FBI Warns of Increase in DDoS Extortion Scams

Online scammers constantly are looking for new ways to reach into the pockets of potential victims, and the FBI says it is seeing an increase in the number of companies being targeted by scammers threatening to launch DDoS attacks if they don’t pay a ransom. The scam is a variation on a theme, th...

Malware And Hacking Forum Seized, Dozens Arrested

The FBI and other law enforcement agencies have arrested more than 70 people suspected of carrying out cyber criminal activities associated with one of the most active underground web forums known as Darkode. Darkode, also used by notorious Lizard Squad, was an online bazaar for cyber criminals...

Feds Detail Shutdown of Cybercrime Forum Darkode

Officials worldwide this week culminated an 18-month effort to take down Darkode, a cybercrime forum where hackers fraternized, shared malware, credit card information and more. The campaign, dubbed Operation Shrouded Horizon, resulted in the arrest of 28 hackers and 27 house searches across 18...

How Hacking Team and FBI planned to Unmask A Tor User

The huge cache of internal files recently leaked from the controversial Italian surveillance software company Hacking Team has now revealed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI purchased surveillance software from the company. The leaked documents contains more than 1 Million internal...

Crypto Leaders: 'Exceptional Access' Will Undo Security

A powerhouse baker’s dozen of cryptography experts and pioneers have released a paper explaining the potential legal and ethical issues relative to the government’s continued insistence on access to cryptographic keys that secure communication over the Internet. The paper, called “Keys Under...

Angler Exploit Kit Evasion Techniques Cryptowall 3.0

The Angler Exploit Kit is turning into a model for malware rapidly integrating new evasion techniques. Starting in early June, URL patterns used by the notorious exploit kit have been changing almost daily, coinciding with it pushing Cryptowall 3.0 ransomware. SANS Internet Storm Center handler...

Senator Demands Answers on FBI's Use of Zero Days, Phishing

The chairman of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee is asking some pointed questions of the FBI director about the bureau’s use of zero-day vulnerabilities, phishing attacks, spyware, and other controversial tools. Sen. Charles Grassley R-Iowa has sent a letter to FBI Director James Comey...

These Are The FBI's Most Wanted Hackers — Total $4.2 Million Reward

The US State Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are willing to pay a total $4.2 Million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of top 5 most wanted cyber criminals accused of conducting frauds of hundreds of millions of dollars. Evgeniy Bogachev,30; Nicolae Popesc...

Europol Arrests Gang Behind Zeus And SpyEye Banking Malware

The Law enforcement agencies from six different European countries have taken down a major Ukrainian-based cyber criminals gang suspected of developing, distributing and deploying Zeus and SpyEye banking malware. According to the report on the official website of Europol, authorities have arreste...

FBI Says Cryptowall Cost Victims $18 Million Since 2014

In a little more than a year, consumers affected by the Cryptowall ransomware have reported to the FBI more than $18 million in losses related to infections from the malware. Cryptowall is among the group of ransomware families that encrypt the files on victims’ computers and then demands a ranso...

FBI Investigating Alleged Attack on Houston Astros

In one of the more bizarre alleged hacking stories to emerge recently, federal authorities are investigating whether employees of the St. Louis Cardinals hacked into systems belonging to the Houston Astros and got access to internal team conversations about players, trades, scouting reports, and...

Is China Behind the Massive Data Theft of 4 Million U.S. Officials?

The US federal agency has notified its 4 Million current and former government employees that their private data has been compromised in a massive data breach. Hackers managed to break into US government computer systems in the Office of Personnel Management OPM and steal records of Millions of...

New Snowden Documents Outline Govt. Memos on Expanded Spying

A new set of memos uncovered by Edward Snowden and shared with the New York Times and ProPublica this week reveal how the Obama administration narrowed its search for hackers and expanded its warrantless surveillance program. The two memos, which date back to May and July 2012, enabled the Nation...

Silk Road Mastermind Ross Ulbricht Sentenced To Life In Prison

Ross Ulbricht, the alleged founder and mastermind of the infamous online black marketplace Silk Road, has been sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of narcotics conspiracy, money laundering and other criminal charges. This means the 31-year-old San Francisco man will die behind...

NSA Wants To Track Smartphone Users Based on How They Type and Swipe

Just the way you swipe your smartphone screen is enough for your smartphone to identify you. Yes, it’s a Fact, not Fiction! The United States National Security Agency NSA has a new technology that can identify you from the way your finger swipe strokes and text on a smartphone screen, according t...

1.1 Million Affected by CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield Breach

CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield announced yesterday that attackers gained access to a single company database containing the sensitive and personal information of more than a million of its current and former health insurance customers. BlueCross BlueShield BCBS is a federation of health insurance...

Penn State Offline Following Advanced Two-Year Cyberattack

Penn State University President Eric J. Barron announced Friday that the university disconnected its networks from the public Internet after sustaining an intrusion into the College of Engineering that had lasted longer than two years. It will be a matter of days before Penn State brings its...

FBI: Banned Security Researcher Admitted to Hacking Plane In-Flight

A security researcher who was pulled out from a United Airlines flight last month had previously admitted to Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI that he had taken control of an airplane and made it fly briefly sideways. Chris Roberts, the founder of One World Labs, was recently detained, question...

The Triumphant Finale of CSI: Cyber

It’s been a couple of months since we left our heroes on CSI: Cyber, and boy, have they been busy. They have apparently solved many crimes using cyber-sleuthing, acquired some decidedly non-cyber firearms skills, and, in the case of our man Krumitz, taken up running. We wanted to check in and see...

Appeals Court Rules NSA Metadata Collection Not Authorized by Section 215

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled Thursday that the Patriot Act does not authorize the bulk collection of phone records by the NSA. The ruling undermines the key foundation upon which the federal government’s phone metadata surveillance program is built, Section 215 ...