hacker

Hackers accused of stealing data from 9M Korean mobile users

Hackers who allegedly stole information from almost 9 million telecom customers in Korea are now in police custody.

One suspect, identified by the name Choi, and another as yet unnamed suspect have been accused of selling the data to telemarketers, the National Police Agency's cyberterror response team told the Korea Times.

The two suspects reportedly took in around $877,000 by selling the contact information and plan details of 8.7 million KT subscribers, almost half of the carrier's total customers.

Seven other people accused of buying the data were arrested but not detained.

The hacking started in … Read more

Hackers build private 'Ninja Tel' phone network at Defcon

Hackers who spent their teen years phone-phreaking -- breaking into telephone networks and making free calls -- have created their own GSM network at Defcon and are using creative and silly apps on highly customized Android phones.

The Ninja hacker group is giving the phones away to people who have contributed to the community, and to their lucky friends. The phones and accompanying lanyards serve as "badges" that provide entrance to the annual Ninja party tonight. (Defcon attendees can also get in by donating blood or signing up to donate bone marrow, or donating money to the Electronic … Read more

Defcon 20: Skillz, thrills for the whole hacker family

LAS VEGAS - You might not think that a hacker conference in Sin City in the summer is the best place to take the kids. But if you want them to learn some skills, know their digital rights and have some fun, I can't think of any place better. Oh, and there's some stuff for us big kids too.

Defcon, which turns 20 this year, runs Friday through Sunday, following the more corporate Black Hat conference, the newsy parts of which are tomorrow and Thursday.

Black Hat organizers had a rocky start to their week with a security … Read more

Yahoo gives all clear after hack attack

This doesn't rate up there with "Resumegate," but when it comes to Yahoo, the fun never ends. The company finally gave the all clear this morning in the aftermath of a massive password leak that exposed more than 450,000 Yahoo log-in credentials.

The company says it has since deployed "additional security measures" and "enhanced our underlying security controls" as it goes about notifying affected users.

From Yahoo's latest missive:

Yahoo recently confirmed that an older file containing approximately 450,000 e-mail addresses and passwords was compromised. The compromised information was provided … Read more

Hackers post 450K credentials pilfered from Yahoo

Yahoo has been the victim of a security breach that yielded hundreds of thousands of login credentials stored in plain text.

The hacked data, posted to the hacker site D33D Company, contained more than 453,000 login credentials and appears to have originated from the Web pioneer's network. The hackers, who said they used a union-based SQL injection technique to penetrate the Yahoo subdomain, intended the data dump to be a "wake-up call."

"We hope that the parties responsible for managing the security of this subdomain will take this as a wake-up call, and not as … Read more

Defense expert to U.S.: Hire hackers and wage cyberwar

A top defense and cybersecurity expert says the U.S. should stop trying to take aim at expert hackers and start doing a better job of recruiting them.

"Let's just say that in some places you find guys with body piercings and nonregulation haircuts," U.S. Naval Postgraduate School professor John Arquilla said in an interview with The Guardian published today. "But most of these sorts of guys can't be vetted in the traditional way. We need a new institutional culture that allows us to reach out to them."

Arquilla argues that there are … Read more

FBI kills DNSChanger network, but how many will be affected?

The FBI today made good on its promise to take down its DNSChanger network. But people who ignored warnings may find themselves unable to get online.

At 12:01 a.m. EDT today, the FBI shut down the DNS servers that had kept computers infected by the DNSChanger malware still able to connect to the Internet, according to the Washington Post.

About five years, a group of hackers who deployed the DNSChanger malware, which modified the DNS settings of infected computers to point to rogue servers. After catching the criminal gang and taking controls of the servers, the FBI converted … Read more

The dark side of QR codes

There's a pretty good chance you've scanned a QR code with your smartphone. QR is short for "quick response." Hidden in those lines are embedded code only your smartphone can read that points it to a new location on the Web. Online marketing gurus are singing the digital praises for the inexpensive cost with maximum return on investment.

The real estate industry is one example. Agents are able to market their hottest properties and themselves by embedding QR codes into their signs and brochures. QR design companies say they're seeing exponential growth in their business … Read more

Hacking settlement to cost Stratfor $1.75 million

Stratfor has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit filed against the global intelligence firm after hackers affiliated with Anonymous stole subscriber data from its computers last year, Reuters reported today.

The settlement -- which calls for Stratfor to offer subscribers one month of free access to its service, a digital version of a book, and credit-monitoring service, in addition to paying attorney fees -- is expected to cost the company about $1.75 million, according to the settlement given preliminary approval by Judge Denis Hurley in U.S. federal court in New York.

Stratfor does not admit any "wrongdoing, … Read more