Cyber Crime
Gloucester County School District Targeted By Hackers: Swedesboro Woolwich School District felt like it was thrown back into the Stone Age after hackers wreaked havoc, taking over the district’s computer network and holding it for ransom. ABC, March 25, 2015
Tax Fraud Advice, Straight from the Scammers: Some of the most frank and useful information about how to fight fraud comes directly from the mouths of the crooks themselves. Online cybercrime forums play a critical role here, allowing thieves to compare notes about how to evade new security roadblocks and steer clear of fraud tripwires. And few topics so reliably generate discussion on crime forums around this time of year as tax return fraud, as we’ll see in the conversations highlighted in this post. KrebsOnSecurity, March 25, 2015
Kreditech Investigates Insider Breach: Kreditech, a consumer finance startup that specializes in lending to “unbanked” consumers with little or no credit rating, is investigating a data breach that came to light after malicious hackers posted thousands of applicants’ personal and financial records online. KrebsOnSecurity, March 24, 2015
Identity Theft
Hilton Honors Flaw Exposed All Accounts: Hospitality giant Hilton Hotels & Resorts recently started offering Hilton HHonors Awards members 1,000 free awards points to those who agreed to change their passwords for the online service prior to April 1, 2015, when the company said the change would become mandatory. Ironically, that same campaign led to the discovery of a simple yet powerful flaw in the site that let anyone hijack a Hilton Honors account just by knowing or guessing its valid 9-digit Hilton Honors account number. KrebsOnSecurity, March 23, 2015
Cyber Warning
Big Vulnerability in Hotel Wi-Fi Router Puts Guests at Risk: GUESTS AT HUNDREDS of hotels around the world are susceptible to serious hacks because of routers that many hotel chains depend on for their Wi-Fi networks. Researchers have discovered a vulnerability in the systems, which would allow an attacker to distribute malware to guests, monitor and record data sent over the network, and even possibly gain access to the hotel’s reservation and keycard systems. Wired, March 26, 2015
Hackers Use an Android App for Sex Extortion: For years, criminals have been tricking people into performing embarrassing sexual acts on the Internet, and then blackmailing them with recordings of that behavior. The New York Times, March 24, 2015
Cyber Security Management
The ongoing war against cybercrime: Cybercrime is estimated to cost the global economy upwards of US$400 billion a year, and these costs are expected to continue to rise. phys.org, March 24, 2015
Cyber Security Management – Cyber Defense
Information Security Management Boot Camp for IT Professionals: Information security has become part of every IT professional’s job. Hackers are constantly trying to compromise your networks, steal sensitive data, and overwhelm your systems. Adding to the security management challenge, users are demanding to work from anywhere on any device. Designed for both in-house IT staff and IT vendors, ISSA-LA’s Information Security Management Boot Camp combines practical advice with sound security management insight. ISSA-LA, Event Date: June 4, 2015
Cyber Awareness
The #1 Information Security Policy That IT Managers Would Change: Every person within an organization can accidentally break the company’s information security policies if they are not careful. Cyber security is a top concern in the IT industry today. In this series, we will look at various threats to cyber security and their corresponding information security policies – and what steps businesses can take to meet those threats head on. CIO, March 23, 2015
Securing the Village
Nonprofits Get Free Entry to ISSA-LA 7th Annual Info Security Summit on Cybercrime Solutions: The Los Angeles Chapter of the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA-LA) is offering executives and IT personnel of nonprofits to attend, at no charge, the Seventh Annual Information Security Summiton June 4 – June 5, 2015 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. This year’s Summit, The Growing Cyber Threat: Protect Your Business, will highlight practical solutions every organization can implement to better secure their sensitive information from cybercriminals. PRLog, March 19, 2015
Cyber Underworld
Who Is the Antidetect Author?: Earlier this month I wrote about Antidetect, a commercial tool designed to help thieves evade fraud detection schemes employed by many e-commerce companies. That piece walked readers through a sales video for Antidetect showing the software being used to buy products online with stolen credit cards. Today, we’ll take a closer look at clues to a possible real-life identity of this tool’s creator. KrebsOnSecurity, March 26, 2015
Cyber Law
‘Threat-sharing’ cybersecurity bill introduced in U.S. House: Leaders of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee introduced legislation on Tuesday to make it easier for companies to share information about cybersecurity threats with the government, without the fear of being sued. Reuters, March 24, 2015