Service - With the help of a U.S. federal judge, Microsoft has struck a blow against one of the Internet's worst sources of spam: the notorious Waledac botnet. ...read full article

Intel admits it is under constant attack from hackers

Intel regularly faces cyber attacks by intellectual property thieves and malicious hackers, the chip maker's latest report to the US Securities and Exchange Commission reveals. ...read full article

The Intel Intrusion: When Is a Hack Just a Hack?

Intel has revealed it's been the victim of hacker, though it's making considerably less fuss about it than Google did when its system was compromised several weeks ago. The Intel break-in happened around the same time, but Intel says it sees no evidence that any intellectual property was stolen, and it's not saying for sure whether its hacker problem was in any way related to Google's. ...read full article

Microsoft launches 'phone home' anti-piracy update

Critic says Windows 7 users should block KB971033, now arriving via Windows Update ...read full article

Baidu: Registrar 'incredibly' Changed our E-Mail for Hacker

A hacker who took down top Chinese search engine Baidu.com last month broke into its account with a U.S. domain name registrar by pretending to be from Baidu in an online chat with the registrar's tech help, according to a lawsuit filed by Baidu. ...read full article

Do Companies Need Fed Cybersecurity Intervention?

The former U.S. director of national intelligence was the latest in a long line of intel gurus telling Congress how woefully under-protected America's infrastructure is from cyberattacks. The Senate is currently mulling the U.S. Cybersecurity Amendment Act of 2009 and considering how much new regulation the government may need to introduce in the name of national security. ...read full article

Officials: Mom Sold Dead Son's Identity To Pakistani Man

NEW YORK (WPIX) - A Staten Island mom is accused of selling her dead son's identity to a Pakistani man, officials announced Wednesday. ...read full article

NSW Govt ousts web developer over security breach

The NSW Government has terminated its relationship with the developers of the state's transport blueprint website after they admitted a security lapse - rather than hack - was the cause of a document leak. ...read full article

Large-scale credit card data robbery in Helsinki

The data from as many as 100,000 credit cards were endangered by a security breach, the financial paper Kauppalehti reports. ...read full article

UW medical records compromised

SEATTLE - An alarming letter was sent to Charles Tomaras from the UW Medical Center letting him know that someone had stolen his personal information, including his Social Security number, credit card number, birthdate and address. ...read full article

Cyber-whistleblower stuns Latvia with tax heist

RIGA, Latvia (AP) — Latvian officials struggled Wednesday to come to grips with an enigmatic group that stole millions of classified tax documents from government computers in a purported effort to expose waste and graft in Europe's weakest economy. ...read full article

Dubai murder suspects climb to 26

Police announced 15 new suspects in the January killing of a Hamas leader at a Dubai hotel, bringing to 26 the number of people suspected of involvement in his death. ...read full article

February 24, 2010

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Comcast (finally) brings security extensions to DNS

Comcast - one of the largest ISPs in the US - has deployed new technology designed to protect the internet against a well-known form of attack that allows attackers to surreptitiously lure end users to impostor websites. ...read full article

Six more British passports used in Dubai assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh

The alleged Mossad hit squad that killed a Hamas leader in Dubai used a further six British passports in the assassination — bringing the total involved to twelve. ...read full article

FTC Warns Of Widespread Data Breaches

The Federal Trade Commission on Monday said that it had notified almost 100 organizations in both the public and private sector that they need to review their security practices. ...read full article

Former Decker employee faces theft charges

A 38-year-old New Berlin woman charged with embezzling more than $46,000 from her employer over three years is scheduled to make her initial court appearance next month, according to online court records. ...read full article

Experts warn of catastrophe from cyberattacks

Computer-based network attacks are slowly bleeding U.S. businesses of revenue and market advantage, while the government faces the prospect of losing in an all-out cyberwar, experts told Senators in a hearing on Tuesday ...read full article

February 23, 2010

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Elvis Presley passport exposes security flaw

London, England (CNN) -- In the name of improved security a hacker showed how a biometric passport issued in the name of long-dead rock 'n' roll king Elvis Presley could be cleared through an automated passport scanning system being tested at an international airport. ...read full article

Attackers going after end-users rather than servers

The Web traffic study also finds issues with botnets, corporate policies, and outdated browsers

Rather than targeting Web and email servers, attackers these days are prone to going after enterprises from the inside out, compromising end-user systems and then using them to access confidential data, according to a Web traffic analysis report by security-as-a-service provider Zscaler. ...read full article

Poor governance at the heart of poor data security, says ICO

Information security, particularly in central government, is undoubtedly improving, but several common problems remain, says the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). ...read full article

Judge Tells School to Stop Taking Web Shots From Student Laptops

PHILADELPHIA (CN) - A federal judge late Monday ordered a suburban school district not to activate "any and all Web cams embedded in laptop computers issued to students" at Lower Merion School District, nor to take remote screen shots from them; and to preserve evidence; but not to contact any students or parents about the issues raised by a federal class action the families have filed. The class action came after a family claimed that an assistant principal told their son that the school district knew he "was engaged in improper behavior in his home, and cited as evidence a photograph from the Web cam embedded in minor plaintiff's personal laptop issued by the school district," according to the original complaint. ...read full article

Two sentenced on mail theft charges

A Slater man has been sentenced in federal court for his role in a conspiracy to steal mail, bank fraud and identity theft in numerous counties, including Callaway County. ...read full article

Woman charged with identity theft

A 22-year-old Sheboygan woman has been charged with seven counts of identity theft for allegedly stealing credit card information from patrons of the motel where she worked and using it to reserve rooms at other motels, to buy movie tickets and to have food delivered. ...read full article

PIX Exclusive: DMV Identity Theft Ring Busted

NEW YORK (WPIX) - PIX News has learned that federal, state and city authorities have busted a sophisticated identity theft plot to sell drivers licenses for the right price. ...read full article

Physical Security Risk and Countermeasures: Effectiveness Metrics

Is your security program working? Here's how to establish metrics for systematic measurement and improvement of countermeasures. ...read full article

Criminals Hide Payment-Card Skimmers Inside Gas Station Pumps

Wave of recent bank-card skimming incidents demonstrate how sophisticated the scam has become

Criminals hid bank card-skimming devices inside gas pumps -- in at least one case, even completely replacing the front panel of a pump -- in a recent wave of attacks that demonstrate a more sophisticated, insidious method of stealing money from unsuspecting victims filling up their gas tanks. ...read full article

Phishers target Blogger users

Users of Google's Blogger, a free blog publishing tool, are the targets of the latest phishing email campaign. ...read full article

Alarming breach in privacy investigated at London school

PRIVACY: The Medix School is investigating after files containing personal information were discovered near a mall dumpster

An armload of personal documents -- health records and criminal record checks among them -- was found carelessly tossed out by a private vocational school in London, an alarming breach of security, the school's director says. ...read full article

Rise of the Point-and-Click Botnet

In 2005, a Russian hacker group known as UpLevel developed Zeus, a point-and-click program for creating and controlling a network of compromised computer systems, also known as a botnet. Five years of development later, the latest version of this software, which can be downloaded for free and requires very little technical skill to operate, is one of the most popular botnet platforms for spammers, fraudsters, and people who deal in stolen personal information. ...read full article

Credit card skimming attacks on pay-at-the-pump petrol stations

According to US media reports, criminals have launched large-scale attacks on petrol pumps with built-in card payment systems to gain access to card data. Similar attacks that involve the attachment of special skimming devices over the legitimate equipment to copy card data, have previously only targeted cash points. Attackers often obtain the PIN with a hidden camera or a secondary PIN pad placed over the machine's original keyboard. More details on this method of attack can be found in The H Open article "Manipulated ATMs - Attack of the card cloners". ...read full article

IT Firm Loses $100,000 to Online Bank Fraud

A New Hampshire-based IT consultancy lost nearly $100,000 this month after thieves broke into the company’s bank accounts with the help of 10 co-conspirators across the United States. ...read full article

February 22, 2010

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Credit card relief is here, but watch out for new traps

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- If you haven't heard, big changes are here for the credit card industry. On Monday the CARD act goes into effect and consumers finally get some relief from such practices as "double-cycle billing" and arbitrary rate increases. ...read full article

Video: Twitter users targeted by Chinese phishing attacks

Twitter users are being targeted by a phishing campaign designed to steal passwords and use hijacked accounts to spread money-making spam campaigns. ...read full article

Irate Parents in Pa. Say Schools Use 'peeping Tom Technology'

The parents of a Pennsylvania high school student want a federal judge to bar school district personnel from switching on cameras in school-issued MacBook laptops, calling the security feature "peeping tom technology." ...read full article

EU data protection chief slams secret ACTA talks

IDG News Service - The anti-counterfeiting trade agreement (ACTA) being negotiated in secret by the U.S., E.U. and others potentially runs roughshod over European data protection requirements, European data protection supervisor (EDPS) Peter Hustinx said Monday. ...read full article

Video: Cyber attacks cost large enterprises £1.4m a year, study reveals

Cyber attacks cost large enterprises an average of £1.4m a year, according to the Symantec 2010 State of Enterprise Security study. ...read full article

Chinese schools deny role in Google hack

Cyber attacks on Google were reportedly traced to computers at two schools in China

Two schools in China where computers were reportedly linked to cyber attacks on Google and other companies have denied involvement in the hack, Chinese state media said Sunday. ...read full article

Data security breaches often triggered by carelessness

For physicians, a lost smartphone or forgotten laptop can mean a long, arduous process of notifying patients -- and the risk of penalties under HIPAA.

Often the biggest threat to your practice and patient data is not an outside hacker or a snooping employee -- it's somebody's forgetfulness. ...read full article

The Snitch in Your Pocket

Law enforcement is tracking Americans' cell phones in real time—without the benefit of a warrant.

Amid all the furor over the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program a few years ago, a mini-revolt was brewing over another type of federal snooping that was getting no public attention at all. Federal prosecutors were seeking what seemed to be unusually sensitive records: internal data from telecommunications companies that showed the locations of their customers' cell phones—sometimes in real time, sometimes after the fact. The prosecutors said they needed the records to trace the movements of suspected drug traffickers, human smugglers, even corrupt public officials. But many federal magistrates—whose job is to sign off on search warrants and handle other routine court duties—were spooked by the requests. Some in New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas balked. Prosecutors "were using the cell phone as a surreptitious tracking device," said Stephen W. Smith, a federal magistrate in Houston. "And I started asking the U.S. Attorney's Office, 'What is the legal authority for this? What is the legal standard for getting this information?' " ...read full article

Report: Most Organizations Now Suffer Cyber Attacks

Symantec's 2010 State of Enterprise Security finds three quarters of all enterprises have been hit by a cyber attack, and security is now more pressing than any other concern ...read full article

IT pros divided about security of virtualization, cloud computing

Survey reveals one-third of enterprise security managers believe the technologies make security 'harder,' while one-third say it was 'easier' ...read full article

Why it is all too easy to become a cybercriminal

The disclosure of Operation Aurora last month and the outing of the Kneber botnet gang’s stolen booty this week have much in common. ...read full article

Losses from identity theft skyrocket

Victims forced to bear hefty salvage costs

CHICAGO — Identity theft and fraud have ruined Dave Crouse’s life. In less than six months, $900,000 in merchandise, gambling and telephone- service charges were siphoned out of his debit card. His attempts to salvage his finances have cost him nearly $100,000 and have bled dry his savings and retirement accounts. His credit score, once a strong 780, has been decimated. And his identity — Social Security number, address, phone numbers, even historical information — still is being used in attempts to open credit cards and bank accounts. ...read full article

Javelin Study Finds Identity Fraud Reached New High in 2009, but Consumers are Fighting Back

Identity Fraud Affected 11 Million Americans in 2009; Proactive Measures by Financial Institutions, Businesses and Consumers Helped Decrease Costs; Increase in Prosecutions and Convictions ...read full article

9 arrested at Scottsdale restaurant in identity-theft case

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office arrested nine employees of a Scottsdale Mexican restaurant Friday on suspicion of identity theft and forgery. ...read full article

Iowa drivers licenses to be sent in mail to prevent identity theft

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — State officials say Iowa drivers will be getting their drivers licenses in the mail later this year because of new security measures to prevent identity theft and other crimes. ...read full article

EU condemns identity theft involved in Dubai killing

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union condemned on Monday the use of fraudulent EU passports and credit cards by assassins who killed a Palestinian militant in Dubai, but did not directly link Israel to the killing. ...read full article

People's Republic of Hacking

'Panda' Exploit Offers Rare Inside Look at China's Cybercrime Networks

WUHAN, China—Some of today's biggest cybersecurity worries trace their roots to this central Chinese city, where a hacker with a junior high school education slapped cartoon pandas onto millions of computers to hide a destructive spy program. ...read full article

Widespread Data Breaches Uncovered by FTC Probe

FTC Warns of Improper Release of Sensitive Consumer Data on P2P File-Sharing Networks

The Federal Trade Commission has notified almost 100 organizations that personal information, including sensitive data about customers and/or employees, has been shared from the organizations’ computer networks and is available on peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing networks to any users of those networks, who could use it to commit identity theft or fraud. The agency also has opened non-public investigations of other companies whose customer or employee information has been exposed on P2P networks. To help businesses manage the security risks presented by file-sharing software, the FTC is releasing new education materials that present the risks and recommend ways to manage them. ...read full article

February 19, 2010

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Czech Researchers Say 'Chuck Norris' Kicks Bots

Emerging botnet could redirect users to data-stealing sites, researchers say

Czech security experts say they have uncovered a global botnet that may be redirecting Web surfers to other sites for the purpose of stealing their data. ...read full article

White Collar Defendant Sentenced to 309 Years in Prison

BATON ROUGE—U.S. Attorney David R. Dugas announced today that Chief U.S. District Judge Ralph E. Tyson sentenced Robert Thompson, also known as John Lawson, age 43, of Zachary, La., to a term of 309 years in prison. Thompson, the leader of a massive identity theft and bribery scheme, was sentenced based on charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud, computer fraud, access device fraud, aggravated identity theft, money laundering, and obstruction of justice. This is the longest sentence of any white collar offender in the history of the Middle District of Louisiana. ...read full article

FTC and States Take Aim at 9 Alleged Job Scam Artists

The Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general took another swipe this week at scams that target unemployed people, jointly or separately filing nine new lawsuits against alleged "con artists" who charge victims for bogus job leads. ...read full article

Thousands Of Organizations Worldwide Hit By Widespread Malware Attack

Botnet bearing the Zeus Trojan infected 75,000 systems worldwide in 2,500 enterprises, government agencies

Yet another sign that the Zeus Trojan isn't just for stealing consumer online banking credentials anymore: Some 2,500 enterprises and government agencies worldwide have been infiltrated by a botnet spreading the pervasive piece of malware, a security firm revealed today. ...read full article

35 countries could be monitored for piracy

Copyright holders in the US have called for 35 countries to be put on a watch list for piracy and counterfeit activities and have singled out 10 for priority action. ...read full article

Police: Duke Lacrosse Players' Accuser Assaulted Boyfriend

The woman who falsely accused three Duke University lacrosse players of rape nearly four years ago has been charged with attempted murder, arson and other counts after a fight with her boyfriend, police said. ...read full article

Busted, Grilled by FBI, for Arabic-English Flashcards, Collegian Says

PHILADELPHIA (CN) - A Pomona College student says he was arrested, handcuffed and "abusively interrogated" at Philadelphia International Airport "solely because he passed through an airport screening checkpoint with a set of Arabic-English flashcards and a book critical of American foreign policy." Plaintiff Nicholas George, 22, of Pennsylvania, is a senior majoring in Middle Eastern Studies at the well-regarded California college. ...read full article

Chinese school linked to Google attacks also linked to '01 attacks on White House site

A former U.S. Army officer linked '01 hacker to Shanghai Jiaotong University

Computerworld - One of two Chinese academic institutions identified in a New York Times report Thursday as the apparent source of the recent attacks against Google, has also been linked to a hacker who may have been involved with the takedown of whitehouse.gov in 2001. ...read full article

February 18, 2010

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Massive Windsor debit card scam even took credit union CEO Charles Janisse for $480

WINDSOR, ONT. -- No one was immune to the massive debit card fraud scheme that rattled Windsor over the weekend — not even the CEO of a local credit union. ...read full article

Second person busted in case of stolen credit card data

A Cottage Grove woman turned herself in several days after police circulated surveillance photos of her as a suspect in a case of credit-card "skimming" that netted victims in the Twin Cities area and beyond. ...read full article

Computer Breach At Southern Illinois University

Nearly one thousand former SIU students are at risk for identity theft. University officials say an old computer in the math department was hit by a virus last month. ...read full article

La. man gets 309 years in prison for ID theft scam

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - A Louisiana man whom prosecutors said was the ringleader of an identity theft scheme with dozens of victims has been sentenced to 309 years in prison. ...read full article

US Cybersecurity Hypothetically Pathetic

Earlier this week, Cyber ShockWave, a simulated cyberattack on America, once again showed that the U.S.'s cybersecurity is not up to the task of protecting the country's infrastructure. ...read full article

Ex-Army man cracks popular security chip

Hardware hacker Christopher Tarnovsky just wanted to break Microsoft's grip on peripherals for its Xbox 360 game console. In the process, he cracked one of the most heavily fortified chips ever put into a consumer device. ...read full article

Almost 2,500 firms breached in ongoing hack attack

Criminal hackers have penetrated the networks of almost 2,500 companies and government agencies in a coordinated campaign that began 18 months ago and continues to steal email passwords, login credentials, and other sensitive data to this day, a computer security company said. ...read full article

Mozilla Releases Security Advisories

The US-CERT Current Activity web page is a regularly updated summary of the most frequent, high-impact types of security incidents currently being reported to the US-CERT. ...read full article

A third of laptops are stolen from homes

More laptops are stolen from homes than on public transport, in coffee shops or at airports, according to new research from YouGov. ...read full article

Man wracks up $100,000 in medical expenses with fake identification

BOCA RATON -- A man who twice checked himself into the hospital and wracked up more than $100,000 in medical expenses with a fake insurance identification has been arrested. ...read full article

You’ve Got A Mole Giving Away Your Sensitive Data

Retailers everywhere are losing sensitive information to their competitors every day. It’s not because some hacker has compromised the corporate database or because some corporate espionage team has gone dumpster diving after a corporate meeting. No, the people responsible for this breach are actually your own customers. ...read full article

PleaseRobMe.com Solicits Social Theft

The Web site gathers tweets and online posts about people who are away from home to emphasize the risk posed by advertising one's location. ...read full article

China to crackdown on porn transmitted through mobile phones

Chinese authorities have unveiled tougher measures to clean up the telecommunications industry in the country, and said offensive material transmitted through mobile phones will be the main target of a crackdown on Internet porn. ...read full article

Stolen Goldman computer code is still MIA

Prosecutors going after former Goldman Sachs computer whiz Sergey Aleynikov for theft say they haven't yet found the allegedly pilfered code on his new employers' computers -- potentially blowing a hole in their case. ...read full article

Local Man's High-Tech Invention Aims To Stop ID Theft

Identity theft can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars and can lead to a lot of headaches, but a San Diego man's new invention could help stop thieves before they strike. ...read full article

Court denies appeal in identity theft case

The state Intermediate Court of Appeals has upheld the 2007 conviction and prison sentence of Henry Calucag Jr. for stealing the identity and land of a Kauai businessman who was found slain in the Philippines. ...read full article

Britain Gets Tough with Mossad over Identity Theft

“Britain has cut ties with Mossad in the past, and will do so again if the Israelis are found to be acting against British interests.” These were the stern words of a British Foreign Office official speaking on allegations that the Mossad agents suspected of assassinating a Hamas leader in Dubai could have used the identities of British ex-pats to gain access to the emirate. ...read full article

Britain: Israel must 'cooperate fully' in fake passport probe

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Thursday demanded Israel's full cooperation in investigating of the fraudulent use of U.K. passport by the killers of a Hamas official in Dubai. ...read full article

February 17, 2010

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Wipro investigates alleged $4 million fraud by employee

IDG News Service - Indian outsourcer Wipro said Wednesday it is investigating the embezzlement of $4 million from the company after an employee allegedly obtained a colleague's online password. ...read full article

Military To Tighten Vendor Cybersecurity Policies

The Department of Defense is setting the stage for changes in how vendors handle unclassified military data.

The Department of Defense has signaled its intention to develop new policies requiring its vendors to meet increased standards for cybersecurity for unclassified military information residing on or being carried over private sector systems and networks. ...read full article

New Report Examines Malware's Origins, Motivations

Nearly every day, industry analysts and security researchers warn IT professionals about the skyrocketing proliferation of malware. A simple Web search turns up many reports that dissect the technical nature of malicious software, how it works, and how it affects its victims. ...read full article

Cybercriminals exploiting luger's death, Winter Olympics

Cybercriminals have been capitalizing on the world's interest in the Winter Olympics in Vancouver to spread malware, experts warned. ...read full article

US jury convicts Nigerian on wire fraud charges

IDG News Service - A 31-year-old Nigerian man could face up to 20 years in prison after being convicted Tuesday of charges related to running advance free fraud scams for five years, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. ...read full article

Dayton woman gets up to 42 years for identity theft

A 31-year-old Dayton woman who began an identity theft enterprise in Washoe County shortly after her 2008 release from a Nevada prison on fraud felonies, was sentenced to up to 42 years in prison Wednesday. ...read full article

ID theft ring that targeted church-goers busted

A group of alleged identity thieves who targeted people who attended churches along the Front Range have been indicted by the State Grand Jury. ...read full article

Mock cyber attack shows US unpreparedness

During the simulated cyber attack that took place yesterday in Washington and was recorded by the CNN, one thing became clear: the US are still not ready to deflect or mitigate such an attack to an extent that would not affect considerably the everyday life of its citizens. ...read full article

EMV hack may be overstated

Researchers at the University of Cambridge in the UK released a report claiming to have identified vulnerabilities with the EMV payment scheme. Industry organizations are meanwhile defending the technology, saying the hack would be difficult to pull off in the real world. ...read full article

State of Alaska Fears the Worst for Possible Identity Theft Victims

The accounting firm, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, LLC, is in hot water after the Attorney General finds out that the company knew of a data breach since early December 2009, but just recently released the information. ...read full article

West Memphis Police Department's computer network compromised

WEST MEMPHIS, AR (WMC-TV) - The FBI is investigating a Mid-South police officer suspected of accessing fellow officers' personal information. ...read full article

Man wracks up $100,000 in medical expenses with fake identification

BOCA RATON -- A man who twice checked himself into the hospital and wracked up more than $100,000 in medical expenses with a fake insurance identification has been arrested. ...read full article

St. Petersburg telemarketer eavesdropped to steal credit card numbers, authorities say

ST. PETERSBURG — A St. Petersburg man has been charged with stealing customers' credit card numbers from a marketing company he worked for to buy nearly $30,000 in dinners, limos and other luxuries. ...read full article

February 16, 2010

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Hackers at Pwn2Own to compete for $100K in prizes

Contest targets to include iPhone, Droid and BlackBerry, IE, Firefox and Chrome

Computerworld - A hacking contest next month will award cash prizes of $15,000 to anyone who can break into an iPhone, BlackBerry Bold, Droid or Nokia smartphone. ...read full article

Orange users angered over response to e-mail data breach

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has received complaints from Orange users whose e-mail addresses were accidently disclosed in a marketing letter from its customer relations division. ...read full article

Mobile Spy Web-site Shuts Down Among Privacy Concerns, Crime Allegations

Mobile spyware web-site www.shpioni.ge was withdrawn by its owner Saturday after young lawyers warned that using the service is a violation of privacy and thus a crime. ...read full article

Foreign Access to U.S. Banking Data Expanded

WASHINGTON (CN) - Banks must provide financial information on people suspected of funding terrorist activity or money laundering to European Union members who are signatories to the Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance. The requirement is in a new Financial Crimes Enforcement Network rule amending the Bank Secrecy Act. The FinCEN and other federal law enforcement agencies will receive reciprocal access to European banking records. ...read full article

February 15, 2010

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Mayor Roefaro warning residents of scam involving Ebay

UTICA, N.Y. (WKTV) - Utica officials are warning residents of scam due to numerous complaints called into the Mayor's office. ...read full article

Criminal hacker 'Iceman' gets 13 years

IDG News Service - A former security researcher turned criminal hacker has been sentenced to 13 years in federal prison for hacking into financial institutions and stealing credit card account numbers. ...read full article

Microsoft says malware causing blue screen crashes

A sneaky rootkit is blamed for a problem that has sidelined some XP users following patches

A hard-to-detect rootkit may be causing Windows XP systems to crash following Microsoft's latest security updates. ...read full article

Bail Set at $10 Million for Madoff's Former Finance Chief

Bail was set at $10 million Thursday for jailed financier Bernard Madoff's former finance chief, who has remained imprisoned since he pleaded guilty six months ago and cooperated with the government's investigation. ...read full article

Microsoft's new 'phone home' anti-piracy practice unacceptable, says critic

'At what point is one free of this' perpetual checking, asks Lauren Weinstein

Computerworld - The Internet advocate who blasted Microsoft in 2006 over the daily "phone home" habits of its anti-piracy software took the company to task again today for a new practice that will examine consumers' Windows 7 PCs every 90 days to make sure they're running legitimate copies of the OS. ...read full article

Researchers find huge weakness in European payment cards

IDG News Service - Hundreds of millions of payment cards throughout Europe have a flaw that could allow criminals with a stolen card to enter any random PIN to complete a transaction, according to researchers from the University of Cambridge. ...read full article

Twitter Application Grader.Com Hacked

A popular Twitter application used to measure the influence of Twitter users has been hacked and used to send spam messages. ...read full article

European Parliament blocks US access to SWIFT data

As reported by the BBC and others, today the European Parliament voted to block further US access to SWIFT banking data. Despite intensive US lobbying the motion to block was approved with 378 votes in favor, 196 against and 31 abstentions. ...read full article

Abuse of personal data in Bulgaria continues, official says

Companies are continuing to collect more personal data than absolutely necessary, Bulgarian Commission for Personal Data Protection (CPDP) chairperson Veneta Shopova said. ...read full article

Government invests £4.3m in crackdown on cybercrime

The government is to invest £4.3m to fight criminals who use e-mails and websites to con UK consumers out of £3.5bn a year. ...read full article

Deadline Looms for Mass. Data Protection Law

After more than a year of delay and several modifications, a contentious Massachusetts data protection regulation appears set to go into effect March 1. ...read full article

Second Californian Pleads Guilty to False Tax Refund Conspiracy

WASHINGTON – Ather Ali of Diamond Bar, Calif., pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to defraud the United States, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced. ...read full article

February 12, 2010

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9 claim tax return ID theft

The IRS and police in northwest Indiana are looking into allegations of identity theft of people who claimed someone had filed tax returns for them before they filed their own returns. ...read full article

District investigates computer security breach

The Broward County School District in South Florida is investigating whether students at several schools were able to change grades by hacking into computers. ...read full article

Employee Misuse of Computer Access Ruled Not a Crime

Using a password-accessed workplace computer in violation of company rules or policies may get you disciplined, but it's not enough to be prosecuted in New Jersey, says a Mercer County judge in a published case of first impression. ...read full article

Google Buzz Gives Spammers a New Sweet Spot

Google's new Gmail-based social network, Buzz, is raising hackles among security experts who see it as fertile new ground for propagators of malware and spam. "In the industry's haste to create the next 'Big Thing' for users," said Authenware President Tom Helou, "what results is a one-stop-shop for even amateur hackers to create an imitation identity and get access to sensitive information." ...read full article

Internet Governance in a World of Cyberwarcraft

Google's ongoing fight with the government of China brings dozens of issues to the table, not the least of which are human rights, censorship and trade and fairness issues. ...read full article

Adobe pushes out Flash security fix

Adobe has published a cross-platform update for Flash that addresses a potentially serious security flaw. ...read full article

Chip and PIN security busted

Security researchers have demonstrated a gaping security hole in Chip and PIN credit card authorisations which undermines trust in the technology as a means to verify retail purchases ...read full article

February 11, 2010

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Customers' Personal Information Found In Macy's Dumpster

Homeless Man Using Papers With Credit Card And Social Security Numbers As A Bed

A surprising find outside the downtown St. Louis Macy's store. Documents containing personal information including social security numbers. ...read full article

Online Robbery: Hackers Steal $50,000. Bank Says ‘Tough Luck’

It’s every technophobe’s nightmare, but this time its true. Some $50,000 was stolen from Fan Bao’s online bank account by Croatian computer hackers and the bank told him that the loss is not their problem. ...read full article

Leader of ID theft ring sentenced

The leader of a mail- and identity-theft ring has been sentenced to more than 13 years in federal prison, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Denver said today. ...read full article

Lawrence Welk Resort Furious with Visa

The Lawrence Welk Resort says a tech company disabled its computer security system, making 1,427 customers' credit cards vulnerable to ID theft. ...read full article

Mozilla admits Firefox add-on malware false alarm

One item of AMO badness just a blank

Mozilla has admitted it erred in labelling one of the two Firefox add-ons offered for download from its official add-on site as malign last week. ...read full article

FAFSA scams target student applicants

The State of Tennessee Office of Attorney General issued a warning to students last Thursday about possible financial aid scams. ...read full article

February 9, 2010

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Woman worms into D.C. taxpayer accounts

A mentally ill woman exploited a loophole in D.C. tax office online systems to gain unauthorized access to taxpayer accounts, establish herself as the owner of dozens of businesses and file returns on their behalf. ...read full article

SSNs Printed On Nearly 50K Envelopes

Department Of Health Care Services Alerts Beneficiaries To Mistake

Envelopes sent to thousands of Californians who get benefits from the Department of Health Care Services contained Social Security numbers on the mailing labels. ...read full article

AvMed: Data of 208,000 at risk after Gainesville theft

The theft of two company laptops from AvMed Health Plans' corporate offices in Gainesville may have compromised the personal information of more than 200,000 current and former subscribers, as well as their dependents, the company announced. ...read full article

Microscope-wielding boffins crack cordless phone crypto

Cryptographers have broken the proprietary encryption used to prevent eavesdropping on more than 800 million cordless phones worldwide, demonstrating once again the risks of relying on obscure technologies to remain secure. ...read full article

Thieves invade Twitter

CYBER criminals are charging each other more than $1000 for stolen identity details that can be used to access Twitter accounts

The social networking phenomenon has not only proved a hit among users, but carved out a popular following among tech-savvy crooks because of the doors it can open. ...read full article

FICO security lapse scary, but not part of larger problem

It is scary to learn someone is poking through your personal financial information and even more disturbing when you learn that they got it through the people who score your credit. ...read full article

Ruling: FACTA Does Not Extend to E-Commerce Confirmations

Online merchants have dodged another bullet when it comes to the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA). In the recent case Shlahtichman v. 1-800 Contacts, Inc., a judge in the Northern District of Illinois ruled in December that FACTA does not apply to electronic displays or e-mail confirmations of Internet transactions. ...read full article

Global gov's shrugging lets cybercrims frolic

Sex and drugs and Rickrolling in Madrid

Someone will have to die before governments take cybercrime as seriously as they take digital piracy, a panel on cybercrime and internet security was told last week. ...read full article

Health care department breaches privacy

The Department of Health Care Services said Monday it has breached the privacy of 49,352 people who receive adult day-care services from the state. ...read full article

Bradenton police warn of fake Verizon, Bright House workers

On Friday, a group of men showed up at The Palms apartment complex going door to door claiming to work for Verizon. ...read full article

February 8, 2010

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China: Large hacker training Web site shut down

Washington (CNN) -- Police in China shut down what officials think was the largest training Web site for computer hackers, local media said. ...read full article

Internet rape case jolts Wyoming city

Victim's ex-boyfriend allegedly posted online that she had a rape fantasy

CASPER, Wyo. - Authorities say a Casper woman was assaulted at her front door, raped at knifepoint in her living room and left bound on the floor, and they say one of the men charged in the brutal attack claimed that he thought it was invited. ...read full article

Mass injection web hacks yield to targeted attacks

Malware authors targeting websites have begun trading quantity for quality, according to web security firm Websense. ...read full article

ShmooCon: P2P Snoopers Know What's In Your Wallet

Being security researchers and all, Larry Pesce and Mick Douglas thought it would be a hoot to take a look at some of the information people send out over peer-to-peer (P2P) networks. They were taken aback by what they found. ...read full article

The Rise of Caller ID Spoofing

Applications that let users change or “spoof” their Caller ID are gaining in popularity in mobile phone app stores, even as Congress considers stalled legislation to outlaw particular uses of the technology, and criminals use it to engage in nefarious activity. ...read full article

BlackBerry Spyware Can Intercept Texts, Email, Track User's Location

A security researcher demonstrated a spyware program at the ShmooCon conference on Sunday that is capable of intercepting and recording text messages, emails, Web traffic and other data sent to and from BlackBerry devices. ...read full article

3rd Circuit to Mull Privacy of Cell Phone Data

Case offers rare glimpse into the mechanics of federal criminal investigations where nearly all documents are filed ex parte and stay under seal until indictments are handed up ...read full article

City supe slaps bank for account compromise

A supervisor for the town of Poughkeepsie, New York lashed out at a local bank after someone siphoned $378,000 out of municipal coffers and transferred it to Ukraine. ...read full article

February 5, 2010

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Cybersecurity Enhancement Act passed by U.S. House

One week after having nearly 50 of its websites defaced by hackers, the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill that would seek to improve cybersecurity within the federal government and the public sector. ...read full article

EU officials downplay carbon credit phishing scam

European Union officials have downplayed the seriousness of phishing attacks that enabled cybercriminals to steal carbon emissions permits worth £2.6m. ...read full article

Mozilla confirms infected Firefox add-ons slipped through security

Malware hidden in two extensions threatens Windows users

Computerworld - Mozilla confirmed late Thursday that it failed to detect malware in a pair of Firefox add-ons, which may have infected up to 4,600 users. ...read full article

FTC Returns $1.6 Million to Consumers Scammed by Bogus Debt Collector

The FTC will distribute $1.6 million to thousands of consumers who were scammed into paying money they did not owe by con artists who threatened, harassed and lied to them. ...read full article

FTC Targets Scammers Pushing Phony Jobs, Bogus Money-Making Schemes

In conjunction with state law enforcement officials and other federal agencies, the Federal Trade Commission will hold a press conference on Tuesday, February 9, 2010, at 11 a.m., to announce a law enforcement sweep cracking down on job and work-at-home fraud fueled by the economic downturn. ...read full article

February 4, 2010

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Australian judge upholds ISP's defence against piracy claims

An Australian judge has upheld a "pure conduit" defence by an internet service provider against claims by copyright holders that it should have stopped illegal filesharing on its networks. ...read full article

Venezuelan VoIP hacker pleads guilty

A Venezuelan man pleaded guilty in New Jersey federal court on Wednesday to hacking into the networks of voice over internet protocol (VoIP) providers and reselling internet-based phone services for profit, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. ...read full article

February 3, 2010

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Expect highly targeted cyber attacks with inside help in 2010, businesses warned

Businesses face an increasing number of threats from cybercriminals, according to the latest internet security report by IT management software company CA. ...read full article

U.S. Navy establishes new Cyber Command

The U.S Navy has joined the Air Force and Marines with the formation of a new command charged with overseeing cyberspace operations. ...read full article

Class Claims Experian is Recidivist Cheat

LOS ANGELES (CN) - Experian's "free credit reports" are not free at all, but trick customers into signing up for a credit monitoring service that can cost up to $179 a year, consumers say in a federal class action. The class claims Experian does this despite promising the FTC in 2005 that it would "stop its fraud" - but all it did was change the name. ...read full article

Old security flaws still a major cause of breaches, says report

Companies are overlooking obvious threats in the rush to tackle new ones, says TrustWave

Computerworld - An over-emphasis on tackling new and emerging security threats may be causing companies to overlook older but far more frequently exploited vulnerabilities, says a recent report. ...read full article

House to Consider Cybersecurity Bill on Wednesday

The U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to vote Wednesday on a proposed bill that is designed to bolster federal cybersecurity research and development activities, and stimulate the growth of a cybersecurity workforce in the country. ...read full article

Twitter urges users to reset passwords after phishing alert

Twitter has asked some users to reset their passwords after a phishing attack. It has urged members who use the same password for other online services to take action to protect their privacy. ...read full article

Accusations Fly Over Voice Encryption Hack

German encryption firm SecurStar has strenuously denied being behind an apparently independent test of voice encryption products that found many of its rivals could be hacked using a $100 phone-tapping program. ...read full article

Hackers paralyse emissions trading scheme

Emissions trading is considered the yardstick for reducing pollutant emissions. Using market-based mechanisms, it aims to encourage economies and businesses to gradually reduce their overall emissions, such as those caused by burning fossil fuels. Emissions permits that define a specific volume of a greenhouse gas such as carbon dioxide are assigned or purchased, allowing businesses which emit less than their permitted volume to sell excess permits on a trading platform specifically set up for the purpose. Businesses which produce more pollutants than they have permits for must obtain additional certificates. ...read full article

Credit theft sours winery experience

It certainly wasn't the wine or the bowtie pasta at St. Clair Winery & Bistro that left a bad taste in Bianca Villani's mouth. It was the call from Visa, informing her that someone in Maryland was trying to put hundreds of dollars of purchases on her card and the cards of two of her other friends - who had also gone to the Dec. 11 dinner. ...read full article

Mesilla man sentenced to 10 years in prison for child porn

A Mesilla Park man has been sentenced to 120 months in prison and lifelong supervision as a result of a national child pornography investigation. David Joseph Dube, 56, a former United States Army captain, worked as an information technology contractor at the time of the offenses, according to the FBI. ...read full article

Wigan Council loses the data of 200 disabled residents

A Greater Manchester council has lost details of 200 disabled residents - a year after a previous security blunder. ...read full article

Greensburg medical facility laptops stolen

Two laptop computers containing patient information were stolen from two Greensburg medical complexes over the weekend, city police said Tuesday. ...read full article

Strangers Lose Personal Information in Non-Profit Mix-Up

A mistake by a not-for-profit group may put more than 200 landlords at risk for identity theft. The mistake sent tax forms and social security numbers to strangers. ...read full article

University employee charged with felony

A University employee with access to sensitive student information was arrested and charged with one count of felony theft by extortion Monday evening, and police said they expect their investigation to lead them to more student victims. ...read full article

Identity theft, forgery arrests

An alleged identity theft and forgery ring was disrupted in southeast Phoenix this week after deputies from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office executed warrants at two residences and arrested five illegal immigrants from Mexico. ...read full article

iPhone vulnerable to remote attack on SSL

Apple's iPhone is vulnerable to exploits that allow an attacker to spoof web pages even when they're protected by the SSL, or secure sockets layer, protocol, a security researcher said. ...read full article

Stubborn trojan stashes install file in Windows help

Can't muster rejection

Security researchers have spied malware that stashes a copy of itself in a Windows help file to ensure victim computers remain infected ...read full article

Record year for online tax filing - and phishing mails

Scammers rev up for tax season

Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs is celebrating another record year for online tax returns, over six million people filed online this year. ...read full article

Watch Out for Scam Toyota Recall Number

Some crafty scammers are playing the numbers game in hopes of cashing in on Toyota's massive recall. ...read full article

ITRC Fact Sheet 140 – Social Security Number FAQs

The ITRC is frequently asked by consumers about the appropriate time and reason to provide one’s SSN. ...read full article

Louisiana agent fined $100,000 amid numerous fraud-related charges

A Baton Rouge, La., preacher who allegedly used the identity of a 2-year-old to obtain an insurance license was ordered to stop conducting business by state regulators and fined $100,000. ...read full article

Mo. insurance agent fined $5,000 for creating false proof of coverage

A Missouri man was fined $5,000 by FINRA for creating a false proof of insurance document for a customer. ...read full article

Possible vendor’s breach may explain some BlackHat attendees being spammed

Earlier this week, PogoWasRight.org was contacted by an individual who reported that after attending BlackHat 2009, he recently started receiving spam at a unique e-mail address he had created specifically for Breach Security. After receiving spam, he contacted them to change the e-mail address to another unique e-mail address, but within days, started getting spam at that address, too. The spam started on or about January 27. ...read full article

How to keep your passwords super secure

Hands up who uses the same password for everything? Shame on you, and is there anyone out there who uses the same small clutch of passwords for everything? Yes, some shame on you people too. ...read full article

February 2, 2010

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Crooks try to romance users with Valentine's Day spam

Eat your heart out, cupid. Valentine's Day still is nearly two weeks away, but the lover's holiday is already attracting the attention of the web's criminal element. ...read full article

Reports: Phishing attack hits Twitter

(CNN) -- If you're on Twitter, it may be a good idea to change your password this morning. ...read full article

US gaming commission confirms 80,000 personal details exposed after outside attack on server

Around 80,000 Iowa employee names, birth dates and social security numbers have been exposed after a server was hacked ...read full article

Most consumers reuse banking passwords on other sites

The majority of online banking customers reuse their online-banking login credentials on other websites, according to a new survey on password insecurity. ...read full article

Manchester cops clobbered by Conficker

PCs' PCs still unplugged from PNC

Greater Manchester Police's computer network has been infected by the infamous Conficker worm, leaving beat cops unable to run computer checks on suspected criminals and vehicles for the last three days. ...read full article

Incidents of identity theft up by 32pc

The recession has led to a surge in financial fraud with identity theft up by almost a third, latest industry figures have revealed.

A worrying trend is emerging where criminals take over the running of your bank account and transfer funds into an account they have set up to accept these bogus payments, according to CIFAS, the UK’s fraud prevention service. ...read full article

Trail of Iowa computer hack points to China

owa investigators suspect a serious breach of a state government computer database last week originated in China, which a congressional panel says has increased its use of cyber espionage tactics. ...read full article

Web attacks cripple Russia's biggest indie newspaper

Seven days and counting

The website of Russia's highest-profile independent newspaper on Monday suffered its seventh straight day of crippling denial-of-service attacks by unknown miscreants. ...read full article

Cybercrime Checks Into The Hotel Industry

Hackers are increasingly targeting hotels and resorts, raiding more than the minibar.

Over the past year America's hotels have had some uninvited guests: a wave of increasingly sophisticated invasions by organized cybercriminals. ...read full article

Identity thieves use sophisticated techniques to steal money

Leah Broadway was running on the treadmill at her Alexandria gym when someone stole her purse from her car parked outside. ...read full article

Fla. agent sent to prison for taking more than $1 million in premiums

A Gainesville, Fla., insurance agent was sentenced to 21 months in state prison and 10 years of probation after pleading guilty to the theft of more than $1 million in premiums intended for businesses he had created. ...read full article

Obama's $3.8 trillion proposed budget: Parsing the tech priorities

President Obama rolled out his $3.8 trillion proposed fiscal 2011 budget that’s teeming with technology projects throughout the Federal government’s departments and agencies. ...read full article

The future of... data encryption

Digital memories are long. Emails, images, and documents sent today can resurface years from now, but new software could help ensure that what happens online, doesn’t have to live there eternally. ...read full article

Chinese spies use cyber hacking and sexual blackmail...

The New York Times recently published a story that Britain’s spy agency, MI5, warned British business people doing business in China about spying attempts that made used of cyber hacking and attempted to ensnare people through blackmail “over sexual relationships and other improprieties.” ...read full article

Why it’s easier today for a thief to guess your nine digits

Alessandro Acquisti is an associate professor of information technology and public policy at the Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon University. His work focuses on the economic and social impact of IT and in particular, the sweet spot between economics and individual privacy. ...read full article

Tips to national insurance fraud group doubled in 2009

Tips from the public about insurance crimes to a national group doubled from 2008 to 2009, as people “lost their patience” with insurance fraud, the group said. ...read full article

Indian internet users vulnerable to cyber fraud: Survey

New Delhi: A survey* of more than 5,000 active Internet users across 10 cities in India suggests that users are becoming increasingly concerned about online security. ...read full article

Belarus orders Internet providers to collect personal user data

Minsk/Belarus' authoritarian government Monday ordered even tighter online controls, ordering internet providers to collect personal data and profiles of their users, according to the independent Belarusian news agency Belapan. ...read full article

Use of Twitter, Facebook rising among gang members

When a gang member was released from jail soon after his arrest for selling methamphetamine, friends and associates assumed he had cut a deal with authorities and become a police informant. ...read full article

Pressure mounts to phase out Internet Explorer 6

A Downing Street petition is calling for the UK government to drop Microsoft's Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) and move to a more modern browser. ...read full article

Hackers turn to social media to attack companies

Social media is increasingly becoming fertile ground for hackers to attack companies with spam and malware, according to a report released Monday by a security firm. ...read full article

February 1, 2010

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Attacks on social networking sites up 70%

Malware and spam attacks against users of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter have increased by 70% in the past year, according to a report by Sophos. ...read full article

Clash Over Student Privacy

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Education Department has fired the top federal official charged with protecting student privacy, in what the dismissed official says was a conflict with the agency's political leaders over their zeal to encourage the collection of data about students' academic performance. ...read full article

The personal details of 3.4 million Victorians continue to be abused by VicRoads staff despite a State Government bid to stamp out licensing fraud.

Seven VicRoads workers have been sacked or resigned for improperly accessing or releasing information from the authority's database in the past two years. ...read full article

HMRC issues 'tax refund' phishing e-mail alert

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has issued a warning about fake e-mails about tax refunds which are designed to steal personal information. ...read full article

Privacy breached: Flow clients rail against directory listings

Subscribers to Flow's telephone service are demanding explanations at the sudden appearance of their private information in the national telephone directory, produced annually by a third party. ...read full article

Home Office spawns new unit to expand internet surveillance

Exclusive The Home Office has created a new unit to oversee a massive increase in surveillance of the internet, The Register has learned, quashing suggestions the plans are on hold until after the election. ...read full article

Firefox-based attack wreaks havoc on IRC users

World's first inter-protocol exploit, but not the last

Underscoring a little-known web vulnerability, hackers are exploiting a weakness in the Mozilla Firefox browser to wreak havoc on Freenode and other networks that cater to users of internet relay chat. ...read full article

Laptops with Personal Info Stolen from Columbia

About 1,400 current, former and prospective students at Columbia University have been told that their personal information, including Social Security numbers, is vulnerable following a security breach. ...read full article

UK.gov unmoved by Internet Explorer 6 security concerns

Google, NHS cast off exploited browser

Google and the NHS may soon be ditching support for Internet Explorer 6, but that hasn’t stopped UK government officials from declaring the browser doesn’t give them cause for concern, unlike their French and German counterparts. ...read full article

CIA, PayPal under bizarre SSL assault

Plus hundreds of others

The Central Intelligence Agency, PayPal, and hundreds of other organizations are under an unexplained assault that's bombarding their websites with millions of compute-intensive requests. ...read full article

Grandma endures wrongful ISP piracy suspension

All Cathi "Cat" Paradiso knew for sure, as she learned that her Web access was being shut off, was that she was losing her struggle to stay calm. ...read full article

Military joint EHR office rapped for bad planning

WASHINGTON – The Government Accountability Office criticized the group directing the project to tie together the electronic health record systems operated by the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments in a recent report ...read full article

Google censors 'Lolita,' but not 'bestiality'

It seems like only yesterday that news surfaced that naughty words were being replaced by hash marks on Android phones. ...read full article

Health Professionals Petition FTC For Relief From Red Flags Rule

In light of a recent federal court decision, four national organizations representing dentists, physicians and veterinarians called on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) today to exclude health professionals from controversial new regulation intended to combat identity thef ...read full article

Medical files found in trash

Police on Tuesday turned up medical files in a trash bin near University Medical Clinics that contained information that could be used to commit identity theft, a police spokesman said Wednesday. ...read full article

CIA, PayPal under bizarre SSL assault

e Central Intelligence Agency, PayPal, and hundreds of other organizations are under an unexplained assault that's bombarding their websites with millions of compute-intensive requests. ...read full article

Stolen Twitter accounts can fetch US$1,000

According to researchers at Kaspersky Lab, cybercriminals are trying to sell hacked Twitter user names and passwords on-line for hundreds of dollars. ...read full article

Cocoa Beach police find ATM skimmer

Someone attached a “skimming device” to an ATM at Bank of America on North Atlantic Avenue in Cocoa Beach, and police believe an unknown number of victims may be susceptible to identity theft. ...read full article

Preying on the down-and-out

Con artists target victims with job-hunting schemes, 'free' trials

Unemployment, home foreclosures, rising debt. These problems set the stage for scams last year. ...read full article

Body parts killer Stephen Marshall jailed for life

A man who admitted murdering a kitchen salesman, dismembering his body and dumping it, has been jailed for life. ...read full article

Court Appearance Set for Tax Fraud Suspects

35-year-old Don Darrell Price from Jackson and 41-year-old Timothy Benjamin Taylor from Dacula, Georgia, are facing at least 484 counts of identity theft and tax fraud charges combined. ...read full article

Alamo arrests linked to local identity theft victims

This week in Alamo, a multi-agency team of law enforcement officers arrested four adults on charges of identity theft, possession of a controlled substance and outstanding warrants. ...read full article

New Twist in Dead Sea Scrolls Case

In the latest twist of a curious legal case involving allegations of identity theft, cyber-bullying, and two-millennia-old religious artifacts, a well-known University of Chicago professor has been implicated in a complex, Internet-based scheme to smear opponents of his work. ...read full article

A Tale of Two Victims

When a computer virus infection at a business allows thieves to steal tens of thousands of dollars from the company’s commercial banking account, banks typically don’t reimburse the victim company. But the truth is, most banks make that decision on a case-by-case basis. ...read full article

'Skimmer' Found Attached To Bank ATM

Technician Discovers Device At Cocoa Bank

A technician found the "skimmer" late Saturday afternoon at the Bank of America ATM located in the 4300 block of North Atlantic Avenue in Cocoa. ...read full article