Tag Archives: Security

FBI-baiter Barrett Brown gets five years in prison plus $890,000 fine

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“Barrett Brown is going to be spending a little longer inside than he thought after a Dallas judge threw the book at him on charges related to the hacking attack on private US intelligence firm Stratfor.  He got five years and three months for aiding and abetting, attempting to hide evidence, and threatening a Federal officer, and will have to pay a fine of $890,000, most of which will go to Stratfor.  Brown came to prominence in 2011 as a journalist with a close relationship to some members of the hacking group Anonymous. He set up the Project PM wiki to analyze leaked information from events like the HBGary hack and appeared on the media as a self-declared Anonymous spokesperson.”

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/01/23/barratt_brown_gets_five_years_in_slammer_after_stratfor_link_and_fbi_threats/

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NSA wants ‘front door’ access to users’ encrypted data

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“NSA director Michael S. Rogers suggested tech companies could create a master multi-part encryption key capable of unlocking any device, The Washington Post reports. That way, if the key were broken into pieces, no single person would have the ability to use it. ‘I don’t want a back door,’ Rogers said. ‘I want a front door. And I want the front door to have multiple locks. Big locks.’ Government and law enforcement officials say total encryption could stand in the way of national security operations, while leaders in the tech industry and advocacy groups say the government shouldn’t have complete, unobstructed access to citizens’ private communications.”

http://www.theverge.com/2015/4/12/8392769/nsa-front-door-access-encryption-key

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$50m Dark Web Market Just Disappeared With Millions In Bitcoin

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“It had become a bigger, badder version of the Silk Road drug bazaar in its short life, but Evolution, founded on 14 January last year, has apparently been closed and one staffer is claiming the admins have scammed its huge user base. The site, based on the anonymising Tor network, was home to nearly 20,000 drug sales at the time of its apparent demise, far more than Silk Road or its subsequent iteration Silk Road 2, but also sold weapons, from guns to tasers hidden in fake cigarette packets, and plenty of fraud material. It was also slicker, faster and more professional than other dark web markets, but is ostensibly no more.”

http://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2015/03/18/evolution-market-a-scam-says-site-pr/

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The World’s Email Encryption Software Relies on One Guy

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“Werner Koch wrote the software, known as Gnu Privacy Guard, in 1997, and since then has been almost single-handedly keeping it alive with patches and updates from his home in Erkrath, Germany. Now 53, he is running out of money and patience with being underfunded.  Like many people who build security software, Koch believes that offering the underlying software code for free is the best way to demonstrate that there are no hidden backdoors in it giving access to spy agencies or others. However, this means that many important computer security tools are built and maintained by volunteers.”

http://www.propublica.org/article/the-worlds-email-encryption-software-relies-on-one-guy-who-is-going-broke

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Russian researchers expose U.S. hard drive firmware spying program

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“The U.S. National Security Agency has figured out how to hide spying software deep within hard drives made by Western Digital, Seagate, Toshiba and other top manufacturers, giving the agency the means to eavesdrop on the majority of the world’s computers, according to cyber researchers and former operatives. Kaspersky’s reconstructions of the spying programs show that they could work in disk drives sold by more than a dozen companies, comprising essentially the entire market. They include Western Digital Corp, Seagate Technology Plc, Toshiba Corp, IBM, Micron Technology Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.”

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/16/us-usa-cyberspying-idUSKBN0LK1QV20150216

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How “omnipotent” hackers tied to NSA hid for 14 years — found at last

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“The money and time required to develop the Equation Group malware, the technological breakthroughs the operation accomplished, and the interdictions performed against targets leave little doubt that the operation was sponsored by a nation-state with nearly unlimited resources to dedicate to the project. The countries that were and weren’t targeted, the ties to Stuxnet and Flame, and the Grok artifact found inside the Equation Group keylogger strongly support the theory the NSA or a related US agency is the responsible party, but so far Kaspersky has declined to name a culprit. NSA officials didn’t respond to an e-mail seeking comment for this story.”

http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/02/how-omnipotent-hackers-tied-to-the-nsa-hid-for-14-years-and-were-found-at-last/

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Senate Report Highlights Cars Vulnerable to DARPA-Funded Hackers

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“Markey’s investigation was inspired when DARPA-funded hackers Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek demonstrated—with me behind the wheel—that they could cut a Ford Escape’s brakes, slam on a Prius’ brakes, monkey with the cars’ steering, and much more. Their work was built off an earlier study by researchers at the Universities of Washington and California at San Diego, which showed that they could gain wireless access to those same critical driving systems.”

http://www.wired.com/2015/02/heres-full-senate-report-shaming-automakers-security/

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Hacked payment card service transmitted cardholder data in plaintext

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“Charge Anywhere, a company that routes payment transactions between merchants and payment card processors, said that malicious software planted on its network may have accessed unencrypted sensitive cardholder data for almost five years.  The company warned that some of the card data it sends or receives appears in plaintext, allowing attackers to copy it and use it in fraudulent transactions. Details including names, account numbers, expiration dates, and verification codes are known to be exposed for transactions that occurred this year from August 17 through September 24, although it’s possible transactions dating back to November 5, 2009 may also have been accessed.”

http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/12/hacked-payment-card-service-transmitted-some-data-in-plaintext/

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Sony Left Passwords, Code-Signing Keys Virtually Unprotected

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“The hackers that compromised Sony Pictures Entertainment’s network leaked extremely sensitive information-technology credentials, including a collection of passwords and hundreds of certificates, one of which was used to sign the same malware used by the attackers to compromise the company.  The passwords could be used to access a variety of business accounts used by Sony Pictures and its employees, while the code-signing certificates could be used to camouflage future attacks, making antivirus software more likely to trust signed code.  The certificate used to sign the Destover malware sample had been protected by a password that was the name of the file.”

http://www.eweek.com/security/sony-left-passwords-code-signing-keys-virtually-unprotected.html

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Anonymous hacking attack lands British rock guitarist in jail

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“Geoffrey ‘Jake’ Commander, a rock guitarist who has played with the Electric Light Orchestra, George Harrison and Elton John, among others, walked unnoticed through the halls of the U.S. District Court in Alexandria early Friday afternoon.  He was one of 13 people charged last year as members of the underground group Anonymous in attacks against financial institutions and other companies. Initially, he faced up to 10 years in federal prison.  Records hardly depict Commander as a cybercrime mastermind as much as an online surfer who stumbled his way into an unfamiliar chat room. Once there, he clicked on a link that would lead him right into the crosshairs of the Justice Department.”

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/7/anonymous-hacking-attack-lands-british-rock-guitar/?page=all

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