May was an action-packed month and I’m happy to report that with the onset of summer, the truly severe threats seem to have subsided (for now). That’s not to say this month was without incident – that’s impossible in our industry.
So listen in and as always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the below topics and/or news I may not have included. Thanks for listening!
Government Action Impacting our Industry
- eBay… for Hackers? The FBI created a “hacker’s eBay” where vouched-for hackers could go online and buy and sell stolen information, share hacking tips, credit card numbers, and more. The FBI monitored the site and notified appropriate authorities, such as credit card companies, of compromised data. The site ran for two years as an undercover operation and was taken down earlier this week after authorities in 13 countries arrested 24 people accused of fraud and computer crime.
- Yet Another Bill… It seems like I cover a new cyber security bill every month. June’s bill, better known as the “Data Security and Breach Notification Act of 2012” was submitted by several Republican senators earlier this month in an attempt to unify the state by state laws.
A for Effort Award
- Apple to Protect Online Identities? According to VentureBeat, Apple recently filed a where Apple would flood the web with fake data so that those tracking our online activities (i.e. advertisers and trackers such as Nielsen) would be so overwhelmed with information that it would be impossible to isolate subsets specific to individuals. While many have long lamented the demise of online privacy, at least organizations such as Apple are looking to give users some feeling of protection while surfing the web. That being said, it remains to be seen just how practical this solution really is.
Black Sheep of the Month
- Facing Extradition, Hacker Hosts Pool Party PC Magazine’s Angela Moscaritolo reported that Megaupload boss Kim Dotcom, who is wanted by U.S. authorities on a number of copyright infringement and fraud charges, invited a Twitter follower to his New Zealand mansion for a pool party. Dotcom, whose file-sharing site was shut down in January, is under house arrest awaiting possible extradition. Hope he enjoys it while he can. There are no pool parties in the pen.
Most Creative Hack of the Month
- Hacking A New Type of Hardware: Printers Computerworld has reported that printers connected to Windows computers and infected with a program called Trojan. Milicenso will automatically print out pages full of garbled data. However, this annoying event is not the intent of this virus but rather an unintended side effect, according to Symantec. The printer Trojan is actually linked to a program designed to display ads without authorization, detected by some antivirus products as Adware.Eorezo. Unwanted ads and a berserk printer – sounds like a lose/lose for affected users.
Scariest Hack of the Month
- Malware Targets AutoCAD Files While last month saw the federal government’s admission to Stuxnet, the infrastructure attack continues with Ellen Messmer of Network World reporting that security firm ESET has discovered new malware written to steal design files made by architects and engineers. Apparently, this malware can go after files such as blueprints and is most prevalent in Peru with the majority of stolen files being sent to China.