Foxconn hacked by group that says “damage is bliss”
Chinese manufacturing company Foxconn was hacked this week by a new group of “greyhat” cyber criminals who say tearing down companies is fun.
“So Foxconn thinks they got ‘em some swagger because they work with the Big Boys from Intel, Microsoft, IBM, and Apple? Fool, You don’t know what swagger is,” said a SwaggSec member in a letter addressed to “Users of Cyberspace.”
SwaggSec, which started tweeting about its hacking endeavors on January 26, released … Continue Reading
Al Jazeera wesbite hacked for its “Syria Live Blog”
Arabic-language news network Al Jazeera‘s website was hacked today by a Syrian hacktivist group in support of the government’s actions in the country.
Al Jazeera hosts a live blog called “Syria Live Blog,” which follows the minute-to-minute events taking place in Syria, including violence and various deaths in the region. The content for the live blog is delivered from various sources and often reads like a causality list.
The live blog’s description states:
“People continue … Continue Reading
How Facebook is fueling a new breed of social scams
User engagement is a top priority for every social network. As the average user’s number of ‘friends’ continues to increase, a critical problem for social networks has been to develop tools that help users filter and categorize relevant content
Historically, most scammers have geared their tactics towards mass audiences rather than producing targeted content as personalized filters were rudimentary or undeveloped. This is why we’ve seen many large-scale, non-targeted scams spread through social networks for … Continue Reading
10 things you need to know about Anonymous’ Stratfor hack
On Dec. 24th, hacker collective Anonymous stole credit card info and other sensitive data from U.S. security firm Stratfor, but keeping track of who and what are affected by the scandal can be difficult.
We’ve put together a 10-point FAQ for better understanding the major hacking incident, which blew up in the news cycle on Christmas and continues to worry people as more details are released.
1. What is Stratfor?
Stratfor Global Intelligence is an … Continue Reading
Analysis: Anonymous stole over 9K active credit card numbers in Stratfor hack
A clearer picture of the damage from the Stratfor hacking incident on Christmas Eve is coming into focus, with an independent analysis confirming more than 9,000 active credit card numbers were stolen from the security think tank.
In a high-profile incident that blew up the news on Christmas, the notorious hacker group Anonymous claimed to have stolen credit card data and other client details from Austin-based security think tank Stratfor, with the intent of donating … Continue Reading
Hacker group Anonymous steals sensitive info from Stratfor security firm
Hacker collective Anonymous claims to have stolen credit card data and other sensitive details from U.S. security think tank Stratfor, with plans to donate $1 million in stolen cash to charity.
Austin, Tex.-based Stratfor is a research group that posts a daily newsletter on security issues and counts the Defense Department, Lockheed Martin and Bank of America as clients. But for being a so-called “intelligence company,” the organization did an awful job of protecting its … Continue Reading
How I was hacked – a tale of hijack, XBox Live and FIFA trading cards
This week, my Xbox Live account was hacked. This is the story of what happened, my response to it, and the questions about security that it has raised.
The hijack
At twelve minutes past midnight on Tuesday night, just as I was finishing up some work, I received an email to say that I had purchased 6,000 Microsoft Points. My first thought was to laugh it off as spam, as I hadn’t bought any points … Continue Reading
Microsoft will make a Kinect just for Windows hackers
Microsoft is embracing the DIY future with a special version of the Kinect hardware and firmware made just for Windows.
That means it will soon be even easier for tinkerers to create PC-based programs that turn them into giant blob-men or give them enormous virtual breasts. Or, on the less silly side, developers could more easily use Kinect to give robots 3-D vision using Windows-based development tools instead of janky code downloaded from god knows … Continue Reading
More than 1,600 cheaters banned from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has been out for a little over a week now and already 1,600 cheaters and hackers have been banned, according to Infinity Ward’s Creative Strategist Robert Bowling.
Yesterday, Bowling stated on Twitter, “Any attempt to cheat, hack, or glitch in #MW3 will not be tolerated. 1600+ bans issued. Updates in works. Please cont. to report offenders.”
This is not the first time Infinity Ward has taken action against Modern … Continue Reading
Siri hack lets you create shortcuts to apps & system preferences
Siri, Apple’s new voice control feature available exclusively in the iPhone 4S, is basically your personal servant when it comes to accessing data through the device. However, there are certain things it can’t do, like pulling up third-party applications and accessing system preferences — that is, until now.
Tyrannical iPhone owners can now force Siri to launch the aforementioned tasks thanks to a new hack discovered today, reports The Verge. The hack works by adding … Continue Reading
China shrugs off U.S. accusations of cyber espionage
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said a new U.S. government report on cyber espionage was “unprofessional and irresponsible”. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei made the statement today at a press conference in Beijing.
The Foreign Economic and Industrial Espionage Report, which was delivered to Congress yesterday by the Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive (NCIX), stated that China and Russia have been using cyber spying tactics to steal U.S. secrets, including our technology.
Implying that … Continue Reading
Anonymous releases private police information in name of Occupy Wall Street
Anonymous, a hacker collective that has aligned itself with the Occupy Wall Street protests, leaked information it stole from four police and government websites today.
More than 600 MB of data from the International Association of Chief of Police, or IACP, (website still down) was released, according to a press release from Anonymous. It included internal documents, membership rosters, home addresses, passwords, social security numbers and more.
Along with the IACP data, Anonymous revealed 1000 … Continue Reading
Updated PSN terms remove right to collectively sue Sony
PlayStation manufacturer Sony has added a clause to its terms of service for its online gaming network, the PlayStation Network (PSN), that waives users’ rights to collectively sue the company.
PSN users slapped Sony with a class-action lawsuit in July after hackers broke into the network and stole sensitive information about more than 100 million PSN and Station.com users — possibly including credit card numbers. The lawsuit cited some confidential witnesses who claim Sony’s network … Continue Reading
NBC’s Twitter handle hacked, spreads false Ground Zero attack information
The FBI is looking into a hack on news corporation NBC‘s Twitter account, which was attacked by hacker group The Script Kiddies. The hackers tweeted false information about hijacked planes crashing into Ground Zero, the place where the World Trade Center once stood.
The hack came only one day before the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on New York. NBC’s news twitter handle (@NBCNews) was reported to say the following in time order:
“Breaking … Continue Reading
Anonymous fights with itself over planned Facebook attack
New details have emerged on the purported plot by hacker collective Anonymous to “kill” Facebook on Nov. 5. In recent Twitter posts, it appears the group has confirmed that some of its members are working on the plan, nicknamed #OpFacebook, but that other members do not support the initiative.
On Tuesday the @AnonOps Twitter account, which has been one of the more official outlets of communication for Anonymous, posted that #OpFacebook wasn’t real. “Medias of … Continue Reading
PlayStation Network welcome-back package boosts PS3 sales
Sony’s “welcome back” package to users following the take-down of its PlayStation Network (PSN) might have increased PlayStation 3 console and game sales, according to a report by EEDAR. The package included free games and services to entice users to return to the PSN online gaming network that was brought down for several weeks due to a hacker attack in April.
The number of home console owners with Sony’s PlayStation 3 rose to 44 percent, … Continue Reading
Week in review: Google opens Google+ invites once again
Here’s our roundup of the week’s tech business news. First, the most popular stories published by VentureBeat in the last seven days:
Google resumes sending out Google+ invites: Google+, Google’s brand-new social networking site, will once again let users invite their friends to join them on the site, Google’s senior vice president of engineering Vic Gundotra said. The site had closed invitations temporarily due to “insane demand.”
Report: manufacturer gearing up to build 15M iPhones … Continue Reading
Camp BX aims to make Bitcoin trading legit
Bitcoins, a web-based virtual currency, are traded pretty fast and loose these days. Camp BX, an online trading site for the Bitcoin currency that launched Tuesday, wants to do things a little bit differently.
Camp BX founder Keyur Mithawala launched the site to transform Bitcoin trading — which is little more than a hobby for geeks and tech enthusiasts these days — into a professionally-traded currency. That means the site is subject to security audits … Continue Reading
Sony plans to redesign PlayStation Network
Sony is planning a redesign of its online gaming network, the PlayStation Network (PSN), following a hacking attack that brought the network down for nearly a month, according to reports.
The original layout for the PSN and the PlayStation store was heavy in text and had a lot of information on the screen. The new look is more streamlined, with bigger images and more accessible information, according to the report. It will be similar to … Continue Reading
Sony finally brings PlayStation Network fully online in Japan
Sony has finally brought its online gaming network, the PlayStation Network (PSN), and its associated services online in Japan — the last region where the network was still partially offline after being taken down in the wake of a hacker attack.
Sony first focused on bringing its PSN online in the United States, and then Hong Kong and South Korea. The company first brought the service back online in California and New York before turning … Continue Reading
