Brian Prince

Hackers broke into databases at the University of California, Berkeley, and got access to student and alumni records, the university admitted today. According to school officials, the data theft began Oct. 9 and went undetected until early April, when campus administrators performing routine maintenance identified messages left on a server by the hackers. The databases […]

While law enforcement officials investigate reports of a data breach, the Virginia Department of Health Professions are urging anyone who could be affected to watch vigilantly for signs of identity theft for the next 12 to 24 months. On April 30, the Website of the DHP’s Prescription Monitoring Program was defaced with a message stating […]

Microsoft has introduced changes to its anti-piracy features for its operating system in Windows 7, starting with a new name. Formerly known as Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA), the anti-piracy technology has been rebranded Windows Activation Technologies in Windows 7. But in addition to the name change, the company has tweaked the technology to improve the […]

Security researchers have made available for download the source code for a “bootkit” that allows hackers to take control of Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system. Dubbed Vbootkit 2.0, the software was first presented by researchers Vipin Kumar and Nitin Kumar at the Hack In The Box security conference in Dubai in April. At the conference, […]

Microsoft has only one fix on the menu for this month’s Patch Tuesday: a security bulletin aimed at its PowerPoint software. According to the Microsoft security advisory, the bulletin covers a situation that could allow hackers to remotely execute code. The list of affected software includes editions of Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2000, 2002, 2003 and […]

A 21-year-old Swedish national was hit with a five-count indictment accusing him of hacking Cisco Systems and NASA in 2004. Philip Gabriel Pettersson, aka “Stakkato,” was indicted May 5 on intrusion and trade secret theft charges after allegedly swiping Cisco Interwork Operating System code from the networking giant and then breaking into computers at the […]

It has been a rough two weeks for online community bulletin board Craigslist. First came reports that alleged murderer Philip Markoff met his victim using Craigslist, which sparked a wave of outcry from attorneys general throughout the country. Now, South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster has issued an ultimatum stating that the site must either […]

Security researchers at multiple vendors have reported finding a new piece of malware targeting Macs. The good news for Mac users – it is not quite up to snuff, according to Sophos. Dubbed Tored, the malware is actually a worm that installs a backdoor on infected systems and attempts to steal e-mail addresses from infected […]

IBM has acquired data discovery vendor Exeros in a bid to help customers draw more value from data. Exeros’ technology is aimed at automating the discovery of relationships between disparate databases to simplify data quality and data integration efforts tied to data warehousing and master data management. The technology fits into IBM’s Information on Demand […]

The PC Cyborg Trojan appeared on the scene back in 1989, encrypting files on the C drives of infected users. It then prompted them to contact the PC Cyborg Corporation and pay a fee to have their files decrypted, marking what is considered to be the first piece of ransomware in the wild. Roughly 20 […]