Cybercrime

Cybercrime / News Briefs

Russia Hacker Sentenced to 27 Years in Prison by U.S. Federal District Court

A 32-year-old Russia man was sentenced on Friday to 27 years in prison for computer hacking crimes that is reported to have caused over $169 million in damages to small businesses and financial institutions. more

UK Government Reports Nearly Half of Businesses Identified Cyber Security Breaches in the Past Year

The UK government has released the results of national cybersecurity survey revealing nearly seven in ten large companies in the country have identified a breach or attack in the past 12 months. more

New In-depth Analysis Finds Thousands of Domains Used in Technical Support Scams

A study conducted by PhD candidates at the Stony Brook University resulted in identifying malvertising as a major culprit for exposing users to technical support scams which allowed them to build an automated system capable of discovering, on a weekly basis, hundreds of phone numbers and domains operated by scammers. more

IRS Reports Hackers Accessed Data of Up to 100,000 People via Financial Aid Site for Students

U.S. Internal Revenue Service Commissioner (IRS) testified before the Senate Finance Committee stating the agency has discovered fraudsters could use someone's personal data to fill out a financial aid application, and the "Data Retrieval Tool" would populate the application with tax information. more

ISPs May Be Required to Remove Content, Shutdown Websites Under New EU-Wide Rules

Under a draft legislation approved by the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee on Tuesday, national enforcement authorities would be required to have a set of powers to detect and halt online breaches of consumers' rights across the European Union. more

Dark Web Reported to Have Shrunk by 85% Since Freedom Hosting II Downfall

In early February, free hosting provider Freedom Hosting II, known as one of the largest hosting providers for anonymous websites, was compromised along with all the websites it hosted. The takedown was estimated to have impacted 15-20% of all websites on the Dark Web, however, the actual impact is now reported to have been much larger. more

New Cybersecurity Regulations in New York Go Into Effect

Major financial firms operating in New York will face stiff cybersecurity obligations starting Wednesday under a new regulation introduced in the city. more

Hacked ICANN Data Still Selling on Black Market Years After Breach

"Three years after hackers used a spearphishing attack to successfully gain access to internal data at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the data is still being passed around and sold on black markets for $300, complete with claims that it’s never been leaked before," reports Patrick O'Neill in CyberScoop. more

Interpol’s Michael Moran Receives 2017 M3AAWG Litynski Award

Michael "Mick" Moran, who has helped rescue thousands of child abuse material victims since he started working in the field in 1997, challenged the internet industry to do more to protect innocent children as he received the 2017 M3AAWG Mary Litynski Award. more

Microsoft’s Brad Smith Calls for a ‘Digital Geneva Convention’ to Protect Civilians

In a blog post published today on Microsoft's website, company President and Chief Legal Officer, Brad Smith, has raised concerns over escalating cyberattcks over the past year and the need for a Digital Geneva Convention. more

Data Breaches Reported During 2016 Exposed Over 4.2 Billion Records

2016 broke the previous all-time high, set back in 2013, for the number of records exposed from reported data breaches. more

New Study Highlights Growing Risk, Lack of Urgency with Mobile and IoT Application Security

Despite widespread concern about the security of mobile and Internet of Things (IoT) applications, organizations are ill-prepared for the risks they pose, according to a research report issued today from Ponemon Institute, IBM Security, and Arxan Technologies. more

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Guliani Appointed to “Chair” Cyber Task Force

Transition spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters today that former New York City Mayo, Rudy Giuliani will "chair" the cyber task force that Trump announced last Friday. The task force is given three months from Trump's inauguration to deliver a cybersecurity plan. more

Ransomware Crime Bill Goes into Effect in the State of California

As of January 1, the delivery of ransomware is illegal in California as per Senate Bill 1137 going into effect. more

Trump Names Former Bush Aide Thomas Bossert Chief Adviser on Cybersecurity, Counterterrorism Role

President-elect Donald J. Trump has named Thomas P. Bossert, a top national security aide under President George W. Bush, to be his homeland security adviser, the Trump transition team announced Tuesday morning," Michael D. Shear reporting in the New York Times. more