Security News  

The US Government is under fire to beef up security against cyber attacks.

Industry experts made this apparent to the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee after a number of analysts gathered to inform the Government that more regulation is vital to face cyber threats. The committee wants to create legislation which could enable Governments and businesses to work together to protect critical computer systems. So far it has been met with opposition from those who claim regulation will burden the industry.

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More than 74000 computers and 2500 organizations have been hacked by the notorious Zeus Trojan.

Newsmakers have made huge headlines by dubbing the Zeus Trojan “Kneber”, and have falsely claimed it is a new virus, when it is actually just a variant of Zeus.

The cyber attacks, which took place over the past year and a half, were designed to steal login credentials to bank sites, social networks, and e-mail systems. The botnet name Kneber comes from a username on the infected PCs.

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In December 2009 and January 2010, Trojans made up six of the top 10 malware detections for security researchers.

A malicious Trojan virus has shot to the number one spot on a malware detection list recently. Trojan.Win32.Generic!BT, which is a generic detection for Trojans that comprised nearly one quarter (23.15 percent) of all the malware found, remained in the top position for the third month in a row, growing by nearly 20 percent from 18.69 percent of all detections in December. It is a detection that includes many downloaders associated with scareware or rogue security products.

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Cybercrooks are selling your online usernames and passwords in return for a profit.

About 63 percent of all password stealing Trojan programs come from China. The number 2 source is Russia, which accounts for 12 percent. Cybercriminals from these regions are selling hacked usernames and passwords online to make hundreds of dollars.

Hackers have maliciously been creating Internet data-stealing spyware since 2005. Now it’s becoming a growing problem on the Internet as these programs become more sophisticated. Some corrupt programs seek banking passwords, others hunt for online gaming credentials. But according to online security experts, the fastest-growing data stealers are generic spying programs which steal as much information as possible from their victims.

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Corrupt emails falsely linked to the Canada Revenue Agency CRA are being used for a cyber phishing scam.

According to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) the reward is only $386. A fraudulent email designed to look like it comes from the CRA is typical of many phishing attacks. The email lures Canadian tax payers with a promise of cash in exchange for personal information.

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In the fall of 2009, school districts in Colorado, Illinois, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania all reported hack thefts of tens of thousands of dollars.

The threat continues: On January 5, 2010, the Duanesburg, New York Central School District disclosed an attempted theft of $3.8 million, about a quarter of the district’s operating budget.

Local school districts across the United States have emerged as a prime target for cybercriminals. These crimes have been driven by malicious software infecting central office computers which hold the district’s banking details. These details were used by cybercriminals to access the district’s online bank account and illegally transfer money out of the account to money-mules, who subsequently transfer the funds to the criminal ringleaders.

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Phishing attacks do not just target online banking and e-payment systems anymore, now the focus is on almost any site which asks for sensitive information.

Any avid Internet user should know that cybercriminals can steal your money not just by putting malware on your machine, but by using dangerous phishing attacks.

Sites run by government agencies are prime examples as they often demand a wealth of personal information. Filling in a tax return online may save time and paper, but it gives cybercriminals a great opportunity to pilfer data which could be used to steal your identity and commit more crimes in your name.

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Cybercrooks have managed to hack into a New York school bank account to transfer over three million dollars from the accounts of the Duanesburg Center School District over the course of three days.

Since the hacking incident, the bank has recovered $2.5 million of the stolen funds, but $500,000 still remains missing.

Duanesburg is a town in Schenectady County, New York, with a population of under 6,000. The Duanesburg Central School District has about 1,000 students and an annual budget of under $15 million.

District officials learned of the fraudulent transfers when a NBT Bank employee called them on December 22nd to confirm several pending overseas transfers totaling $759,000. The bank stopped the unauthorized transactions and then notified the district that an additional $1,190,400 was transferred out of its accounts on the previous day and another $1,862,400 on the day before (December 18).

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If you have a new PC or have plans to purchase one this year, then chances are you will need to take necessary steps to keep it protected from viruses making your life as hassle-free as possible.

We have outlined several steps that you can take and practice at your leisure to ensure that your new computer is safely running at its full potential.

Top 5 Tips for getting a clean start to a virus free year 2010.

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A hacker from Miami has pleaded guilty in one of the world’s biggest cyber fraud cases.

Albert Gonzalez, who used “soupnazi” and “segvec” as hacker aliases, was charged with conspiracy to hack into computer networks at major United States retail and financial groups, and stealing data on tens of millions of credit cards and debit cards.

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