Misconfigured Networks Easy Pickings for Hackers

Misconfigured networks are the easiest exploit for most attackers, according to a survey published earlier this week.

Tufin Technologies’ “Hacking Habits” surveyed attendees of last month’s DEFCON conference in Las Vegas, Nev. The report found that among those hackers who search for vulnerabilities, 73 percent come across a misconfigured network more than three quarters of the time –…

Woman Found Guilty of Illegally Accessing Obama’s Loan Records

A federal jury has found an Iowa woman guilty of exceeding authorized computer access to view President Barack Obama’s  student-loan records in 2008 when he was a candidate for the presidency.

Sandra Teague’s activities were exposed when the Department of Education’s Office of Inspector General began investigating to find out whether its employees, or those of its contractors, had inappropriately accessed the student-loan information of certain celebrities or famous political…

‘Yemeni Assassin’ Attempts Extortion

A man in England was baffled to find himself the target of Yemeni assassins who claimed to have been hired to “terminate” him with extreme prejudice.

Charles Anderson told The Register he received an email from a “Gladlord Mohammed” informing him that “i have being paid $200,000.00 in advance to terminate you with some reasons listed to me by my employers.”

However, Mohammed continued: “i have followed you closely for one…

‘I Don’t Care’ Button Clickjacking Scam Spreading on Facebook

First came the bogus “Dislike” button, a clickjacking scam that spread virally on Facebook. Now, there is another ruse to attract the attention of click-happy Facebook users: the “I Don’t Care” button.

For some Facebook users, it may be a dream come true to express what they really think of others’ not-so-exciting posts. However, Sophos warns that this new scam tricks users into giving a rogue Facebook application permission…

Canada Hosts Cyber Expos

The 13th International Symposium on Recent Advances in Intrusion Detection and the International Symposium on Visualization for Cyber Security will be hosted in Canada for the first time

These events, held Sept. 14-17, 2010, will give attendees the opportunity to hear presentations by, and to network with, leading academic experts and researchers on…

Cyber Crime Prevention Organization Launches in Africa

A spike in cyber crime in Africa has led the United Nations to launch the African Center for Cyber Law and Cybercrime Prevention, according to Computerworld Zambia.

The financial sector in Africa has experienced a recent increase cyber crime, threatening to stall the launch of online banking and electronic commerce services. An explosion of mobile money services as banks and…

Pakistan Lacks Laws to Combat Cyber Terrorism

Pakistan currently has no law to combat cyber terrorism as the Prevention of Electronic Crime Ordinance introduced in February 2009 is no more functional after completing its constitutional life, according to a senior official at the Pakistani government.

The official who serves at the Federal Law Enforcement Agency said the Ministry of Interior repeatedly drew attention of the Ministry…

Symantec Discovers Phishing Scam Disguised as Fast-Food Eatery Survey

A Symantec researcher has discovered a new type of phishing attack that attempts to lure unsuspecting victims into disclosing financial information by using a survey sponsored by a fast-food restaurant chain.

The email encourages recipients to fill out a survey, which erroneously states a fast-food restaurant sponsored, and make a $90. After filling out the survey and clicking on the “proceed” button, users are directed to enter…

Woman Painted, Drugged Horses before Selling Them Online

A California woman has plead guilty to a federal fraud charge, admitting she used the Internet to defraud would-be buyers of horses from across the nation.

Prosecutors said Kenney offered horses for sale in online advertisements, making false claims of the horses’ breeds, pedigrees, abilities and temperaments. Kenney admitted to lying about the horses’ health, and that purchasers would be protected by a “money-back” satisfaction guarantee.

Kenney…