Journalists’ Email Hacked in China

Earlier this year, search engine giant Google revealed that it had been targeted in a widespread cyber attack that appeared to emanate from China. It now appears that Yahoo has also been targeted, according to the BBC.

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China (FCCC) has confirmed that eight email accounts of foreign journalists based in China have been hacked. Yahoo condemned the attacks but the FCCC accused Yahoo…

Hacker Gets 20 Years, Twice

U.S. hacker Albert Gonzalez was sentenced to two consecutive 20-year terms in prison Thursday. The two sentences were for a hacking spree conducted by Gonzalez that netted millions of credit card numbers when he lived in Miami.

Prosecutors called Gonzalez’s theft of the credit card data from major U.S. retailers as “unparalleled.” Gonzalez, along with several co-conspirators, hacked into the computer systems of TJX, Office Max, DSW and Dave and…

Hackers Can Intercept Sensitive Data over Search Engines

Researchers at Indiana University and Microsoft have demonstrated that you can find and intercept a host of sensitive data over popular search engines. The researchers were able to access health records, search queries, family income and numerous other bits of sensitive information.

By analyzing the size and other attributes of the exchanges between a user and the search engine, researchers were able to determine what type of sensitive data was…

Finnish Database Breached, Reveals Poor Cyber Hygiene

Earlier this week, the database of a popular Finnish game and quiz website was compromised, leaking more than 127,000 user names and passwords, according to researchers at F-Secure. Älypää, the popular website, suspended service following the attack.

While the website does not keep any personal data on individuals using the website, the real danger from this event is that passwords have been compromised. Most people reuse their passwords for multiple…

Opposition Websites in Iran Hacked

Members of the Revolutionary Guards in Iran have hacked into 29 websites run by the opposition, according to the Fars News Agency. “The hacked websites acted against Iran’s national security under the cover of human rights activities,” the report said.

The hacked websites were disclosed in a statement released on a Revolutionary Guards website. Following the allegedly fraudulent elections last summer, members of the opposition…

US Getting Closer to Finding Google Hackers

US authorities believe they may have identified the programming author who wrote the code used in the hacking attacks against search engine giant Google, according to an article in the Financial Times. After the discovery last week of the possible complicity of two schools in China with known ties to the military, US analysts say they may have determined which Chinese programmer wrote the code that…