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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: hackers

hackers stories: 65 news summaries

1 - 20 of 65 Stories | 1 2 3 4 Next >>

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 'Singer Worm' Hits iPhones 

Wallpaper switched in first virus to hit popular phones

Nov 10, 09 1:45 AM CST
(Newser) - The first virus to hit iPhones is substituting users' wallpaper with a portrait of 80's pop star Rick Astley and the warning: "Ikee is never going to give you up." The virus isn't harming anything else, but observers say it's a warning that hackers have learned how to... More »

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Australia • iPhone • virus • hackers • rickrolling • Rick Astley • wallpaper

Hotmail Phishing Scam
Also Took In Gmail Users

Hotmail users not alone; scheme was 'industry-wide'

Oct 6, 09 2:35 PM CDT
(Newser) - Hotmail users weren’t the only ones compromised in the huge phishing scheme that came to light yesterday. Another 20,000 email accounts and passwords have surfaced, bearing addresses from Gmail, Yahoo, AOL and other services, the BBC reports. Google has found a third list but hasn't detailed its contents.... More »

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Google • email • Gmail • hackers • phishing • hacking • e-mails • Hotmail

Hackers Are After Your Smartphone

Mobile devices, stuffed with personal data, become juicy targets

Oct 2, 09 1:01 PM CDT
(Newser) - Cyber criminals are beginning to devise ways to break into smartphones, an increasingly juicy source of personal information. Until recently, phones weren’t seen as worth hacking because they contained so little data, but as more and more people carry pocket-size PCs like the iPhone, the likelihood increases that hackers... More »

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cyberattack • hackers • smartphones • malware • mobile devices

(Newser) - Mac users, beware: the Russians are after you. A notorious network of spammers in the country pays hackers 43 cents for every Mac they infect with fake software, an investigator says. At a security conference in Switzerland, the researcher laid out a specific scheme to get Mac users to install... More »

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spam • Apple • hackers • Mac • computers

(Newser) - In a possible first for Twitter, a malicious attack shut down the service entirely today, Wired reports. The denial-of-service assault flooded the site's server with requests, overloading it and blocking legitimate users from gaining access for about three hours; Tweeters are now slowly regaining access. More »

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social networking • Internet • cyberattack • website • hackers • Twitter • denial of service attack • Biz Stone

(Newser) - Apple today issued an update for its iPhone operating system, patching a flaw in its text-messaging operation that security experts say could have allowed serious hackers to “take over every iPhone in the world,” AllThingsD reports. “Contrary to what’s been reported,” a company spokesman said,... More »

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iPhone • Apple • hackers • security technology • software patch

(Newser) - An April Fools information apocalypse did not occur, but the widespread Conficker virus that caused so much fear of is still out there, CNN reports. Experts are puzzled over the lack of an attack, but the sheer size of the Conficker infection—5 million computers—yields a clue. “The... More »

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Internet • computer virus • hackers • computer security • botnet • Conficker • worm

ANALYSIS

 A 5-Minute Fix for 
 Your Insecure Passwords 

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

Jul 24, 09 6:33 PM CDT
(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... More »

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hackers • computer security • hacking • passwords • Twitter

Video of Naked ESPN Reporter Inspires Hackers

In victory for karma, download attempts unleash virus

Jul 20, 09 2:09 PM CDT
(Newser) - Peephole video of an ESPN reporter naked in a hotel room is lighting up the sports blogosphere—and not just because Erin Andrews is the star of many a basement-dwelling mama's boy's fantasy. Some attempts to download illicit footage have led to the spread of a computer virus. "Hackers... More »

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Internet • ESPN • crime • hacker • video • hotel • hackers • invasion of privacy • Erin Andrews • ESPN scandal

(Newser) - If you’re planning to take your laptop on the road this summer, pay careful attention to which wireless network you sign on to. Scammers are setting up fake wi-fi hot spots in tourist-friendly places like airports and hotels, or simply using official, but unsecured networks, Fox News reports. Once... More »

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travel • WiFi • hackers

Cyber Attack
Hits Federal
Websites

Several were
knocked out over the holiday weekend

Jul 7, 09 9:30 PM CDT
(AP) - A widespread and unusually resilient computer attack that began July 4 knocked out the websites of several government agencies, including some responsible for fighting cyber crime. The Treasury Department, Secret Service, FTC, and Transportation Department sites were down at varying points, and some were still experiencing problems this evening. It's... More »

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cyberattack • website • hackers

Pirate Bay Launches New YouTube Clone

VideoBay streams content, without that pesky copyright stuff

Jun 30, 09 8:32 AM CDT
(Newser) - If YouTube's limits on copyrighted material have exhausted you, the Swedish hackers who call themselves Pirate Bay have a solution: VideoBay, a new streaming video site that's utterly indifferent to intellectual property laws. The new service, rolled out just as Pirate Bay was sold to a Swedish software company that... More »

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YouTube • Web 2.0 • video • hackers • digital video • The Pirate Bay • streaming content

Ahmadinejad Foes Gang Up on Websites

'Hacktivists' overload president's blog, other government outlets

Jun 16, 09 7:38 AM CDT
(Newser) - As protests continue on the streets of Tehran, hackers in and outside of Iran are mounting an assault on the establishment's main websites, reports ZDNet. The sites of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and several news agencies were crippled yesterday after activists flooded them with traffic. The campaign appears to... More »

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Iran • Russia • Mahmoud Ahmadinejad • Georgia • CNN • Distributed Denial of Service • hackers • Ayatollah Ali Khamenei • Twitter • denial of service attack • Iranian election • Mir Hossein Mousavi

(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,... More »

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China • Russia • North Korea • CIA • hackers • cybercrime • hacking • computer • computer crime • preemptive strike

 Porn Spammers Hit YouTube 


May 21, 09 5:19 PM CDT
(Newser) - YouTube removed hundreds of pornographic videos posted to the site today in a coordinated attack, the BBC reports. The offending files, uploaded under names such as the Jonas Brothers and Hannah Montana, started innocently enough before turning graphic. “I'm 12 years old and what is this?” went a comment... More »

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Google • Internet • YouTube • pornography • hackers • 4Chan

Hackers Expose Holes in Air Traffic Safety

Vulnerabilities abound ahead of planned $20B FAA upgrade

May 7, 09 7:45 AM CDT
(Newser) - Civilian air traffic computer networks are riddled with security holes, and hackers have breached them several times in the past few years, the Wall Street Journal reports. Intruders could gain access to operational systems by first hacking into administrative areas using 763 separate “high risk” holes in those systems,... More »

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FAA • air travel • hackers • computer network • air traffic control • security breach • Federal Aviation Administration

(Newser) - The results of Time’s online “world’s most influential person” poll have fallen victim to shenanigans, TechCrunch reports. Moot, leader of the devious web forum 4Chan, sits atop Time’s leaderboard, above Barack Obama and other usual suspects. And the first letters of the top 20 spell out... More »

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Internet • online fraud • hackers • Time magazine • opinion polls • 4Chan • influential • marblecake

 Prez's Pimped-Out 
 BlackBerry 
 Nearly Ready 

The NSA begins final tests on encryption software this month

Apr 23, 09 10:26 AM CDT
(Newser) - President Obama’s super-secure, high-powered new BlackBerry could soon get the thumbs-up from the National Security Agency, which is about to begin final tests on its encryption software. The president could be texting, emailing, calling and Facebooking other high-security personnel—like Michelle O.—within months, the Washington Times reports,... More »

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Barack Obama • Michelle Obama • BlackBerry • software • National Security Agency • hackers • encryption • President Obama • security clearance

Pentagon to Create New Cyber Command

Four-star general will lead efforts to fight digital attacks

Apr 22, 09 8:27 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Obama administration is about to create a new military command to bolster American offensive powers in cyberwarfare and to coordinate defenses against digital attacks, reports the Wall Street Journal. A four-star general will lead the new command, which will have responsibility for protecting the country from attacks by hackers,... More »

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Pentagon • Robert Gates • cyberwarfare • cyberattack • Department of Defense • hackers • Joint Strike Fighter • Obama administration

(Newser) - Phonemaker Nokia is flummoxed as to why hackers are offering more than $32,000 in underground forums for old handsets, NetworkWorld reports—though bank fraud is a distinct possibility. “We have not identified any phone software problem that would allow” misuse, the company said. But a 2003 model manufactured... More »

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cell phones • Germany • Nokia • black market • hackers • cybercrime • bank fraud • SIM cards • online banking • mobile phones

1 - 20 of 65 Stories | 1 2 3 4 Next >>


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