Fahmida Y. Rashid

Recent high-profile cyber-attacks have renewed interest in cyber-insurance as CEOs worry about covering the cost of a data breach if, or when, they get attacked. However, the policies they are buying may not help them in case of a large-scale breach. Sony is discovering this the hard way as the embattled Japanese entertainment giant struggles […]

Social networks provide spammers with plenty of opportunities to scam users in new and more effective ways, a security expert said. Social networks have become ubiquitous, with more than 500 million users on Facebook, 100 million on LinkedIn and a reported 200 million users on Twitter. Google claimed it had 10 million users on its […]

As promised, Anonymous has sought to embarrass the FBI with a network attack, this time going after defense contractor ManTech International. “Hacktivist” collective Anonymous claims to have “owned” the defense contractor ManTech International and promised to release the stolen information within 24 hours, according to a post on Twitter that appeared shortly after midnight on […]

Reboot Your Computer Many issues, such as applications not launching, not being able to reach Websites or getting certificate errors, can be fixed by restarting your computer. Try it before crying malware. Patience Is a Virtue This is a corollary to the first rule, some applications take longer than others to open. Give it time […]

The House Judiciary Committee approved a controversial bill that would require Internet service providers to retain customer data for 12 months. The data retention clause would require ISPs to keep subscriber information including IP addresses for 12 months for use to investigate cases of child exploitation. After two days of intense negotiations, committee members voted […]

Hollywood movie studios won a legal victory as Britain’s highest court ordered a telecommunications company to block access to a Website serving up pirated content. A High Court judge ruled in favor of the Motion Picture Association and ordered BT Group on July 28 to block users trying to access Newzbin2. A members-only site, Newzbin2 […]

Sprint Nextel reported a wider loss in the second quarter as consumers abandoned the carrier in favor of competitors who carry Apple’s iPhone. Sprint reported a net loss of $847 million, or 28 cents a share, for its fiscal second quarter ended June 30, compared with a loss of $760 million, or 25 cents a […]

Data protection and software management provider Symantec beat Wall Street analyst expectations for its fiscal first quarter thanks to strong performance from its security and data storage business lines. Symantec July 27 reported net income of $172 million, or 22 cents a share, for the fiscal first quarter ended June 30. Non-GAAP earnings were 40 […]

Scotland Yard’s cyber-crime unit has announced it has the spokesman for the disbanded cyber-prankster group LulzSec in custody. A 19-year old man was arrested at a residential address in Scotland’s remote Shetland Islands, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement on July 27. Scotland Yard did not release his name, but said his online name […]

The latest member of the Microsoft Malware Protection Center family is open and fully operational in Germany, according to Microsoft. The new malware research facility is in Munich and will monitor threats in the region, Microsoft said July 26. The facility will be looking at both active threats as well as proactively looking for malware […]

Microsoft researchers uncovered a new piece of Mac malware that can install remote-control backdoors on compromised machines. Other researchers questioned whether it was a credible threat at this time. Microsoft researchers came across the backdoor, named Olyx, in a package which contained a different Windows malware, according to a July 25 post on the Microsoft […]

The director of the United States Computer Emergency Response Team resigned last week without any official explanation. Randy Vickers resigned July 22, effective immediately, according to an email to employees sent by Roberta Stempfley, acting assistant secretary at Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Cyber-security and Communications. Lee Rock, the deputy director, would step in […]