Boston Hospital Notifies 2,000 of Data Breach Resulting from Computer Virus

More than 2,000 patients at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center have been notified about a data breach that may have exposed their personal information after a hospital computer was compromised, The Boston Globe reports.

The Boston-based hospital said a computer that held medical record numbers, names and birth dates of 2,021 patients, as well as information about their radiology procedures had been infected with a virus…

Mobile Malware Report Predicts ‘Significant’ Uptick in Cellphone Attacks

On the heels of a recent study warning about mobile malware emerging as the new frontier of cyber crime comes another report that discusses the evolution of both smart devices and the threats that target them.

The “Smartphone Malware Report,” by Panda Security and Spain’s National Cyber-Security Advisory Council, follows…

Qakbot Causes Data Breach at Mass. Unemployment Agency

Officials in Massachusetts say 210,000 unemployed residents may have had their personal information compromised after uncovering a computer virus that allowed hackers to steal confidential data, including names, addresses and Social Security numbers, Boston Herald reports.

The W32.QAKBOT virus did not infect the labor department’s hard drives, so it could have only stolen information entered into the labor department’s computers from April 19 through last…

No (Tax) Break from Cyber Crooks

Death and taxes are commonly said to be two facts of life. But as more people file their taxes online, there is a third certainty to consider: cyber crooks.

With tax season in full effect, cyber crooks have crafted legitimate-looking websites and emails with IRS-related content designed to lure hapless consumers into clicking a malicious link or downloading an…

Stuxnet is Cyber ‘Hiroshima’

Snobbish protestations to the contrary, Stuxnet is a big deal in the cyber world. The little (computer) worm that targeted Iran’s nuclear program and served as a middle-of-the-night, cold-sweat wake-up call for cybersecurity professionals the world over was not merely the opening shot in a cyber war, a

Russia: Stuxnet Could Have Prompted ‘New Chernobyl’

A senior Russian diplomat says a recent cyber attack targeting Iran’s nuclear program with the Stuxnet worm could have triggered a “new Chernobyl,” The Associated press reported.

Russia’s ambassador Dmitry Rogozin to NATO urged the alliance to join Moscow in delving deeper into…

FBI Memos Reveal Cost of Hacker Attacks

A hacker attack on a company’s website can be expensive, but exactly how much money it takes to recover from one is rarely disclosed by impacted parties. Now, however, internal FBI memos obtained by The New York Times through a Freedom of Information Act request provide a glimpse into how much…

Remorseful Hacker Donates Money to Panda Research

A remorseful Chinese hacker has donated 50,000 yuan ($7,515) to protect pandas after he used the image of the endangered bears as messengers for a virus, Xinhua reports.

Li Jun recently served a four-year prison sentence for his role in creating the “joss-stick burning panda” virus, which infected and damaged millions of computers worldwide. The virus changed desktop icons into cartoon pandas that deleted files and attacked…

DHS Official: No Impact of Stuxnet on US Systems

The Stuxnet worm does not seem to have impacted any systems in the United States, according to a Department of Defense official

Greg Schaffer, assistant secretary for cybersecurity and communications at DHS, told reporters the complex malware demonstrates the plethora of increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.

“It was a…

Experts Dismiss News of Stuxnet Source Code Sold on Black Market

A British news organization’s recent claims about the source code to the Stuxnet worm being sold on the black market are being dismissed by security experts.

In a news story Nov. 25, Sky News quotes several anonymous security insiders who said the virus could be used to attack any physical target that…