Robert Lemos

As popular cyber-attack targets continue to make progress in locking down access to their networks and data, attackers searching for other ways to compromise their targets have increasingly focused on another weak point—third-party suppliers and contractors. On June 23, hackers from the propaganda group known as the Syrian Electronic Army redirected visitors to some Reuters […]

When Apple announced iOS 8, the latest version of its mobile operating system in early June, developers welcomed the company’s pledge to allow more access to system features. Soon after, however, security experts warned that with greater functionality typically comes greater risk. While Apple will allow applications, for example, to communicate with one another through […]

As the ultimate contest for the world’s most popular sport, the Federation Internationale de Futbol Association (FIFA) World Cup attracts billions of viewers during the month the tournament runs. Little wonder, then, that the contest also attracts cyber-criminals and online protesters as well. Since early June, fraudsters have expanded their use of the World Cup […]

The current gap in the supply and demand of information-security workers will only widen over the next five years, as the expansion of the Internet of things will make the Web infrastructure even more complex and challenging to defend, Cisco managers stated on June 10. The shortfall in security staff and managers has been a […]

In 2011, the source code for a popular malicious program known as Zeus was leaked to the Internet, and since then, many malware developers have used the Zeus code as the blueprint on which to base their malicious programs. Now, a lone developer appears to be creating his own remote-access program to compete with the […]

Global cyber-crime likely cost individuals, companies and governments between $375 billion and $575 billion in 2013, according to a report published on June 9 by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The report, sponsored by information security firm McAfee, a subsidiary of Intel–attempts to calculate the losses to the global economy due to stolen […]

Information technology and security professionals believe that the increasing use of cloud services in business can raise the potential cost of data breaches by as much as 200 percent, according to a survey and analysis conducted by the Ponemon Institute. The survey, sponsored by cloud-management firm Netskope, found that IT staff and managers who report […]

Aiming to make computer networks and systems self-defending, more than 30 teams will compete in the U.S. government’s first-ever Cyber Grand Challenge, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) announced on June 3. The contest will challenge teams to create systems that can detect vulnerabilities in a network and fix them before attackers can exploit […]

The U.S. Department of Justice announced on June 2 that the agency had cooperated with international law enforcement groups and private companies to disrupt the operations of two major online threats, the Gameover Zeus botnet and the Cryptolocker ransomware the botnet distributed. The Gameover Zeus Trojan compromises computer systems, putting them under control of a […]

Two intrusions into control-system networks revealed in a recent report underscore that such systems continue to be the focus of online attackers and remain vulnerable, but details of the motives and methods of attackers continue to be lacking. In one incident, described in the Industrial Control System Computer Emergency Readiness Team (ICS-CERT) Monitor Newsletter, attackers […]

After the massive data breaches reported by Target, Neiman Marcus and other chain stores, the retail industry has faced plenty of criticism for cyber-security lapses. Yet the health care industry shows signs of having just as big a data security problem, one that places at risk personal information considered even more sensitive than credit-card data, […]

The U.S. House of Representatives passed long-sought-after communications surveillance reform legislation on May 22, but last-minute changes to the bill had one-time supporters criticizing it as weak. The bill (H.R. 3361), also known as the USA Freedom Act, amends the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of 1978, adding restrictions on the use of FISA by […]