News programme ‘Click’ takes over a botnet.The BBC has deliberately hacked into 22,000 PCs to prove the power of botnets, and the damage that can be done with a network of compromised computers.
Many corporate executives either dismiss social networking as a time-wasting distraction or regard it as a risk management problem.
Potential cyber attacks against federal and private-sector networks loom larger every day and while the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has made some important efforts, it has yet to fulfill many of the myriad responsibilities placed on it by the national cybersecurity plan. That’s conclusion of new GAO report
Heres an idea: If you’re looking to build up your social site’s user base, add support for a popular, similarly focused (but not directly competitive) social site to your network’s iPhone application.
An anonymous reader writes “”[The BBC] managed to acquire its own low-value botnet — the name given to a network of hijacked computers — after visiting chatrooms on the internet. The programme did not access any personal information on the infected PCs. If this exercise had been done with criminal intent it would be breaking the law. But our purpose was to demonstrate botnets’ collective power when in the hands of criminals.” The BBC performed a controlled DDoS attack, “then ordered its slave PCs to bombard its target site with requests for access to make it inaccessible.””
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Analyst Robert Castellano from The Information Network believes future netbooks based on the upcoming ARM Cortex-A9 architecture and running Linux could create a market for netbooks at price points Intel and Microsoft simply won’t be able to match.
Canceling accounts you’ve created on the Web isn’t always easy. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to ditch social networks, online retailers, blogging services, and more.
As big Hollywood studios and TV networks put more of their content online, ditching expensive subscription TV services is quickly becoming more realistic. But how?
California State Senator Joe Simitian has introduced new legislation designed to tighten data breach notification requirements, forcing businesses to provide more information about any data that has been leaked in addition to notifying state authorities. What was not included in the legislation was imposed compensation requirements for data breach victims, and according to Simitian are not likely to be for quite some time. “Instead, the next focus of legislation, he said, would likely be on who should bear the cost of sending out notifications to consumers. For example, should a credit card processing company that experiences a breach be responsible for the cost of notifying bank customers? When retailer TJX discovered in 2006 that hackers had accessed credit and debit card numbers passing through its network, banks were left notifying the customers, then had to sue TJX to get compensation for those costs. Heartland Payment Systems, which experienced a breach of credit and debit card numbers in January, has recently been sued by banks to recover their breach notification costs.”
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hyades1 writes “Gizmodo reports that Verizon is sending out notification letters infested with virtually-indecipherable legalese. In their sneaky, underhanded way, they’re informing you that you have 45 days to opt out of their plan to share your personal data with ‘affiliates, agents and parent companies.’ That data can include, but isn’t limited to, ‘services purchased (including specific calls you make and receive), billing info, technical info and location info.’ If you view your statement on-line, you won’t even get the letter. You’ll have to access your account and view your messages. However, Read Write Web says the link provided there, called the ‘Customer Proprietary Network Information Notice,’ was listed as ‘not available.’ No doubt Verizon would like to reassure you that everyone they’re going to hand your personal data over to will have your best interests at heart.”
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