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40 law enforcement agencies raids seize servers hosting ransomware & botnets

December 14, 2016 Editor

Legal raids in five countries seize botnet servers, sinkhole 800,000+ domains reports ARS. A botnet that has served up phishing attacks and at least 17 different malware families to victims for much of this decade has been taken down in a coordinated effort by an international group of law enforcement agencies and security firms. Law enforcement officials seized command and control servers and took control of more than 800,000 Internet domains used by the botnet, dubbed “Avalanche,” which has been in operation in some form since at least late 2009.…

WhatsApp launches end-to-end encryption on messages for all its users

April 6, 2016

Instant messaging service WhatsApp in seeking to reassure its users about their privacy will be encrypting all messages sent via its app. WhatsApp’s announcement comes in the heels of one of the most high-profile clashes in the debate over encryption and data privacy between the government and a technology company. In February, the FBI asked Apple to unlock one of the San Bernardino shooters’ iPhones so authorities could access his data. Apple refused, stating a breach of privacy; the FBI took Apple to court but was eventually able to unlock…

Apple Gains Support From It’s Greatest Rivals

March 2, 2016March 2, 2016 Dianne Jacobs

The last couple of weeks have been interesting in the world of tech, as we are in the throes of what might be the biggest tech battle of the decade. As we had reported last week, Apple was facing pressure from the FBI and the Department of Justice to not only hack into the San Bernadino shooter’s iPhone but to also create a permanent backdoor into all future versions of the iOS. In the beginning, tech enthusiasts declared their support for Apple but now tech giants have gone a mile…

White House Proposes $19 Billion Budget Allocation for Cybersecurity

February 10, 2016February 10, 2016

US President Barrack Obama is seeking a 35 percent hike in cybersecurity funding in his final budget to boost the capability of the federal government to defend itself against cyberattacks. The proposed $19 billion request, which represents one of the largest increases ever sought in this area, comes as Congress and the public have witnessed an alarming series of intrusions in recent years against targets ranging from Target and Sony to the Pentagon and the Office of Personnel Management. The proposal is part of a larger package of initiatives the…

Time Warner Cable loses 320,000 customer passwords via phishing attacks

January 7, 2016February 11, 2016 Staff Writer

If you’re a Time Warner Cable customer, now is a very good time to change your password. The company admitted late yesterday that it believes personal data belonging to as many as 320,000 customers may have been stolen. The news came to light after the FBI alerted Time Warner Cable to the fact that it believed that user data, including email addresses and passwords, “may have been compromised.” Reuters reports that it’s unclear how the data was collected, though “there were no indications that Time Warner Cable’s systems were breached.”…