Security experts want passwords to be put out to pasture
Russian internet giant Mail.ru has been hacked once again, and some 25 million accounts associated with forums run by the company have been compromised.
Among the data that was stolen are usernames, passwords (easily crackable, according to Secure CloudLink), email addresses, phone numbers, birthdays and IP addresses.
Opera sync servers hacked, usernames and passwords at risk
Opera Software is advising all users of the sync feature of its Opera browser to change their passwords following a security breach. Details are a little scant at the moment, but the company says that servers were breached earlier in the week and user data may have been compromised.
Opera Sync is used to synchronize user data between different computers but it is apparently used by under "0.5% of the total Opera user base". However, with a user base of 350 million this means that upwards of 1.7 million people could be affected.
Hacked: Epic Games forums
Reusing a password on multiple sites is a recipe for disaster. Why? Well, the password is now only as safe as the weakest site. For example, if you use the same user credentials for a shopping site that you do for a banking site, and the shopping site is hacked, your banking password is now exposed. Bad guys will try stolen credentials on various sites looking for where they might work.
Today, Epic Games, maker of popular games like Unreal and Infinity Blade, announces that its forums have been hacked. Now, if you don't reuse passwords, that isn't a huge deal, right? Sort of. True, your discussions about games might not be particularly sensitive, but you may still feel pain.
Hackers play the fame game to boost business
Hacking by its very nature tends to be an activity that takes place in the shadows. However, analysts at security awareness specialist Digital Shadows have identified a growing trend of some hackers actively seeking the limelight to promote their businesses.
Just as in the legitimate commercial world, reputation is important and players without one are less likely to be trusted. In order to boost their profiles therefore some cyber criminals have been using publicity to add to their credibility.
Hacker group Shadow Brokers auctions off NSA malware
The NSA has (or had...) a collection of malware in its cyber arsenal. It has been stolen by hackers. It is now available to buy.
A group of hackers going by the name of Shadow Brokers claims to have stolen a range of hacking and malware tools from Equation Group's servers -- Equation Group is itself closely linked with the NSA. The group is offering the tools for auction and will sell them to the highest bidder. If bidding reaches one million Bitcoins, however, the group says it will make the tools publicly available to all.
LinkedIn sues 100 individuals for scraping user data from the site
Professional social network LinkedIn is suing 100 anonymous individuals for data scraping. It is hoped that a court order will be able to reveal the identities of those responsible for using bots to harvest user data from the site.
The Microsoft-owned service takes pride in the relationship it has with its users and the security it offers their data. Its lawsuit seeks to use the data scrapers' IP addresses and then discover their true identity in order to take action against them.
Malware hits 20 major hotels, customer data may be stolen
As many as 20 hotels in the US have been hit by malware, and fears are spreading that customer data, including credit card information, was stolen.
According to a Reuters report, hotels under attack include Starwood, Marriott, Hyatt and Intercontinental -- all part of the HEI Hotels & Restaurants.
Hackers compromise Oracle's point-of-sale unit
Another day, another major data breach. This time it’s Oracle’s MICROS, its point-of-sale division, that got hurt. According to security researcher Brian Krebs, who first disclosed the breach in a blog post (you can read it here), chances are that a Russian organized cyber-crime group is behind this.
The group, called Carbanak, is believed to have inserted malicious code in the company’s software and, apparently, 700 internal systems were compromised as a result.
Investigating the DNC hack [Q&A]
Following uncertainty around who was responsible for the compromise of the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) servers in the US -- which was first blamed on the Russian Government and then claimed by an individual named Guccifer 2.0 -- Fidelis Cybersecurity was approached by personnel handling the investigation for the DNC to undertake an independent investigation in order to provide its perspective on the intrusion.
As part of this investigation, Fidelis analyzed the same malware and data (including file names, file sizes and IP addresses) that were used in the DNC incident. Here are the main findings.
$72 million Bitcoin theft from Bitfinex exchange causes cryptocurrency price plunge
The theft of 119,756 Bitcoin from the Bitfinex exchange has seen the price of the cryptocurrency plummet by 23 percent. In what has been described as the second biggest Bitcoin theft after MtGox, $72 million worth of Bitcoins vanished from user's accounts.
It seems that Bitfinex suffered a massive security breach when it was hit by hackers who started to filter money out of segregated wallets. Despite the hack, the exchange says that this incident doesn’t "expose any weaknesses in the security of a blockchain".
61 percent of Americans fear having their cars or home security cameras hacked
As more and more devices get connected to the Internet of Things, so their susceptibility to hacking increases too.
New research from enterprise data protection company Vormetric in conjunction with Wakefield Research shows that this is a concern for many people.
O2 customer information available for sale on the dark web
O2 customer data has been found available for sale on the dark web, most likely as a result of a hack that occurred several years ago.
The gaming website XSplit was hacked three years ago and those responsible for the hack were able to obtain usernames and passwords from the site. Through the process of credential stuffing, in which account credentials acquired through a hack are tested on multiple websites, the hackers were able to gain access and log into O2 accounts.
How you might get hacked by a Chrome extension
Malware isn’t just about native executables or rogue apps, not any more -- a malicious browser extension can cause almost as many problems on all your devices at once.
With the right permissions, for example, your new Chrome add-on could steal your user credentials, post as you on social media, read your emails, help launch a DDoS attack, and more.
Your wireless keyboard could be secretly leaking unencrypted data to hackers
Researchers at security firm Bastille warn that many wireless keyboards can be very easily intercepted so hackers can see exactly what is being typed. With a very simple dongle called Keysniffer, it is possible to snoop on usernames, passwords and anything else that is being typed from up to 250 feet away.
In all, Bastille found that eight manufacturers produce keyboards -- meaning there are millions in use -- which use unencrypted radio communication to transmit easily captured clear text. The problem affects non-Bluetooth devices from the likes of Anker, Hewlett-Packard, Kensington and Toshiba.
TechCrunch hacked by OurMine
The TechCrunch website was today hit by a hacker group going by the name of OurMine. The group describes itself as "an elite hacker group known for many hacks showing vulnerabilities in major systems".
The hack was -- on the face of it, at least -- not particularly malicious, and came across as almost polite. Rather than completely defacing the site, OurMine chose instead to simply post a news story to indicate that the CMS had been breached.
Recent Headlines
BetaNews, your source for breaking tech news, reviews, and in-depth reporting since 1998.
© 1998-2025 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. About Us - Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy - Sitemap.