Motley cabal of online hacker and librarians. All about online hacking and more ...

Posts in category Hacking News

Emails Hacked in Europe

Jun13
2011 Written by blogadmin

Taiwanese PC maker Acer investigation into the computer attack that stole customer data from its unit Packard Bell in Europe, according to a statement from the company.

Acer said that the security violation is limited to customer names, addresses, phone numbers, email and serial numbers of the system. No credit card information was stolen, he said. Acer did not provide any other information about the attack and said the investigation was ongoing.

News of the breach was reported earlier this month, after a hacker group Pakistan Cyber Army claimed to have stolen the personal data of about 40,000 people from an Acer server in Europe. Acer did not comment on the attack at the time.

The Hacker News had published screen shots of the personal data and some of the source code that was stolen in the security breach. It also said that the Pakistan Cyber Army would issue a press release detailing more about their motives. But so far, no new information has surfaced from the hacking group.

The hacking group may be the same who had defaced the website of India’s Central Bureau of Investigation in December. Hackers calling themselves the “Pakistan Army Cyber” and left a message stating that the violation was of such revenge attacks on Indian sites in Pakistan.

Tagged ,

Nintendo Another Victim of Hacking

Jun06
2011 Written by blogadmin

Nintendo was targeted in a recent online data attack, but no personal or company information was lost, the Japanese maker of the Wii game console said on Sunday.

The server of an affiliate of Nintendo’s US unit was accessed unlawfully a few weeks ago, but there was no damage, company spokesman Ken Toyoda said.

“There were no third-party victims,” Toyoda said, declining to elaborate. “But it is a fact there was some kind of possible hacking attack.”

The damage from what could be part of a recent spate of such data breaches targeting big-name brands was more serious at rival Sony.

Sony has said massive personal information, including email addresses, names and birth dates, and involving more than 100 million users, is suspected of having been stolen after security was compromised in April for its network service for the PlayStation 3 game machine, for other online services and, in the past week, from Sony Pictures’ website.

It is still unclear who is behind the attacks at Sony or Nintendo, based in Kyoto.

Hackers calling themselves Lulz Security – a reference to Internetspeak for “laugh out loud” – claim to have compromised more than 1 million Sony users’ personal information, posting many of the details to the Internet.

Lulz Security also claimed credit for the Nintendo attack, posting what they said was a Nintendo server configuration file to the Web. The group added that they pulled the hack off just for fun.

“We’re not targeting Nintendo,” the group said in a message posted to Twitter over the weekend. “We like the N64 (gaming console) too much – we sincerely hope Nintendo plugs the gap.”

Tokyo-based Sony has said it is strengthening security measures. It has contacted the FBI and other authorities for an investigation into the cyber attacks. – Sapa-AP

Tagged ,

GMA-7′s Website Hacked

May30
2011 Written by blogadmin

His website of one of the leading television networks in the Philippines has been hacked by a username “D4RKB1T”.

GMA-7’s website – gmanews.tv, its Facebook and Twitter accounts have been simultaneously hacked on Sunday Morning.
Users are redirected to google.com whenever they tried to enter the network’s website.

“GMA HACKED BY D4RKB1T,” was displayed on the network’s official Facebook fan-page.
The hacker however had managed to explain why he hacked the sites.

“This is not about stupidity, but a message to webdevs [website developers]. Learn to secure your sites, user accounts and passwords with personal information are being stored there. We have to be ready for such cyber terrorism,” the hacker’s statement posted at the GMA’s fan-page. “No ‘database’ was altered or removed.

The hacker continued, “We have to be vigilant on securing sites or else personal information will be leaked.”

“I did not intend to make damage, just make the devs listen! They never respond to my messages telling them about the security hole,” the hacker said.

The hacking lasted for more than 30 minutes.

The TV Network in a statement on its Twitter account said, “We have re-established control of GMA News Online. Our apologies for the profanities.”

The identity of the said hacker has yet to be determined.

Last year, the government had expressed alarm over the series of hacking incidents on some of its agencies’ websites.

Tagged

News of the World Phone Hacking Cases to be Heard

May23
2011 Written by blogadmin

Cases concerning phone-hacking against News of the World newspaper will finally start to be heard, although the newspaper are said to be keen to prevent as many cases as possible from going to trial.

The scandal began in 2006 when charges were brought against Clive Goodman, the News of the World’s royal editor, and Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator, alleging that they had intercepted voicemail messages left for members of the royal household.

It is alleged that over 7000 people have had their phones hacked by News of the World, what is a mass breach of privacy.

The first cases to be heard will include those of actor Jude Law and football pundit Andy Gray High Court judge Mr Justice Vos ruled.

Mr Justice will hear several cases to enable him to decide damages that were properly payable across a selection of alleged situations. He also said it will make it possible to resolve other cases without further hearings.

Others cases to be heard include those of Interior designer Kelly Hoppen, agent Sky Andrew and Labour MP Chris Bryant. It was expected that actress Sienna Miller would have her case heard, but she accepted an out of court settlement of £100,000 from the paper.

News of the World have set aside £20 million to settle the claims, although it is widely thought that the owners of the paper will do all they can to prevent cases from going to court.

“They don’t want a court case, they don’t want a trial, they don’t want their dirty deeds to come out,” journalism professor and former newspaper editor Roy Greenslade said.

The situation doesn’t look good for the News of the World, with a host of other high profile cases set to be laid against the paper for breach of privacy.

With the string of super injunctions that have been granted lately to prevent the private lives of various celebrities being released the case concerning News of the World once again brings up the question of the boundaries of privacy.

It seems in the case of News of the World that, given their willingness to keep cases from court, they know they have breached the privacy of a number of people and are now doing all they can to save their reputation and financial situation.

Tagged

Sony Restarts Internet Services Weeks after Hacking Debacle

May16
2011 Written by blogadmin

Sony has begun to increase its Internet service back online after a week of hacking debacle, which saw millions of users ‘personal information’ stolen.

The company announced a series of pumping actions of the security because it allows customers to return to play any games online to download music.

Moves may be too late for some customers, however, anecdotal reports of dumping their PS3 for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live online community.

The Japanese consumer electronics giant has been humiliated by the technology meltdown, with senior executives literally bowing in apology to customers worldwide.

Sony shut down its PlayStation Network (PSN) and Qriocity music-based service on April 21, after a cyber attack on its San Diego data centre.

The intruders accessed the personal details of more than 77 million user accounts, escaping with details ranging from passwords to home addresses.

Sony has been unable to rule out if the thieves got away with credit cards details as well.

Among the suite of security enhancements announced today was an early-warning system designed to detect unusual activity signalling a cyber attack.

Existing users must change their PSN and Qirocity account passwords as part of the revamped security measures.

Sony deputy chief Kazuo Hirai again apologised to customers.

“I’d like to send my sincere regret for the inconvenience this incident has caused you and want to thank you all for the kind patience you’ve shown as we worked through the restoration process,” he said.

“We are taking aggressive action at all levels to address the concerns that were raised by this incident and are making consumer data protection a full-time, company wide commitment.”

Internet security company Symantec, spokesman Francis deSouza, said there had been a dramatic rise in cyber attacks over the past 18 months along with their sophistication and impact.

“Today’s cyber crime attacks are proving to be more covert, more targeted and better organized than those we’ve seen in years past,” he said.

Tagged ,

Minn. Man Accused of Hacking Facebook Accounts

Apr25
2011 Written by blogadmin

Prosecutors have charged a man in Minnesota piracy Facebook and other computer accounts and stealing other women to view photos on Web sites for adults.

The prosecutors charged Timothy Peter Noir, Jean, 26, and Woodbury, with 13 counts of identity theft, according to which in February 2010 and March 2010 has been contacted by women online, and tricked him to receive personal information that he violated their Facebook accounts and others. After hacking a Facebook account, prosecutors say, Noir, Jean would be to contact the owner of the friends of that person and trying to get more computer accounts.

“My advice would be to stay very, very aware of anyone asking you for personal information, either on a telephone or via a computer, or any other electronic means,” Washington County Attorney Pete Orput said Wednesday. “You need to hold on to that information with the utmost care.”

Prosecutors allege Noirjean was able to get answers to security questions that allowed him to access his victims’ Facebook and email accounts. He allegedly stole photographs of eight women — ranging in age from 17 to 24 — and posted those pictures on adult websites. In one case, 18-year-old women said the pictures were stolen from her email account.

Authorities also identified nine other victims whose accounts were accessed so Noirjean could get to other accounts.

It was not immediately clear whether Noirjean had an attorney. A phone message left at his home was not returned. Authorities said when they questioned him at his home he admitted he had been hacking into accounts, and stealing and posting photos, but denied knowing that he did anything wrong.

The criminal complaint said his computer contained 92 separate folders with photos of women, and 235 email addresses with what appeared to be the answers to security questions for those accounts.

His first court appearance is set for May 26.

Orput said he doesn’t know Noirjean’s motive, but said it wasn’t money. He said all of the pictures posted online were “compromising” in nature.

According to the criminal complaint, which identifies the victims only by their initials and birthdates, the 18-year-old woman who originally went to police had been chatting with someone she thought was a friend on Feb. 5, 2010. She gave up some personal information, and the next day found her password had been reset and pictures had been stolen from her email account and posted online, the complaint says.

She later realized that person was using her Facebook account to try to do the same thing to one of her friends. One of those women told police she “friended” a man named “Steve Mills” who described a picture that had been taken from her computer and said it was posted on his website, according to the complaint.

“‘Steve Mills’ stated that he would take down the posted photo, if (the victim) sent him a fully nude photograph of herself, which she declined to do,” the complaint said.

Orput said a detective sent an email to an address connected to the website, asking that the photos be taken down, but received no response.

“We can hold the perpetrator accountable, but we are unable to remove their photos from the worldwide web, so they are out there, along with identifying information,” Orput said.

Tagged ,

Phone Hacking is Illegal

Apr18
2011 Written by blogadmin

David Cameron on Sunday called the police and prosecutors are quick to “follow the evidence where it goes without fear” of piracy in the phone survey.

As research on the listening post cell phone public figures, “the newspaper group News International is facing a possible investigation by Scotland yard to determine whether its reporters made illegal payments to the police.

The prime minister on Sunday brushed off calls for a public inquiry into the hacking affair, but said further prosecutions were clearly “an option”.

“I’m not sure anyone fully knew how widespread it was,” Cameron said.

“Let me be clear: Phone hacking is wrong, phone hacking is illegal and the police and the prosecuting authorities should follow the evidence wherever it goes without fear or favour. That is what we have in this country, independent police, independent prosecutors, that is what should happen and the politicians shouldn’t get involved.”

Asked about a public inquiry, he said: “There is always a difficulty of holding inquiries when you have active police investigations ongoing.”

He added: “Phone hacking is illegal, quite rightly too. Those who do it are wrong and prosecution is an option for the police.”

Rupert Murdoch’s News International has expressed sincere regret over the scandal of piracy in the New World has recognized the deficiencies in their previous internal investigations and offered to compensate the victims with the “arguable case.”

Tagged

ANCYL Website Hacked

Apr04
2011 Written by blogadmin

It seems that the hacker posted a false statement on the website of the championship for young people.

The post said: “After careful reflection, I, Julius Malema, have decided to resign from the ANC Youth League president.”

Some reasons were listed for his resignation: “I have brought my party the ANC into disrepute (sic); I have disrespected my elders and have made a fool out of myself; I promote my own agenda over my country and parties; I promote the singing of racist songs to promote violence and unrest in the country.”

The post concluded with: “It is with great hope that I step down and welcome a new era in the ANCYL, one where thought and vision inspire our country rather than racism and personal ambition destroy it.”

The posting was made on Tuesday by the “Blah Blah protest group” and removed on Wednesday afternoon.

The rest of the website www.ancyl.org.za appeared normal, with a previous posting elaborating on Malema’s plans to appear on Metro FM’s afternoon drive show on Wednesday.

Online marketing specialist Rafiq Philips said: “There are some basic security measures you have to take care of when you build a website, obviously the youth league website was lacking.”

“Someone simply saw a gap, perhaps via the username and password, or by hacking through the back-end.”

ANC Youth League spokesman Floyd Shivambo, hung up the phone when contacted for comment by the Times LIVE.

Posted in Online hacking - Tagged ,

Is Motorola loosening the reins on hacking?

Mar07
2011 Written by blogadmin

A major advantage of Android is to be open source. Not only can fully customize its look with themes and pitcher replacement applications, you can control almost all aspects of the operating system, if desired. ROM that adheres to the custom actions or intermittent (manipulated versions of the operating system) is the stock market; you can do to Android entirely yours.

The problem is that some manufacturers are not exactly support all the development going on. For power producers Android, Motorola probably more cons piracy and anchoring. Software – eFuse codename – Droid X was introduced to try to prevent people from manipulating the bootloader. If unsigned software was flashed to the device, it would not begin until a signed software has been reinstalled. Fortunately, developers are smart and find a solution. No other manufacturer has gone so far to prevent users from hackers.

We were hoping – since developers are relentless and will more than likely find a workaround – Motorola would eventually give up. A few months back though, they made it very clear that locked down bootloaders weren’t going anywhere.

The funny thing is, they have actually done very little to impede the hacking of the XOOM. The bootloader on their tablet is extremely easy to unlock and re-lock; it takes one command in a command prompt and a little know-how. I’ve rooted and hacked every Android device I’ve ever owned, and nothing has been so easy to unlock and root as the XOOM.

They also said that when you ship your XOOM to them for the LTE upgrade, they will still install the 4G modem and try to install the software update, even if it is sent in running unauthorized software. They recommend you revert it back to stock and re-lock the bootloader, but it isn’t mandatory.

Is this support for development a tell tale for what we should expect from Motorola in the future? I’m not so sure, but I would like to think so (one can dream, right?). Motorola still believes that BLUR is the best thing since sliced bread. As futile as their efforts may be, I think they will try their best to force users to use it, and keep them from removing it or manipulating it in any way.

I have a feeling that all of this support for developers and hacking comes from the tight-knit, vertical integration that Motorola had with Google on the production of the XOOM. We know Google wants us to have fun with their software and push limits; I just hope some of that open source mentality rubbed off on Motorola when they were working so closely together. It could also be that BLUR isn’t installed on the XOOM. Considering its 100% Google’s software, Motorola probably couldn’t care less what you do with it.

Even if they have no intention to demolish the Chargers MOTOBLUR and closed, maybe they will realize how much easier not to care. What do the boys and girls? Motorola is turning a new page? If you learn to embrace and caress the developers? Or is it something only once?

Tagged

Lush is Back After Website Hacking

Feb28
2011 Written by blogadmin

Poole based cosmetics retailer Lush has once again after the Internet was forced to suspend sales after hackers assaulted the website.

Lush has closed the site last month and asked if someone could order on October 4 and January 20 to contact the bank if your card has been compromised.

A temporary site was available again Friday night, before the complete prelaunch of the site.

Shoppers are now being directed away from the Lush site when they come to the checkout, making payments at the World pay site.

An online message to shoppers reads: “You can shop with confidence knowing that your details will be safe. Meanwhile the rest of the site has been tested by external experts to check that our processes are all as secure as they can be.”

It adds: “Thank you all for coming back to us and trusting us to serve you again.”

Lush became aware that its security had been breached on Christmas Day and investigated, but only told customers on January 21 when it shut down its online site and put with a warning about the hacker attack.

Many angry customers posting on the Lush Facebook site said they had lost money or canceled cards as a result.

Lush ethical director Hilary Jones said the impact on trade would be “vast” following their decision to go public about the fact their website had been hacked.

“We’d be stupid to think anything less,” she added. “Our website has not been trading for weeks and weeks and there is also the loss of confidence – some customers will not come back.”

But she said there had been many requests for the night after reviving the equivalent of 24 hours of overnight negotiations. She said they were encouraged by “a huge amount of sympathy and support of our customers.”

Posted in Online hacking - Tagged ,
« Older Entries Newer Entries »
wordpress visitor
© 2011 USRlib.info