Topic: Criminal Hacking

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Data theft: Top 5 most expensive data breaches

Data theft is off to a troubling start this year, with two massive breaches occurring in March and April. Hackers' success in grabbing millions of records at Epsilon and Sony are just the latest example of increasingly sophisticated attempts to steal sensitive personal information. Here's a list of the five most expensive data theft cases in the United States:

All Content

Alert: Major cyber attack aimed at natural gas pipeline companies

A major cyber attack is currently under way aimed squarely at computer networks belonging to US natural gas pipeline companies, according to alerts issued by the US Department of Homeland Security.
Keep Calm
Good Reads: Weighing the tactics in battles over drones, hackers, and abortion rights

A roundup of some of the week's most insightful articles from around the Internet.
Secret Service probes major credit card breach

Credit card breach at an Atlanta card-processor affects Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover. The number of accounts affected by the security breach is not yet known.
Helping hackers don white hats

The FBI warns that cyberspace hacking may soon surpass terrorism as a threat. But many hackers easily give up and become useful 'white hat' security experts. Are there better ways to win over more of them?
Pwned: FBI infiltrates hacktivist group LulzSec

The FBI charged five alleged leaders of LulzSec, an offshoot of Anonymous, after flipping another leader last June.
Is it really easy to hack NASA computers?

A NASA official recently stated that a stolen laptop contained algorithms used to control the International Space Station. This incident is one of many breaches of NASA's security that have occurred over the past two years.
How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?

The FBI and Scotland Yard said no systems were breached, which suggests Anonymous might have hacked an e-mail account and stolen information to listen to a conference call.
Horizons
LulzSec sting: UK nabs alleged hacker

Scotland Yard arrests a man with alleged ties to LulzSec. While initial reports fingered the suspect as a "mastermind," LulzSec called him only "mildly associated" with the group.
Spain police crack Anonymous cell accused of hacking PlayStation

The three members of the Anonymous group are alleged to have hacked government websites as well as the Sony PlayStation online store – though they were apparently not involved in the larger recent hacking of PlayStation users.
How Estonians became pioneering cyberdefenders

Three hundred cybersecurity experts are in Estonia this week for an international conference on cyberconflict. They want to know what Estonians know.
Data theft: Top 5 most expensive data breaches

Data theft is off to a troubling start this year, with two massive breaches occurring in March and April. Hackers' success in grabbing millions of records at Epsilon and Sony are just the latest example of increasingly sophisticated attempts to steal sensitive personal information. Here's a list of the five most expensive data theft cases in the United States:
The new cyber arms race

Tomorrow's wars will be fought not just with guns, but with the click of a mouse half a world away that will unleash weaponized software that could take out everything from the power grid to a chemical plant.
From Tunisia to Wikileaks to the Stuxnet worm, a cascade of cyberevents

Digital advances such as the Internet are pushing events ever faster, for good or ill. The world needs to get ahead of this train to determine its path.
Latest twist in high-tech story of WikiLeaks: Twitter is subpoenaed

The Justice Department has subpoenaed Twitter, a top social-media site, for information pertaining to certain persons and accounts linked to WikiLeaks.
Did WikiLeaks bring on cyberwar? Maybe a cyber sit-in.

After Visa, MasterCard, and others cut services to WikiLeaks, a group launched ‘distributed denial of service’ attacks against these businesses. But a new analysis shows that the attacks lacked punch.
WikiLeaks army 'Anonymous' eyes Bank of America with 'Operation BOA Constrictor'

Anonymous, the loosely knit association of WikiLeaks supporters, is seeking to rally the online faithful to attack Bank of America with 'Operation BOA Constrictor.'
Terrorism & Security
British government could be next target for hackers defending WikiLeaks

The loose collection of hackers known as Anonymous has threatened to attack government websites if the British police extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
How pro-WikiLeaks hackers wage cyberwar without hijacking your computer

Some 'hacktivists' use malicious software to capture and control unwitting computer 'zombies,' but WikiLeaks avenger 'Anonymous' is using social media to mobilize hordes of volunteers.
'Anonymous': How dangerous is hacker network defending WikiLeaks?

The borderless digital militia 'Anonymous' has taken down corporate websites to defend WikiLeaks. In so doing, say Internet security experts, it has become a new force to be reckoned with.
Hackers wage global 'cyberwar' in defense of WikiLeaks

Anonymous hackers are rallying behind Julian Assange, declaring 'cyberwar' on governments and companies that have stopped doing business with WikiLeaks.
The New Economy
MasterCard website goes down. Payback from WikiLeaks supporters?

MasterCard website down for hours Wednesday. Anonymous Internet group called Operation Payback claims responsibility in support of WikiLeaks.
Stuxnet worm: Private security experts want US to tell them more

Private sector security experts say the government’s public reports on the Stuxnet worm – the world’s first publicly-known cyber superweapon – often seem to be old news or incomplete.
Hacker's extradition for cyber heist: sign US is gaining in cyber crime fight

US investigators may be gaining ground in the fight against international cyber crime. Recent extradition of an alleged hacker from Estonia is latest victory in prosecuting such cases.
Card hacker Albert Gonzalez gets 20 years, but cyber crime rising

Albert Gonzalez cost companies and insurers almost $200 million, federal prosecutors say, earning him the longest sentence ever leveled for cyber crime.
China is aiming at America’s soft underbelly: the Internet

Cyberattacks on Google might be just the beginning. America's former director of National Intelligence says the US should do what is necessary to defend itself before there is a catastrophic event.