News

Hackers and cybercrime prevention

July 03, 2009 03 Jul'09
Apple races to fix iPhone security flaw

Apple is working on a security patch for the iPhone to fix a vulnerability that could be exploited by cybercriminals.
July 01, 2009 01 Jul'09
Juniper stops researcher revealing ATM vulnerability

A security researcher has been prevented from disclosing security flaws in cashpoint machines at the Blackhat security conference .
June 29, 2009 29 Jun'09
Lost internet connection could cost €150bn

Losing the internet for a month could cost Europe and the US at least €150bn in lost business, according to a report on national security in the 21st century.
June 29, 2009 29 Jun'09
Instant messaging a growing malware threat, report says

An increasing number of instant messages contain links to malware, say security researchers at Symantec's MessageLabs.

June 29, 2009 29 Jun'09
Social media bear brunt of rise in phishing attacks

Cybercriminals are combining technology, social engineering techniques and current accounts to defraud people struggling financially.

According...
June 29, 2009 29 Jun'09
Google mistakes Michael Jackson searches for cyber attack

Google has admitted that it mistook the sudden spike in searches for Michael Jackson last week for an automated cyber attack.

As word...
June 29, 2009 29 Jun'09
Hacker fakes Britney Spears’ death

A hacker has broken into Britney Spears' Twitter account and posted a tweet announcing that she is dead.

The hacker posted the message: "Britney has...
June 26, 2009 26 Jun'09
Cybercriminals exploit Michael Jackson’s death

Just eight hours after Michael Jackson's death, cybercriminals unleashed the first wave of related spam, according to security firm Sophos.

The e-mails...
June 24, 2009 24 Jun'09
Security professionals fail to use passwords

IT security workers are not using passwords on mobile devices despite sensitive company information residing on them.
June 24, 2009 24 Jun'09
Cybercrime attacks, IT outsourcing, mobile malware top ISF threat list

Crimeware, cloud computing and an erosion of network boundaries are just a few of the security threats that corporate members of the Information Security Forum fear the most.

June 23, 2009 23 Jun'09
Buying botnets: Underground network marks ominous 'milestone'

The Golden Cash network provides powerful malware toolkits to its members and pays them a bounty for every PC they can compromise.
June 22, 2009 22 Jun'09
SMEs hit by increasing spear phishing attacks

A European-based gang behind sophisticated and targeted phishing attacks on small and medium enterprises has returned after a five-month break, says security...
June 19, 2009 19 Jun'09
Hackers help get news out of Iran

Protesters are using hackers' tools to help get the news out of Iran following the public protests over last week's presidential election, according to security...
June 19, 2009 19 Jun'09
Parcelforce customer data revealed

Parcelforce customers' names addresses and postcodes were available online after a system related to the company's mail tracker service failed.
June 18, 2009 18 Jun'09
How bad is iPhone security?

Apple has released 45 patches to fix security flaws in its iPhone smartphone and iPod Touch handheld computer. The patches fix problems with buffer overflow...
June 18, 2009 18 Jun'09
Users oblivious as criminals sell access to thousands of PCs

Your home or business PC could be being used and reused by multiple criminal elements behind your back, security specialists have warned.
June 18, 2009 18 Jun'09
IT overhaul results in cheaper, better endpoint security management

Mark Hardcastle recently had the opportunity to try out new products and rebuild his IT systems from scratch. After much research, one endpoint security suite stood out from the others because it was easy to manage.
June 17, 2009 17 Jun'09
One in five IT staff cheat on security audits

A fifth of IT staff have cheated on a security audit to get it passed.

A survey by Security Lifecycle Management company Tufin Technologies...
June 16, 2009 16 Jun'09
Cligs hack reveals short URL risk

Computer users should think twice before using websites that enable them to shorten URLs.

The warning comes from security supplier Sophos...
June 16, 2009 16 Jun'09
Cyber attacks "from both sides" in Iran

The Iranian opposition has launched a cyber-attack against the major pro-Ahmadinejad Iranian websites, amid accusations that the recent election in which...
June 12, 2009 12 Jun'09
Google issues first Chrome 2 security update

Google has issued a security patch for its Chrome 2 browser less than a month after its official release.
June 11, 2009 11 Jun'09
Video: Why it is not safe to surf for porn on an Apple Mac

Two new pieces of malware for the Apple Mac OS X operating system have been detected in the wild, according to security firm Sophos.
June 11, 2009 11 Jun'09
Top five tips for spotting a phishing site

Most UK web users are at risk from online fraud, with many unable to spot common tell-tale signs of phishing, a YouGov survey has revealed.
June 10, 2009 10 Jun'09
Check Point not betting on cloud computing

Cloud computing could be a security disaster waiting to happen, according to top international security professionals
June 10, 2009 10 Jun'09
Adobe patches 13 vulnerabilties in Acrobat and Reader

Adobe has issued a patch for 13 documented security vulnerabilities for its Reader and Acrobat products.
June 09, 2009 09 Jun'09
McKinnon extradition could breach human rights, court told

Extradition could cause pentagon hacker Gary McKinnon "acute mental suffering" and breach his rights under the Human Rights Act, the High Court heard today.
June 09, 2009 09 Jun'09
Enterprise security is not keeping pace with cloud computing

Security plans are not keeping pace with rapid business adoption of cloud computing, social networking and other new technologies, a survey has revealed.
June 08, 2009 08 Jun'09
Enterprise fraud set to increase as cybercriminals diversify

Enterprise fraud will increase in the next year, according to the latest report from the anti-fraud command centre (AFCC) of RSA, the security division of EMC.
June 08, 2009 08 Jun'09
Big Patch Tuesday could mean a busy week for IT admin

Microsoft plans to release up to 10 security updates to fix vulnerabilities in Windows, Internet Explorer, Word and Excel tomorrow.

If...
June 05, 2009 05 Jun'09
Security fears hold back cloud computing

Many businesses have expressed lingering doubts about the security and reliability of cloud computing despite forging ahead with plans to buy software and services online.
June 05, 2009 05 Jun'09
Blackberry users affected by Acrobat Distiller flaw

Research in Motion has issued a patch to fix a security hole for its Blackberry Enterprise server that affects Acrobat Distiller.
June 04, 2009 04 Jun'09
IT professionals increasingly finger applications as weakest link in security

More than half of IT professionals say exploiting security vulnerabilities is the easiest way for criminals to hack into organisations, a survey has revealed.

This...
June 04, 2009 04 Jun'09
Cash machine virus can steal your Pin

The cash machine network may be prone to a serious hacking attack, banks have been warned.
June 03, 2009 03 Jun'09
Over 40,000 sites infected by growing Beladen virus

More than 40,000 websites have fallen victim to a virus attack that is still growing, security experts have said.
June 03, 2009 03 Jun'09
Twitter scareware attack signals 'worrying trend'

A scareware attack on Twitter over the weekend is the latest in what has been described as a "worrying new trend" of social networking security attacks.
June 01, 2009 01 Jun'09
MP's Facebook account hacked

An MP was "devastated" after his Facebook account was hacked and rogue messages sent to over 1,500 of his friends on the site.
May 27, 2009 27 May'09
Jericho Forum and CSA push for cloud security

The Jericho Forum, a security think tank founded by IT security professionals, has joined forces with the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) to push for technology and standards to allow businesses to collaborate securely in the cloud.
May 27, 2009 27 May'09
BNP website attacked by 'Marxists'

The extreme right British National Party (BNP) claims its website has been attacked by cybercriminals in Eastern Europe.
May 26, 2009 26 May'09
Council boosts compliance efforts with system log management app

To address compliance with CoCo, PCI and ISO 27002, a security officer at Surrey Heath Borough Council recently tried a network log management application.
May 21, 2009 21 May'09
Social network sites are security threat, says survey

Web 2.0 technologies, such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, are a major security concern for businesses, according to research by Deloitte.
May 21, 2009 21 May'09
Simple information security mistakes can cause data loss, says expert

It doesn't take the latest technology to stop a data breach. Many times, your threat profile can be reduced by following these often neglected basic security practices.
May 20, 2009 20 May'09
Twitter exposes Jonathan Ross e-mail address

Twitter has been criticised as being irresponsible after the e-mail address of celebrity Jonathan Ross was made available
May 19, 2009 19 May'09
Workers expose all the wrong things in bed

Over a quarter of UK workers are risking personal relationships and revealing company information using mobile technology to work from bed for up to six...
May 19, 2009 19 May'09
Vulnerability unpatched in Microsoft server product

Microsoft is investigating reports of an unpatched vulnerability in the company's Internet Information Services (IIS) server product.

The elevation...
May 15, 2009 15 May'09
Reports of Gumblar's death greatly exaggerated

The malware code dubbed Gumblar which first appeared in March, has once again reared its ugly head after security experts declared it dead in April.

Gumblar...
May 15, 2009 15 May'09
Facebook hit by another phishing attack

Facebook has been hit by another attack by hackers believed to be stealing personal details for committing fraud.

Affected users were...
May 13, 2009 13 May'09
Security Zone: penetration testing – define your objectives

Penetration testing is not always well understood by those purchasing such services. It is my belief that organisations could often obtain better value...
May 12, 2009 12 May'09
Don’t use 'porn star names' on Twitter, users warned

Avoid the mistakes made by the likes of Sarah Palin, Paris Hilton and Salma Hayek.

Security company Sophos is warning users of Microbloggging site...
May 12, 2009 12 May'09
Cost of software piracy reaches record levels

The cost of software piracy in the UK has risen to its highest level at £1.49bn last year, with more than a quarter of all products in the market now being illegal, an anti-piracy group claims.
May 07, 2009 07 May'09
Cybercrooks develop own search engines to burgle users

Cybercriminals are creating specialised search engines to drive users to malicious websites created to distribute malware, reports a security research firm.
May 07, 2009 07 May'09
Undercover IT expert cracks financial firm with social engineering

Businesses are so obsessed with stopping cyber criminals accessing confidential data that they are allowing villains to walk through the front door.
May 04, 2009 04 May'09
Infosecurity Europe bucks economic recession, as does cybercrime

If the Infosecurity Europe show is a barometer of economic health, then it looks as if the security industry is in good shape. Cybercriminals, however, are looking strong, too.
May 01, 2009 01 May'09
Facebook security questions are a joke

A blog posting on F-Secure has ridiculed the supposedly high level of security used on Facebook.
May 01, 2009 01 May'09
Hacker steals Twitter admin password

Twitter's security was thrown into doubt as details emerged of how a French hacker obtained access to a Twitter staff account, allowing him to view user accounts on the micro-blogging site.
May 01, 2009 01 May'09
Facebook fixes foxy phishers

Social network site Facebook was attacked for the second day running by a worm that lured members to visit a false Facebook page that stole their usernames and passwords when they logged in.
April 29, 2009 29 Apr'09
Security concerns hamper collaboration plans

Half of firms putting on hold collaboration solutions due to security concerns
April 29, 2009 29 Apr'09
Infosec 2009: Cyber attackers are getting faster

Cyber attackers are working much faster to exploit application code vulnerabilties and IT security is being overwhelmed, according to a study of vulnerabilities...
April 29, 2009 29 Apr'09
Infosec 2009: Businesses invest in IT that drives efficiency

The next wave of IT investments will be aimed at achieving efficiency across the business, attendees of Infosecurity Europe 2009 in London have heard.
April 29, 2009 29 Apr'09
New products aim to control rogue applications that avoid firewalls

Palo Alto Networks Inc. was sporting the slogan "Fix the Firewall" at its first Infosecurity Europe exhibition in London, and showing off its range of firewall appliances that attempt to control applications that avoid firewall detection.
April 28, 2009 28 Apr'09
MPs to report on progress of London Olympics IT

MPs will be briefed on the progress of IT plans at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
April 28, 2009 28 Apr'09
Infosecurity 2009: Flaw in https blows hole in ecommerce security

A serious flaw in the way ecommerce sites implement secure internet access based though the secure HTTPS protocol could put customers' credit card details...
April 28, 2009 28 Apr'09
Government right to drop snooping database - Blunkett

The government made the right decision by ruling out a single, central database to store all communications data in the UK, former home secretary David Blunkett...
April 28, 2009 28 Apr'09
InfoSecurity 2009: Welcome to the online fraud business

Online fraud is now a well established business with hackers offering fraud as a service and custom hacking paid on a per use basis, according to Andrew...
April 28, 2009 28 Apr'09
Few companies enforce social networking security policies, says survey

According to a survey from Sophos Plc, employees are sharing too much personal information on sites like LinkedIn and MySpace. More importantly, many enterprises are not making an attempt to control the use of social networking sites.
April 28, 2009 28 Apr'09
U.K. security must improve in time for 2012 Olympics, says Blunkett

Former Home Secretary David Blunkett opened the Infosecurity conference in London with a call for government and business to give greater attention to cybercrime threats, especially in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics.
April 27, 2009 27 Apr'09
Infosec 2009: Employee behaviour and information security risk

In today's global environment, the increasing technologising of business has allowed companies to reach a wider audience. This has brought benefits, such...
April 27, 2009 27 Apr'09
Infosec 2009: How to implement proactive security

There is very little motivation to disclose security findings. Unfortunately this makes reactive tools such as intrusion detection systems, security scanners and vulnerability scanners useless…
April 27, 2009 27 Apr'09
Infosec 2009: Common mistakes in password policies

By using passwords alone, it is still possible to achieve an acceptable level of security if an appropriate password policy is in place…
April 26, 2009 26 Apr'09
UK must strengthen cybersecurity for 2012 Olympics, warns Blunkett

The UK should use the 2012 Olympics to drive progress towards achieving a world-class standard of cybersecurity, says former home secretary David Blunkett…
April 24, 2009 24 Apr'09
Top five cloud computing security issues

In the last few years, cloud computing has grown from being a promising business concept to one of the fastest growing segments of the IT industry. Now, recession-hit companies are increasingly realising that simply by tapping into the cloud they ...
April 24, 2009 24 Apr'09
RSA 2009: Act now before it is too late, security industry told

Business is turning to bold new technologies to become stronger through recession, but the security industry must fall in step before it is too late.

In...
April 24, 2009 24 Apr'09
Facebook hacks highlight business vulnerability, says security firm

The hacking of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's charity foundation profile on Facebook should serve as a serious warning, says security firm
April 24, 2009 24 Apr'09
Google fixes severe security vulnerability in Chrome browser

Google has released a new version of its Chrome browser to fix a "high severity" security problem.
April 23, 2009 23 Apr'09
RSA 2009: US cyber director sets stage for internet security improvements

Melissa Hathaway, acting US senior director for cyberspace, gave little away about the Obama administration's 60-day review
April 23, 2009 23 Apr'09
Conficker worm proves enterprises must improve patch policies

It was corporate systems, not home PCs, that were badly hit by the Conficker worm, revealing that many companies still fail to take patching seriously.
April 22, 2009 22 Apr'09
Botnet shows organisations vulnerable to cyber attack

The vulnerability of government, business and individuals to cyber attack was demonstrated when a botnet hijacked 1.9 million computers.
April 22, 2009 22 Apr'09
RSA 2009: Symantec champions security automation

"The current security model is not working and it is time for us to change," Enrique Salem, CEO of Symantec, told attendees of the 2009 RSA Conference.

Protecting...
April 22, 2009 22 Apr'09
RSA 2009: Security researchers demo new web services attacks

Security researchers have demonstrated a new kind of internet attack at RSA Conference 2009 that threatens providers and users of web services.
April 22, 2009 22 Apr'09
RSA 2009: Cyber fraudsters are getting smarter

The global cyber-threat continues to escalate and online fraudsters are more organised, collaborative and effective than ever, says Art Coviello, president of RSA, the security division of EMC.
April 21, 2009 21 Apr'09
Security researchers uncover massive, fast-growing botnet

Security researchers have uncovered a fast-growing worldwide botnet of 1.9 million government, corporate and private computers, it was revealed today.
April 21, 2009 21 Apr'09
Infosec 2009: Psychology is the key to managing security risk

IT security managers need to understand the psychology of IT users to manage...
April 20, 2009 20 Apr'09
RSA launches free security support for developers at RSAConference 2009

The RSAConference 2009 in San Francisco has kicked off with the announcement of an initiative to give developers free access to application security tools.
April 20, 2009 20 Apr'09
Twitter hacking teen offered security analysis job

A 17-year-old hacker who brought mayhem to Twitter over the Easter weekend has been offered a job as a programmer.
April 20, 2009 20 Apr'09
GRC concerns push identity and access management

Governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) making firms embrace identity and access management (IAM)
April 17, 2009 17 Apr'09
Criminals attack Pin bank security

Criminals are attacking the Pincode security systems of banks, something previously thought to be theoretically possible but unlikely
April 17, 2009 17 Apr'09
Infosec 2009: security managers concerned about end-user ignorance

Half of UK security managers are concerned about end-users' lack of security awareness, a survey has revealed.
April 16, 2009 16 Apr'09
Jericho Forum: Security heads need cloud security

Independent security expert group Jericho Forum has published a paper that outlines the areas businesses need to consider when evaluating a cloud computing environment. ...
April 15, 2009 15 Apr'09
Oracle patch clashes with Microsoft Patch Tuesday

Oracle has issued four critical patches just a day after Microsoft released its monthly Patch Tuesday Windows update.
April 15, 2009 15 Apr'09
Twitter hacks simple XSS attacks, says security firm

Twitter's vulnerability to basic cross-site scripting attacks highlights the need for organisations to review website coding, according to security firm Fortify Software.
April 15, 2009 15 Apr'09
IT security concerns will drive spending, survey finds

More than half (55%) of IT security professionals expect security spending to increase this year, a survey has shown.
April 08, 2009 08 Apr'09
Total IT security threats fall as focus moves to third party apps

Increase in threats from rogue software and a move to hit third party apps identified in Microsoft’s Security Intelligence Report .
April 07, 2009 07 Apr'09
Security Zone: Actions for the IT team during a PR crisis

What happens during a PR crisis? Do you involve your information security team, or is it left to crisis management and the PR people to resolve?
April 02, 2009 02 Apr'09
Travel company boosts web sales with 'green light' security system

Bogus websites designed to steal personal information have made online shoppers wary of visiting unknown sites, says online travel company Quickrooms.

The...
April 02, 2009 02 Apr'09
Large-scale hacking expected at Grand National

Punters looking for a big win on Saturday's Grand National may find themselves under attack from hackers looking to cash in on online betting.

Webroot's...
April 01, 2009 01 Apr'09
Conficker worm: no need to panic, says security expert

Businesses should not panic about the Conficker worm, but there should be a modicum of concern, says Conficker researcher Dan Kaminsky.
March 31, 2009 31 Mar'09
Computer crime jumps 33% in US

Computer crime has risen 33% in the past year, according to figures from the US-based Internet Crime Complaint Centre.
March 31, 2009 31 Mar'09
Sybase takes Office to iPhone in mobility drive

New release to offer improvements in business process mobilisation, enterprise admin, security and TCO
March 31, 2009 31 Mar'09
Opinion: The truth about Conficker 'the doomsday worm'

The media is buzzing about the most hyped doomsday threat since Y2K - the Conficker worm. But what is fact and what is fiction? Mary Landesman, senior security researcher at ScanSafe, sets the record straight.
March 30, 2009 30 Mar'09
China cyber spy update: business vulnerable to social malware

Businesses have no defences against social malware attacks like those used by Chinese hackers against the Tibetan movement, says a Cambridge University report.
March 30, 2009 30 Mar'09
Patch to stop potential conficker attack this week, say security firms

The Conficker worm may unleash massive cyber-attacks this week, but security suppliers say businesses simply need to patch systems to avoid potential disaster.