Hacks

After the hacking collective Anonymous launched a Twitter campaign pledging to go after the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, the U.S. military barred all Wi-Fi access on the base, according to the Associated Press. All social media, including Facebook and Twitter, also has been banned.

Army Lt. Col. Samuel House told the Associated Press that the shuttering of the base's Wi-Fi was because of Anonymous' public plans to "disrupt activities" at the military prison.

While no disruptions have yet been reported, according to the Associated Press, Anonymous has promised to make good on its threats.… Read more

U.S. officials are concluding that the 2010 hacks into Google's servers may have ended with Chinese hackers getting ahold of sensitive data, according to The Washington Post.

Current and former government officials told the Post that the hackers were able to access information on U.S. intelligence, as well as find out which possible Chinese spies government officials may have been targeting.

In January 2010, Google shocked the security community by being one of the first tech companies to disclose that it and other companies had been hit by attacks that originated in China. The Web giant said … Read more

LONDON -- Four members of the LulzSec hacking group were sentenced in court Thursday after pleading guilty to various computer hacking-related charges.

Ryan Ackroyd, 26; Jake Davis, 20; and Mustafa al-Bassam, 18, were all sentenced together with Ryan Cleary, 21, over a two-day hearing at Southwark Crown Court, London.

Each member of the LulzSec hacktivist group admitted to various hacking charges, including taking down corporate and government Web sites between February and September 2011.

Presiding Judge Deborah Taylor sentenced Ackroyd to 30 months -- serving half -- and Davis 24 months in a Young Offenders institution, serving at least 12 … Read more

A global cybercime ring stole $45 million from banks around the world in a matter of hours by hacking a database of prepaid debit cards, federal prosecutors said Thursday.

Seven people are in U.S. custody in connection with the case, which prosecutors said involved thousands of thefts from ATMs using bogus magnetic strip cards. Data stolen during two separate intrusions at credit card processors was used to make more than 40,500 withdrawals in 27 countries during two separate incidents in December and February, prosecutors said.

Eight people in New York have been charged with participating in the conspiracy … Read more

The Chinese government and military have engaged in widespread cyberespionage targeting U.S. government and business computer networks, the Pentagon said Monday.

China maintained a steady campaign of computer intrusions in 2012 that were designed to acquire information about the U.S. government's foreign policy and military plans, according to the Pentagon's annual report to Congress on China's military.

"China is using its computer network exploitation capability to support intelligence collection against the U.S. diplomatic, economic, and defense industrial base sectors that support U.S. national defense programs," according to the 83-page 2013 "… Read more

The Twitter accounts for CBS News programs "60 Minutes" and "48 Hours" were used by hackers earlier today to send out messages accusing the U.S. of aiding terrorists, the network confirmed.

"We have experienced problems on Twitter accounts of #60Minutes & @48Hours; We apologize for the inconvenience; Twitter is resolving issues," read a tweet from @CBSNews. Read another from @60Minutes: "PLEASE NOTE: Our Twitter account was compromised earlier today. We are working with Twitter to resolve."

Bogus messages tweeted from the hacked accounts included this one from the @60Minutes account:

The Wi-Fi router you use to broadcast a private wireless Internet signal in your home or office is not only easy to hack, says a report released today, but the best way to protect yourself is out of your hands.

The report, written by research firm Independent Security Evaluators of Baltimore, found that 13 of the most popular off-the-shelf wireless routers could be exploited by a "moderately skilled adversary with LAN or WLAN access." It also concludes that your best bet for safer Wi-Fi depends on router vendors upping their game. All 13 routers evaluated can be taken … Read more

Anonymous is once again trying to raise the hackles of North Korea by hacking into one of the country's official news sites.

For the second time this month, the North Korean news and information site Uriminzokkiri.com has been taken down. Trying to access the site today delivers an eventual timeout error. In the official Twitter account for Uriminzokkiri, which Anonymous took over earlier this month, the group tweeted that "more of North Korean websites are in our hand. They will be brought down."

North Korean Web sites minjok.com, jajusasang.com, and paekdu-hanna.com had also … Read more

South Korea has accused North Korea of launching a recent cyberattack that hit tens of thousands of PCs.

A spokesman for South Korea's Internet agency said today that six computers in North Korea were identified as the source of the attack, according to The Guardian. Those computers used more than 1,000 IP addresses from across the world to infect 48,000 PCs and servers at South Korean banks and broadcasting stations.

The spokesman told the Associated Press that the attack mimicked past hacking attempts by North Korea and pointed the finger at an espionage agency run by the military. … Read more