Tag: Hacking
Anonymous Attack China
During the past few days, the hacktivist group Anonymous have concentrated a series of attacks on Chinese websites. The group is claiming that they have successfully defaced 480 websites which include regional government sites. The hacktivist group has also left messages on the defaced sites encouraging Chinese hackers to follow suit and continue with what they have started. The Chinese authorities have responded quickly, taking the affected sites offline. However, …
Military Personnel Data Could Be Compromised After Dating Website Hacked
It is being reported that the website MilitarySingles.com has been successfully hacked by a group who call themselves LulzSec Reborn. It is thought that information such as email addresses and passwords relating to a total of 170,000 accounts has been compromised. Despite such claims by security experts, the company that operates the dating website, ESingles, has refused to acknowledge that a security breach has occurred at this stage and that …
Subway Restaurants; Other Retailers Targeted by Hackers
In December of 2011, four Romanian nationals were arrested for allegedly hacking into hundreds of U.S. retailers’ point-of-sale (POS) machines, including machines belonging to popular fast-food chain Subway. According to an article in Wired magazine, the hackers accessed the POS machines remotely and used keystroke-logging software to steal sensitive information – including credit/debit card and gift card numbers – from more than 80,000 customers. Investigators are still trying to determine …
Norwegian Firms Lose Confidential Data to Hackers
Oil, gas and defence firms in Norway are the victim of a series of sophisticated attacks made by hackers. Norway’s National Security Agency (NSM) has stated that industrial secrets and information about contract negotiations have been stolen. NSM are currently unsure how many firms have actually been targeted but know that at least ten firms have been affected so far. These cyber-attacks on Norwegian firms have added the country to …
UK firms under threat from foreign hackers.
The country’s head of cyber security has warned that British companies are being put out of business and coasting the economy £27 billion because of hacking undertaken by foreign governments and corporations. Major General Jonathan Shaw, the head of the Ministry of Defence’s Cyber Security Programme, stated that cyber-attacks are the biggest threat to national security. The main reason for this is that foreign competitors are stealing valuable information from …
What Happens to the Data of the Deceased
The number of applications which people have accounts with online has grown exponentially in recent years. This is leading to an increased tendency to leave account passwords in wills for friends and relatives. A study by Goldsmiths at the University of London found that 1 in 10 people are leaving such information behind. This has come from the recognition that people can have their digital identity stolen by hackers if …
China Accused of 5 Year Hacking Spree
McAfee claims that it has uncovered one of the largest cyber attacks ever. More than 70 government agencies and corporations have had data extracted over a period of five years. International organisations have been infiltrated ranging from the UN to the International Olympic committee. According to Dmitri Alperovitch, McAfee’s vice president of threat research the evidence points to “a nation state” being the culprit. “Even we were taken aback by …
The Sun Suffers Data Breach
A Hacking attack on the Sun’s website has lead to thousands of people’s data being compromised. News International who oversee the publication of the paper has emailed thousands of people to let them know that hackers have stolen their personal details and have posted them publically on the popular hacking site, Pastebin. An email sent on Monday evening by the director of customer care for News International, Chris Duncan stated …
Rise of the Data Crime Bot
Automated cyber attacks are becoming increasingly prominent according to a new report conducted by Imperva. The Web Application Attack Report (WAAR) studied attacks on 30 different enterprise and government web applications highlighting that assaults on websites and databases are now as frequent as 25,000 per hour. The sheer volume of these attacks is worrying. However perhaps more concerning is the fact that most of them are conducted by automated bots. This …
New U.S. Cyber Defence
The DoD in the U.S. is introducing a new ‘Cyber Unit.’ The new department will not only aim to defend against incoming attacks but will also conduct online military skirmishes. Cyber security is now a major priority and online terrorists are being viewed as very likely future threats to national security. In effect the online battlefield will be treated the same as the traditional domains of land, sea and air. …
