Web Security

Gaining Precision in Information Leakage Attacks

By Robert HansenIt’s hard to narrow down your life’s work into
one interesting event or tidbit. Even
picking 10 would be tough. So instead
of picking something I am well-known for, I wanted to look for something I had
a lot of fun coming up with that you probably didn’t read. I’ve always been interested in information
leakage as an exploit class. It’s
something most people like to overlook, in favor of the higher-profile
exploits. Sure, it’s a lot sexier to
go after the direct administrative compromise, but I enjoy the nuances of
piecing together big puzzles. Information leakage as a class provides me that kind of mental
stimulus.

Kraken-Based Botnet Makes A Comeback

Since April, a son-of-Kraken botnet has infected an estimated 318,058
machines – about half as big as the original Kraken was at its height
in the middle of 2008, according to Paul Royal, a research scientist at
the Georgia Tech Information Security Center. Read the full article. [The Register]

Biden-Threat Suspect Faces Long Jail Time

by Donald Sears
1

Barry Ardolf, 45, of Blaine, Minnesota, had rejected a plea deal in
connection to charges accusing him of sending Vice President Joe Biden a
threatening e-mail from his neighbor’s computer, a computer he is
accused of hacking. A federal grand jury substantially upped the ante against the
computer technician by ringing him up on additional charges of identity theft and two
kiddie-porn accusations carrying lifetime sex-offender registration
requirements. Read the full article. [Wired]

Fee Scam By Fraudsters Went Unnoticed

by Donald Sears

According to the FTC, the fraudsters charged 1.35 million credit cards a
total of $9.5 million, but only 78,724 of these fake charges were ever
noticed. Typically they floated just one charge per card number, billing
on behalf of made-up business names such as Adele Services or Bartelca
LLC. Read the full article. [Computerworld]

Scareware, Black Hat SEO and You

by Dennis Fisher
10

The scareware and rogue AV problem that initially appeared a few years ago and has since found its way onto thousands and thousands of legitimate Web sites, including The New York Times home page, has now reached epidemic levels. The scams are mostly boilerplate and well-understood, but it’s not often that we get to take a peek behind the curtain and see the inner workings of the schemes. Here’s just such a chance.

Twitter Agrees to FTC Security Audits

by Donald Sears

An important milestone that should compel all  social networks to be
much more diligent about preserving  privacy and providing robust
security was established by federal regulators with Twitter. Read the full article. [The Last Watchdog]

Cybersecurity for your growing business
Cybersecurity for your growing business

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