Infosecurity News
NullCrew: the principled hacker group?
In a wide-ranging interview broadcast over online Spreaker radio but conducted probably via IRC, UK Anon Winston Smith has been talking to Null, the leader of the NullCrew hacking group.
GSA to implement $2.5B email-as-a-service project
The US General Services Administration (GSA) is planning to implement a five-year, $2.5 billion email-as-a-service (EaaS) strategy, as part of the government-wide cloud computing initiative that helps meet federal mandates for migrating information technology to the cloud.
Philippines inks Cyber Crime Prevention Act
The Phillipines has signed the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 into law, meant to curtail and punish a range of internet-related offenses, from libel to hacking and cybersex to spamming.
Cyber Security Hall of Fame to induct 11 security pioneers
The first inductees of the National Cyber Security Hall of Fame have been announced, representing a collection of pioneers who invented the technologies, created awareness, promoted and delivered education, developed and influenced policy and created businesses to begin addressing the threats that came along with the rise of the digital age.
China's smart-grid explosion drives 'huge' security spending spree
China’s cybersecurity market is set to explode, growing from a valuation of just $1.8 billion last year to $50 billion by 2020, according to new research from GlobalData. The big 44.7% growth curve – which the firm says is an anomaly on the global stage – will be mainly driven by efforts to secure the country’s extensive and ever-growing power infrastructure.
Where to go to find the music pirates
A new report, drawing on 18 million observations of P2P activity on BitTorrent file sharing, analyzes what locations are downloading which music files – legally or illegally.
Quantum Key Distribution takes to the air
An aircraft in flight has successfully transmitted quantum encryption keys to a ground station, bringing closer the time when satellites can be used to provide a theoretically (allegedly) secure communications network.
YouTube declines to remove Mohammad video clip
Asked by the White House to reconsider whether the infamous Mohammad video clip is in violation of its terms of service, Google has replied that it is not. Although it is blocking the clip in Egypt, Libya, Indonesia and India, this, says Google, is in keeping with local laws.
AlienVault doxes the man behind the PlugX RAT
AlienVault has been tracking the PlugX remote access trojan for some months, and following extensive detective work has now uncovered enough information to name the person behind it.
GCHQ Academic research institute to investigate the “Science of Cyber Security”
Yesterday the UK Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ – one of the UK’s three intelligence agencies) announced that it has set up “a new academic Research Institute to improve understanding of the science behind the growing Cyber Security threat.”
BlackHole 2.0 now available, with a raft of hacker upgrades
Fave hacker toolkit BlackHole has gotten an upgrade. Version 2.0 of the exploit kit is now available to mine security holes for opportunities to infect machines with slew of malicious programs. It adds a host of new features, at the same pricing as before.
Pre-installed malware in production lines spurs Microsoft's 3322.org takedown
Microsoft digital crime investigators have purchased several PCs from stores in China, finding that 20% were already infected with Nitol botnet.
Microsoft kills most of Forefront portfolio
In an effort to align its security and protection portfolio with the workloads and applications they protect, Microsoft is eliminating several of its Forefront products.
Anonymous criticizes the world’s media
Anonymous has rebuked the media, effectively accusing it of being Indecisive Dave – the Fast Show character (Brilliant in the US) who continually changed his opinion to agree with the most recent comment he heard.
Chip & PIN’s unpredictable numbers are predictable
Professor Ross Anderson at Cambridge University's Computer Laboratory has a long-standing interest in bank systems and bank cards, repeatedly showing they are not as secure as claimed.
HP focuses on printer security for healthcare environment
Pretty much any connected device poses a security threat to business and home IT networks – even that brand-new scanner/printer workhorse in the corner. HP has launched a new program that offers secure authentication for all online printers, as well as a management suite for identifying vulnerabilities, such as Java vectors.
Hackers serve up account details from Dominos India
Online ordering may have revolutionized food delivery for couch potatoes everywhere, but for pizza lovers in India the convenience has turned into a bad breadstick all around.
Dubai looks to shore up government cybersecurity policy
With the Middle East becoming a hotbed for cyber terrorism and hacktivists, the Dubai government has taken another step toward developing an integrated strategy for information security in the emirate.
Treasure trove of opinion on the Communications Bill
The Joint Committee on the UK government’s Draft Communications Data Bill has published the written evidence submitted to its public consultation on what has generally become known as the government’s proposed snooper’s charter.
Twitter must hand over OWS user data
Twitter must hand over the subpoenaed tweets of OWS protestor Malcolm Harris by Friday or face a monetary penalty for contempt, declared Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Matthew Sciarrino.
