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Hackers Breach Top Wall Street Law Firms, Including Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP, Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP

March 31, 2016

Reuters: Hackers broke into the computer networks of some big U.S. law firms, including Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP and Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. Federal investigators are looking to see if confidential information was stolen for insider trading, as these law firms represented Wall Street banks and big companies, the Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter. Other law firms were also targeted, but the probe has not amounted to any clear information on what details have been stolen, the newspaper…

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Big data security required as 80% of devices ‘at risk’

March 24, 2016 Staff Writer

Research by Irish company AdaptiveMobile found 80% of devices are at risk. This shows the need for ‘big security’ to be introduced to accommodate the huge projected growth in the internet-of-things, it says. Current security solutions won’t be strong enough to facilitate such an explosion in the number of devices, according to AdaptiveMobile’s chief technology officer Ciaran Bradley. “The concerning thing is when we look at the internet-of-things we’re talking about billions of sensors so if we were to take the current lax approach to security and transfer that across…

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Android app Malware steals two-factor SMS codes, hijacks big Australian banks systems

March 11, 2016

Millions of customers of Australia’s largest banks are the target of a sophisticated Android attack which steals banking details and thwarts two-factor authentication security. Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, National Australia Bank and ANZ Bank customers are all at risk from the malware which hides on infected devices waiting until users open legitimate banking apps. The malware then superimposes a fake login screen over the top in order to capture usernames and passwords. The malware is designed to mimic 20 mobile banking apps from Australia, New Zealand and Turkey, as well as…

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Guarding your online brand against cybersquatters

November 13, 2015February 11, 2016 Staff Writer

If you had a business called Widgets R Us and somebody set up shop right next door with a business called Widgets R U, you’d probably be a bit miffed. Especially if the interloper then demanded money to move elsewhere. cybersquatters: But this sort of thing is happening all the time online. It’s called cybersquatting – buying up website addresses, or domain names, that sound very similar to existing well-known brand names. When Google recently launched its new parent company Alphabet, and the abc.xyz web address, there were more than…

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ICANN Hacked! Resets encrypted passwords after user profile database breach

August 6, 2015February 15, 2016 Staff Writer

The overseer of the Internet’s addressing system said Wednesday that someone obtained information related to user accounts for its public website, although no financial information was divulged. ICANN, short for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, said user names, email addresses, encrypted passwords and other data, such as bios, interests and newsletter subscriptions, were contained in the accounts. Despite the breach, the accounts as well as internal ICANN systems do not appear to have been accessed, the organization said in a post on its website. Although an investigation…

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U.S. Senators introduce DHS Cybersecurity Bill to Protect ‘Dot-Gov’ Domain after breach

July 24, 2015February 15, 2016 Staff Writer

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced legislation on Wednesday to give the Department of Homeland Security more authority to protect government Internet addresses in Cybersecurity bid. The goal is to prevent more cyberattacks like recent massive breaches at the government’s hiring office. Hacks targeting the Office of Personnel Management put the personal data of some 22 million Americans at risk and prompted the resignation of OPM chief Katherine Archuleta earlier this month. The cyberattacks prompted calls in Congress for huge improvements in monitoring and protection of government systems. Reports…

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Data Breaches: First half of 2015 saw venture firms invest $1.2 billion in cybersecurity startups

July 17, 2015February 16, 2016 Staff Writer

Data Breaches Boost Funding for Cybersecurity Startups Extract: In the 2015 first half, venture firms invested $1.2 billion in cybersecurity startups, according to researcher CB Insights. That is down slightly from $1.4 billion a year earlier but up sharply from $771 million in 2013’s first half. The shift is particularly notable at Andreessen Horowitz, which used to view security companies as necessary for Internet safety but less lucrative than other technology niches. One reason is that cybersecurity startups were often acquired prior to an initial public offering, says Scott Weiss,…

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Drill-Down Report Finds Global Financial Services Businesses 300% More Susceptible To Cybercrime

June 24, 2015February 16, 2016 Staff Writer

Global financial services businesses encounter security incidents 300% more frequently than other industries, according to a report released on Tuesday by Raytheon | Websense, a company that helps protect organizations from cyber attacks and data theft. The 2015 Financial Services Drill-Down Report found “a high degree of specialization among criminals attacking financial services, a huge investment in the lure attack phase and the specific and anomalous Cybercrime attacks pointed at global targets dealing in finance.” “For years, this industry has been under attack by highly specialized groups of criminals,” said…

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Simple Website Security Flaw Exposes Data Of Charter Internet Customers

May 27, 2015February 16, 2016 Staff Writer

A Website Security flaw discovered in the site of Charter Communications, a cable and Internet provider active in 28 states, may have exposed the personal account details of its customers. Security researcher Eric Taylor discovered the cable provider’s vulnerability as part of his research, and demonstrated how a simple header modification performed with a browser plug-in could reveal details about Charter’s Internet subscribers. After Fast Company notified Charter of the issue, the company said it had installed a fix within hours. The vulnerability could reveal personal information of “millions” of the…

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