A group of hackers who collectively call themselves as Anonymous has been involved in a string of security attacks on US Government Agencies.Recent victim of these attacks is the Federal Reserve website. From one of its internal website, personal Information of 4,000 US bank officials were reportedly stolen from its server.The hackers' publication has revealed information such as names, email addresses, contact numbers and even login credentials. The Federal Reserve has toned down the Continue Reading
February 7, 2013
Potential Security Risk with Transport Layer Security (TLS) Protocol
Internet applications like Facebook, online shopping and online banking are now part of our daily routine. To save time and minimize effort, most of our transactions or communications are done online.Most of us are enjoying the benefits of online activities but at the same time are also aware of the possible dangers that come with it. As much as we try to be responsible and careful, there will always be someone or something that would compromise the whole system.Let us take Transport Continue Reading
February 5, 2013
Botnet: A Lone Cyber Criminal’s Greatest Ally
When people hear the word "hacker", they generally associate it with the idea that they are all shadowy individuals that are brilliant with computers and try to break into government facilities on a daily basis.For the most part though, what many people would call "hackers" are just regular people like you and me. Alone, most hackers have a hard time with some malicious activities. It's extremely difficult to shut down a website on your own for example. This is why, in most cases, you don't Continue Reading
February 3, 2013
New York Times Hacked By The Chinese
Hackers from China reportedly broke into the system of The New York Times. This was after an article about the immense affluence of the relatives of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao was published on October 25th, 2012. Consecutively, the Wall Street Journal also came out to report the same incident as well as Bloomberg.The New York Times was the first to write on the Chinese Premier's personal wealth which would be considered as controversial given the poverty rate in China. Many Chinese citizens Continue Reading
January 31, 2013
Red October Virus Explained
Rocra, which is short for Red October, was detected by Kaspersky. Kaspersky started to look into the malware last year in October. They found that a group of hackers were using exploits in order to steal information worldwide from high level departments.They also believe that the attacks have been occurring for over five years.How does it work?The malware operates by using exploits in Microsoft Word and Excel. The primary technique they hackers used is a form of phishing called Continue Reading
January 30, 2013
How Secure Is Skype?
Not long ago, the thought of using a voice over Internet protocol program to effectively communicate would have been surprising. Since the Internet has become more commonplace though, many people use Skype daily to stay in contact with people over a distance. Skype is also used by many businesses as well. With all that in mind though, how secure is Skype?Skype as a TargetMalware authors are always trying to find more new ways to get infiltrate people's computers. Skype has become a Continue Reading
January 29, 2013
Google Android Malware Threat
Android is an ideal target for malware creators and spammers for a couple of reasons. First of all, Android has the largest market share among mobile phones. This means that when a malware writer creates a new piece of software, it will get the most exposure on the Android platform.Additionally, when compared to Microsoft's Windows phone or an iOS platform, the Android platform is much easier to work on. This is partially due to the amount of freedom developers are given for creating Continue Reading
January 19, 2013
The Real Hunt for Red October – Cyber Espionage
We’ve all read and seen the movie The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy. Who would have thought that Red October does exist! A report from Kaspersky Lab’s Global Research & Analysis Team revealed that Red October has been active since 2007 attacking various diplomatic and government agencies around the world.This particular virus has taken advantage of the vulnerabilities of MS Excel and Word. The virus was sent through email attachments in MS Word and Excel. It also indicates that it Continue Reading
January 19, 2013
Vulnerability in Internet Explorer – Security Advisory 2794220
Security Advisory 2794220 was released by Microsoft to tackle certain vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer 6, 7, and 8. The advisory mentioned that this vulnerability may allow remote code execution in Internet explorer. Meaning, this may allow an attacker to carry out arbitrary code if a user accessed a website which was deliberately created for such purpose.With this, the attacker could acquire the same user rights as the current user. However, users who have fewer user rights Continue Reading
October 11, 2012
Google Awards $60,000 to Finder of Chrome Security Flaw
Google has for several years awarded lots of money to individuals who find security flaws in their Chrome web browser. The reason for offering awards is simply to encourage honest computer experts to find flaws in Chrome that may otherwise be discovered by malicious hackers.Google just awarded $60,000 to someone who goes by the name of "Pinkie Pie", for finding a security flaw in Chrome. The security flaw in question was considered to be a very critical flaw and therefore deserves the $60,000 Continue Reading
