Cybercrime and Hacking - News, Features, and Slideshows

Features

• Supervalu breach shows why move to smartcards is long overdue

  The data breach disclosed by Supervalu is another reminder about why the ongoing migration of the US payment system to smartcard technology can't happen fast enough.

• XPocalypse, not now

  Two months after Microsoft ended support for Windows XP, the catastrophic wave of exploits security experts expected to wash over the aged operating system have failed to materialize.

• Major companies, like Target, often fail to act on malware alerts

  Companies that suffer major data breaches almost always portray themselves as victims of cutting edge attack techniques and tools. The reality, though, is often much more mundane.

• Huge turnout at RSA shows hackers are winning

  In the battle between enterprises and malicious hackers, the bad guys are clearly winning, judging by the sheer number of people and exhibitors at the RSA security conference going on here this week.

• Perspective: Payment system security needs less talk, more action

  Retailers and banks must move quickly to figure out who should be responsible for better securing the payments system network or risk having Congress decide for them.

• Breach goes from bad to worse for Target and its customers

  Target's acknowledgement Friday that personal data of 70 million people, not 40 million as previously thought, may have been exposed to hackers in a recent data breach raises new questions about the incident and how it could affect victims.

• Adobe hack shows subscription software vendors lucrative targets

  Adobe on Thursday admitted that hackers broke into its network and stole personal information, including an estimated 2.9 million credit cards, illustrating the lucrative target that software-by-subscription providers have become to cyber criminals.

• Defcon founder's message to feds fair to some, hypocritical to others

  Defcon founder Jeff Moss' request to government agencies asking them not to attend next month's annual Defcon hacker conference has evoked a mixed response from the security community.

• Chinese hackers master art of lying low

  China's remarkable success in infiltrating U.S. government, military and corporate networks in recent years shouldn't be seen as a sign that the country is gaining on the U.S. lead in cybertechnology, security experts say. They're just very persistent and very good at remaining undetected for long periods of time.

• Bank security weaknesses led to cyber looting of $45M from ATMs

  Alberto Yusi Lajud Pena, found dead in the Dominican Republic two weeks ago, was the leader of the New York cell of an international gang of cyber thieves that authorities allege stole a staggering $45 million from ATM machines around the world.

• Chinese hackers master the art of lying in wait

  The remarkable success that Chinese state-sponsored groups have had in infiltrating U.S. government, military and corporate networks in recent years should not be mistaken as a sign of growing technical superiority over the U.S. in cyberspace, security experts said.

• China biggest, but not the only country engaged in cyberespionage

  China is by far the most aggressive, but not the only, country attempting the sort of extensive cyberespionage described in security firm Mandiant's dramatic report, released this week.

• Security lessons from 2012

  More DDoS attacks on banks, cyberwarfare, and targeted attacks could well be in store in 2013, security experts warn.