cybercrime - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• Gang uses Facebook to rob houses

  Leaving the house this weekend? Telling all your Facebook buds about it? You might want to reconsider that.

• Report: RBS WorldPay hacker gets four years' probation

  The mastermind behind one of the biggest hacking paydays in history has been sentenced to four years' probation and an $US8.9 million fine, according to published reports.

• Symantec: Most hacking victims blame themselves

  Just under two-thirds of all Internet users have been hit by some sort of cybercrime, and while most of them are angry about it, a surprisingly large percentage feel guilt too, according to a survey commissioned by Symantec.

• Nigerian advance-fee scammer gets 12 years

  A Nigerian man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for sending out fraudulent e-mails offering victims big bucks in exchange for moving cash to the United States.

• Alleged ransomware gang investigated by Moscow police

  Russian police are reportedly investigating a criminal gang that installed malicious "ransomware" programs on thousands of PCs and then forced victims to send SMS messages in order to unlock their PCs.

• Low-threat worm caused 'most significant breach' of U.S. military net

  The most significant breach of U.S. military computers ever was carried out in 2008 by W32.SillyFDC, a low-level-threat worm that got into the network via a thumb drive plugged into a military laptop.

• U.S. military wants to exert influence over private cyber infrastructure

  The U.S. military wants to exert more influence over the protection of power grids, transportation networks and financial network systems, a Pentagon official says in a broad-ranging essay published in Foreign Affairs.

• Apple can't stop ongoing iTunes charge scam

  Users of Apple's iTunes services should keep a close eye on PayPal and credit card statements for fraudulent iTunes charges.

• Cameron Diaz could wreck your PC, McAfee warns

  Cameron Diaz's next film could easily be titled "There's Something About Malware."

• RIM may allow India to monitor instant messenger service

  Research In Motion (RIM) has offered India some access to BlackBerry instant messages, according to media reports citing government officials. Talks however continue on the Indian demand that its law enforcement agencies be able to also monitor enterprise email, the reports said.

• Network admin Terry Childs gets 4-year sentence

  A City of San Francisco administrator who refused to hand over administrative passwords to the city's network was sentenced to four years in state prison Friday.

• Hackers find a new target in payroll processing

  Depression-era bank robber Slick Willie Sutton is famous for saying that he robbed banks "because that's where the money is." If he were around today, he'd have other options.

• Cybercrime costs US businesses $3.8 million per year, study finds

  A new study of 45 U.S. organizations found that cybercrime -- including Web attacks, malicious code and rogue insiders -- costs each one of them $3.8 million per year, on average, and results in about one successful attack each week.

• Students advise Conroy on cyber-safety

  At the 2010 Cyber-Safety and Youth Advisory Group Summit in Canberra

• Gonzalez sentenced for multimillion-dollar credit card scam

  As his parents and sister silently wept, hacker mastermind Albert Gonzalez was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court to two concurrent 20-year stints in prison for his role in what prosecutors called the "unparalleled" theft of millions of credit and debit card numbers from major U.S. retailers.