News – January 2015


Dutch judge allows alleged ’sophisticate’ Russian hacker to be sent to US
January 29, 2015

A Dutch judge has ruled that an accused Russian “sophisticated hacker” can be extradited to the United States.
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Half Of Enterprises Worldwide Hit By DDoS Attacks, Report Says
January 27, 2015

New data illustrates how distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks remain a popular attack weapon — and continue to evolve.
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Bug in ultra secure BlackPhone let attackers decrypt texts, stalk users
January 27, 2015

A recently fixed vulnerability in the BlackPhone instant messaging application gave attackers the ability to decrypt messages, steal contacts, and control vital functions of the device, which is marketed as a more secure way to protect communications from government and criminal snoops.
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Java Patch Plugs 19 Security Holes
January 21, 2015

Oracle this week released its quarterly patch update for Java, a widely-installed program that for most casual users has probably introduced more vulnerability than utility. If you have Java installed and require it for some application or Web site, it’s time to update it.
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Mystery ComRAT cyber-surveillance tool still going strong, researchers confirm
January 20, 2015

Security experts seem no nearer to confirming the nation state behind the long-running Uroburos (aka ‘Snake’ or ‘Turla’) cyberweapon but according to German security firm G Data its developers are still hard at work.
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The rise of mercenary hacker crews offering Espionage-as-a-Service
January 19, 2015

Although the Sony attack was loud, damaging and hugely embarrassing to the company, the bigger threat is from mercenary hacker crews who steal billions of dollars of valuable technology secrets every year from U.S. companies on behalf of paying clients according to Jeffrey Carr, President and CEO of Taia Global.
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FBI circulating IP address released by Anonymous after CENTCOM incident
January 17, 2015

In a memo released to insiders and experts in the public sector, the FBI has asked for additional details on the CENTCOM social media compromise, with a particular focus on IP addresses released by Anonymous shortly after the attack, which the faceless, loosely-associative group says were used by the attacker(s).
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Cybercrime imposing growing costs on global economy
January 12, 2015

A new report has found that the cost of cybercrime to the global community and infrastructure is not only incredibly high, but steadily rising as well.
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Macs vulnerable to virtually undetectable virus that ‘can’t be removed’
January 12, 2015

A security researcher has discovered a way to infect Macs with malware virtually undetectable and that ‘can’t be removed.’
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Obama turning to cybersecurity in buildup to State of the Union
January 12, 2015

President Obama on Monday will propose a pair of new bills designed to boost cybersecurity protections in the wake of a massive data breach at Sony Pictures that drew new questions about the nation’s readiness to respond to online attacks.
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Anonymous declares war over Charlie Hebdo attack
January 9, 2015

Anonymous declared war on Islamic extremists Friday and promised to take revenge for the attack on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
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Power Grids Are Major Target for Attackers
January 9, 2015

Securing national power grid networks is a full time job, as attacks against infrastructure have increased sharply in recent years in both the U.S. and U.K., and the pace of attacks is expected to continue to increase.
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Leveraging Threat Intelligence in Healthcare Environments
January 8, 2015

Sensitive healthcare data is being targeted by hackers like never before. Keen to steal the crown jewels of Patient Health Information, which can fetch a high price on the dark web, cybercriminals have been pretty successful so far – breaching at least 7.5m records in 2014.
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Linux DDoS Trojan Has Obfuscating RootKit
January 8, 2015

Analysts have identified a Linux DDoS Trojan with a built-in rootkit that is suspected to be building an arsenal of zombie systems that could be leveraged for distributed denial of service attacks.
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Hackers try to Blackmail Swiss Bank After Stealing Data: Report
January 8, 2015

Swiss bank BCGE said Thursday hackers had stolen the personal data of thousands of clients as a newspaper reported it was being blackmailed.
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USPS Reports Healthcare Breach for 485K Employees
January 7, 2015

Officials at the United States Postal Service (USPS) have revealed that a breach originally reported in November may have compromised the health information of 485,000 employees.
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It’s Time to Treat Your Cyber Strategy Like a Business
January 7, 2015

The backbone of our modern world is business. Building and sustaining a successful business is about more than good ideas.
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Denmark plans to invest $75 million towards empowering its Cyber Control
January 7, 2015

Denmark decided to invest $75 million by 2017 towards getting offensive cyber division and protecting the country against cyber attacks and hostile targets.
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‘Burglar’s shopping list’ security flaw fixed
January 3, 2015

An online service recommended by most of the UK’s police forces has fixed a privacy flaw after being alerted by a security expert.
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U.S. Treasury Imposes Sanctions Against North Korea Following Sony Cyber Attack
January 3, 2015

After confirming that North Korea was behind the crippling Sony cyber attack, President Barack Obama promised to levy a “proportional and appropriate” response for the hack.
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