Hacker Sends Confidential Twitter Files to Blogs

Simple precautions can keep info out of scammers' hands

(NEWSER) - Phishing scams are becoming a lot more sophisticated. Unwary Internet users can easily end up with their bank account and credit card details in the hands of crooks. CNET lists the best ways to avoid becoming a victim:

• Change passwords regularly. Experts recommend that passwords be changed every three months or so, and warn against using the same password for multiple sites.
• Click with caution. Any apparently legitimate email asking you to click a link to another site—especially if it mentions updating security information—could be from a rogue site. It's safer just to type in the URL yourself.

Twitter break-in shows how vulnerable weak passwords are, writes blogger for Slate

(NEWSER) - The recent hacking debacle at Twitter proved how vulnerable the company was, writes Farhad Manjoo for Slate. All of its internal communication was held in email accounts protected only by insecure passwords. And chances are your password security is also terrible—a familiar word, like your favorite album, with a 1 or ! at the end or beginning as a requisite symbol or numeral. More»

Mitnick reflects on the road from 'computer terrorist' to consultant

(NEWSER) - Tagged a “computer terrorist,” Kevin Mitnick served jail time after eluding the FBI for 3 years; today, he’s a security consultant. The best-known hacker ever tells CNET his infiltration of firms like Motorola and Sun “was like a huge game”: “thrilling, adventurous,” and “all about solving the puzzle.” But to aspiring hackers, he says: “Don’t follow in my footsteps.” More»

Security researchers outflanked by well-funded cybercriminals

(NEWSER) - There's a war on for your computer and the bad guys are winning, the New York Times reports. Malware that stealthily hijacks a computer to send more malware is spreading like wildfire, and efforts to battle the constantly evolving threat often amount to little more than a game of online whack-a-mole. Cybercriminals are now as advanced as the top software companies—and faster and more adaptable, security experts say. More»

Maryland may ban practice

(NEWSER) - Some employers and colleges have found an ingenious way around Facebook's pesky privacy settings: Simply demand that applicants or students friend you, give you a tour of their account, or even divulge their usernames and passwords. MSNBC reports on a number of places instituting the troubling practices:

• At Maryland's Department of Corrections, job applicants are asked to log in to their account and allow an interviewer to watch as they click through their photos and posts. The Department of Corrections used to ask for username and password outright, but stopped after an ACLU complaint last year.
• Colleges are requiring student athletes to "friend" a coach or school official so that their Facebook posts can be monitored. If they refuse, they don't play. "Each team must identify at least one coach or administrator who is responsible for having access to and regularly monitoring the content of team members’ social networking sites and postings," reads the University of North Carolina handbook.
• Though social media monitoring seems to take place mostly with student athletes, non-athlete college applicants have reported to one lawyer that they were asked for their login information during interviews.