Colorado State Fails at Cybersecurity, Auditors Say

A cybersecurity firm hired to perform penetration tests of Colorado state agencies’ systems easily gained access to thousands of documents containing citizens’ sensitive personal information, deeming the state computer systems at “high risk” of a cyber attack, an audit released yesterday revealed.

As reported by The Denver Post, the audit found that more…

Survey: Majority of Online Users Will Holiday Shop Online

With an increasing number of people realizing the convenience of online shopping, it may seem like a no-brainer that 85 percent of Internet users are planning on doing their holiday shopping on the web this year, according to a new survey conducted by F-Secure.

Only 15 percent of Internet users say they won’t do…

The Evolution of the Whistle-Blower: From Civil War to WikiLeaks

Think whistle-blower, and you’ll more than likely conjure up an image of a government worker who wants to shed light on an internal problem or a moral dilemma. These days, however, the whistle-blower has morphed from a one-man band to an orchestra of many, sounding the horn about everything from classified information to embarrassing communications concerning world leaders.

In 1863,…

How Often Do You Tweet? Survey Says Not That Often

A new survey shows that 8 percent of online American adults have Twitter accounts, but only 2 percent use them on a daily basis.

The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project found that young adults ages 18-29, Latinos, African Americans and urbanites use Twitter the most. As 74 percent of American…

Felony Charges for Juveniles’ Alleged Cyber Attack on School District

Two high school students in Columbus, Ga., were charged last week for their alleged roles in a cyber attack that repeatedly disrupted a school district’s network and slowed schools’ online access for the past month, authorities said.

The students, accused of DoS attacking a school district’s network, were charged with one count each of computer trespassing, which is a felony, Ledger-Enquirer reported.

“I don’t have a written confession, but they…

Study: 94 % of UK Firms Believe They Can Handle Cyber Attacks

Some 94 percent of U.K. firms say they are well equipped to handle a cyber attack, despite most organizations having inadequate defenses to thwart web-based assaults, according to BAE Systems.

The firm’s Detica cybersecurity division revealed in its first annual Cyber Security Monitor report that 82 percent of firms believe cyber…

Vivek Kundra’s Fix for Broken IT: ‘Stop Throwing Good Money after Bad Money’

Outlining his plan to reform federal IT, U.S. Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra had one favorite expression he used repeatedly to illustrate the underperforming, overbudget projects exemplifying government waste: throwing good money after bad money.

Kundra and Office of Management and Budget Chief Performance Officer Jeffrey Zients last…

Guilty Verdict for Goldman Sachs Programmer who Stole Code

A Manhattan jury has found Sergey Aleynikov guilty of stealing trade secrets and transporting stolen property, in connection with stealing proprietary computer code concerning a high-frequency trading platform from his former employer, Goldman Sachs.

According to court documents, Aleynikov was employed at Goldman Sachs as a computer programmer charged with developing computer programs supporting the firm’s high-frequency trading on various commodities and equities markets.

In April…

Facebook Announces 2011 Hacker Cup

Hacking is a central part of Facebook’s culture–or so the social networking site said in announcing its 2011 Hacker Cup, where contestants will have to successfully solve algorithmic-based problem statements to advance and are ranked by accuracy and speed.

The annual contest is open to hackers from around the…

Dutch Teen Arrested for Pro-WikiLeaks DDoS Attacks

Police in the Netherlands on Saturday arrested a 19-year-old accused of cyber attacking the website of the public prosecution office as part of a bigger effort to support WikiLeaks, according to Reuters.

Naked Security reported the DDoS attack on the prosecution website followed the Dutch police’s arrest of a 16-year-old in connection with cyber attacks launched against several websites, including PayPal and MasterCard.

The…