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May 20, 2013 by

Chinese Hackers Found U.S. Government Data on Google Servers

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When Chinese hackers breached Google servers in 2010, they were not targeting the Gmail accounts of human rights activists, as the company claimed at the time

What the hackers were actually after was a database containing years of sensitive information related to U.S. surveillance. Now we have learned that the attack was successful, and the data compromised

In 2010, as part of what has been dubbed as Operation Aurora, Chinese hackers gained access to a database of data relating to thousands of surveillance orders, all judicial responses to agency requests for email monitoring

Those orders were issued under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows the feds to spy on foreign communications (and American targets who communicate with foreign suspects). Read more...

More about Google, China, Cybersecurity, Chinese Hackers, and Us World
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May 20, 2013 by

Chinese Hackers Found U.S. Government Data on Google Servers

Google-china
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When Chinese hackers breached Google servers in 2010, they were not targeting the Gmail accounts of human rights activists, as the company claimed at the time

What the hackers were actually after was a database containing years of sensitive information related to U.S. surveillance. Now we have learned that the attack was successful, and the data compromised

In 2010, as part of what has been dubbed as Operation Aurora, Chinese hackers gained access to a database of data relating to thousands of surveillance orders, all judicial responses to agency requests for email monitoring

Those orders were issued under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows the feds to spy on foreign communications (and American targets who communicate with foreign suspects). Read more...

More about Google, China, Cybersecurity, Chinese Hackers, and Us World
Filed Under: Mashable! Tagged With: , , , , ,
May 20, 2013 by

After Hiatus, Chinese Hackers Take Aim at U.S. Targets

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Three months ago, security firm Mandiant revealed that an army unit of Chinese hackers was to blame for attacks on U.S. targets for at least six years, stealing corporate and government secrets. Now, after a period in which the group shut down part of its infrastructure and put operations on hold, the hackers are back in business

According to the New York Times, the shadowy group, codenamed APT1 by Mandiant in its report and identified as Unit 61398 of China's People's Liberation Army, has resumed its persistent attacks in the past few weeks

Unit 61398 was thrown into the spotlight in February after being identified as the group responsible for many of the most successful cyberattacks against U.S. targets in recent years. Following Mandiant's report, the U.S. government asked China to stop its attacks. But the request, it seems, fell on deaf ears. Read more...

More about China, Hacking, Cybersecurity, Chinese Hackers, and Us World
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May 20, 2013 by

After Hiatus, Chinese Hackers Take Aim at U.S. Targets

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Three months ago, security firm Mandiant revealed that an army unit of Chinese hackers was to blame for attacks on U.S. targets for at least six years, stealing corporate and government secrets. Now, after a period in which the group shut down part of its infrastructure and put operations on hold, the hackers are back in business

According to the New York Times, the shadowy group, codenamed APT1 by Mandiant in its report and identified as Unit 61398 of China's People's Liberation Army, has resumed its persistent attacks in the past few weeks

Unit 61398 was thrown into the spotlight in February after being identified as the group responsible for many of the most successful cyberattacks against U.S. targets in recent years. Following Mandiant's report, the U.S. government asked China to stop its attacks. But the request, it seems, fell on deaf ears. Read more...

More about China, Hacking, Cybersecurity, Chinese Hackers, and Us World
Filed Under: Mashable! Tagged With: , , , , ,
May 16, 2013 by

LulzSec Hackers Sentenced to Prison

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Four members of the infamous hacking group LulzSec, which carried out a series of high-profile attacks in May and June of 2011, were sentenced to prison on Thursday in London. Two years after what the group dubbed the "50 days of lulz," the four hackers received a collective sentence of seven years in prison

So much for "the lulz."

The four hackers, who all pleaded guilty, were Jake "Topiary" (his hacker monicker) Davis, Ryan "Viral" Cleary, Mustafa "T-Flow" Al-Bassam and Ryan "Kayla" Ackroyd. They were all arrested last year after Hector Xavier "Sabu" Monsegur, the alleged leader of the whole group, became an FBI informant. Read more...

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April 29, 2013 by

Proposal Would Require Internet Companies to Comply With Wiretaps

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Government officials are working on legislation that would financially penalize email, social media, Internet phone and online chat companies that refuse to comply with court wiretap orders, according to a report.

The proposal would allow courts to levy fines "starting at tens of thousands of dollars" upon such uncooperative companies, according to the Washington Post citing "persons who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations." The fines would then increase on an exponential scale after three months of noncompliance

Companies targeted by the proposal, such as Facebook and Google, would be tasked with developing their own procedures for handing over the requested data — perhaps email exchanges, chat records or IP addresses — to law enforcement Read more...

More about Social Media Privacy, Law Enforcement, Cybersecurity, Fbi, and Wiretap
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April 26, 2013 by

Suspect Behind World’s Biggest DDoS Attack Arrested

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A Dutchman on Thursday was arrested and charged with being behind one of the biggest cyber attacks ever, according to reports. The man has only been identified by his initials "SK," his age (35-years-old), and his nationality

According to a press release (Google Translation) by the Dutch Public Prosecutor Service on Friday, SK was arrested in Barcelona by Spanish authorities the day before

The unnamed man "is suspected of unprecedented heavy attacks on the non-profit organization Spamhaus," according to the press release.

SK's arrest was made following a European warrant issued after a series of massive Distributed Denial of Service Attacks (DDoS) on Spamhaus, an anti-spam organization. The authorities seized the man's computers and mobile phones as well. Read more...

More about World, Ddos, Cybersecurity, Us World, and Spamhaus
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April 26, 2013 by

Suspect Behind World’s Biggest DDoS Attack Arrested

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A Dutchman on Thursday was arrested and charged with being behind one of the biggest cyber attacks ever, according to reports. The man has only been identified by his initials "SK," his age (35-years-old), and his nationality

According to a press release (Google Translation) by the Dutch Public Prosecutor Service on Friday, SK was arrested in Barcelona by Spanish authorities the day before

The unnamed man "is suspected of unprecedented heavy attacks on the non-profit organization Spamhaus," according to the press release.

SK's arrest was made following a European warrant issued after a series of massive Distributed Denial of Service Attacks (DDoS) on Spamhaus, an anti-spam organization. The authorities seized the man's computers and mobile phones as well. Read more...

More about World, Ddos, Cybersecurity, Us World, and Spamhaus
Filed Under: Mashable! Tagged With: , , , , ,
April 26, 2013 by

CISPA Probably Won’t Be Introduced In the Senate

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The House of Representative's version of the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, or CISPA, probably won't be taken up in its entirety by the Senate, according to a new report. CISPA passed the House last week with bipartisan support despite a veto threat from the White House.

"We're not taking [CISPA] up," an anonymous representative of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation told U.S. News and World Report. "Staff and senators are divvying up the issues and the key provisions everyone agrees would need to be handled if we're going to strengthen cybersecurity. They'll be drafting separate bills." Read more...

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April 24, 2013 by

‘Self-Proclaimed Leader’ of LulzSec Hackers Arrested

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Australian authorities have arrested who they claim is a 24-year-old "self-proclaimed leader" of the LulzSec hacking group, which has taken credit for several high-profile hacks and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks.

Police first became suspicious of the suspect, who works in the Information Technology field, earlier this month following an investigation into a compromised government website. His job, authorities say, gave him "access to sensitive information" owned by his employer's clients, including government agencies.

The "man’s knowledge and skills presented a significant risk to the clients of the company for which he was employed," reads the release Read more...

More about Cybersecurity, Lulzsec, Us World, and World
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