Threats
The latest cybersecurity threats and news to help you protect your data, networks, applications, and devices.
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Japan Airlines Breach Exposes 750,000 People’s Personal Data
Japan Airlines (JAL) recently acknowledged that the personal information of as many as 750,000 members of its JAL Mileage Bank (JMB) frequent flyer club may have been stolen when hackers breached the airline’s Customer Information Management System after installing malware on computers that had access to the system. The data potentially accessed includes names, birthdates,… Read more
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What Does Whitelisting Mean?
The rising popularity of whitelisting boils down to simple math. With a relatively small number of malware items, it made sense to compile known virus signatures to detect and prevent infection. But with a huge increase in the volume of viruses and other forms of intrusion, it isn’t easy to keep virus signatures up to… Read more
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9 Resources to Stay Current on Security Threats
In the world of IT security, threats are constantly evolving and shifting. It’s critical to stay abreast of the current (and hopefully future) threat landscape. If you’re not staying current, then you’ve already lost. Keeping up to date with security threats will help you mount more effective defenses and also help you educate your… Read more
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DefCon: Advice on Evading Black Helicopters
In the modern post-Snowden world, the idea that we’re all constantly being watched is not as farfetched as it once was. But how does an individual who thinks they are being watched all the time avoid being watched? Speaking at last week’s Defcon security conference, Philip Polstra, associate professor of Digital Forensics at Bloomsburg University… Read more
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Hacker Imprisoned for Trying to Change MCAT Scores
Bosung Shim, 24, of Rockville, Md., was recently sentenced to three months in prison, followed by seven months in community confinement and three years of supervised release, for hacking into medical school application computers (h/t Softpedia). He was also required to pay $31,653.24 in restitution, and was ordered to forfeit the computer equipment he used… Read more
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Is the Breach Quadrilateral the Key to Understanding Security?
TORONTO – The security business is full of different terms and methodologies for describing the threat model. In a presentation at the SecTor conference this week, Chris Pogue, director of Digital Forensics and Incident Responce at Trustwave, explained his firm’s simple four-step model for defining cybercrime. “As difficult as people want to make cybercrime, there… Read more
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Fake Expedia Itinerary Confirmations Deliver Malware
Hoax-Slayer is warning of malicious spam campaign of e-mails claiming to be itinerary confirmations from Expedia, offering trip details in an attachment (h/t Softpedia). “Thanks for booking with Expedia! Below is a summary of the trip you recently booked,” the e-mail states. “To help ensure everything runs as smoothly as possible, keep this e-mail handy… Read more
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Algerian Hacker Hamza Bendelladj Arrested for Stealing Millions
Algerian hacker Hamza Bendelladj, 24, was arrested on Sunday at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport. Immigration Bureau chief Pharnu Kerdlarpphon said Thai police were alerted to his arrival by the FBI. “Mr Bendelladj, who graduated in computer sciences in Algeria in 2008, has allegedly hacked private accounts in 217 banks and financial companies worldwide, amassing ‘huge amounts’… Read more
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Carly Rae Jepsen Nude Photo Hacker Arrested
Christopher David Long, 25, recently turned himself in to the police for stealing nude photographs from pop star Carly Rae Jensen’s computer. “Long surrendered to police on Friday, December 7th, at the Abbotsford Court House,” The Vancouver Sun reports. “He has been released and will appear in court January 4th, 2013.” “Long has been charged… Read more
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Hackers Steal $1 Million from Citibank
The FBI recently announced that 14 people have been charged with stealing more than $1 million from Citibank ATMs at casinos in California and Nevada. “The alleged fraudsters were able to exploit a ‘loophole,’ or business logic flaw, in Citibank’s account security protocols — in essence, tricking the system to believe that multiple transactions were… Read more
