Foreign Cyber Crooks Attack Irish Businesses

Cyber crooks are extorting thousands of euro from Irish businesses by attacking and hijacking their computer systems and websites, the Irish Examiner reports.

The Computer Crime Investigation Unit said foreign gangs, sometimes in cahoots with Irish criminals, are flying in hackers from other countries to target Irish companies. Detective Inspector Paul Gillen said a “major problem” for law enforcement will be criminals’ ability to avoid having to possess…

Anonymous Accused of Cyber Attacking Irish Politician Enda Kenny

Irish politician Enda Kenny’s new website of the Fine Gael party was hacked this weekend, allegedly by Anonymous, Belfast Telegraph reported.

Kenny, who is the leader of the second-largest political party in Ireland, said the party shut down its normal website last week and replaced it with what he described as a “web connection point,” inviting the public to make complaints or comments about what is wrong with…

World’s Riskiest Web Domains

The world’s busiest web domain, .com, is now the most dangerous, according to McAfee’s fourth annual Mapping the Mal Web report released today.

While .com was found to be the riskiest top-level domain, the most dangerous country domain is Vietnam (.vn). Japan’s .jp ranks as the safest country domain for the second…

Irish Government Warns Citizens of Revenue Phishing Attack

The Department of Foreign Affairs in Ireland has warned about a fraudulent email purporting as communication from the revenue commissioner seeking personal information, including passport details from taxpayers, according to SiliconRepublic.

The email, which links to an authentic-looking revenue commissioners website, comes with the subject line “You are eligible to receive a tax refund!”

“The email asks the recipient to submit personal details, including passport information,” the…

Cyber Crime Costs Irish Businesses $300M Annually

A new study reveals spam, viruses, phishing and credit-card fraud have become serious issues for small- to medium-sized businesses in Ireland, costing approximately $300 million yearly, according to the Irish Examiner.

After conducting a survey of more than 600 companies, the Irish Small & Medium Enterprises Association concluded cyber crime has become a growing problem. Unless something is done to address the situation, companies will continue seeing a  dramatic rise…