News
The Lead
Prism Secret: Even Bigger Data Seizure
June 17, 2013 | by Anne Flaherty, Jack Gillum, Matt Apuzzo and Stephen Braun - Associated Press | Comments
Americans who disapprove of the government reading their emails have more to worry about from a different and larger NSA effort that snatches data as it passes through the fiber optic cables that make up the Internet's backbone. That program, which has been known for years, copies Internet traffic as it enters and leaves the United States, then routes it to the NSA for analysis.
Microsoft Says it Freed Millions of Computers from Botnet
June 19, 2013 10:06 am | by Jim Finkle | Comments
Microsoft Corp said that an assault it led earlier this month on one of the world's biggest...
NSA Director Says Plot against Wall Street Foiled
June 18, 2013 3:42 pm | by Donna Cassata and Kimberly Dozier | Comments
The U.S. foiled a plot to bomb the New York Stock Exchange because of the sweeping surveillance...
FBI Relies On Secret US Surveillance Law
June 18, 2013 11:38 am | by John Shiffman, Kristina Cooke and Mark Hosenball | Comments
While the recent spotlight has been on the use of the FISA law by the U.S. National Security...
SUBSCRIBE TO FREE
DFI News EMAIL NEWSLETTER
The Work Cycle of Cyber Espionage Operators
June 19, 2013 10:23 am | by Robert Lemos | CommentsIn a study of the life cycle of cyber espionage attacks, a group of researchers at a Taiwanese security startup have found that the nation's major government agencies encounter a dozen such attacks each day and that the operators behind the attacks have virtual data centers that appear to be processing enormous workloads.
US, Russia Create Communications Link on Cybersecurity
June 18, 2013 4:52 pm | by Ellen Nakashima | CommentsThe United States and Russia have signed a landmark agreement to reduce the risk of conflict in cyberspace through real-time communications about incidents of national security concern. The pact, the first of its kind, was announced in a statement issued by both countries at the G8 summit in Northern Ireland.
Apple Reponds to NSA Leaks
June 18, 2013 12:04 pm | by Joe Mullin | CommentsSince the Guardian began leaking top-secret National Security Agency (NSA) documents just 11 days ago, several tech companies responded to the revelations about the PRISM program. Recently, tech companies started responding with additional transparency, and Apple is the latest on the bandwagon.
British Spy Agency Intercepted G20 Communications
June 18, 2013 11:24 am | by Ewen MacAskill, Nick Davies, Nick Hopkins, Julian Borger and James Ball | CommentsForeign politicians and officials who took part in two G20 summit meetings in London in 2009 had their computers monitored and their phone calls intercepted on the instructions of their British government hosts, according to documents seen by the Guardian. Some delegates were tricked into using internet cafes which had been set up by British intelligence agencies to read their email traffic.
Account Takeover Attempts Have Nearly Doubled
June 18, 2013 10:33 am | by Help Net Secutiry | CommentsThreatMetrix announced its Cybercrime Index, a series of Web fraud data aggregated from 1,500 customers, 9,000 websites and more than 1.7 billion cyber events. Nearly one in ten registrations for online services originates from a cyber criminal.
China Asks US to Explain Internet Surveillance
June 17, 2013 12:31 pm | CommentsChina made its first substantive comments to reports of U.S. surveillance of the Internet, demanding that Washington explain its monitoring programs to the international community. The Chinese government has previously not commented directly on the case, simply repeating the government's standard line that China is one of the world's biggest victims of hacking attacks.
Google Launches Global Human Trafficking Helpline and Data Network
June 17, 2013 12:14 pm | by Liat Clark | CommentsGoogle has committed $3 million (£2 million) to three human trafficking groups in a bid to build an international helpline network fuelled by data. The company announced the launch of the Google Global Human Trafficking Hotline Network at an event held by its Google Ideas think tank in Washington.
Facebook, Microsoft Release Number of Data Requests from Government
June 17, 2013 12:02 pm | by Cecilia Kang | CommentsFacebook and Microsoft for the first time have said they had gotten data requests from the government under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, but they added that the U.S. government did not permit them to provide specific figures. The companies said some of the requests were for terrorism investigations. But others were from a local sheriff asking for data to locate a missing child or from federal marshals tracking fugitives.
Paraben Sells Enterprise Forensics Division to CyFIR
June 17, 2013 8:36 am | CommentsParaben Corporation, a leader in the digital forensics industry, announced the sale of its enterprise digital forensics platform — P2 Enterprise to CyFIR, Inc. The revolutionary new platform — CyFIR Enterprise — will be released in June 2013. CyFIR, Inc. is excited to continue the development of its P2 Enterprise Investigator product line as CyFIR Enterprise.
Hidden Source for Two Vital Pieces of Computer Evidence
June 14, 2013 8:52 am | by Jacob Goodwin | CommentsSometimes, when a computer forensics expert is dissecting a suspect’s computer, the most important question to answer is this: “Am I looking at the original hard-drive, with all of its incriminating evidence, or has that drive been swapped out surreptitiously for a new drive, which will not contain the evidence that I’m hoping to find?”
Ex-spy Employee Had Secret Online Presence
June 14, 2013 8:37 am | by John Shiffman, Mark Hosenball and Kristina Cooke | CommentsWhile working for U.S. intelligence agencies, Edward Snowden had another secret identity: an online commentator who anonymously railed against citizen surveillance and corporate greed. He was also a prolific commentator on technology forum Ars Technica, posting approximately 750 messages.
NSA Secrets Taken with a Thumb Drive
June 14, 2013 8:19 am | by Ken Dilanian | CommentsNational Security Agency contract employee Edward Snowden used a computer thumb drive to smuggle highly classified documents out of an NSA facility in Hawaii, using a portable digital device supposedly barred inside the cyber spying agency, U.S. officials said.
Eight Charged for Hacking US Payroll, Financial Firms
June 14, 2013 7:50 am | CommentsU.S. prosecutors have announced fraud and other charges against eight alleged members of an international cyber crime ring that the government said hacked into the computers of more than a dozen leading financial institutions and the U.S. military's payroll service.
SMS Spam Cruises for Suckers
June 13, 2013 10:06 am | by John Mello, Jr. | CommentsIn its most recent report on SMS spam, Cloudmark notes that scam spam was very popular during the month of May - especially "get something free" scams. Something-for-nothing swindles have always been popular with spammers, because no matter how many times folks are told there's no such thing as a free lunch, they still believe there is. Last month, though, spammers departed from scam themes they've used in the past.
Snowden's Snooping Claims Raise Alarm Bells in Hong Kong
June 13, 2013 9:35 am | by James Pomfret | CommentsFresh revelations by former CIA employee Edward Snowden have raised concerns that the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) may have hacked into Hong Kong's key internet exchange, which handles nearly all the Chinese territory's domestic web traffic.
