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(CNN) – Eager VP-watchers waiting for the text message announcement of Barack Obama’s choice of running mate have gotten their answer: It’s Hillary Clinton. And Tim Kaine. And Kathleen Sebelius. Since declaring the Democratic vice presidential pick would first be announced over e-mail and text message, several hoax announcements of the Illinois senator's choice have circulated, purporting to be from the Obama campaign. The latest came in e-mail Friday morning that hit the inboxes of many White House reporters, carrying the subject, "My Vice President."

By Neil Arun BBC News Underpaid post-Soviet youths became notorious hackers, analysts say Armed with computers, unseen ranks of hackers are fanning conflict in the Caucasus.Internet users in Russia and Georgia have attacked vital websites in each other's countries, in a virtual echo of battles being fought on the ground by troops and tanks. Several Georgian government portals have been defaced or forced offline by hackers allegedly based in Russia. Visitors to Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili's website were recently routed to a page portraying him as a modern-day Hitler. Georgia's parliament and foreign ministry sites have also repeatedly been...

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AFP) - A US judge on Saturday gagged hackers from telling peers at a notorious DefCon conference how to get free rides by cracking commonly used subway "smart cards." The decision was immediately condemned by Internet rights attorneys that decried it as an attack on free speech that endangers the existence of computer security gatherings such as DefCon and Black Hat.

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AFP) - Security specialists on Sunday showed that cracking top-rated locks said to secure the US Pentagon and Britain's royal family is child's play. Marc Tobias was in a sea of hackers practicing lock picking at a DefCon gathering in Las Vegas when he easily opened Medeco's flagship lock with a paper clip and a key cut from plastic sheets in a Shrinky Dinks toy. "We think this is a pretty serious threat, and the government guys here we've been talking to agree," Tobias told AFP.

In a move that could backfire, according to one security expert, Apple pulled out of a prominent hackers' convention taking place this week in Las Vegas. Apple abruptly canceled what would have been its first appearance at Black Hat, an annual event in Las Vegas that features presentations from the world's most preeminent security researchers – a.k.a. hackers – according to Computerworld. Speakers typically highlight security shortcomings in a number of different technologies, including operating systems, e-mail and the Internet itself. Taking one's lumps at Black Hat is a right of passage in a technology's security evolution, as companies like...

George Ledin teaches students how to write viruses, and it makes computer-security software firms sick.In a windowless underground computer lab in California, young men are busy cooking up viruses, spam and other plagues of the computer age. Grant Joy runs a program that surreptitiously records every keystroke on his machine, including user names, passwords, and credit-card numbers. And Thomas Fynan floods a bulletin board with huge messages from fake users. Yet Joy and Fynan aren't hackers—they're students in a computer-security class at Sonoma State University. And their professor, George Ledin, has showed them how to penetrate even the best antivirus...

A London man accused of hacking into the computer systems of the US military and NASA on Wednesday lost his appeal against extradition to face trial. Gary McKinnon, 42, tried to prevent his transfer to the United States to be tried over what has been described as the "biggest military hack of all time" by taking his case to Britain's highest court, the House of Lords. But five judges unanimously rejected the appeal, paving the way for the unemployed UFO enthusiast to be extradited to the US, where he could be jailed for up to 70 years if convicted of...

In November, I wrote that many Windows users who are switching to the Mac are doing so because they're fed up with viruses, spyware and other threats aimed at the platform. Many are victims of malware that often relies on social engineering to infect a system. They're enticed into taking some action that places malevolent code on their machines. In other words, these users' bad computing habits are a major cause of their own woes. These security-clueless folks, I wrote, are now bringing those bad habits to the Macintosh platform, and according to a new story on Times Online, the...

Hackers are deluging web users with malware-laden spam claiming that World War III has started following a US invasion of Iran. Security experts warned today that spam emails with subject lines including 'Third World War has begun', '20000 US Soldiers in Iran' and 'US Army crossed Iran's borders' have been intercepted. The emails contain links to a malicious webpage that displays what appears to be a video player showing the mushroom cloud of a nuclear explosion. Text on the page reads: 'Just now US Army's Delta Force and US Air Force have invaded Iran. 'Approximately 20000 soldiers crossed the border...

By going public last week about hack attacks by China on computers in his congressional office, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) put the spotlight on a growing trend of cyber attacks on U.S. and foreign government officials. U.S. defense officials confirmed that Chinese military hackers had broken into computers at the Pentagon used for email within the office of Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel complained directly to Chinese President Hu Jintao about Chinese attacks on German government computers, and European and Asian governments from France and Britain to Japan and South Korea have identified widespread Chinese hacking. U.S....

County prosecutors allege Omar Khan, 18, of Coto de Caza, and Tanvir Singh, 18, of Ladera Ranch, broke into Tesoro High School in Las Flores to steal tests and change their own and others' grades on the school computer network.

A cyber-quest to improve grades resulted in a 17-page complaint and 69 felony counts against two California high school seniors  probably not the type of paperwork that'll get them into the Ivy League. The scariest number of all is probably 38- the number of years alleged cyber-hacker Omar Shahid Khan, 18, could face behind bars if convicted on all 69 charges he faces tied to alleged break-ins at Tesoro High School in Las Flores, Calif. His friend, Tanvir Singh, also 18, could face up to three years for four felony counts. Their motive, according to prosecutors? To bulk up...

The Hunt for American al Qaeda The United States is turning up the heat in the hunt for the California boy turned al Qaeda operative, Adam Gadahn, who has been charged with treason and is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan. If caught and convicted, Gadahn could face the death penalty. The State Department along with the Department of Diplomatic Security announced the beginning of a publicity campaign in Afghanistan urging locals to provide any information on Gadahn's whereabouts, with a reward if the information leads to his capture. Radio advertisements with information concerning the $1 million reward have...

WASHINGTON - A New Jersey congressman says he is one of at least three lawmakers whose computers have been hacked from China, apparently in search of information about political dissidents and human rights legislation. Rep. Christopher Smith (R-4th Dist.) said today that in December 2006 and again in March 2007 his human rights subcommittee's computers were attacked by a virus that security officials told him were "intended to take control of the computers." "At that time IT professionals cleaned the computers and informed my staff that the attack seemed to come from the People's Republic of China," said Smith during...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Two House members said Wednesday their Capitol Hill computers, containing information about political dissidents from around the world, have been hacked by sources apparently working out of China. Virginia Rep. Frank Wolf says four of his computers were hacked. New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith says two of his computers were compromised in December 2006 and March 2007. The two lawmakers are longtime critics of China's record on human rights. In an interview Wednesday, Wolf said the hacking of computers in his Capitol Hill office began in August 2006. He says a computer at a House committee office...

A Virginia congressman said today the FBI has found that four of his government computers have been hacked by sources working out of China. In remarks prepared for delivery this afternoon, Rep. Frank Wolf says he has been told by the FBI that four computers in his personal office were compromised. The Virginia Republican says that similar incidents — also originating from China — have taken place on computers of other members of Congress and at least one House committee. A spokesman for Wolf says the four computers were being used by staff members working on human rights issues. Wolf...

Pranksters putting stupid comments on item reviews

"Anonymous" While we go about our daily lives--surfing the web, using it to pay bills or catching up on the latest news and chatting with friends and family--little do we realize that just beneath the digital surface of the worldwide web a war is being waged: the first Cyber World War, between a modern-day David versus Goliath. Goliath is the Church of Scientology, a multi-billion dollar enterprise, who is being systematically unmasked by the group known as Anonymous, the modern day David. ALSO at DBKP.com: * 'Anonymous' Hackers Vow to Destroy Scientology * Anonymous Issues Warning Number III to...

Kryogeniks’ Defiant and EBK say it’s only a matter of time before the FBI catches up with them, speaking to Wired Threat Level in a Thursday phone interview. The FBI is working hard to make good on the duo’s fears, and announced a joint investigation with the San Jose police department on Friday, to try and track down the culprits responsible for a Wednesday attack against Comcast’s subscriber portal. Both Defiant and EBK are members of the hacking group Kryogeniks, who in the past was implicated in attacks against AOL and a number of celebrities. The duo said that their...

Computer attacks typically don't inflict physical pain on their victims. ADVERTISEMENT But in a rare example of an attack apparently motivated by malice rather than money, hackers recently bombarded the Epilepsy Foundation's Web site with hundreds of pictures and links to pages with rapidly flashing images. The breach triggered severe migraines and near-seizure reactions in some site visitors who viewed the images. People with photosensitive epilepsy can get seizures when they're exposed to flickering images, a response also caused by some video games and cartoons. The attack happened when hackers exploited a security hole in the foundation's publishing software that...