Anonymous

Hackers wanted $50,000 to keep Symantec source code private

As part of a sting operation, Symantec told a hacker group that it would pay $50,000 to keep the source code for some of its flagship security products off the Internet, the company confirmed to CNET this evening.

An e-mail exchange revealing the extortion attempt posted to Pastebin (see below) today shows a purported Symantec employee named Sam Thomas negotiating payment with an individual named "Yamatough" to prevent the release of PCAnywhere and Norton Antivirus code. Yamatough is the Twitter identity of an individual or group that had previously threatened to release the source code for Norton … Read more

Anonymous hacks lawyers for Marine accused of Iraq massacre

In a string of attacks today, members of the digital activist group Anonymous apparently hacked into the Web site of defense lawyers for a U.S. Marine accused of leading a civilian massacre in Iraq, and have reportedly acquired e-mails exchanged by attorneys in the case.

They also reportedly: published the names, addresses and other information of more than 700 officers in Texas after compromising the Texas Police Association's Web site allegedly over a cop being investigated for child porn; attacked a Salt Lake City police Web site to protest an anti-graffiti bill; defaced a Boston police department site … Read more

Anonymous: We snooped an FBI cybercrime call

Anonymous today released a recording of a conference call between the FBI and U.K. law enforcement over Anonymous and other online activist groups.

A Twitter message posted earlier this morning from AnonymousIRC handle, says "The #FBI might be curious how we're able to continuously read their internal comms for some time now. #OpInfiltration."

A link to a Youtube video also posted today records a conversation apparently between U.S. and U.K. law enforcement officials discussing people behind specific hacking cases and legal strategies. Real names of individuals are bleeped out, although nicknames are used.

The … Read more

Mystery and mayhem surrounding MegaUpload (roundup)

Charges of Web piracy are at the center of a legal battle embroiling the hosting site MegaUpload and its founder, the colorful Kim DotCom. Hackers get into the fray, too, early on.

Bail denied again for MegaUpload's Kim DotCom The founder of the cyberlocker service will remain in jail at least until his extradition hearing is held on Feb. 22. • MegaUpload founder: Police punched and kicked me (Posted in Media Maverick by Greg Sandoval) February 3, 2012 3:22 a.m. PT

Nobody wanted MegaUpload busted more than MPAA All the recent talk that the FBI cracked down on … Read more

Cocoon now sheathes you in IE, too

The Cocoon add-on for Firefox rounded up a bunch of highly useful security features and presented them to you in one tight package. Cocoon has come to Internet Explorer, and it's available exclusively on Download.com today.

The first beta of Cocoon for Internet Explorer ports the add-on's entire feature set from Firefox to IE, and it'll work on IE8 and IE9 as far back as Windows XP. Features included are IP address anonymising, antivirus scanning of downloads, malware blocking, on-the-fly disposable e-mail addresses, secure public Wi-Fi, and encrypted browsing history.

After it's been installed, you can turn on Cocoon at will to get at its protection toys, and then deactivate it to browse normally. I detected no lags in browsing with it on, though, so once it leaves beta it might become one of the best security add-ons for IE. What's holding it back? Currently, the beta version has problems with cookie management when logging into some services. … Read more

SOPA support gets UFC president hacked

In a recent interview, mixed-martial arts chief Dana White suggested that members of the hacktivist group Anonymous were "cowards" and "terrorists."

White, who helped found the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the nation's largest promoter of mixed-martial arts fights, then engaged alleged members of Anonymous in a debate via Twitter about his support for the controversial and now seemingly defunct Stop Online Piracy Act and the morality of hacking sites as a political statement.

According to a CNN report, Anonymous got the final word. Shortly after the debate, someone posted to the Internet White's social security … Read more

Social-network update: Facebook up; Twitter slow?

Turns out it's pretty much business as usual today in social-network-land, despite earlier claims hackers would take down Facebook and despite a boycott of Twitter by users accusing the company of censorship.

Twitter did not immediately respond to CNET's request for comment on the impact of the boycott, but the pace of tweets seems to have slowed, from this user's perspective anyway. It being Saturday, however, the news feeds we follow tend to slow down naturally, so it's hard to tell for sure. We'll update this post if we get any feedback today from Twitter.… Read more

Anonymous takes aim over Europe's SOPA

Online activists Anonymous are targeting the European Parliament and supporters of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), which critics say would curtail freedom of expression and encourage surveillance by service providers.

Copyrightalliance.org was inaccessible today after Anonymous set its sights on the Web site for its pro-ACTA stance. Meanwhile, hackers were poking at the sites of the European Parliament and governments in the EU, with plans to dig up information on officials that could be released publicly, a source familiar with Anonymous' plans told CNET.

Anonymous has a history of operations against what the group complains are antipiracy efforts that … Read more

Apple's bittersweet week

Apple's celebration of record earnings was tempered this week by a grim report about working conditions at one of its component suppliers.

Obliterating its own earnings estimates, Apple reported quarterly revenue of $46.33 billion and profits of $13.06 billion.

"We're thrilled with our outstanding results and record-breaking sales of iPhones, iPads, and Macs," Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, said in a statement. "Apple's momentum is incredibly strong, and we have some amazing new products in the pipeline." •  Apple shares soar following historic earnings announcement •  Apple's biggest quarter by the numbers … Read more