Researchers in Cisco Systems Talos security unit who were researching the Angler exploit kit, have taken steps to disrupt the activities of a hacking group that it believes was generating as much as $20 million a year by installing ransomware on people's systems before demanding payment. Now though, Cisco has …
Read More »U.S. considering sanctioning Russia and China over hacking
The United States is said to be considering applying sanctions to both Russia and Chinese individuals and companies for conducting aggressive hacking attempts against U.S. targets, according to several unnamed U.S. officials. While no decision has been made one way or another just yet, they claim that the Obama administration …
Read More »Ashley Madison faces lawsuits, suicide blame, claims it hacked others
The recently hacked infidelity ‘dating' website, Ashley Madison, is now facing a lawsuit in Los Angeles from a man who claims that it and its parent company, Avid Life Media (ALM), didn't have adequate safeguards in place to protect his data. As well as being “embarrassing,” the suit claims that …
Read More »Daybreak boss steps down as CEO, takes extended break
John Smedley has stepped down from his role as CEO of Daybreak, the company behind H1Z1, with plans to take a break before returning to a lower profile role, following an extended campaign of personal and professional attacks against him by hackers. A Daybreak spokesperson wished him all the best and …
Read More »League of Legends player given 16 month sentence for harassment
Although League of Legends is known for its toxic players and the developer's attempts to counteract them, there are some that go far enough that a simple ban isn't enough. In the case of a 17 year old player from Canada, he's been given a 16 month sentence after he …
Read More »Google now offering five figure bounties for Android bugs
Bounties have proved an affective way of tackling security issues with software in the past, since it incentivises the kind of people who hunt out such things to report them, rather than using it to disrupt service or exploit people. Google has clearly been paying attention to that, as it's …
Read More »Valve is finally tweaking CS:GO’s hitboxes
Three years after its release, Valve is finally looking in to tweaking the hitboxes in its competitive shooter, Counter Strike: Global Offensive. This is something that has affected the game since its launch and has often been complained about by players. For those who don't know what a hitbox is, …
Read More »Here are some of those H1Z1 hacking apology videos
A few days ago, Daybreak Studios and former SOE head, John Smedley, announced on Twitter that if banned cheaters were willing to post a public apology to YouTube addressing the players, then they may get their accounts put back in good standing. The video didn't guarantee that you would be …
Read More »US to bring sanctions against hacker nations
The last year has revealed a lot of stories of nefarious hacking, with a good number of them seemingly sponsored by one nation or another. More often than not too, those actions – like the one against Sony – target US facilities and companies, which is why, despite its own efforts …
Read More »Only two per cent of UK big businesses have hack insurance
Getting hacked is one of the worst scenarios for a modern day corporation. It damages reputation, relationships with your customers and can be a massive loss financially and in terms of secretive intellectual property. We've seen it happen with the likes of Sony multiple times in recent years and yet …
Read More »Ubisoft’s The Crew cheaters still on top, season passers shunned
Last year was a disastrous one for AAA releases. So many released with reams of bugs, flaws and issues that made them practically unplayable for a number of players. Much of this was laid at the feet of pushy publishers rushing to hit release targets and Ubisoft was one of …
Read More »Malaysia Airlines website goes down to hack – and returns
Malaysia Airlines' website is now online and looking peachy, but it wasn't just a few short hours ago. Earlier this morning, visiting the website would display little but a laughing message from a hacking group, pointing through to their official Twitter account for added evidence of their culpability. The group …
Read More »Hackers charged with stealing from game developers, US army
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the US, has charged four individuals with hacking into gaming companies like Microsoft, Epic Games and Zombie Studios, as well as the US army, and stealing trade secrets about unreleased software, financial information and other confidential data. The quartet of young men involved …
Read More »PSN DDOS hackers tweet bomb threat for Sony president flight
John Smedley, the president of Sony Online Entertainment, recently tweeted that we was flying “back to SD”, so would be offline for three hours. However what happened over the next few was somewhat different than what you might expect. A hacking group that is also claiming responsibility for a recent …
Read More »Security firm outs Russian hack that stole a billion passwords
According to US digital security firm Hold Security, a Russian criminal group has perpetrated the biggest hack in living history, stealing over 1.2 billion usernames and password combinations from over 400,000 different websites, many of them high profile. As it stands, Hold is unwilling to divulge which sites were affected, …
Read More »Hackers install Doom on an ATM
Cash machine's tend to be pretty dull but YouTube user, Aussie50 has found a way to spruce them up a bit by installing Doom on an ATM machine. The in-game actions are controlled by the buttons on the ATM via a keyboard emulating PCB. The video was originally shared by hackaday. …
Read More »UK Politician wants in-game thieves to be prosecuted
Conservative MP, Mike Weatherley, has called for in-game thieves to be prosecuted like real criminals. The UK politician is a World of Warcraft player himself and understands that in-game items can be traded for substantial amounts of real world cash. As a result, he has called upon parliament to consider …
Read More »Snowden calls for surveillance blocking technologies
Whistleblower Edward Snowden spoke at a New York based hacking conference, Hackers On Planet Earth (HOPE) this weekend. Broadcasting himseelf via a video feed from Moscow where he currently resides under threat of extradition to the US, he called on those assembled and other hackers and technology leaders around the …
Read More »Hackers are holding Domino’s Pizza to €30,000 ransom
Usually when we report on a hacking, it has something to do with a retail store or a tech firm. However, this hacking group decided to go in a different direction and stole 650,000 passwords from Domino's Pizza. The group is demanding €30,000 (which works out at £23,892) by 7PM BST tonight …
Read More »US firm accuses China of more hacking
Another US firm has stepped forward to condemn China's military for its digital attacks on US companies. This time CrowdStrike, a technology security firm is accusing China's unit 61486 of the People's Liberation Army of attacking networks of companies and organisations in the US and other Western nations for the past …
Read More »Security analysts sound off on government Kitemark scheme
In an effort to foster a respect for cyber security within many of the UK's largest businesses, the British government has now introduced a new Kitemark scheme, which will force any companies that want to do business with the government to meet a strict set of digital security guidelines. Understandably, …
Read More »Adobe hack is much worse than originally feared
Adobe's recent security breach, which we reported on near the start of the month, is much, much worse than originally reported. While it was initially claimed by the software maker that three million accounts had been compromised, it's now looking like as many as 38 million may have been affected. Not …
Read More »UK military may hire hackers for digital army
Just last month we reported on how the British military was set to invest as much as £500 million into a new digital strike force, that would recruit security professionals and graduates to a scheme that would not only be set to defend the UK's online interests, but be able …
Read More »UK is building a hacking army
Finally, the future is here. The UK is set to recruit a new generation of cyber soldiers, digital warriors and hacking heroes, in an effort to counter current and future security problems in the digital sphere of combat. No longer will the British isles lag behind countries like the US …
Read More »Ubisoft is making a Watchdogs movie
I'm sure at this point we're all quite certain that Watchdogs is going to be badass. It's been hyped and teased well enough that it's going to be an early purchase for anyone that's a fan of open world games like GTA and similar. Ubisoft is pretty sure of this …
Read More »KG interviews a hacker on the dangers of public profiles
Despite being declared dead by Marc Zuckerberg back in 2010, privacy is still alive and kicking in some circles and thanks to recent PRISM revelations, it's a hot topic for some people. However, government spying was hardly the first warning we had – hackers have been telling us to tighten …
Read More »Dutch cyber police could be the most dangerous in the world
While the Netherlands is known for a lot of things: waterways, windmills, clogs and some sort of plant material, it's not often that it makes a splash in the realm of internet security. However the Dutch government is keen to rectify that, with the potential implementation of a law that …
Read More »Alienvault director speaks out on South Korean digital security and hacks
Yesterday South Korean computers were hit by a big systems crash across banks and major media, prompting many to point the finger at North Korea. A few sources have suggested that a certain piece of malware was used in the suspected attack that wiped the Master Boot Record – but …
Read More »No nuclear power stations, says NATO cyber war manual
A new NATO document on state-sponsored hacking has suggested some targets that are off-limits, in the same way that the UN doesn't allow for the stockpiling or usage of chemical weapons. This manual has suggested that the no-go areas of digital warfare are: hospitals, nuclear power stations, dams and dykes. …
Read More »Billboard hackers given security bounty
Similar to the way that Kim Dotcom's Mega has been doling out rewards to those that manage to find flaws in its security, a pair of hackers from Serbia have been given prizes for hacking into a local billboard and playing space invaders on it. We reported on the duo …
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