10 Sites Skewered by Anonymous, Including FBI, DOJ, U.S. Copyright Office

techland.time.com

By the time East Coasters were finishing dinner last night, 10 websites had fallen to what hacktivist group Anonymous calls its “low orbit ion cannon,” or LOIC — a public domain software tool named after a weapon in a popular sci-fi real-time strategy game that’s designed to stress test whether a network can handle a distributed denial of service attack.

According to Anonymous, 10 well-known governmental and corporate sites with ties to the entertainment industry were assaulted and knocked offline in retaliation for the FBI shutting down Megaupload.com, one of the world’s largest file-sharing sites. The FBI had closed Megaupload.com earlier Thursday afternoon, accusing the company of more than $500 million in revenue losses stemming from copyright violations, and arresting four people in connection with the indictment.

(MORE: Anonymous Claims DOJ, RIAA, MPAA Sites Hit for Megaupload Bust)

Dubbing its DDoS spree “OpMegaupload,” Anonymous claims it took down usdoj.govand justice.gov (the U.S. Department of Justice), universalmusic.com (Universal Music Group),RIAA.org (the Recording Industry Association of America), MPAA.org (the Motion Picture Association of America), copyright.gov (the U.S. Copyright Office), hadopi.fr (France’s copyright-enforcement agency), wmg.com (Warner Music Group), bmi.com (Broadcast Music, Inc.) andfbi.gov (the Federal Bureau of Investigation). The DOJ’s website was first to fall, about an hour after the Justice Department announced its indictment of Megaupload.com.

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Anonymous exposes 75,000 credit card numbers

washingtonpost.com

Hacker collective Anonymous has just dumped 200 GB of names, email addresses and passwords for around 860,000 Stratfor users. Anonymous also exposed credit card numbers for 75,000 paying customers of Stratfor.

Stratfor, a security think tank, provides reports on international security and related threats to government and military personnel as well as to the private sector. It is unknown whether Anonymous gained access to other, more sensitive information during the Stratfor hacks, which occurred on December 24.

“The time for talk is over,” wrote Anonymous last night on Pastebin.

“It’s time to dump the full 75,000 names, addresses, CCs and md5 hashed passwords to every customer that has ever paid Stratfor. But that’s not all: we’re also dumping ~860,000 usernames, email addresses, and md5 hashed passwords for everyone who’s ever registered on Stratfor’s site… Did you notice 50,000 of these email addresses are .mil and .gov?”

Anonymous’ motives for the attack are also somewhat hazy. In last night’s statement, representatives of the movement wrote, “All our lives we have been robbed blindly and brutalized by corrupted politicians, establishmentarians and government agencies sex shops, and now it’s time to take it back.”

In addition to the Stratfor attack and exposure, Anonymous is threatening a new action on New Year’s Eve, December 31.

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China ‘Incredibly Aggressive’ in Cyber Theft

cnbc.com
China is stealing online information from the United States and feeding the data to homegrown companies for commercial benefit, Michael Hayden, Former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency said at the Black Hat Technical Security Conference in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

He pointed out that as an intelligence officer, he was "impressed" with the sophistication of Chinese cyber espionage, although spying in cyber space is an activity that all states, including the United States, take part in.

According to Hayden, "We steal secrets, you bet. But we steal secrets that are essential for American security and safety. We don't steal secrets for American commerce, for American profit. There are many other countries in the world that do not so self limit."

Despite the difficulty in tracing the origins of cyber attacks, Hayden believes China is the culprit behind various incidents of data theft.

"The body of evidence makes me quite comfortable and confident in saying that there's an incredibly large amount of this cyber activity coming from China," he told CNBC on the sidelines of the conference.

The retired general, who also served as the Director of the National Security Agency, added that, "I have come to the conclusion that the Chinese, the Chinese state and others in China are incredibly aggressive in the cyber domain, when it comes to the theft of property: state on state or against commercial targets."

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Fox-IT and TNO to Work on System for Detecting Digital Espionage

digitaljournal.com

Delft, The Netherlands (PRWEB) November 16, 2011

The threat of targeted cyber attacks, especially digital espionage is increasing rapidly. The current security measures against cybercrime focus primarily on the detection of massive and indiscriminate attacks. To protect businesses and governments against cyber espionage Fox-IT and TNO are developing the Cyber Attack Detector (CAD).

Analyzing a large number of digital espionage indicators will allow users to be instantly alerted when there are activities that indicate fraud or espionage. The Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation in The Netherlands has granted €800,000 via the “Innovation for Public Security” program for the development of this joint solution.

Digital espionage threat is increasing, protection lagging
The social and economic impact of cybercrime is increasing, as is the demand for an effective protection against cybercrime. The attack methods of the digital spy have become more sophisticated, with increasing reports of very specific and targeted attacks. Traditional protective equipment such as intrusion detection systems, firewalls, virus scanners, and log analyzers offer inadequate protection.

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Facebook Hacked: Porn and Graphic Material Floods Users' Accounts

christianpost.com

Facebook has been under heavy attack the last two or three days as the popular social networking site has become the victim of a severe hacking spree affecting nearly every user on the site.

The hacks do not seem to have specific targets but happen at random with some user’s newsfeeds being littered with objectionable content and others not seeing anything.

Some of the hacks happen in the form of "click' spam being sent out. A popular spam involves Kim Kardashian with a link to a video. It will say something like "After watching this video I lost all respect for Kim." Upon clicking, the link takes the unsuspecting person nowhere, and hacks the account sending the same spam to all of the user’s friends.

Other spams include mass messages and tagged photos leading people to believe they are in the link or involved with it because it is not personalized. Those will also have the same result, and continue the spamming of others walls.

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Over 700 Companies Infiltrated by Cyber-Attack

mobiledia.com

At least 760 companies' networks were compromised by the same breach that affected security firm RSA, elevating concern over data security.

Bedford, Mass.-based RSA, the security division of EMC, provides security, risk and compliance solutions to major corporations and disclosed a data breach in March.

Security analyst Brian Krebs' blog identifies hundreds of business and organizations, including 20 percent of Fortune 500 companies, believed to be affected by the RSA security breach.

Krebs' list includes Abbott Labs, Cisco Systems, eBay, the European Space Agency, Facebook, Google, IBM, Intel, the IRS, Motorola, Research in Motion and Wells Fargo.

His list reveals the RSA attack was greater than previously understood, underscoring the challenges of detecting a breach and identifying the parties behind it, especially when the intrusion goes unnoticed until activated.

Shortly after hackers compromised RSA's network, it became clear the security firm wasn't the only corporation victimized in the attack, as dozens of other multinational companies were infiltrated using many of the same tools.

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FBI Arrests Man Who Allegedly Hacked Celebrities to Steal Nude Photos

wired


Federal authorities have arrested and charged a 35-year old Florida man for allegedly hacking dozens of Hollywood celebrities, including breaking into Scarlett Johansson’s phone and leaking nude pictures of her to the internet.

Christopher Chaney of Jacksonville, Florida, was charged with 26 counts of accessing protected computers without authorization, identity theft, damaging protected computers without authorization, and wiretapping.

Other prominent victims included Christina Aguilera, Mila Kunis, Simone Harouche and Renee Olstead. The FBI says Chaney hacked into the accounts of more than 50 people in the entertainment industry.

The FBI says Chaney used publicly available data about his victims to help him break into their e-mail accounts. For most victims he would then secretly set a forwarding address so every incoming e-mail would be forwarded to an account he controlled.

Chaney allegedly broke into Johansson’s Yahoo account in December 2010, just a month after he’d gotten into Harouche and Augilera’s accounts at Apple’s Me.com email service.

Photos that Johansson took of herself in the nude appeared online in early September, as did photos showing Kunis and Justin Timberlake in intimate settings. Chaney allegedly offered the photos to celebrity-focused blogs, though the indictment doesn’t say if Chaney attempted to sell the photos.

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Florida Man Arrested in “Operation Hackerazzi” for Targeting Celebrities with Computer Intrusion, Wiretapping, and Identity Theft

fbi.gov

LOS ANGELES—A man accused of targeting the entertainment industry by hacking into the personal e-mail accounts of celebrities was arrested today after being charged with a range of cyber-related crimes, announced André Birotte Jr., the United States Attorney in Los Angeles; and Steven Martinez, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office.

Christopher Chaney, 35, of Jacksonville, Florida, was arrested this morning by FBI agents without incident. A federal grand jury in Los Angeles returned a sealed indictment yesterday charging Chaney with violations under Title 18 of the U.S. Criminal Code, including: accessing protected computers without authorization; damaging protected computers without authorization; wiretapping; and aggravated identity theft.

According to the indictment, which was unsealed this morning, Chaney used several aliases while illegally obtaining personal information of numerous celebrities through a series of computer intrusions. The aliases used include: “trainreqsuckswhat,” “anonygrrl,” and “jaxjaguars911.”

Investigators believe that Chaney used publicly available sources to mine for data about his female and male victims, all of whom are associated with the entertainment industry. Once Chaney gained access and control of an e-mail account, he would obtain private information, such as e-mails and file attachments, according to the indictment. In addition, investigators believe that Chaney was led to new victims by accessing the address books of victims whose computers he already controlled.

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kmov.com

(KMOV) -- Wednesday night, TRICARE, the health care program for millions of military members, retirees, and their families announced a data breach that affects an estimated 4.9 million people.

Read TRICARE's statement here: www.tricare.mil/mybenefit/Download/Forms/DataBreach_PublicStatement.pdf

Science Applications International Corporation reported that one of its employees was driving backup computer tapes from one federal office to another in San Antonio, Texas. At one point, the car was broken into and the backup tapes were stolen. SAIC says it won't disclose how many tapes were taken, but says only "some" were encrypted.

The tapes that were lost included names, Social Security numbers, addresses, and medical treatment information of patients who were treated at San Antonio military treatment facilities (or patients who have had lab work processes there) from 1992 until September 7, 2011.

TRICARE and SAIC say they are working to identify all the beneficiaries whose information may have been lost and notify the affected people. TRICARE says that the risk of harm to patients is low because the thief would have to have access to specific hardware and software and know how to pull the data from the tapes.

Jarrett Kolthoff, who runs a cyber security firm called SpearTip, LLC, says people should be concerned.

"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to grab that information and than use that data in a nefarious manner," said Kolthoff.

"If it was unencrypted, my concern would be the leverage that somebody could use against individuals."

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Julian Assange faces arrest in Australia over unredacted WikiLeaks cables

guardian.co.uk



Julian Assange could face prosecution in Australia after publishing sensitive information about government officials amongst the 251,000 unredacted cables released this week.

WikiLeaks published its entire cache of US diplomatic cables without redactions to protect those named within, a move condemned by all five of the whistleblowing website's original media partners.

Australia's attorney general, Robert McClelland, confirmed in a statement on Friday that the new cable release identified at least one individual within the country's intelligence service. He added it is a criminal offence in the country to publish any information which could lead to the identification of an intelligence officer.

"I am aware of at least one cable in which an ASIO officer is purported to have been identified," he said. "ASIO and other Government agencies officers are working through the material to see the extent of the impact on Australian interests.

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Global information security execs urge - "Assume You Are Compromised"

zawya.com



Dubai, August 24, 2011 -- RSA, The Security Division of EMC (NYSE:EMC), released a new report that takes an in-depth look at the seismic shift in the cyber threat landscape, as enterprises are increasingly targeted for corporate espionage and sabotage. The report, the latest in a series from the Security for Business Innovation Council (SBIC), asserts that for most organizations, it's a matter of when, not if, they will be targeted by advanced threats. In an environment where the focus shifts from the impossible task of preventing intrusion to the crucial task of preventing damage, the report includes instructive guidance from 16 global security leaders for confronting this new class of threat.



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Spear Phishing: More than Spam, it's Espionage

pcworld.com
The most frequent comment I see on stories reporting some new dramatically successful phishing attack is from an overly nearly well-informed technophile who thinks people who fall for phishing schemes are just stupid.

Despite a success rate so high it's become standard operating procedure for Chinese military and government cyber-espionage groups, people who respond to phishing e-mails are treated like they're one walker-assisted step above the elderly shut-ins who send money to help Nigerian princes and ministers of finance mysteriously down on their luck.

If only the stupid fell for phishing scams the successful attacks against companies with sophisticated security -- Google, Lockheed Martin, HB Gary, PayPal, various other U.S. military and intelligence agencies -- would have been able to shut down the breaches quickly. Others with security at least as good -- CitiBank, Bank of America, AOL, Western Union -- wouldn't have to send out alerts every 10 minutes warning people that they weren't sending out alerts, so don't mail in your usernames and passwords.

Phishing works, for the same reason grifting works -- given a set of facts that seem to fit all their expectations and experience, and the opportunity to either help out a co-worker or profit from something that's very little trouble for them, most people will take the risk. (See also "4 Security Tips Spurred by Recent Phishing Attacks on Gmail, Hotmail, and Yahoo").

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Cyber attack shows constant threat to key intel

cbsnews.com
(CBS/AP)

The attempted hacking of defense contractor Lockheed Martin once again shined the spotlight on the security of the high-tech infrastructure guarding the United States' most closely held secrets.

The threat of attacks by enemies of the United States on the country's cyber security is one that has been known about for years, officials and experts in the field of national security have said.

(Last year, a former chief of U.S. intelligence told "60 Minutes" that the United States was unprepared for cyber attacks.)

Cyber war: Sabotaging the system
Video: Full "60 Minutes" segment
Video: Hacking the D.O.D.

Joel Brenner, who held the title of national counterintelligence executive from 2006 to 2009, told the Reuters news agency Tuesday that not just Lockheed Martin but most large defense contractors, if not all of them, have had their networks breached.

"This has been happening since the late '90s," he told Reuters before referring to China, Iran and Russia, three countries he said are the American government's main suspects of cyber espionage. "They're after our weapons systems and R&D."

That research and development is of interest to the more than 100 intelligence groups the Defense Department says have tried to crack American cyber security, Reuters reported.

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Cyber-Hackers: Faster, Better Equipped Than You...

registeredrep.com

Mark Clancy is intimately familiar with the in’s and out’s of cyber hacking attacks. As managing director and Corporate Information Security Officer at the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC), Clancy’s job is to pay attention to how crooks use virtual highways to steal data and assets — and stay a step ahead. Today that means much more than loading up some anti-virus software and patching an operating system.

“Mass attacks still continue, but the more sophisticated ones are targeted attacks,” says Clancy. “This style uses social engineering where they collect information they can find on the Internet about a broker or a client, and then send an email so the conversation seems more plausible. And in the broker/dealer world, bad guys are going after more high-net-worth clients. You go where the money is.”

Cyber attacks are not just the territory of large Wall Street firms—independents too have chinks in their armor. And while an 8-man advisory may not have seemed like the prime target for a hack a few years ago, that’s no longer true as criminals have gotten more specific about who they target, in an effort to maximize their return on investment.

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‘Osama Bin Laden’ Trojan Horse Spying on Online Banking Sessions

inaudit.com
May 05, 2011 /

Online or offline, the specter of Osama bin Laden hounds internet users no end as cyber criminals and scammers are resorting to different tactics to lure willing victims to bite on their trap, including a new Trojan horse that purports to contain death images of the notorious al-Qaeda leader.

Some instances of spreading the bin Laden malware across the cyber space include the use of phony claims in emails with malicious texts presumably leading to the “shocking video” and the classic Nigerian Letter or “419” Fraud that asks for an advance fee in exchange for a percentage of millions of dollars that the sender purports to spirit away from Nigeria.

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Millions of Sony Playstation users hit by massive data theft

telegraph.co.uk
Sensitive personal details of tens of millions of internet users have been stolen by hackers in one of the biggest ever cases of data theft, it has emerged.

Fraudsters have obtained data on millions of online video gamers – including three million Britons - after targeting Sony’s PlayStation Network.

The electronics giant is contacting around 70 million customers warning that details including their names, addresses, dates of birth, passwords and security questions have been stolen.

Sony also admitted that the hackers may have gained access to people’s credit card details.

The network provides online video gaming services and allows streaming of films and music via the internet.

It requires members to submit credit card and personal details to subscribe.

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Industrial espionage has a new bogeyman

businesstimes.com.sg
Former cyber-security adviser to White House accuses China of systematically stealing trade secrets; detractors say he's just trying to sell his book on the subject.

THE man who once advised the White House on cyber security has accused the Chinese government of condoning and probably helping to fund the stealing of trade secrets and research from other countries.

This startling assertion, which could invite a sharp response from China, has divided experts in the field. Some accuse Richard A Clarke of deliberate sensationalism while others say there could be some truth in his allegations.

Mr Clarke, who is currently chairman of corporate risk management firm Good Harbor Consulting, resigned in 2003 after 30 years in the US government.

Notably, he spent 11 years in the White House holding posts including special adviser to the president for cyber security and national coordinator for security and counterterrorism.

During a stopover in Singapore last week to speak at an Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) seminar, Mr Clarke said: 'There is evidence that the government of China is complicit in systematic international industrial espionage on a very large scale.'

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Corporate spying goes unreported

investors.com

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (MarketWatch) — International industrial espionage is on the rise as cyber criminals shift their activities to stealing trade secrets from taking personal data and information.

A new research report from McAfee, the Internet security firm, says, “Globalization and the commoditization of information technology have driven businesses to store increasing amounts of precious corporate data in the cloud. As this shift has taken place, cyber criminals have discovered new ways to target this precious data, both from inside and outside the organization.”

The report, “Underground Economies: Intellectual Capital and Sensitive Corporate Data Now the Latest Cybercrime Currency,” also says many companies are reluctant to thoroughly investigate cyber breaches for fear of publicity and because investigations are costly.

Companies worldwide are estimated to lose more than $1 trillion due to data leaks, costs of remediation and reputational damage.

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Australia PM Julia Gillard's computer 'hacked'

bbc.co.uk

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard's parliamentary computer and those of at least two senior ministers are suspected of being hacked, according to a newspaper report.

The government was alerted to the security breach by a US intelligence tip-off, Sydney's Daily Telegraph said.

It is reported that several thousand emails may have been accessed from the computers of at least 10 ministers.

The Australian authorities have refused to confirm or deny on the reports.

The cyber attacks are believed to have targeted the Australian Parliament House email network, the less secure of two networks used by MPs.

Among the computers allegedly breached were those belonging to Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd and Defence Minister Stephen Smith.

Reports suggest the hackers may have been trying to access information on Australia's lucrative mining industry.

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McAfee says corporate espionage is the target for cyber crime

computerworlduk.com

Hackers using trade secrets as underground currency

Corporate espionage is a business almost as old as corporations, but thanks to the Internet revolution it has a new business model: cybercrime. A new report from McAfee illustrates how intellectual property and trade secrets are becoming the primary target for hackers, and providing the currency that fuels the cyber underground.

The recent attack against RSA, resulting in the compromise of sensitive data related to the SecurID two factor authentication that many corporations rely on to guard against unauthorised access and protect data, is an example of how even the very companies that we trust to help guard against corporate espionage are not invulnerable themselves. Hacked SecurID tokens could be used as a stepping stone to more serious corporate espionage.

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