US Sits Down with ‘The Bear’ to Discuss Cybersecurity

Starting yesterday and continuing to May 14, representatives from the United States and Russia will meet to discuss information and communication technology.

The U.S.-Russia Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Roundtable, which is the first since 2004, will look to open  “a dialogue on a range of topics including broadband, internet governance, cybersecurity, spectrum management, the analog to digital TV…

Virus Shuts Border Crossing

Over the weekend, thousands of Russian tourists were trapped on the Chinese side of the border after a computer virus crashed the electronic border control system. On Sunday, customs officials at the checkpoint in Heihe, China, reported that a virus had shut down the computer systems used by border control officials, RIA Novosti reports.

The virus was eventually cleaned and normal operations at the checkpoint were resumed on…

Hacker Gets 37 Months in Jail for Hacking Brokerage Accounts

A hacker who broke into brokerage accounts at Charles Schwab, laundered more than $246,000, and sold stolen credit-card numbers has been sentenced by the Manhattan Federal Court to 37 months in prison.

From approximately September 2006 through December 2007, Aleksey Volynskiy and…

Russian Sued Over Hacked Brokerage Accounts

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has accused a Russian national of using hijacked brokerage accounts to illegally earn over $255,000. Valery Maltsev used the hijacked accounts to manipulate the price of shares at 38 companies.

Maltsev would form a legitimate account to buy into each company and then use the hijacked accounts to buy or sell significant portions of them. He would then sell his legitimate shares for a…

British Companies Hacked by Foreign Spies

During a Parliamentary Inquiry, the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) said that British companies are being targeted by foreign intelligence agencies, particularly from Russia and China. According to an article in The Telegraph, government sanctioned hackers in Russia and China account for a significant percentage of hacking attempts, while terrorists are growing their capabilities.

According to CPNI, the hackers are predominately looking to steal…

Russians Arrest Hacker for Transmitting Porn

Russian authorities have arrested a 40-year-old unemployed hacker in the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk who broadcast pornography over a large television screen outside in Moscow, according to an article on TheRegister.co.uk. Individuals walking or driving in the area were ‘treated’ to two minutes of pornographic material featuring “a white male and a black female having sex”.

At 11 pm on January 14, a large video screen display in…

Report Claims US Has Made Little Progress in Cybersecurity

The National Security Cyberspace Institute has released a report saying despite all the talk and money thrown at cybersecurity, the United States has actually made little progress in making U.S. networks more secure.

“Despite the numerous studies and recommendations, ongoing planning, increased spending, and a host of other activities over the last several years, there has been little significant…

Botnets Don’t Pay what They Used To

Botnets used for cyber attacks, particularly distributed denial of service attacks, are becoming cheaper, according to security researchers.

The number of available botnets has grown rapidly, flooding the market and driving prices down.

Botnets are constructed by hackers who infect a series of computers. They then rent out the botnet to other users for pre-set pricing based on how many days the botnet is used. The botnets are offered…

MI5 Use Teens for Cyber Defense

According to Daily Express, MI5 has hired approximately 50 individuals, some of whom are still teens, to help combat cyber attacks.

The new employees have already traced cyber attacks to Pakistan, China, and Russia and messages from terrorists serving sentences in a maximum security prison in Britain.

Most of the new hires are of Asian descent and are subject to the same security protocols as other intelligence professionals employed…

Hackers Use Social Media, Stolen IDs to Perform Cyber Attacks

New research suggests that during last year’s five-day war between Russia and Georgia, Russian hackers used a combination of hijacked American identities and U.S. software tools to carry out an attack on Georgian governmental websites. A major issue with cyber warfare is that current military and international agreements do not yet account for the use of new American technologies as weapons.

The U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit has determined that to…