FBI Warns of Online Scams, Predators, Social-Networking Ploys

In testimony before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security on Wednesday, FBI’s Assistant Director Gordon M. Snow highlighted how yesterday’s con men have transformed into modern-day charlatans conducting their scams in virtual worlds to steal identities and other critical information.

Social-networking sites, especially, are breeding grounds for cyber criminals who trick unsuspecting victims into revealing…

Hayden: Cyber War is Fraught with Risks

Wars targeting computer networks has a number of risks that don’t exist in a more conventional warfare environment, Gen. Michael Hayden (ret.) told security professionals at the Black Hat conference this week.

“You guys made the cyber world look like the north German plain, and then you bitch and moan because you get invaded,”…

Cyber Challenge Announces Winner

The UK Cyber Security Challenge has announced the winner of its opening crypto puzzle, along with the solution. More than 1,000 individuals submitted answers, with 152 getting the correct answer.

Paul Mutton got the answer and won season tickets to Bletchley Park, home of the British code breaking effort in World…

Fake Anti-Virus Pretends to be Firefox/Flash Update to Dupe Users

Fake anti-virus slingers utilize a variety of methods to convince unsuspecting users to download and pay for their products, including using scareware tactics. However, scammers have now found a new method that fakes the Firefox “Just Updated” page which appears after Firefox has been updated, according to researchers with F-Secure.

“There is a message telling the user than even if their Firefox got updated, their Adobe Flash Player isn’t,”…

Android App Steals Info and Sends It to China, Researcher Says

A wallpaper app for the Android which collects a user’s information and sends it to a site in China has been downloaded millions of times, according to a researcher with Lookout, a mobile security firm.

Jackeey Wallpaper, available from the Android Market, which offers wallpaper-themes like Star Wars and My Little Pony, collects a user’s phone number, currently entered voicemail number and subscriber identifier, according to Lookout. The data is…

Data of 100 Million Facebook Accounts on BitTorrent

A security researcher has compiled the names and URLs of more than 100 million Facebook accounts and made the data available on BitTorrent. Ron Bowles, a self-described certified penetration tester, claims to have used some code he wrote quickly to harvest the information from individuals who set their privacy settings to be accessible by search engines.

“Once I have the name and URL of a user, I can view, by…

Featured Job- Database Design Engineer with BAE

Job Number: IT100607-0651 Location: Chantilly, VA Category: Engineering Security Clearance Status: Active Security Clearance Type: TS/SCI with Polygraph Job Level: Regular Travel Required: 0% Shift: 1st US Citizenship Required: Yes Posting Date: 6/14/2010

This position represents a proposal or pipelining requisition for potential upcoming work. If you meet the qualifications, please submit your resume and we will consider you for this opportunity in the future.

The Deatabase Designer’s primary functions shall be to reengineer Lotus Notes…

FBI Director: Cyber Threat a Top Priority

The threat from attacks in cyberspace remains a top priority of the FBI, director Robert Mueller told the Senate Judiciary Committee in testimony yesterday. The director also discussed the use of the Internet by terrorists, both for recruiting and radicalization, but also the potential for terrorist attacks using cyberspace as…

NYU-Poly Launches New Cyber Grad Program

The Polytechnic Institute of New York University plans to launch a graduate program that will educate engineers and scientists in addressing the growing complexity of IT security and privacy issues. The program is funded through a $2.85 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

“Traditionally, engineers are taught to…

NZ to Invest $4.4 Million in Cyber Technology Research

The New Zealand government plans to spend $4.4 million into cybersecurity technology research to be conducted by a firm in Auckland, stuff.co.nz reports.

Endace Ltd, who according to Research, Science and Technology Minister Wayne Mapp is emerging as a leader in cyber technology, has been chosen by the government. The government will half of…