Robert Lemos

As Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system launches Oct. 26, the company will not be making a great leap forward in securing the desktop against attackers, but a number of baby steps will help make users more secure, say security experts. Unlike the major security improvements in Windows Vista and Windows 7, in the latest release, […]

Different industries need to worry about attackers taking different tactics to compromise their systems and steal data, according to five new analyses of data from Verizon’s annual Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR). The financial industry, for instance, has to worry more about targeted attacks that are looking to steal money from bank accounts, while health […]

Attackers are continuing to focus more heavily on mobile devices, and in particular those running Google’s Android operating system, posting 175,000 malicious or suspicious programs to app stores, according a report published by security firm Trend Micro on Oct. 22. The activity in the third quarter is a steep increase from the previous quarter when […]

Attacks exploiting unreported vulnerabilities, commonly called zero-day attacks, are both more numerous and more stealthy than previously thought, according to an academic paper released this week by two researchers at security firm Symantec. Using data from millions of actual computer systems, the researchers found evidence of 18 zero-day attacks that occurred in the last four […]

In the past year, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks have nearly doubled in frequency and more than tripled in size, according to the latest quarterly report released by network-attack mitigation firm Prolexic. In September and October, massive floods of data exceeding 70G bps and coming from servers compromised with the “itsoknoproblembro” denial-of-service toolkit targeted financial institutions, […]

The cyber-espionage tools, Flame and Gauss, are not alone in targeting Middle Eastern firms and government agencies. Security firm Kaspersky has found a third program linked to the two spy tools, this time focused on stealing data from and providing access to the computer systems of high-profile targets in the Middle East, the company stated […]

Capitol One and SunTrust Banks have become the latest targets of hackers who have leveled attacks at U.S. financial institutions in alleged retaliation for the posting of a movie on YouTube that has offended some Muslims. On Oct. 8, a group calling itself the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters posted a message on Pastebin stating […]

A report by a Google researcher has connected commercially-made malware with attacks on Middle East dissidents, an increasingly common occurrence that has fueled controversy over the selling and buying of information on software flaws. A human-rights activist based in the United Arab Emirates has become the latest victim of such an attack, this time using […]

The average annual cost of cybercrime jumped 6 percent to $8.9 million in 2012, driven up by denial-of-service, malicious insiders and attacks on Websites, according to an Oct. 8 study released by the Ponemon Institute. Companies suffered a large number of incidents every week, averaging 1.8 successful attacks each week. Every firm surveyed suffered a […]

Universities and colleges are not known for their discipline in locking down computer systems. Good schools want debate to thrive and research to be unfettered. That means academic departments frequently skirt the rules around information security. No wonder, then, that a group of hackers aligning themselves with the Anonymous movement had little trouble in compromising […]

Chalk up another win for Microsoft’s legal and technical assault on botnet operators. The company settled its lawsuit with the operator of the 3322.org domain, which hosted some 70,000 malicious sub-domains used to compromise computer systems and control a botnet, known as Nitol that controlled millions of computers. In exchange, Peng Yong, the operator of […]

A spear-phishing attack compromised an unclassified system in the White House Military Office. However, the attack was quickly identified, the system isolated and no data taken from the network, the White House stated Oct. 1. The attack, which came from servers in China, follows a month of escalating cyber-operations against critical industries. On Sept. 10, […]