cybersecurity

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US Government Also Uses 'Password' for Password

Report slams lazy cybersecurity measures in place at federal agencies

(Newser) - Yes, ordinary and lazy humans often use "password" as a computer password , but a new report complains that the same thing applies to sensitive government agencies, reports Mashable . The Senate cybersecurity report finds that agencies ranging from Homeland Security to the IRS use weak security measures that leave their...

Report Shows Just How Innovative Target Hack Was

Virus is impervious to antivirus software, uses method 'new to eCrime'

(Newser) - It looks like the hackers that hit Target had lots of other, well, targets. The Department of Homeland Security recently sent retailers and financial service companies a secret memo warning that the Target hit appeared to be part of a larger international campaign, the Wall Street Journal reports, an insight...

Target Hack Hit Point-of-Sale Terminals: CEO

Plus: At least 3 more top retailers reportedly breached

(Newser) - Victims of the Target hack were hit as they slid their payment cards through point-of-sale terminals, says the company's CEO: That's where hackers placed their malware, Gregg Steinhafel tells CNBC . On Sunday, Dec. 15, the company recognized "we had an issue," and "by six o'...

Now Neiman Marcus Has Been Hacked

Company alerting affected customers

(Newser) - Luxury merchant Neiman Marcus confirmed today that thieves stole some of its customers' payment card information and made unauthorized charges over the holiday season, making the company the second retailer in recent weeks to announce it had fallen victim to a cybersecurity attack. The hacking, coming weeks after Target revealed...

We&#39;re All to Blame for Target Hack


 We're All to Blame 
 for Target Hack 
OPINION
Jan 11, 2014 1:50 PM CST

We're All to Blame for Target Hack

'No company is secure,' and we should know it: Nicole Perlroth

(Newser) - Here's a lesson from the Target data hack which, as Nicole Perlroth notes in the New York Times , affected "well over one-third of America’s adult population": It's time to think twice before giving out our email addresses, birth dates, and other personal information to companies. The...

Iran Cyber Chief Dead: Assassination or Not?

Revolutionary Guard denies reports of targeted killing

(Newser) - This much is clear: The head of Iran's "cyber war" computer defenses is dead. But how it happened is still a mystery. The Telegraph reports that Mojtaba Ahmadi was found shot to death in the woods, and it quotes a local police official as saying two men on...

Google Attempts to NSA-Proof Its Data

Working to strongly encrypt its data amid PRISM fallout

(Newser) - Amid the fallout from the NSA's PRISM surveillance program , Google is scrambling to encrypt its data, in an effort to hide it from the prying eyes of intelligence agencies, the Washington Post reports. Of course, as we learned this week , the NSA can crack encrypted data too, but the...

FBI: Our Economic Data Is at Risk

Flaw in system could allow hackers to access 'black box'

(Newser) - The FBI has found "a number of operational vulnerabilities" in the system the government uses to protect sensitive economic information, the Wall Street Journal reports. As part of its long-running attempt to figure out what's behind the suspicious trading activity that often precedes major economic news, the bureau...

Hackers Target Universities Millions of Times Each Week

Personal details, intellectual property at risk

(Newser) - College campuses are becoming increasingly less safe, but the threat is not physical. Universities are under attack from hackers, with America's institutions of higher learning facing millions of attempted cyberattacks, mostly from China, every week, the New York Times reports. At stake is far more than a bunch of...

Gov'ts Are Paying Hackers Big Bucks for Software Bugs

Stuxnet created a market for software vulnerabilities

(Newser) - Hackers no longer need to break into online banking sites or steal your credit card info to make money. Over the past few years, a new market has evolved where they can make serious cash without even breaking the law: finding bugs and vulnerabilities in popular software (think Windows, web...

US Power Co. Cyberattacked 10K Times a Month

Finding comes amid report on vulnerability of our grid

(Newser) - Could foreign hackers take out America's electric grid? A new congressional report says it's a very real threat, with more than a dozen of nearly 100 electric utilities surveyed reporting constant or frequent cyberattacks, Reuters reports. One utility said it was battered by a staggering 10,000 attacks...

Exec Orders on Cybersecurity Due Tomorrow

But White House still wants Congress to act

(Newser) - President Obama's hotly rumored executive orders to beef up cybersecurity for companies operating America's critical infrastructure are coming tomorrow morning, sources tell the Hill . Obama is expected to mention cybersecurity briefly in tonight's State of the Union address, as he did in last year's; but, with...

China at Heart of Sweeping Cyberspying War on US

Economic espionage is costing America billions

(Newser) - The past five years have seen a mammoth international effort to spy on the computer systems of US businesses and other institutions, an intelligence report finds—and China is by far the biggest threat. The goal: to gather economic information to benefit the spying countries, the Washington Post reports. Targeted...

Pentagon on Cybersecurity Force: Quintuple It

900-member Cyber Command will soon be 5 times larger

(Newser) - Last year, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned of a " cyber Pearl Harbor "; now, the Pentagon is preparing for a digital battlefield. It's ballooning its Cyber Command from 900 people to a 4,900-strong combination of troops and civilians, the Washington Post reports—even as the government plans...

Companies Trick Hackers With Fake Data

It's one of a number of new 'active defense' strategies against espionage

(Newser) - With corporate espionage on the rise, a number of companies are taking a somewhat unconventional approach to cybersecurity. Instead of focusing on guarding their valuable data, they're mixing it with a whole bunch of fake data, hoping to trick hackers into elaborate wild goose chases, the Washington Post reports....

Passwords Protect Jack Squat

 'Age of the Password' Is Over 
OPINION
Nov 15, 2012 10:52 AM CST

'Age of the Password' Is Over

They don't work, and it's time for a better system: Mat Honan

(Newser) - "You have a secret that can ruin your life," Mat Honan writes in Wired , namely your password. Honan should know: A hacker recently broke into several of his accounts and wiped clean his iPhone, iPad, and Macbook, deleting all his messages, documents, and every photo of his 18-month-old...

Panetta Warns of 'Cyber Pearl Harbor'

He urges Congress to pass cybersecurity bill

(Newser) - America needs to beef up its defense or face a "cyber Pearl Harbor" attack from foreign hackers capable of dismantling the nation's infrastructure, Leon Panetta warns. Nations like Iran and China or militant groups could "gain control of critical switches," the defense secretary said in a...

Teen Scores $60K for Google Hack

Firm awards prizes for exposing security flaws

(Newser) - A teenager has won $60,000 for a "critical" hack into Google's Chrome browser—a prize paid by the tech giant itself. For the second time in a year, the youth, who goes by "Pinkie Pie," has won Google's contest to expose security problems, Venture...

To Halt Hackers, Find Them Dates


 To Halt Hackers, 
 Find Them Dates 
OPINION
Jul 17, 2012 4:53 PM CDT

To Halt Hackers, Find Them Dates

Let's focus on outreach, not punishment: Matthew Schwartz

(Newser) - Hackers tend to abandon their lawbreaking ways as they get older and other concerns—girlfriends, families, careers—take precedence. Indeed, most hackers appear to be under 25; few "remain life-course persistent," says one"cyberpsychology" expert. That prompts Matthew Schwartz to wonder: Could we stop hacking early by finding...

Hackers Reveal 453K Yahoo Logins

But Yahoo says only 5% of the passwords are valid

(Newser) - A hacking collective posted the login credentials of a whopping 453,000 Yahoo users online yesterday, saying they'd swiped them from a Yahoo subdomain using a technique that only works on poorly-secured Web apps that don't monitor text entered into various user input fields, Ars Technica reports. "...

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