Researchers: Hackers Can Access and Control Cars’ Anti-Theft Systems

Security systems in cars are now vulnerable to hackers, according to researchers.

Don Bailey and Mat Solnik, researchers from security firm iSec Partners, found recently that a car’s doors can be forced to unlock and its engine can be tricked to start without a key, simply by sending a text message sent to the…

Former CIA Official: ‘Cyber Will Be Key Component of Any Future Conflict’

Cyber war is an imminent threat, the former director of the CIA’s Counterterrorist Center Cofer Black said yesterday during his keynote speech at the Black Hat Security Conference in Las Vegas.

The counterterrorism official who raised the alarm that a major terrorist attack was coming before 9/11 warned conference attendees of the parallels he…

DEFCON Founder Jeff Moss Joins ICANN

The Internet Center for Assigned Names and Numbers announced last week it has named Jeff Moss, the founder of DEFCON and the Black Hat Conference, to head its security efforts.

Moss, a self-proclaimed hacker for more than 20 years, will serve as ICANN‘s vice president and chief security officer. His …

Notorious Worm Stuxnet Used in Poisoned Search Results

Cyber crooks are now taking advantage of the infamous Stuxnet worm as a way to deploy malicious code.

Trend Micro researcher Ivan Macalintal has discovered poisoned search results leveraging on this notorious malware threat. Among the search strings used in this blackhat SEO campaign were “stuxnet SCADA,” “stuxnet removal tool,” “stuxnet cleanup,” “stuxnet siemens” and “stuxnet worm.”

Some of these poisoned search words and phrases came up as…

Cybersecurity, National Defense Luminaries Slated to Appear at Security Symposium

Top experts in cybersecurity, homeland security and national defense are scheduled to appear at this year’s National Symposium on Homeland Security and Defense, held Oct. 27-29 in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Among others, experts include Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano; U.S. Northern Command Commander Adm. James Winnefeld, Jr.; Black…

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,”…

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…

Highlights From BlackHat And DefCon: Glitches, Spies and Recruiters

DefCon 2009, a cybersecurity mecca for computer experts to show vulnerabilities in network infrastructures run by Black Hat’s Jeff Moss, ended its four-day Las Vegas, Nevada conference today.  For those of you who are not technology whiz kids, here are the most important takeaways from the conference.

IPhone Vulnerability 

Cybersecurity researchers Charlie Miller and Collin Mulliner unveiled an SMS infrastructure that could hack into personal email, online banking, text message functions and camera options on…