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Through hacks of hundreds of thousands of websites, a Russian crime ring has reportedly gained access to 1.2 billion user name and password combinations, along with hundreds of millions of e-mail addresses. The NY Times reports on records turned up by Milwaukee-based Hold Security, which claims to have turned up evidence of this massive cache of data, stolen from some 420,000 different websites. “Hackers did not just target U.S. companies, they targeted any website they could get, ranging from Fortune 500 companies to very small websites,” Alex Holden, the founder and chief information security officer of Hold Security, tells the...

A Russian crime ring has got its hands on more than a billion stolen Internet credentials, according to a New York Times report. Citing records discovered by Hold Security, the New York Times reported on Tuesday that the stolen credentials include 1.2 billion password and username combinations and more than 500 million email addresses. Research specialist Hold Security, which has a strong track record of uncovering data breaches, says that the stolen data was gathered from 420,000 websites. Organizations affected range from household names to small Internet sites, it said. Last October Milwaukee-based Hold Security identified the disclosure of 153...

Russian gang of computer hackers has gathered a staggering cache of some 1.2 billion stolen usernames and passwords, exposing vulnerability in some 400,000 websites targeted, according to a report Tuesday. The find by Hold Security, a Milwaukee-based firm, also included some 542 million email addresses culled by the crew of twentysomethings based in a small south central Russian city, the New York Times reported. “Hackers did not just target U.S. companies, they targeted any website they could get, ranging from Fortune 500 companies to very small websites,” Alex Holden, the founder and chief information security officer of Hold Security, told...

Making the electricity grid greener is boosting its vulnerability to computer hacking, increasing the risk that spies or criminals can cause blackouts. Adding wind farms, solar panels and smart meters to the power distribution system opens additional portals through which hackers can attack the grid, according to computer security experts advising governments and utilities. Where traditionally the grid took power from a few sources, it’s now absorbing it from thousands.

Over 1,000 energy firms were infected with a sophisticated cyber weapon that gave hackers access to power plant control systems, it has been revealed. … The software allows operators to monitor energy consumption in real time – and to cripple physical systems such as wind turbines, gas pipelines and power plants at the click of a mouse. … ‘Among the targets of Dragonfly were energy grid operators, major electricity generation firms, petroleum pipeline operators, and energy industry industrial equipment providers,’ Symantec said. … ‘Dragonfly initially targeted defense and aviation companies in the US and Canada before shifting its focus mainly...

For many people, the 2013 feature Terms And Conditions May Apply was their introduction into just how extensive and invasive data collection has become. It is all “voluntary,” of course, based on their agreement to software/app, website, and search engine terms and conditions. Even worse, is what the consumers of Big Data do with this information. Powerful computers and specialized programs allow virtually endless data dredging, whereby large volumes of information are analyzed seeking any possible relationships between data, occasionally for unethical purposes. Such practices can result in relatively benign consequences, such as seeing ads for various drugs and media...

Was just this morning checking the story on the South Korean soldier who went bezerk and shot five of his fellow troops yesterday, and upon arriving at the specific Reuters article page, was promptly diverted to the screen above.  The URL they sent me to was 'http://sea.sy/indexs/', and is obviously aimed at Nmr 10 Downing as well as the UK press in-general. No small task, hacking reuters, tho- rather impressive, and quite coincidentally comes the day after I was reading a piece about the original news report hacker, Chicago's version of Max Headroom. But the thing is, the crime...

A three word text was released from inside the Embassy about six hours ago: “Too late Alamo.” That message is open to interpretation. Just minutes ago news came from within the United States Embassy in Baghdad that the Iraqis have shut down internet service for those barricaded inside. Limited text messages via private cell phones are still coming through. It is unknown how many of the more than 5,000 U.S. civilians in Baghdad are actually taking refuge inside the embassy compound. NBC war correspondent, Richard Engel reported last night that civilians in and around Baghdad have boarded up residences and...

As an IT professional I am calling BS on the claim that Lerner's emails are lost. The BHO regime has choosen to gleem the cube on this one and it is going to bite them in the a$$! I think it is time Ed Snowden is asked to apply his skills and retrieve the files in question. I have no doubt he is the man for the job.

Austria's flight safety organization says flight data recently disappeared twice from air controller radar screens in several countries....

Feedly is currently suffering a DDoS (distributed denial of service) attack, it announced earlier this morning on its blog. You may have noticed that you can’t access the website or load any of your feeds via the app. Feedly explained in a short message two hours ago that the DDoS perpetrator is holding Feedly to ransom and asking for money to stop the attack, Feedly has refused to comply.CEO of Feedly, Edwin Khodabakchian, said in a short statement: “Criminals are attacking feedly with a distributed denial of service attack (DDoS). The attacker is trying to extort us money to make...

Can the NSA really listen to your iPhone’s microphone even when it is turned OFF? Experts say it is possible - but reveal the trick to beat it Technique known as an 'implant' (requires physical access—Swordmaker) Allows phone to appear switched off - but still operate some communications The NSA could technically listen in to the microphone of an iPhone even if it switched off, experts have revealed. The claim was first made by Edward Snowden during an interview with Brian Williams of NBC Nightly News. Today, experts confirmed the technique was technically possibly - and revealed a way to...

The FBI is struggling to recruit bright young computer programmers because of their fondness for cannabis, according to the bureau’s director. Under current rules, the FBI cannot hire anyone who has smoked marijuana in the last three years—a policy that rules out many of the best recent graduates. “I have to hire a great work force to compete with those cyber criminals and some of those kids want to smoke weed on the way to the interview,” said James Comey, the FBI’s director. …

Given how hard antivirus software makers push you to sign up, you'd think that business was booming. Far from it, according to Symantec’s Brian Dye. He tells the Wall Street Journal that antivirus tools like his company’s Norton suite are effectively “dead.” The utilities now catch less than half of all attacks, according to the executive—to him, the focus is on minimizing the damage whenever there’s a successful hack or infection. …

Target’s massive data breach has now cost the company's CEO his job. Target announced Monday that Chairman, President and CEO Gregg Steinhafel is out nearly five months after the retailer disclosed the breach, which has hurt its reputation among customers and has derailed its business. […] Steinhafel’s tenure has been tested with many challenges, from a weak economy to a proxy fight. The company, known for its cheap chic clothing and home decor, has seen uneven sales since the recession ended and has battled a perception that its prices aren’t as low as its rivals. …

This is an advance notification for one out-of-band security bulletin that Microsoft is intending to release on May 1, 2014. The bulletin addresses the security vulnerability in Internet Explorer described in Microsoft Security Advisory 2963983.

An Israeli hacker team published on Tuesday images and personal details of members of the Anonymous hacker collective who participated in the OpIsrael attack against Israeli sites earlier this week, Israel’s Channel 2 reported. Israeli Elite Force gained access to the computers of 16 Anonymous members and was able to capture screenshots and photos of the anti-Israel hackers with their own webcams. The Israeli team published the information in a Dropbox document via their Facebook page, saying, “Anonymous, next time do not mess with us.” The file includes the names of the attackers, their countries of origin, and usernames and...

Without personally knowing any cyber criminals (I think using hackers is unfair to… well, hackers), we can probably assume they are not very different from other criminals in that they do what they do for a few basic reasons: •Ego: defacing websites to gain street cred •Ideology: wreaking havoc to make political statements or wage asymmetric warfare •Money: engaging in good old-fashioned criminal capitalism (to the tune of $3 trillion) It’s this third motivation that is in the news the most, and it’s not because these criminals are infiltrating banks and making off with the loot. In fact it’s...

U.S. officials announced plans Friday to relinquish federal government control over the administration of the Internet, a move likely to please international critics but alarm many business leaders and others who rely on smooth functioning of the Web. Pressure to let go of the final vestiges of U.S. authority over the system of Web addresses and domain names that organize the Internet has been building for more than a decade and was supercharged by the backlash to revelations about National Security Agency surveillance last year.

SNIPPET: "Security concerns ahead of this summer's Brazilian World Cup have increased after a football fan was beaten to death in host city Sao Paulo." SNIPPET: "There are serious concerns about the safety of travelling supporters at this summer's World Cup after more than 30 people were killed in 2013 as a result of football-related violence. One of Brazil’s biggest criminal gangs last year promised a ‘Tournament of Terror’. The threat was issued by Sau Paulo's 'First Capital of the Command', who in 2012 was a group behind the murder of more than a hundred of the city’s police officers."