Robert Lemos

When online attackers infiltrate a company’s network, their first target is frequently the password file. By stealing the password file and using brute-force decryption techniques to find weak or common passwords, the attackers can build up a collection of legitimate credentials to make extending their compromise of the corporate network easier. Yet such attempts could […]

A collection of large software companies has thrown its weight behind two initiatives that attempt to make the process of developing secure software more attainable to smaller software makers. At the Security Development Conference May 14, Microsoft announced its support for an international standard, ISO 27034, that defines the process and practices that comprise a […]

The U.S. government dialed up its war of words with China over cyber-espionage this week, with a Pentagon report clearly placing blame on the Chinese government for sanctioning information theft and legislators proposing a bill that would block imports of products using stolen technology. The legislation, introduced May 7 by a bipartisan group of U.S. […]

Online thieves continue to refine their social-engineering techniques to increase the chances that potential victims will fall prey to their fraudulent schemes. Now, attackers are using their access to the victim’s browser to modify a bank’s customer-support documents and add legitimacy to their attack techniques, according to researchers at security firm Trusteer. Because online banks […]

Hacktivists’ threat to wreak digital havoc on U.S. government sites and financial institutions fell well short of the mark on May 7, the first day of the so-called “OpUSA” attack. On April 21, hacktivists calling themselves the N4m3le55 cr3w and affiliating themselves with the Anonymous movement promised in a Pastebin post to attack nine government […]

McAfee, a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel, will acquire next-generation firewall maker Stonesoft in a deal worth $389 million, the companies said May 6 in a joint statement. The security maker expects the acquisition of the Finnish firm to round out its lineup of security products, giving it a strong contender in the market for […]

Hackers compromised the U.S. Department of Labor’s Website this week, modifying pages about nuclear-related illnesses with malware that could compromise visitors’ computers through a zero-day vulnerability in Internet Explorer 8, according to security experts. While security firms first released details of the attack on May 1, endpoint protection firm Invincea reported on May 3 that […]

For more than three years, hackers linked to China thoroughly compromised U.K.-based QinetiQ, a firm that bills itself as “a world leading defense technology and security company,” to steal intellectual property and sensitive defense information, according to reports of the incident. The long-running breach resulted in numerous visits from federal investigators from December 2007 until […]

Frustrated by the inability of U.S. Internet service providers to deliver needed intelligence and court-ordered wiretap capabilities, military and law-enforcement officials are reportedly seeking to expand their surveillance powers. A task force plans to propose legislation that would fine Internet firms who cannot provide court-mandated surveillance, according to an April 28 article in The Washington […]

A breach that potentially leaked the user names and passwords of LivingSocial’s more than 70 million users could seriously impact the subscribers, if they reused their passwords on other sites, security experts said this week. On April 27, the deal-finding service alerted its users that criminals had breached the company’s security and taken some customers’ […]

Nation-state attacks through the Internet continue to escalate, with a massive surge in cyber-reconnaissance activity appearing to come from North Korea at the same time the country ratcheted up its nuclear rhetoric, according to security experts. In February, attackers operating from North Korean Internet addresses probed U.S. servers more than 1,000 times, up from the […]

A majority of consumers finds password-based security frustrating, with nearly half encountering failed transactions due to authentication failures, according to a survey published by the Ponemon Institute. The survey, sponsored by authentication-technology startup Nok Nok Labs, found that consumers are unhappy with passwords, while at the same time skeptical about the security they provide. About […]