Hacker group aims to take down Xbox Live and PlayStation Network for Christmas
There will no doubt be many new games and consoles under trees this holiday season. That means a lot of people joining the online gaming community and trying to get started with their new toys. The networks need to be ready for the vast influx of users. Now a hacker group is vowing to prevent all of this.
This isn't a new thing, as last Christmas Lizard Squad knocked both Xbox Live and PlayStation Network offline. This time around it's Phantom Group planning to do exactly the same thing. The group announced its intent on Twitter with such threats as "We are going to shut down Xbox live and PSN this year on Christmas. And we are going to keep them down for one-week straight #DramaAlert".
The biggest data breaches of 2015
10Fold recently evaluated the seven largest breaches this year and found that hackers had absconded with more than 193.4 million personal records. To get to this figure, the agency reviewed 720 data breaches that occurred throughout the year. To narrow the list to a more manageable size, the team made five million the barrier to entry.
10Fold selected these data breaches based on independent research and review of third-party resources such as ID Theft Resource Center and Information is Beautiful.
Anonymous hacks the European Space Agency
The European Space Agency (ESA) has been hacked by Anonymous, and the names and login credentials of some of its employees have been posted online, the media reported on Monday.
The data released into the wild includes full names, email contact details, clear text passwords, office addresses, phone and fax contact details of those registered on the ESA database. The information contains 52 names, email addresses and passwords of 52 internal ESA users.
Twitter will notify users of government-backed hacker attacks
Twitter is joining the Google - Facebook bandwagon, as it has started warning its users that they may be potential targets for "state-sponsored" hack attacks.
Canadian non-profit organization Coldhak has tweeted a copy of an email it has received from Twitter, warning it about a possible cyber-attack.
[Updated] Webhost Easily hit by malware attack
UK webhosting company Easily has emailed its customers to inform them that it has fallen victim to a malware attack. COO Edwina McDowall says that the assailant is, as yet, unknown but steps have been taken to eliminate the malware.
The company warns that all customers should change their passwords as a precautionary measure, but seeks to assure people that credit card details have not been compromised.
Retail data breaches threaten customer loyalty
A high percentage of Americans would change their shopping habits if their favorite retailer was hit by a data breach according to a new study.
Data security specialist Vormetric commissioned the survey over 1000 US adults from Wakefield Research which found that for 85 percent of respondents the significant personal consequences that can result from a breach would cause them to find a new place to shop.
Connected toys and the IoT could be the next weapons of mass surveillance
Just a few days ago, we heard about the potential for the web-enabled Hello Barbie to provide hackers with personal data. Numerous vulnerabilities open up the potential for data to be stolen, but this could be the start of a worrying trend. If you thought the surveillance activities of the NSA and GCHQ are disturbing, things could be about to get much worse.
There is a movement underway that sees every conceivable device being transformed into a connected device. This is more than just the Internet of Things -- security experts are warning that not only could any devices connected to the internet (including web-enabled toys) could be used to spy on users, placing children at risk.
SMBs lack the resources to protect themselves from cyber attacks
Only 37 percent of SMBs believe that their organizations are fully equipped to handle IT security according to a new survey.
The study by security company Webroot reveals that in most small to medium businesses, IT teams are expected to handle all cyber security management and concerns. IT employees at almost one in three companies (32 percent) juggle security along with their other IT responsibilities, which leaves them limited time to cope with security tasks.
How to disclose a security breach
The days and weeks after a major security breach can be trying, even for veterans of the security field. Chaos inevitably erupts as the organization attempts to assess and contain the damage. Often far down the list of priorities is the disclosure of the breach, but this can be one of the most critical steps for an organization to get right.
It is vital for financial reasons, to the recovery of the brand and for the viability of the company. It is not an easy task when customer’s personal information has been stolen. The reaction from customers is almost always the same: swift and highly critical of the organization and how it manages the aftermath.
Hackers hide malware inside Dropbox accounts to target media organizations
A new form of malware that targets mass media agencies has been discovered by researchers at the US-based security firm FireEye. The malware was detected in Hong Kong where it was being used to target a small number of media agencies with the initial targets of the attack being newspapers, radio stations and television studios.
The malware leaves a user vulnerable by offering a backdoor to their system. The way in which this is achieved is unique because its command and control or C&C server is hidden inside Dropbox accounts. FireEye was able to trace the malware back to a group of hackers by the name admin@338, who is believed to have ties with the Chinese government.
JD Wetherspoon's customer details leaked after cyber attack
Personal details of hundreds of thousands of JD Wetherspoon customers have been accessed and leaked following a hack of its database. The cyber attack affects more than 650,000 customers, the UK pub chain has announced.
The leaked data includes names, birth dates and email addresses, as well as the partial credit and debit card details of some customers who bought gift vouchers. Although the attack occurred back in June, JD Wetherspoon has only just gone public about it.
Hackers make DDoS threats to extort Greek banks
A group of hackers is trying to extort money from three Greek banks and is threatening the financial institutions with DDoS attacks unless they comply.
The group, which goes by the name Armada Collective, has asked the three banks which weren’t named, to pay a ransom in Bitcoin or face a distributed denial of service attack.
GCHQ accused of "persistent" illegal computer hacking
Court documents released during a court case brought by Privacy International show that GCHQ -- the UK version of the NSA -- has engaged in "persistent" illegal hacking. The targets of the intelligence agency's surveillance include computers and phones around the world without the need for individual warrants.
There is concern about the use of "thematic warrants" which allows GCHQ to hack computers with very little justification or oversight, and with very broad remits. Privacy International is involved because there are clear privacy issues involved in GCHQ's activities, and it is seen as being of greater importance than ever with renewed interest in the Investigatory Powers Bill.
VTech Learning Lodge hacked! Your child's identity could be at risk
When a company gets hacked, and its data is breached, it is hardly news anymore. What I mean is, it is so prevalent nowadays, that we are becoming desensitized to it. I personally received a letter regarding the OPM hack today -- yes, I am apparently a victim. If I can't trust the government to secure my data, who the hell can I trust?
Today, yet another company experiences a breach -- VTech. What makes this hack particularly devious and upsetting, is that children are impacted. Sadly, the company's "Learning Lodge", an online digital store for kids, has been compromised by evil-doers. Your child will now get a strong dose of reality -- nothing is safe online, and now their identities are at risk.
Windows Phone hacked! Unlock Lumia bootloader, get root access, flash custom ROMs
If you are the type of person that likes to tinker, Linux-based operating systems are for you. You would probably have many hours of fun playing with an Android device or Raspberry Pi. With that said, Linux is not the only game in town.
Windows Phone and Windows 10 Mobile are probably the last operating systems you would expect to be hacker-friendly. After all, despite its occasional embrace of open source, Microsoft is largely a closed company. Today, this perception could begin to change, you see, as a new tool rocks the mobile community. Called "Windows Phone Internals", it allows Lumia owners to unlock their bootloaders, gain root access and even flash custom ROMs. Whoa.
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