'Little Emperors' Run Riot in China

The hacking is real but not all that surprising: security experts

(NEWSER) - McAfee says it's uncovered the biggest hack in history with Operation Shady RAT, in which at least 70 governments and businesses around the world were breached. At Naked Security , expert Graham Cluley isn't quite ready to join the frenzied coverage. "To be honest, there's nothing particularly surprising in McAfee's report to those of us who have an interest in computer security," he writes. (Ditto for Dan Rowinski at ReadWriteWeb .) One big caveat is that the McAfee report doesn't say "precisely what information was stolen from the targeted organizations, and how many computers at each business were affected," writes Cluley. It's tough to call it the "biggest hack ever" without knowing that. As for blaming China: Probably not a bad bet, but what government isn't spying via the Internet? More»

'Your account was recently accessed from China'

(NEWSER) - Google is issuing automated warnings through Gmail cautioning users about unauthorized access by Chinese hackers, Threatpost reports. The warnings simply state, "Your account was recently accessed from China," along with a list of IP addresses. It is not clear whether the attacks are acts of espionage by the Chinese government or random attacks by individuals. A survey of Gmail users asking who had received the warnings included business execs, doctors, consultants, and gamers in the US, Europe, Colombia, and Canada—with no clear connection to China or its affairs. More»

According to Norton study, two-thirds of all web surfers are victims

(NEWSER) - A whopping 65% of all web surfers and 73% of Americans have been the victim of online crime, according to a new survey from Symantec—the company behind Norton Anti-Virus. That makes the US the fourth-most victimized country in the world, behind China (83%) and India and Brazil (each 76%), ComputerWorld reports. “What we were really surprised by was how common it was that people are being victimized,” says Norton’s Internet safety advocate. More»

Sites openly advertise for help spreading malware

(NEWSER) - Exciting work-from-home opportunities are being offered to tech geeks happy to break the law serving the scum of the Internet. Cyber crooks seeking to steal bank and credit card details are openly advertising for people to help spread malicious code by linking it to something people will click on, according to analysts at security firm CyberWorks. More»

(NEWSER) - US and UK law enforcement authorities are planning a preemptive strike on hackers to protect national security, reports the Guardian. The secret plans are triggered by skyrocketing computer crimes launched from China, Russia and North Korea believed to be state sponsored. The "strikeback" attacks will target hackers' computers, disrupt them, and, in some cases, block internet access, according to officials. More»