Threats
The latest cybersecurity threats and news to help you protect your data, networks, applications, and devices.
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Wells Fargo Hit by Cyber Attacks
Wells Fargo’s online banking services were recently disrupted by a series of denial of service attacks. “Wells Fargo apologized on Twitter for the disruption, saying it was working to restore access,” writes Computerworld’s Jeremy Kirk. “By Wednesday morning, the site appeared to be functioning. A group calling itself the ‘Mrt. Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters’… Read more
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Google Buys VirusTotal
VirusTotal today announced that it has been acquired by Google. “VirusTotal was set up in 2007 and uses over 40 different antivirus engines to scan files and URLs for malware for free,” writes The Register’s Iain Thomson. “Users can upload small files for checking, or just input a URL, to see if it’s on a… Read more
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Five Signs Your Website is the Target of an Automated Attack
Hackers love automated SQL Injection and Remote File Inclusion attack tools. Using software such as sqlmap, Havij, or NetSparker, finding and exploiting website vulnerabilities is fast and easy even for unskilled attackers. Hackers favor automated tools for three key reasons. First and foremost, these toools require very little skill to use, and are often freely… Read more
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Yahoo Password Breach Puts SQL Injection In the Crosshairs
SQL Injection has long been identified as one of the top vulnerabilities affecting web applications. Even though SQL Injection attack vectors are well known, it’s an attack that keeps on yielding big name website results -– just ask Yahoo. On Wednesday night, a hacker group known as “D33Ds Company” publicly posted a password dump… Read more
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Anonymous Hackers Target Pedophiles
Members of Anonymous recently announced the launch of OpPedoChat, which targets Web sites used by pedophiles. “Lately, there has been a surge of websites dedicated to pedophiles for chat, picture sharing, etc.,” the group’s Pastebin statement reads. “These sickos openly advocate concepts like ‘man-boy love’ with statements such as ‘If the boy [in this case… Read more
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Understanding the Flame Malware
While most Americans enjoyed a long holiday weekend, researchers in the security community were working around the clock to unravel the mysteries of one of the most intimidating pieces of malware code ever found. Known by the names Flame, Flamer, and sKyWIper, the malware is significantly more complex then either Stuxnet or Duqu — and… Read more
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How to Become a Certified Ethical Hacker
As security breaches continue to grow both in frequency and in the amount of damage they cause (according to Symantec, the average organization incurred $470,000 in losses from endpoint cyber attacks in 2011), penetration testing is becoming increasingly important for organizations of all sizes. For IT professionals seeking to expand their knowledge in that… Read more
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Symantec: More Malware on Religious Sites Than Porn Sites
According to Symantec’s annual Internet Security Threat Report, religious and ideological Web sites have far more security threats per infected site than adult/pornographic Web sites. “We hypothesize that this is because pornographic Web site owners already make money from the Internet and, as a result, have a vested interested in keeping their sites malware-free —… Read more
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Anonymous Hackers Launch Pastebin Alternative
Members of Anonymous and the Peoples Liberation Front (PLF) recently announced the launch of the AnonPaste service for the uploading and sharing of data. “Paste services have become very popular, and many people want to post controversial material,” the groups wrote in a joint statement. “This is especially so for those involved in Information Activism.… Read more
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FBI Used Metadata to Catch CabinCr3w Hacker
According to an FBI affadavit, alleged CabinCr3w hacker Higinio O. Ochoa III was caught by FBI agents after posting a photo of his girlfriend online. “Higino O. Ochoa III was charged with illegally hacking into U.S. law enforcement websites and releasing personal information of several U.S. police officers under the online name ‘w0rmer,’” writes Digital… Read more
