An explosion in smartphones, laptops, USB sticks and other portable devices has brought new security challenges, reports Greg Masters.

A leading technology blog, TechCrunch, was temporarily commandeered by hackers who managed to place a message that linked to a site offering adult material.

A just released annual report from Intego said it has been a busy year for Apple security.

Bruce Rutherford of MasterCard was named chairperson today of The PCI Security Standards Council, an organization that drives education and awareness of the PCI Data Security Standard and other best practices to increase payment data security. In the position, Rutherford, who is group head, fraud management solutions, payment system integrity at MasterCard, is charged with increasing adoption of the PCI standards and to refine the next version. - GM

StopBadware, which began four years ago at Harvard as an anti-malware effort "to build and share knowledge through the collective efforts of a community of web users," announced it has spun off as a standalone nonprofit organization. The action was taken to reflect the group's evolution from research project to mission-driven organization. StopBadware analyzes website data and advocates for safer internet practices. Representatives from corporate partners Google, PayPal and Mozilla sit on the board and have committed initial funding. - GM

A new iteration of Zeus, a password-stealing trojan, is victimizing users of AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), according to Webroot.

Citigroup is denying a report on Tuesday that its systems were breached of tens of millions of dollars.

Atlanta-based managed security services provider SecureWorks has extended its footprint in the European market with the purchase Tuesday of U.K.-based dns Limited, a 10-year-old MSSP and consulting provider. With dns Limited employees based in London and Edinburgh, Scotland, the acquisition is expected to expand SecureWork's client base and provide additional identity and access management practices. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. — GM

Online shopping during the holidays may not be as seamless as customers might want. A new study from software testing services firm uTest, which asked 600 testers from 20 countries to examine three popular shopping sites for technical, functional and security bugs, found that Target had the most reported holes (261), followed by Walmart (150) and then Amazon (94). Nine percent of the discovered flaws were classified as "showstoppers," meaning they were in need of immediate attention. — GM

While Wells Fargo no longer uses the Pony Express to communicate with customers, it still needs to guard messages, reports Greg Masters.