hacker

Echo Boom hackers: Shame

On Thursday morning, at this year's RSA conference in San Francisco, Chris Boyd of Facetime and I will present a talk "How to Adapt to the Echo Generation's Social Media Hacking Game." The following is a preview of that talk, presented in three parts. On Tuesday we learned who the Echo Generation are. Wednesday we saw how they use online social media for hacks. Today, we'll see how Chris uses features of social networks and Web 2.0 to shut these kids down.

Known as the Sherlock Holmes of France, famed criminologist Edmond Locard once … Read more

FBI: Lieberman campaign, not hackers, caused 2006 Web site crash

You may recall that during the heat of the 2006 primary race that prompted then-Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman to go Independent, the Connecticut politician's Web site, as a colleague of mine so eloquently noted, dropped dead.

At the time, conspiracy theories abounded. There was twittering that liberal bloggers who backed Lieberman's antiwar Democratic rival, Ned Lamont (who went on to win the primary, by the way) were responsible for the site's inaccessibility, and Lieberman's own campaign maintained that a denial-of-service attack had occurred.

Now, nearly two years later, we finally know whom to blame: the Lieberman … Read more

Echo Boom hackers: A dangerous game

On Thursday morning, at this year's RSA Conference in San Francisco, Chris Boyd of Facetime and I will present a talk called "How to Adapt to the Echo Generation's Social-Media Hacking Game." The following is a preview of that talk, presented in three parts. Yesterday, we saw who the Echo Generation are. Today, we're looking at how they use online social media for hacks. Tomorrow, we'll see how Chris uses features of social networks and Web 2.0 to shut these kids down.

For the last few years, Chris Boyd, director of malware research … Read more

Meet the Echo Boom hackers

On Thursday morning, at this year's RSA Conference in San Francisco, Chris Boyd of Facetime and I will present a talk, "How to Adapt to the Echo Generation's Social Media Hacking Game." The following is a preview of that talk, presented in three parts. On Tuesday, we're looking at who are the Echo Generation hackers. Wednesday , we'll look at how they use online social media for hacks. And on Thursday, we'll talk about how Chris uses features of social networks and Web 2.0 to shut these kids down.

It's a world … Read more

Hacks claim to 'liberate' Canon shooting options

It seems there's no gadget immune to hacking. When Sony's PSP was first released, a homebrew firmware was spotted online a few days later. And some of the latest examples are in firmware for digital cameras.

The CHDK (Canon Hacker's Development Kit) is an open-source software that creates more shooting options (RAW image capture) and controls (max shutter speed of 1/60,000) for your Canon point-and-shoot that uses the DIGIC II and III processor. Developers claim that the camera's hardware is able to support many more functions but is being held back by the original … Read more

McAfee's missed messages

When walking through the San Jose Minetta airport on Wednesday, I couldn't help but see McAfee's name strewn throughout the terminal. The marketing folks at McAfee must be on an advertising kick because there are numerous, visible advertisements that read, "Hackers hack code. McAfee hacks hackers."

OK, McAfee, you got my attention, but my question is, just who are you trying to reach with this message? Here is a list of possibilities and my associated confusion:

1. Enterprise customers. This audience doesn't seem likely. Enterprise security today is much more about governance, risk management, and … Read more

Use of rogue DNS servers is on the rise

Mendacious machines controlled by hackers that reroute Internet traffic from infected computers to fraudulent Web sites are increasingly being used to launch attacks, according to a paper published this week by researchers with the Georgia Institute of Technology and Google.

Read the full story on SFGate: "Use of Rogue DNS Servers on Rise"

U.S. cyberwar games turn into hacker melee

The recent "Cyber Storm" war games held by the U.S. government's Homeland Security Department took a turn when participants tried to hack into the computers that were running the exercise. The war game simulated cyberattacks against the U.S. infrastructure over a five day period. But instead of attacking the scenario, some players opted to cheat. "Cyber Storm 2" is scheduled for March.

Read the full AP story on Wired News: "Threats from everywhere in 'Cyber Storm'".

Vigilante hackers target the wrong guy

Stockton, California resident John Lawson and his wife Julia began receiving threatening phone calls on Saturday after they were identified as pro-Scientology hackers by a group that is staging a larger attack on the Church of Scientology. The group thought they had caught the hacker who broke into the server that they are using to coordinate attacks against the Church of Scientology for actions to suppress unflattering documents on the Internet. Lawson says the anti-Scientology hackers have the wrong guy and that he barely knows how to use a computer.

Read the full story on the Wired Blog Network: "Anonymous Hackers track saboteur, find and punish the wrong guy" … Read more

Hackers rig Google to deliver malware

In late November 2007, hackers loaded more than 40,000 infected Web pages and thousands of search terms, then used botnets to elevate their search status. This led search results to list the poisoned pages high and even first in some cases. The iinfected sites contained no useful information, however, a click on a link would launch an attack. Although the attack was nefarious, experts still vouch for the safety of search engines--as long as your software is patched and up to date.

Read the full story on Yahoo News: Hackers rig Google to deliver malware .