September 2011 News Archive

September 30, 2011

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Update: Data breach affects 4.9M active, retired military personnel

Backup disk containing unencrypted personal data is missing

Computerworld - Sensitive data including Social Security Numbers, names, addresses, phone numbers and personal health data belonging to about 4.9 million active and retired U.S. military personnel may have been compromised after backup tapes containing the data went missing recently. ...read full article

NC police probe ID theft that targeted soldier

ERWIN, N.C. (AP) — A Harnett County soldier's decision to ask a friend to house-sit during his deployment to Afghanistan led to a massive betrayal of trust that included identity theft, the fraudulent sale of possessions and the friend's death, according to police in Erwin. ...read full article

Hundreds of seniors caught in identity scam

ATLANTA -- Fulton County is warning senior citizens about an identity theft scam offering stimulus money for their personal information. Seniors were told to go to an address on Peeple Street in Southwest Atlanta to fill out a form to get $500 in stimulus money. ...read full article

Car Thief Sentenced to 19 Years in Prison

A prolific car thief in Fresno has been sentenced to nearly two decades behind bars. ...read full article

Police learn about techniques used by identity thieves

Veronica Richardson, an Allegheny County probation officer for 33 years, remembers when the illegal use of another person's credit card required stealing the card itself. ...read full article

Jury: Medical equipment company owner defrauded Medicare, Medicaid

McALLEN — An Edinburg man was convicted of healthcare fraud and aggravated identity theft in connection with his durable medical equipment company. ...read full article

Lawyers list 308 witnesses for ID theft trial

An identity theft case involving 13 defendants appears headed for a February trial in federal court in Minneapolis. ...read full article

Baltimore lawsuit spotlights obscure identity theft law

County man claims bar receipts violated federal consumer protection act

An obscure provision of a federal law created to prevent identity theft has come under the spotlight in Baltimore, where a man has sued three area bars for violating the law's intent. ...read full article

September 29, 2011

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Hosting Provider InMotion Hacked, Thousands of Sites Affected

InMotion, a large hosting provider based in California, was compromised in recent days and the attackers were able to replace the index files of thousands of sites, defacing them and in some cases making it difficult for site owners to recover and reload their sites. ...read full article

Ex-officer sentenced in identity theft

A former Montgomery Police Department officer was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison with two years of supervised release Wednesday, according to U.S. Attorney George Beck. ...read full article

Man finds unknown violations on driver's license

A 30-year-old Garden City resident who went to the office of the Secretary of State to get his driving privileges reinstated discovered a greater problem when he learned someone had received additional violations in his name. ...read full article

Woman Charged With 16 Counts Of Identity Theft

SULLIVAN COUNTY, Tenn. -- Sullivan County authorities got some help from a jewelry store on solving a identity theft case. ...read full article

Pfizer, pharmacy group warn on counterfeit drugs

Pfizer Inc. and a pharmacy standards group are teaming to warn consumers about the risks of counterfeit prescription medicines, which endanger the public and take money from both pharmacies and legitimate drugmakers. ...read full article

Lakemoor man charged with identity theft in Naperville

A Lakemoor man who is being questioned concerning the slaying of his sister now is being held in Will County jail on charges of identity theft. ...read full article

As California Fights Prison Overcrowding, Some See a Golden Opportunity

The wooden floor of this dormitory at the state prison in Chino, Calif., is the only indication that inmates once played basketball here. Hoops long since taken down, the gymnasium in the East facility of the California Institution for Men was converted to sleeping quarters over a decade ago and now houses 200 inmates, who mill around their bunk beds in bright orange jumpsuits. Signs painted on the walls advise, CAUTION: NO WARNING SHOT WILL BE GIVEN — a reminder of how seriously the guards treat the riots, fights, beatings and rapes that are common here. "When this place goes off, it's a nightmare," Correctional Sergeant Mike Losorelli says of the facility. "The bunks get used as barricades." ...read full article

Typosquatting Hacks: Finger Slips Sink Ships

For nearly as long as DNS as has been around, aggressive advertisers and malicious doers have used a technique called typosquatting to take advantage of the fact that most of us aren't perfect typists: They buy up domains and set up realistic-looking yet malicious websites such as www.livve.com, www.live.cm, and www.liv.ecom to exploit users who incorrectly type live.com. ...read full article

Foxy Brown's brother gets prison for NYC ID theft

NEW YORK (AP) — Rapper Foxy Brown's brother is headed to prison for using forged credit cards to go on a luxury shopping spree and club jaunt in New York City. ...read full article

Round Lake Park woman gets prison for stealing from disabled man

A Round Lake Park woman was sentenced to four years in prison Wednesday for stealing more than $3,000 from a disabled man who had hired her for home care assistance. ...read full article

September 28, 2011

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OnStar reverses course on controversial GPS tracking plans

Customer concerns prompted decision to drop privacy policy change, company says

Computerworld - GM subsidiary OnStar has reversed course on a planned change to its privacy policies that would have let it collect and share GPS tracking and other data from vehicles -- even after their users stopped subscribing to OnStar service. ...read full article

Hackers leak data of Goldman Sachs CEO

Hackers today released personal information for Goldman Sachs Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein. ...read full article

Pro-Syrian ‘Electronic Army’ Hacks Harvard University Site

Hackers from the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA) vandalized Harvard University’s website Monday morning, presenting visitors to the Ivy League university’s homepage with an image of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad dressed posed in front of the nation’s flag in full army regalia. ...read full article

Scammers pretend to be friendly office printers

A new ruse for infecting computers wtih malware has been spotted by researchers at Symantec

IDG News Service - Hackers have found a new hook to trick people into opening malicious attachments: send emails that purport to come from office printers, many of which now have the ability to email scanned documents. ...read full article

Microsoft halts another botnet: Kelihos

Microsoft has put a halt to the Kelihos botnet and is accusing a Czech resident of hosting the botnet and using it to deliver spam and steal data, the company said today. ...read full article

DHS Thinks Some SCADA Problems Are Too Big To Call "Bug"

The Stuxnet worm may be the most famous piece of malicious software ever written. When it was first detected, a little over a year ago, the worm sounded a warning to nations around the world that critical infrastructure systems were potential targets of attack for foreign governments and cyber criminal organizations alike. But with the anniversary of the Stuxnet worm's discovery just past, the Department of Homeland Security admits that it is now reevaluating whether it makes sense to warn the public about all of the security failings of industrial control system (ICS) and SCADA software. ...read full article

USA Today pwned by s'kiddies on Twitter

Who would you like us to hack next today?

A group of mischievous hackers who target the Twitter feeds of news organisations claimed a fresh victim on Sunday when they hijacked the micro-blogging feed of USA Today. ...read full article

Nurse faces 51 counts of medical records, ID theft at Boulder

A nurse accused of improperly accessing patient records at numerous hospitals in the Denver metro area faces five counts of identity theft and 46 counts of theft of medical records in connection with his time at Boulder Community Hospital between May 2010 and January 2011. ...read full article

Credit Card Thief Assumes Man's Identity, OKs Shopping Spree

It's been another highly entertaining week of credit card crimes, starting off with a chilling step-by-step account of identity theft , and concluding with a credit card statement that could make your grandmother blush. ...read full article

Legally dead man in courtoom plea

LAS VEGAS, Sept. 27 (UPI) -- A Chicago stockbroker declared legally dead 25 years ago has pleaded guilty to a fraud charge in a Las Vegas courtroom. ...read full article

September 27, 2011

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Soldier: Fighting Identity Theft Harder Than War Overseas

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Carols Llanes and Martha Garcia have had a plan since meeting during their deployments in Afghanistan: come home, get married and start a new life together. ...read full article

Schumer seeks FTC probe of OnStar privacy policy

OnStar plans to collect data from customers that stop services an 'unheard of' privacy violation, U.S. Senator says

Computerworld - GM subsidiary OnStar's plan to collect and share GPS tracking and other data from vehicles even after their owners stop subscribing to its service has prompted an outcry from some lawmakers. ...read full article

Here's The Story Behind One Shocking Case Of Identity Theft

This week at my bank branch we had a major case of Identity Theft. ...read full article

Police arrest Wisconsin sex offender on theft charges

A registered sex offender from Wisconsin was arrested on attempted aggravated theft and identity theft charges Saturday night after trying to buy a vehicle with a fake Social Security number, name and address, Medford police said. ...read full article

Murdered woman's brother charged with identity theft

The brother of a murdered Naperville woman was booked into the Will County Adult Detention Facility Friday on a charge of identity theft. ...read full article

Keep Your Identity: Even children can fall victim to identity theft

Now that the school year has started and our kids and grandchildren are off to tackle the academic challenges in front of them, this might be a good time to look at identity theft that is going on within that age group … or even younger. ...read full article

Al-Qaida's Shamukh chat forum under attack, says expert

The forum used by Muslim militants has been rendered inaccessible

IDG News Service - Al-Qaida's top-tier Al-Shamukh chat forum is facing an ongoing electronic attack, that has rendered the forum totally unreachable, according to a terrorism expert. ...read full article

5 Dirty Tricks: Social Engineers' Latest Pick-up Lines

You may now be savvy enough to know that when a friend reaches out on Facebook and says they've been mugged in London and are in desperate need of cash, that it's a scam. But social engineers, the criminals that pull off these kinds of ploys by trying to trick you, are one step ahead. ...read full article

Hackers published personal data of 25,000 police officials

An Austrian hackers group has published the names and home addresses of 24,938 police officials sparking fears that many could be targeted by criminals. ...read full article

Nigerian Scam Becomes Burkina Faso Scam

Email con artists still hope to profit from the naivety of some people, promising millions to those willing to help them. The only difference now is that the newer versions of the Nigerian scam are a bit better documented. ...read full article

Felon sentenced on gun, ID-theft charges

A Providence man who barricaded himself in an attic in 2010 when officials arrived to arrest him on gun and identity-theft charges was sentenced Friday by U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith to 164 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Peter F. Neronha announced Monday. ...read full article

September 26, 2011

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Facebook's Timeline will be boon for hackers

'Story of your life' display makes it easier for criminals to dig up data for social engineered attacks, says researcher

Computerworld - Facebook's new Timeline will make it even easier for criminals and others to mine the social network for personal information they can use to launch malicious attacks and steal passwords, a researcher said today. ...read full article

Army expands warnings on social networking

Soldiers, families: Be wary about giving ID, security info

The Army’s Online and Social Media Division is warning soldiers and their families about the perils of online identity theft and operational security violations in its newest update to the Army Social Media Handbook. ...read full article

Slain Naperville woman’s brother extradited

The brother of a Naperville woman whose murder remains unsolved has been extradited from Florida to face identity theft charges, while police say he remains a “person of interest” in his sister’s death. ...read full article

ID thief investigation 'strangest' of postal inspector's 30-year career

Ramie Marston was employed by a Portsmouth bank when she entered her nanny's name and Social Security number into the bank's computer system and began racking up an estimated $100,000 in debt without the nanny's knowledge. ...read full article

USA Today's Twitter account falls victim to hackers

The same group that hacked NBC News' Twitter account on September 9 and sent tweets about a bogus attack on Ground Zero apparently grabbed hold of USA Today's Twitter feed today and fired off a clutch of messages. ...read full article

Symantec sounds alarm on threats to mobile devices

MANILA, Philippines - Rarely do I hear people complain about their mobile phones being compromised by malware and other forms of digital intrusion. Rare is good, but the fact that it can happen is no good. ...read full article

Romanian national sentenced for involvement in bank fraud scheme

A Romanian national was sentenced Friday in Bridgeport to 15 months in prison for his participation in a multi-state, ATM-skimming scheme that struck Greenwich, according to the U.S. Attorney's office. ...read full article

Alleged 'Commander X' Anonymous hacker pleads not guilty

A 47-year-old homeless man has pleaded not guilty to charges that he joined in an Anonymous-organized cyberattack that temporarily shut down Santa Cruz County servers. ...read full article

September 23, 2011

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'Lurid' malware hits Russia, CIS countries

Trend Micro says more than 1,400 computers in 61 countries were targeted

IDG News Service - The latest espionage-related hacking campaign detailed by security vendor Trend Micro is most notable for the country it does not implicate: China. ...read full article

Alleged LulzSec, Anonymous hackers arrested in Ariz., Calif.

An Arizona man was arrested today for allegedly stealing data from Sony Pictures Entertainment earlier this year, and two others were indicted on charges of participating in a denial-of-service (DoS) attack that temporarily shut down Santa Cruz County servers late last year. ...read full article

Microsoft passes Rustock botnet baton to FBI

Microsoft on Thursday wrapped up its civil case against the still-unnamed controllers of the Rustock botnet and handed off the information gleaned during its investigation to the FBI. ...read full article

This Is How Fraudsters Get Hold Of Your Credit Card Information

Credit card fraud has been a enormous problem since the credit card was first introduced in the 1950?s. ...read full article

Protect yourself from fake antivirus software

It's something you don't want to happen when you're on your computer -- a malicious piece of software hijacking your machine. Believe me, I know. ...read full article

War with computer hackers hits the road

The computer industry has battled hackers and destructive software viruses for years. That battle is now spreading to vehicles. ...read full article

High-tech hackers hit Seattle businesses

SEATTLE – The first sign of trouble at the small Seattle software company where Alec Fishburne works came when several employees reported that their paychecks hadn’t shown up as usual via direct deposits at their banks. ...read full article

Why It’s Not Easy to Freeze Your Child’s Credit File

In her job as an analyst specializing in the retail banking world, Julie McNelley talks to a lot of bank executives. Recently, she says, she has heard concerns about child identity theft involving the use of a minor’s Social Security number to commit financial fraud. ...read full article

Craigslist users fight surprise $89 charges from penny auction site

Craigslist bargain hunters around the country are being thrust into the middle of an elaborate scheme involving some of the Internet's darkest corners: Penny auctions, spam, and affiliate marketing. And many are finding their bank accounts are $89 lighter for their troubles. ...read full article

Lawyer: News Corp to be sued in US for hacking

Associated Press told that lawyers in US will begin pursuing case within next week

...read full article

UTSA Honors College informs students of computer security incident

The University of Texas at San Antonio is informing 688 students and prospective students who either enrolled in or applied to courses in the Honors College that an unauthorized user may have gained access to information about them. Those affected have been notified by personal letter. ...read full article

Internet Explorer Malware Plugin Also Infects Firefox

Malware that sticks to a web browser is no news to anyone, but now, a new threat has been discovered that after infecting Internet Explorer, it drops a piece of spyware onto your Firefox. ...read full article

Cody Kretsinger, Arizona College Student, Charged In Sony Hacking Case

LOS ANGELES -- An Arizona college student was arrested and charged Thursday in a breach of computers at Sony Pictures Entertainment early this summer where more than 37,000 customers had their information stolen. ...read full article

September 22, 2011

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Theft of Digital Health Data More Often Inside Job, Report Finds

Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Electronic health data breaches are increasingly carried out by “knowledgeable insiders” bent on identity theft or access to prescription drugs, according to a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. ...read full article

Foster Care Identity Theft bill passes

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- U.S. Rep. James Langevin's office says the legislation, sponsored by Democrat, requires states to run credit checks on foster youth over 16 years old before they age out of the system. It also ensures they get help clearing their records of inaccuracies that are the result of identity theft. ...read full article

Man charged in identity theft spanning two decades

When university student Patrick Guest had his wallet stolen at an Ajax gym in 1990, he filed a police report, but didn’t think about it too much. ...read full article

Memphis woman admits identity theft, tax scam

A Memphis woman accused of scamming the government of more than $100,000 has pleaded guilty to identity theft and conspiracy to defraud the United States ...read full article

Russian citizen convicted of identity theft in RI

PROVIDENCE, R.I.—A federal jury has convicted a Russian man living in Rhode Island of taking out nearly $275,000 in loans using the stolen identity of a U.S. citizen living in Ireland. ...read full article

New Identity Theft Scam Targeting Consumers Through Text Messages

A heads up about a new identify theft scam. ...read full article

3 indicted in sophisticated Wash. hacking scheme

SEATTLE (AP) — Soon after his office was burglarized — twice — Jeff Eby walked in and found a payroll report sitting on his printer. He hadn't printed it, and as his company's chief financial officer, he's the only person who would have. ...read full article

New licenses for victims of ID theft

LAS CRUCES - The Motor Vehicle Division has begun implementing a new program to help victims of identity theft, State Taxation and Revenue Secretary Demesia Padilla announced Wednesday. ...read full article

9 members of stolen identity ring sentenced

PHOENIX - A ring of criminals who made a living stealing people’s identities is out of work and facing a total of 107 years in prison according to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. ...read full article

Are celebs the newest target for hackers?

(CNN) -- The naked celebrities seem to be everywhere lately. Last week, hackers allegedly stole nude photos from actress Scarlett Johansson and then plastered them all over the Internet. ...read full article

Postal carrier pleads guilty in mail theft case

A local U.S. Postal Service letter carrier pleaded guilty Wednesday to a felony charge that he stole mail from three people on his route in Queensbury. ...read full article

September 21, 2011

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Two Men Use Dead Friend's Debit Card to Visit Strip Club

With friends like this, who needs enemies? It's a cliché come to life: When Jeffrey Jarret died, his two friends Robert Jeffrey Young and Mark Rubinson toted the corpse around in their trunk and used their buddy's ATM card to visit a strip club. ...read full article

'Supercookies' just won't go away

User privacy is the biggest concern surrounding the use of supercookies which secretly collect user data beyond the limitations of common industry practice, noted Jason Pearce, security director of sales engineering at M86 Security Asia-Pacific. ...read full article

Woman stole identities of several co-workers, police say

SOUTH WINDSOR — A woman who police said stole the identities of several of her co-workers to open a number of utility accounts at her home was arrested Thursday. ...read full article

US wants online users authenticated

The White House has reportedly initiated an online user authentication programme that aims to fight cyberphobia. ...read full article

Prosecutor calls poker site 'global Ponzi scheme'

Full Tilt poker accused of defrauding players of $330m

...read full article

Android bug lets attackers install malware without warning

Google patch cycle puts users at risk

...read full article

Client info stolen from Hana Card

A succession of data leaks are besieging local credit card issuers as the latest version of online security breach has taken place at Hana SK Card. ...read full article

Use Skype on the iPhone? Your info could be stolen

Are you using the Skype for iOS app on your iPhone or iPod Touch? Then you need to be aware of how easily your information — particularly your entire address book — could be stolen without your knowledge. All it takes is a single chat message. ...read full article

3D Printers Used to Create ATM Skimmers

ATM skimmers were printed with high-tech 3D devices by a group of fraudsters who managed to steal more that $400,000 (€ 280,000) from unsuspecting bank customers. ...read full article

Data breaches affect 2m in Mass.

Personal information from nearly one out of three Massachusetts residents, from names and addresses to medical histories, has been compromised through data theft or loss since the beginning of 2010, according to statistics released yesterday by the office of Attorney General Martha Coakley. ...read full article

Man accused of helping teen with ID theft arrested in Moorestown

MOUNT HOLLY — A New York City man was arrested in Moorestown and accused of helping a 17-year-old girl commit identity theft. ...read full article

September 20, 2011

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Investigation Leads to Financial Forgery Laboratory and Identity Theft Arrest

RENO— Reno Police Department have arrested two suspects for allegedly operating a financial forgery lab. ...read full article

Data Breach FUD: Fear, Uncertainty And Dollars

Data breach cost models are like the three bears’ porridge: victim estimates are decried as too low, market estimates are too high, and everyone is searching for the estimate that’s just right ...read full article

Cell phone scam: Man accused of adding himself to AT&T customers' account

A man has been arrested in connection with an identity theft scam involving cellular phones. ...read full article

6 Ways ID Thieves Steal Your Credit Card Number

One in every 10 American consumers has already been victimized by identity theft. Just earlier this year, a major online portal lost more than 12,000 credit card account numbers. Unfortunately, identity scammers are constantly coming up with novel ways to steal our credit card numbers. ...read full article

ID Analytics Study Finds Six Million U.S. Parents and Children Inappropriately Sharing Identity Information

SAN DIEGO, Sept. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly six million parents and children in the U.S. are inappropriately sharing identity information according to new data released today from ID Analytics' ID:A Labs. While the study found that about 500,000 children under the age of 18 have had their identities stolen by a parent, perhaps most shocking is the finding that two to three million elderly parents are likely victims of identity theft initiated by their adult children. ...read full article

Schneider: Newest email scam almost laughably fake

The email scam du jour is not particularly believable. Readers have been sending it to me not because they're wondering if it's real, but to mock its fecklessness. ...read full article

Feds: Wi-Fi hacking burglars targeted dozens of Seattle-area businesses

A federal grand jury has indicted three Seattle men accused of hacking the wireless networks of more than a dozen businesses to steal money and employees’ personal information. ...read full article

NHS loses CD of 1.6 MILLION patients' records

An NHS trust has told patients that it is acting to improve its data handling practices after a rebuke from the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) for losing a CD containing details on 1.6 million people. ...read full article

Hackers break SSL encryption used by millions of sites

Researchers have discovered a serious weakness in virtually all websites protected by the secure sockets layer protocol that allows attackers to silently decrypt data that's passing between a webserver and an end-user browser. ...read full article

Former SEMO Employee Found with Data Files of Personal Information of Students

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo.- Hundreds of students received an identity theft warning following a security breach at Southeast Missouri State University. ...read full article

Beijing Police Detain Couple for Illegal Personal Information Trading

Beijing police said Monday that they have detained a couple who were found to be illegally trading large amounts of personal information on the Internet. ...read full article

September 19, 2011

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Man accused of killing identity theft victims gets 30-year sentence

A man authorities say was part of a Brooklyn husband-and-wife identity theft team has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for the deaths of three identity theft victims, prosecutors said Thursday. ...read full article

Former soldier living in Spring Lake faces theft, fraud charges

A former soldier who was serving federal probation at his mother's home in Spring Lake was arrested last week on charges that he fraudulently obtained more than $50,000 in federal benefits. ...read full article

Firm sends bots into chats to solicit stolen data

Hackers have proved they can crack just about any computer network, from Sony's to Citigroup's. Afterward, they face another challenge: unloading the virtual booty. ...read full article

Bank's credit card bills found dumped

AT least 500 credit card bills were found dumped at a recycling station in the Pudong New Area yesterday, raising concerns over a possible leak of bank customers' personal information. ...read full article

Intel officials' emails posted after hack of cybersecurity group

Attack comes days after organization warned US urgently needs to improve cyberdefenses

...read full article

State Assembly computer system breached

SACRAMENTO -- More than 50 employees of the state Assembly -- including some lawmakers -- have been warned that their personal information might have been obtained by a computer hacker. ...read full article

CT tax worker arrested in data breach

A Connecticut tax collector faces felony charges that could land him in jail for as long as six years for allegedly using his work computer to look up tax returns on about 15 taxpayers without a legitimate business need, authorities say ...read full article

Blumenthal Bill Bumps Up Fines for Security Breaches

Recently Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) introduced a one-hundred page bill, dubbed the Personal Data Protection and Breach Accountability Act of 2011, S.1535, (the “PDPBA Act”), referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee, that if ultimately passed would levy significant penalties for identify theft and other “violations of data privacy and security,” criminalize as felonies the installation of software that collects “sensitive personally identifiable information” without clear and conspicuous notice and consent. ...read full article

Prison Sentence for Insider Crimes

Insiders often pose the greatest and most costly threat financial institutions face, as a loan fraud case in Maryland demonstrates. ...read full article

Tufts laptop with confidential personal information stolen

A Tufts?owned research laptop containing the personal information of 73 applicants to the Tufts Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) was stolen in April, though there has been no sign of misuse of the information to date. ...read full article

FBI Investigates Cyber Fraud That Put Businesses Out of $85 Million

The FBI’s Cyber Division is looking into more than 400 reported cases of corporate account takeovers, Cyber Division Assistant Director Gordon Snow told the House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit in Sep. 14 testimony. ...read full article

September 16, 2011

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Man stole data from U.S. service members via P2P

Rene Quimby was sentenced to 75 months in prison Thursday on fraud and identity theft charges

IDG News Service - A California man who dug up sensitive information belonging to U.S. service members on peer-to-peer networks, and then used it to order iPods, cameras, and even washing machines from an online store, was sentenced to 75 months in federal prison Thursday. ...read full article

Trojan Makes Child-Porn Accusation, Locks Computer, Requests $17

A new ransomware scam locks down its victims' computers, attempting to convince them that child pornography has been found therein, and informs users that their machine will be unlocked only after paying a $17 (500 ruble) fine, according to a BitDefender analysis reported by MalwareCity. ...read full article

FBI investigating hacking of celebrities

The FBI office in Los Angeles is investigating a series of hacking incidents targeting high-profile victims. ...read full article

Attorney General Coakley warns of robo-calls tied to identity theft scam

Beware of robo-calls claiming your debit card has been "locked." They're part of an identity theft scam trying to coax you to give out personal and financial information, Attorney General Martha Coakley warned. ...read full article

Heidi Klum the 'most dangerous' celeb on the Net

Former Victoria's Secret model and current host of "Project Runway," Heidi Klum is the Internet's "most dangerous celebrity," security firm McAfee announced today. According to McAfee, when people type Klum-related queries into a search engine, nearly 10 percent of the results are "malicious." ...read full article

FTC plans changes to online child privacy protection rules

Personal information will include geolocation data and tracking cookies

IDG News Service - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has proposed amendments to online privacy rules for children that aim to give parents control over what personal information websites may collect from children under 13. ...read full article

Two more City Council members in Aurora, Colo., fall victim to identity theft

Two more City Council members in Aurora, Colo., fall victim to identity theft ...read full article

Ice IX: Not Cool At All

My colleague Jorge Mieres recently found a C&C server of a botnet based on a malicious program called Ice IX. As announced on several user forums, Ice IX is a bot created using the source code of ZeuS 2.0.8.9, which became publicly available in May. The author of the new bot says the program includes substantial enhancements, which should be interesting to those cybercriminals who steal money from users with the help of banking Trojans. ...read full article

2 accused of running up tab on corpse's ATM card

DENVER (AP) — Two men accused of driving around with a dead friend, using his ATM card and visiting a strip club are charged with abusing a corpse, identity theft and criminal impersonation. ...read full article

Referees Accused of Identity Theft Conspiracy to Evade Taxes

Sept. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Former basketball referees at New York’s Chelsea Piers sports complex were charged with using stolen identities, including names of players on a youth sports team, to evade taxes. ...read full article

Bot army being assembled, awaiting orders

Network World - A mammoth army of infected computers is being assembled, but it's unclear yet what purpose they will be put to. ...read full article

September 15, 2011

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Montgomery, Ala., Man Pleads Guilty for Role in Two Tax Fraud and Identity Theft Conspiracies

WASHINGTON – Alchico Grant, a resident of Montgomery, Ala., pleaded guilty to his role in two tax fraud and identity theft conspiracies, the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today. In addition to pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the government with respect to claims, Grant pleaded guilty to two counts of theft of government money, property or records, one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. ...read full article

How to avoid the nasty fake antivirus scam

It’s one thing to write about the dangers of malicious software. It’s quite another to have it take over your computer. That’s what happened to me a few weeks ago. I was at work doing a routine online search when all of a sudden my computer went nuts. ...read full article

Former DC resident sentenced for identity theft

A judge has sentenced a former District of Columbia resident to seven years in prison for obtaining and using the identity of a Maryland woman. ...read full article

California woman pleads guilty to Idaho bank fraud

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A California woman who pleaded guilty to bank fraud and identity theft in Idaho faces more than 30 years in federal prison at her December sentencing. ...read full article

Spartanburg woman sentenced to prison on federal tax fraud, identity theft charges

A Spartanburg woman will spend more than three years in federal prison on tax fraud and identify theft charges, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. ...read full article

IDs of Aurora City Council members stolen

AURORA — At least five Aurora City Council members have had their identities stolen over the past few weeks, and police have opened an investigation to determine whether the cases are linked. ...read full article

SC tax preparer sentenced for filing false returns

COLUMBIA — A 56-year-old Spartanburg woman has been sentenced to 36 months in prison for preparing hundreds of inflated tax returns for residents in North and South Carolina and pocketing the refunds. ...read full article

U.S. needs to be on-guard for a big cyberattack

Network World - A destructive attack from cyberspace "is coming, in my opinion. It is a question of time. What we don't know is how far out it is," and whether it will target commercial infrastructure, government networks or mobile platforms Army Gen. Keith Alexander told attendees of the "Maneuvering in Cyberspace" symposium this week. ...read full article

September 14, 2011

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SpyEye hacking kit adds Android infection to bag of tricks

Intercepts text messages bank use as secondary authentication for account access

Computerworld - The SpyEye hacking toolkit has added an Android component that collects the text messages some banks use as an extra security precaution, a researcher said today. ...read full article

Macon man accused of identity theft in false income tax filings

A Macon man is accused of identity theft and related crimes in connection with several fraudulent income tax returns. ...read full article

Man arrested after OHSU identity theft

PORTLAND -- A man is being held in jail on a fugitive warrant after stealing credit cards at OHSU, according to a hospital spokesperson. ...read full article

EPISD Lawyer: District Is Not Legally Liable For The Hacking

EL PASO, Texas -- El Paso Independent School District trustees heard from concerned employees and parents at a Tuesday evening board meeting regarding the hacking situation that put more than 70,000 students and employees at risk for identity theft. ...read full article

Two guilty pleas in Tampa hint at scope of income tax fraud scams

TAMPA — Two guilty pleas entered in federal court Tuesday hint at the scope and organization of the recently exposed spate of criminals filing fraudulent tax returns to scam the IRS. ...read full article

Stolen Computers Result in PHI Threat for 2,370

Bonney Lake (Wash.) Medical Center has notified 2,370 patients that stolen computer equipment contained protected health information, including Social Security numbers. ...read full article

Security helpline gets 174 calls from worried reservists

More than 170 former police officers have contacted an emergency help service set up after an administrative error potentially compromised their security, the Assembly has been told. ...read full article

Council blunders put personal data at risk

Personal details of more than 16,000 residents were lost when a council’s computer memory stick went missing. ...read full article

POS Breach Spans 2 Years

Little has been reported about POS fraud since the Michaels craft store breach made headlines in May, after point of sale terminals at 90 of Michaels' 964 U.S. stores were reportedly compromised as part of a POS-swap scam waged by an organized crime ring. ...read full article

Mobile Banking: The New Risks

User Behavior, Lax Security Make Mobile the New Target

...read full article

September 13, 2011

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Vending machine company announces major data breach

Up to 40,000 reported may be affected by breach of Vacationland Vendors machines at waterparks in Wisconsin, Tennessee

Computerworld - Vacationland Vendors, a company that supplies vending machines and games to entertainment venues, has disclosed a data breach affecting about 40,000 people who visited waterpark resorts in Wisconsin and Tennessee between December 2008 and May 2011. ...read full article

Woman pleads no contest in San Bruno blast scam

A San Francisco woman has been convicted of posing as a victim of the San Bruno natural gas pipeline explosion to get free benefits, a prosecutor said today. ...read full article

BitCoin Forum Hacked, Injected With Bill Cosby Images

A hacker compromised a digital currency forum, bitcointalk.org, stealing email addresses and hashed passwords, reading messages, and, of all things, peppering the site with images Bill Cosby, according to a report from SC Magazine. ...read full article

Certificate hacker probably paid by Iran, say victimized firms

Comodo's CEO sees even stronger links between hacker and Iran in recent attack

Computerworld - The CEO of a certificate-issuing company that was hacked in March is even more certain now that a wave of attacks against similar firms is backed by the Iranian government. ...read full article

NATO Looks to Team With India To Fight Cybercrime

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is looking to enlist the help of India when it comes to contending with cyber threats from China, according to a recent report. ...read full article

How 9/11 Changed Data Centers

September 12, 2011— Computerworld— Data centers have always been secure, tightly controlled facilities, but 9/11 brought about changes that pushed security and physical protections to even higher levels. ...read full article

Murdoch to reappear before MPs in phone-hack case

MPs are expected to grill James Murdoch for a second time, but no date has been set by the media, culture and sports committee yet. ...read full article

Small business identity theft still a problem

Here's a story by Tom Harvey of Scripps Howard News Service on small business identity theft. The problem isn't growing, but it's already substantial. ...read full article

Health-Care Fraud Runs Wide And Deep

With health-care insurance fraud on the rise, consumers, insurance providers and physicians are facing bigger headaches. ...read full article

New Mexico man pleads guilty in Brunswick-based Medicare fraud scheme

BRUNSWICK - GA. A New Mexico man has admitted to submitting $270,000 in phony Medicare claims in a nationwide fraud scheme that the owner of a Brunswick medical supply business orchestrated. ...read full article

Cape police looking into Identity Theft suspect

CAPE CORAL, Fla.- Cape Coral Police are asking for the public’s assistance in identifying and/or locating a theft suspect. The incident took place at Walmart on Saturday September 10th at 9:15pm. ...read full article

Up to 40,000 credit and debit cards exposed in data breach

Credit and debit cards used at Vacationland Vendors arcade games in Wisconsin Dells may be affected by a data breach. ...read full article

How phishing sites threaten your online security

Generally, phishing is associated with e-mail messages that mimic, spoof financial institutions such as banks, credit card for example ebay and paypal. These messages appear original to cause victims to reveal vital information. ...read full article

'What about my profile?'

When you die, does your Facebook account die with you? Or that online photo album? What about your iTunes playlist, blogs or tweets? ...read full article

State-sponsored spies collaborate with crimeware gang

Hackers sponsored by the Chinese government and other nations are collaborating with profit-driven malware gangs to infiltrate corporate networks storing government secrets and other sensitive data, researchers say. ...read full article

Senator wants federal law to protect your data

Bill aimed at protecting citizens' personal information from online theft

...read full article

Phone-hacking scandal's far-reaching tentacles

As the UK parliament's inquiry into News of the World phone-hacking scandal continues, there's a lot of back-and-forth going on with regards to who knew what was happening - and when. ...read full article

September 12, 2011

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NASCAR goods, identity theft, Medicare fraud: Your weekly ScamWatch

A Northern California man pleaded guilty to conspiracy and identity theft charges related to an identity theft ring that victimized 29 people, Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris said in a news release. ...read full article

Avoid getting skimmed by ATM scammers

Seth Rabinowitz recalls the time he used his HSBC ATM card on a Sunday afternoon in São Paulo, Brazil, at an ATM outside a bank that seemed closed, because it was after regular hours. ...read full article

Celebrated artist accused of identity theft

Plantation artist Jose Luis Alvarez has earned an international reputation with colorful, modernist paintings that were featured at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, as well as Art Basel in Miami and galleries in New York and San Francisco, reports the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. ...read full article

Woman charged with forgery, ID theft at Arlington Heights bank

A Chicago woman faces felony charges of forgery and identity theft after she admitted in writing to using another person’s name and false identification cards to try to withdraw $2,500 from an Arlington Heights bank, authorities said Saturday at a bond hearing at the Cook County courthouse in Rolling Meadows. ...read full article

Study: U.S. Must Bolster Security Against Cyberattacks

WASHINGTON – A new study warns that the U.S. must develop cyber intelligence as a new and better coordinated government discipline that can predict computer-related threats and deter them. ...read full article

Hackers Send Fake Terror Alerts From NBC's Twitter

NEW YORK – A hacker broke into the Twitter account of NBC News and sent out a handful of false tweets about a suspected hijacking and a plane attack at ground zero just days before the tenth anniversary of 9/11. ...read full article

2 women charged with tax fraud

A federal grand jury in the Middle District of Alabama returned indictments charging two Wetumpka women with tax fraud, theft and ID theft. ...read full article

Hacker defaces Irish Catholic paper: 'Gotta love false hope'

A security breach has left several sites including the Irish Catholic defaced. ...read full article

Security breach at Linux Foundation

The Linux Foundation has mailed users of the Linux.com and LinuxFoundation.org sites informing them that they discovered a security breach on 8 September which "may have compromised your username, password, email address and other information". ...read full article

Samsung Card latest in line of data hacks

Samsung Card, one of the nation's leading credit card companies, is under fire for trying to downplay the leak of clients' personal information as concerns mount over the frequent exposure of such data online in the world's most wired country. ...read full article

September 9, 2011

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Google contacts Iranian users to secure Gmail accounts

A rogue SSL certificate could have compromised about 300,000 users in Iran, according to a report

IDG News Service - Google is directly contacting users in Iran, who may have been compromised by a rogue SSL certificate, to recommend measures to secure their accounts. ...read full article

Identity theft lands elderly driver in jail

A SERIAL offender who gave a false identity to a police officer in Camberley, then lied repeatedly in court about who he was, has been jailed for seven months ...read full article

Brother guilty of identity theft

A man accused of stealing his sister’s identity to open a credit card and run up a $1,900 bill pleaded no contest to felony identity theft and faces up to two years in prison. ...read full article

Stanford Hospital investigating how patient data ended up on homework help website

Confidential medical data on 20,000 patients potentially compromised

Computerworld - Stanford University Hospital in Palo Alto, Calif. is investigating how a spreadsheet containing personal medical data on 20,000 patients that was being handled by one of its billing contractors ended up publicly available for nearly one year on a homework help site for students. ...read full article

Woman allegedly stole identity

Des Moines police call it a blatant case of identity theft. ...read full article

RSA spearphish attack may have hit U.S. defense organizations

One of the attack files was created using a Chinese language version of Excel, VirusTotal discovered

IDG News Service - The hackers who broke into EMC's RSA Security division last March used the same attack code to try to break into several other companies, including two U.S. national security organizations, according to data provided by the VirusTotal website. ...read full article

Report: Breach leads to online data posting

NEW YORK (AP) — Stanford Hospital in California has confirmed that a privacy breach led to medical information for thousands of emergency room patients to be posted online, according to the New York Times. ...read full article

David Landau & Associates, LLC Uncovers Identity Theft, Corporate Impersonation

Firm Acts to Correct Misinformation, Eliminate False Web Content

FAIRFIELD, N.J., Sept. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- David Landau & Associates, LLC ("DLA, LLC"), a leading provider of advisory services to private equity, hedge funds, REITs and other public and private real estate and financial services firms, announced that it has uncovered corporate identity theft by a disgruntled former employee and that it has implemented a program to correct misinformation distributed via social networking sites, job boards and other internet sites aimed at disseminating information on corporations. ...read full article

Larimer man headed to prison for bank fraud

A Larimer man who masterminded an identity theft ring that stole more than $280,000 from Citizens Bank accounts will spend one year and four months in prison, a federal judge ruled today. ...read full article

Cybercrooks prey on 9/11 anniversary

Cybercrooks are gearing up for the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks with a range of malware traps and hacking attempts both on social networks and the wider internet, net security firm BitDefender warns. ...read full article

September 8, 2011

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Senators push for changes in cybercrime law

The U.S. law allows criminal prosecutions for violations of terms of service or computer use policies, critics say

IDG News Service - The main U.S. law targeting cybercrime may need to be changed because it has allowed law enforcement agencies to target people who simply violate websites' terms of service or their employers' computer use policies, two senators said Wednesday. ...read full article

Suburban woman AWOL for sentencing on life insurance scams

A Bartlett woman who twice killed off the same husband in scams to collect life insurance benefits was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison — but she wasn’t in court to hear her punishment. ...read full article

23 years for man who took Clark County patrol car

VANCOUVER, Wash. — A man who tried to take a Clark County sheriff's deputy patrol car was sentenced in Vancouver to 23 years in prison. ...read full article

Identity theft: What to do when there's a security breach

Following a slew of corporate data breaches in recent months, you may have received a chagrined letter from a company with which you do business. ...read full article

How to sniff out a charity scam

In the aftermath of Hurricane Irene or other natural disasters, donating to a charity can bring much-needed relief to suffering victims. Unfortunately, not every charity is on the up and up. Scammers preying on people's emotions and desire to help are plentiful after a disaster, making it hard to determine what is real and what isn't. ...read full article

Colorado Among Worst States For ID Theft

CASTLE ROCK, Colo. -- With a simple swipe, Tami Nealy stole all that she needed to copy a credit card. ...read full article

Butte embezzler gets three years

A Butte woman was sentenced to three years in federal prison Wednesday on charges of labor union embezzlement, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. ...read full article

Hackers flip characters to disguise malware

Infected Windows PCs outsourced to other cyber criminals, who install more attack code

Computerworld - Hackers are using a new trick to cloak malicious files by disguising their Windows file extensions to make them appear safe to download, a Czech security company warned today. ...read full article

Hoax mom's sentencing pushed back to November

Bucks County's "Hoax mom" will be sentenced in federal court in November for a fraud scheme, which precipitated her infamous fake kidnapping in Upper Southampton in 2009. ...read full article

September 7, 2011

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Ten years after 9/11, cyberattacks pose national threat, committee says

Catastrophic cyberattacks are not 'science fiction,' says the Bipartisan Policy Center

Computerworld - Ten years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the nation faces a critical threat to its security from cyberattacks, a new report by a bipartisan think tank warns. ...read full article

Police: Seniors need to watch out for new telephone scam

The Suffolk County Police Department’s Identity Theft Unit is warning residents of a telephone scam that specifically targets senior citizens. ...read full article

Death threat tied to bizarre case

A former jail mate of a man accused of trying to fake his own death pleads guilty to delivering the threat

The bizarre case of a former Thurston KeyBank manager facing federal identity theft charges took another unusual turn Tuesday. ...read full article

Identity theft used to scam store clerk

KETTERING, Ohio (WDTN) - Kettering police are asking for help solving a crime that involves identity theft and stolen goods. ...read full article

Woman sentenced in identity theft, tax crime case

A Tickfaw woman convicted of identity theft and tax crimes has been sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison. ...read full article

DigiNotar certificates are pulled, but not on smartphones

Neither Google nor Apple has announced plans to revoke certificates issued by DigiNotar in their smartphone OSes

IDG News Service - Browser makers have generally been quick to react to the computer compromise at digital certificate issuer DigiNotar, but that hasn't been the case for all mobile phone makers. ...read full article

Man Charged With Stealing Father's Financial Information

A Wayne County man is charged with identity theft and related charges after the sheriff's office says he used his father's financial identifying information and also stole checks and debit and credit cards from another man. ...read full article

How Hacktivism Affects Us All

Caught up in protests, young social activists are committing online crime.

In December 2010, a group of nearly 3000 activists under the name “Operation Payback” launched online attacks against PayPal, MasterCard, and Visa, briefly knocking the three financial services’ sites offline and preventing consumers from accessing ATMs or online banking services. The activists retaliated against the three companies for severing ties with WikiLeaks, an online repository for whistleblower data that had recently included thousands of secret communications from the U.S. State Department and other world governmental agencies. Nine months later more than a dozen people--most between the ages of 19 and 24--were arrested in connection with these denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, even as new attacks were hitting corporate, military, and government sites worldwide. ...read full article

LCSO reports Bonita man arrested for identity theft

On Friday, Sept. 2, 2011 at approximately 7 a.m., Detectives with the Lee County Sheriff's Office Economic Crimes Unit arrested a Bonita Springs man for using the identity of another person for employment. Detectives previously made contact with the victim and were informed that the victim's personal information was used to file a tax return. The victim also attempted to collect unemployment compensation benefits after being laid off from his job and was denied, due to the fact someone was working under his social security number and name. ...read full article

Six Individuals Indicted for Tax Fraud and Identity Theft Schemes in Alabama

WASHINGTON – Three separate indictments were returned by a federal grand jury in the Middle District of Alabama charging six different individuals on a variety of charges stemming from tax fraud and identity theft schemes, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today. ...read full article

September 6, 2011

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Hackers spied on 300,000 Iranians using fake Google certificate

IDG News Service - About 300,000 Iranians had their Gmail accounts compromised and their messages read by hackers, according to a forensics firm that has investigated the theft of hundreds of digital certificates from a Dutch company. ...read full article

PlayStation Scam Makes FBI Warning List

Sony PlayStation users are being warned by the FBI about scams targeting them and other online consumers. ...read full article

Suspected mail thieves arrested after chase

Two suspected thieves were caught trying to steal mail by an off-duty police officer who chased them down, police said. ...read full article

UK police may be given domain name-suspension powers

A group set up by Nominet, which is the internet registry for .uk domain names, said that a new "expedited process" should be created to allow law enforcement agencies to ask for domains to be suspended if they are associated with serious crime. ...read full article

DNS hack causes defacement and redirection on Register, Telegraph and Vodafone websites

A DNS server was hacked last night resulting in a number of major websites being subject to defacement and redirection. ...read full article

September 5, 2011

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Hackers steal SSL certificates for CIA, MI6, Mossad

Computerworld - The tally of digital certificates stolen from a Dutch company in July has exploded to more than 500, including ones for intelligence services like the CIA, the U.K.'s MI6 and Israel's Mossad, a Mozilla developer said Sunday. ...read full article

2 Men Charged In Connection With Identity Theft Scheme In Montgomery County

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Federal authorities have charged two men in connection with an identity theft scheme that targeted TD Bank and breached the personal information of dozens of customers at a Montgomery County health benefits company. ...read full article

Compliance must not overlook rural branches'

Compliance with data protection legislation has come under the spotlight since the implementation of legislation such as the Consumer Protection Act, the new Companies Act and the coming Protection of Personal Information Bill. ...read full article

Beware of debt-collection ruse, Better Business Bureau says

Scam artists have bullied people over the phone into giving up personal information, such as debit card numbers. ...read full article

State Police Make Identity Theft Arrest

State Police arrested a Rochester woman for identity theft, after she allegedly used someone else's bank account information to buy things. ...read full article

Identity theft ring lands Munhall woman in prison

A federal judge has sentenced a Munhall woman to six months in prison for her role in an identity theft ring that stole more than $280,000 from customers' accounts at Citizens National Bank. ...read full article

Ex-employee wiped financial data from bikini bar

IDG News Service - At the Bikinis Sports Bar and Grill in Austin, Texas, you can get burgers and beer served to you by cute waitresses wearing denim shorts and bikini tops. And if you're David Palmer, a recently fired IT worker, you can also break into a U.S. military contractor's computer systems and wipe out payroll files, wreaking havoc at its customers. ...read full article

Low blow: Phishers target student loan applicants

Phishers are targeting UK student loan applicants in a new scam campaign. ...read full article

DHS warns of planned Anonymous attacks

Computerworld - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security today issued a somewhat unusual bulletin warning the security community about the planned activities of hacking collective Anonymous over the next few months. ...read full article

Facebook deletes hacked Pages, destroying years of work

Businesses and individuals using Facebook Pages are getting booted off their fanpage with no way back on, and it's costing some of them money. ...read full article

September 2, 2011

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UK charges two, arrests two more linked with Anonymous

The UK continues to pursue those allegedly connected with Anonymous and Lulz Security

IDG News Service - The U.K. is continuing to aggressively pursue so-called hacktivists, charging two men and arresting two more Thursday who are allegedly connected with the groups Anonymous and Lulz Security. ...read full article

FTC Testifies on Children's Identity Theft

The Federal Trade Commission today told the House Committee on Ways and Means Committee Subcommittee on Social Security that, “Protecting consumers – especially vulnerable consumers such as children – against identity theft and its consequences is a critical component of the Commission’s consumer protection mission.” ...read full article

Teens accused of stealing 14,500 students' data from Birdville school district

HALTOM CITY -- Two students from Birdville schools hacked into a school district network server and downloaded a file with 14,500 student names and Social Security numbers, officials said. ...read full article

Authorities: Bay area criminals use fake identities to steal federal tax refunds

TAMPA — Dead people can still get federal tax refunds. ...read full article

Anonymous claims hack of Texas police chiefs website

IDG News Service - Anonymous has attacked the website of the Texas Police Chiefs Association, in retaliation for the arrests of alleged members of the hacker group. ...read full article

'Anon member' claims credit for WikiLeaks takedown

A Twitter user who claims affiliation to the infamous Anonymous hacktivist collective has claimed responsibility for launching denial of service attacks that floored WikiLeaks on Tuesday night. ...read full article

San Antonians are most at risk for Internet security breaches

San Antonio has been ranked the leading U.S. city that is most vulnerable to online threats, according to a new study by AVG Technologies. ...read full article

Luis Mijangos gets 6 years for hacking women's computers, blackmailing them for explicit photos

Luis Mijangos found naked photos the women had taken of themselves, and then threatened to post the pictures on the internet unless they delivered more graphic shots or videos. ...read full article

FORMER ALAMOGORDO BANK EMPLOYEE ARRAIGNED ON FEDERAL EMBEZZLEMENT CHARGES

ALBUQUERQUE – Brisa Ramos, 30, of Newburg, Maryland, was arraigned on a 41¬count indictment charging her with embezzlement and aggravated identity theft this morning in federal court in Las Cruces. Ramos entered a not guilty plea during this morning’s proceedings, and was released on a $10,000 bond and other conditions pending trial. ...read full article

September 1, 2011

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Video Games Could Increase Children’s Risk of Identity Theft

Social media and video games dominate much of today’s youths’ time. However, just because they are accessing these sites from the privacy of their home, that doesn't make them safe. ...read full article

Dutch Site Claims Mozilla, Yahoo, Wordpress, Tor Project All Targets in DigiNotar Attack

There are more signs that a July compromise of DigiNotar, a certificate authority based in the Netherlands, may have been driven by political motives. A Dutch Web site, nu.nl, reported on Wednesday that digital certificates belonging to Mozilla, Yahoo.com, Wordpress and The Tor Project were among dozens reported stolen from DigiNotar. ...read full article

Hackers tap EPISD system: Student, employee information, including Social Security numbers, compromised

The private information of thousands of El Paso Independent School District students, teachers and other employees is at risk after hackers broke into the district's internal computer network. ...read full article

Local councils lose personal details of 160,000 people

Local councils have lost data relating to personal details of more than 160,000 people in the last five years, a Bureau investigation can reveal. More than 26,000 individuals have had their personal details lost in the first half of 2011 alone. ...read full article

Beijing Court Finds 21 Defendants Guilty of Criminal Privacy Violations

On August 5, 2011, the Beijing Second Intermediate People’s Court announced its decision in what is reported to be the largest criminal case to date involving the misuse of personal information in Beijing, China. ...read full article

State workers allegedly access private data without permission

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Like all drivers with a Minnesota license, Michelle knows the state has her personal information. She gave it when she got the license ...read full article

Yellowstone County investigation finds numerous hacking intrusions

An investigation of intrusions into Yellowstone County's computer servers showed numerous hacking attempts but no theft of personal information in the two attacks that were analyzed. ...read full article

Unredacted cables on Net after WikiLeaks breach

More than a quarter of a million unredacted copies of secret U.S. diplomatic cables have shown up on the Internet after a security breach at WikiLeaks. ...read full article

Kernel.org Server Rooted and 448 users credentials compromised

The main kernel.org page is currently carrying a notice that the site has suffered a security breach. "Earlier this month, a number of servers in the kernel.org infrastructure were compromised. We discovered this August 28th. While we currently believe that the source code repositories were unaffected, we are in the process of verifying this and taking steps to enhance security across the kernel.org infrastructure." ...read full article

Anonymous claims DNS attacks against Symantec, Apple, Microsoft

The Sri Lankan branch of Anonymous claims to have hacked into the DNS servers of Symantec, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, and several other large organizations over the past few days. ...read full article

Indiana woman pleads guilty to identity theft

SYCAMORE – A woman charged in July with several counts of identity theft pleaded guilty Wednesday. ...read full article

3 men face identity theft charges

Three Montrealarea men face theft and identity theft charges in Regina after the stealand-switch of a debit-card machine at the till of a restaurant. The three men were arrested Friday. ...read full article

Oakland man sent to federal prison for identity theft

OAKLAND -- An Oakland man was sent to federal prison for eight years Wednesday for making and using fake credit cards as part of a sophisticated identity theft plot, the U.S. District Attorney announced. ...read full article

U.S. aims to track 'untraceable' prepaid cash cards

As the federal government tells it, the money men behind the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers would never have been identified had they not been lousy bankers ...read full article