Infosecurity News
Mobile security focus is on the rise, but still needs work
Mobile security efforts are on the rise in the wake of the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend, according to new research from security vendor nCircle.
Oracle successfully scrambles a patch for Java exploit vulnerability
Oracle has issued a fix for known Java vulnerabilities, including protection against this week’s zero-day Java exploit.
Cancer Care data breach compromises 55K patients
File this under the ultimate in injustice: personal information for as many as 55,000 cancer patients has been stolen from Indianapolis-based Cancer Care Group following the theft of a laptop.
Apple bans ‘drone strike’ app
An iOS app developed to heighten awareness of the US drone war has been rejected by Apple for the third time – just three weeks after the Electronic Frontier Foundation warned that a proposed new US bill “would have broad consequences for press freedom and the public’s right to know.”
OpFreeAssange turns into a feeding frenzy in the UK
It was always to be expected that hacktivists would respond vigorously to the effective house arrest of Julian Assange within the Ecuador Embassy in London, and the UK’s apparent determination to extradite him to Sweden.
Cyberlocker filesonic.com disappears
Following the FBI seizure of Megaupload, other cyberlockers have taken different actions to protect themselves and stay in business. Now, although not the first, filesonic.com seems to be the latest to simply disappear.
Second Middle East energy company hit by malware
Qatari liquified natural gas company RasGas has suffered a malware attack reminiscent of the attack against the Saudi Aramco oil company last week. It is not known if either the attackers or the malware used are the same.
Spyware takes over iPhones, Androids
Call it Invasion of the iPhone Snatchers: a new FinFisher-based spyware is built to infect iPhones and iPads (and Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone gadgets too) in order to take over the device completely – all unbeknownst to the user.
Hackers target Cambridge in the name of Julian Assange
A hacking ring pledging to defend WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s honor has claimed to have attacked computer systems at the University of Cambridge, saying it has broken into multiple databases.
UK data breaches skyrocket more than 1,000%
The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has discovered skyrocketing growth in the number of self-reported data breaches in the last five years, with staggering quadruple-digit figures in the mix. The average percentage increase across sectors since 2007 is 1,014%.
Cyber-espionage Mahdi virus spreads further in Middle East
The Mahdi trojan cyber-espionage attack continues to expand in the Middle East, and especially Iran, despite its detection last month.
Frankenstein malware: a monster stitched together from trusted code
We’re all somewhat familiar with Frankenstein’s monster: an abomination that has been stitched together, a sum of repurposed body parts, given new life that requires re-learning how to be a creature. The heady themes of Mary Shelley’s famous novel have now made their way into the information security realm thanks to cyber-researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas, who have created a monster malware stitched together from other, legitimate programs’ parts.
Virus on virus – set a thief to catch a thief
The old debate on whether it would be ethical to use viruses to detect and even clean other viruses has largely been won by the law of unintended consequences: it's simply too dangerous. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen accidentally...
Rojadirecta.com and Rojadirecta.org to be released soon
A day short of 19 months after ICE’s Operation in Our Sights seized the Rojadirecta.com and .org domains, they are expected to be released within the next few hours, claims Rojadirecta.
That Java vulnerability and the full disclosure debate
The Java exploit made public last weekend and added to Metasploit by Monday was almost immediately included in the Blackhole exploit pack – and in less than a week it has become a major threat to internet users.
UK Communications Bill ill-thought says Law Society
“Proposals in draft legislation would let the government conduct the ‘mass surveillance of innocent people’ under the cloak of investigating terrorist and criminal organisations,” says the Law Society.
Cyberattacks up 400% since 2011
Cyberattacks are intensifying across vectors and industry segments, according to agnostic research from FireEye.
Facebook troll is a policeman
Following Nicola Brookes’ landmark court case that forced Facebook to hand over the IP address details of people abusing her on the social network, a 32-year-old serving policeman has been arrested.
Firefox 15 fixes 16 vulnerabilities
Firefox version 15 was released on Tuesday. It includes a variety of new features, improvements to existing features, and sixteen security fixes – seven of them around ‘critical’ issues.
Java zero-day rapidly spreading via BlackHole
The Java zero-day vulnerability discovered in the wild this week has already been added to the BlackHole toolkit for cybercriminals, exponentially expanding the severity of the problem. According to malware trackers, the Java zero-day exploit has now been responsible for tens of thousands of new infected machines in just a day and a half.
