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Lawbreakers & Cybercrime

"Fourth of July" hacker jailed after hospital hack

Chuck Miller July 02, 2009

A Dallas hospital guard was ordered to jail following his arrest on charges of breaking into computers, planting malicious software and planning a massive distributed-denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on the Fourth of July.

Rolling Stone magazine hacker arrested

Chuck Miller July 01, 2009

A disgruntled software developer has been charged with launching attacks against Rolling Stone and Radar Magazine.

"Iceman" hacker pleads guilty, faces 60 years

Angela Moscaritolo June 30, 2009

A hacker who went by the alias "Iceman" pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in Pittsburgh to charges of wire fraud and now faces up to 60 years in prison.

Trojans are fastest-growing data-stealing malware

Chuck Miller June 29, 2009

Most of the rise in cybercrime can be linked to data-stealing malware, and trojans are the fastest growing category.

Britney Spears Twitpic account hacked; fake death posted

Dan Kaplan June 29, 2009

Reports of the death of Britney Spears have been greatly exaggerated -- and caused by hackers.

FTC settles with "scareware" defendant for $1.9 million

Angela Moscaritolo June 29, 2009

A Cincinnati man has agreed to pay $1.9 million to settle charges with the Federal Trade Commission for his involvement in a scheme that allegedly tricked more than one million individuals into buying rogue anti-virus products.

TJX settles over breach with 41 states for $9.75 million

Dan Kaplan June 23, 2009

The settlement is just one in a long line of payoffs that followed one of the largest reported data-loss incidents on record.

Guilty plea for Detroit "spam king"

Greg Masters June 23, 2009

Five individuals pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in Detroit for their roles in an international spam operation that sent billions of emails to tout Chinese "penny" stocks and used a botnet capable of evading spam detection

Security expert wants feds to recruit volunteer pen testers

Dan Kaplan June 18, 2009

One respected security researcher wants to legalize the hacking of federal government and military websites -- and he wants everyone to hear him out.

Criminal network to trade botnets and malware uncovered

Dan Kaplan June 17, 2009

Researchers at a web security firm have discovered what they term the latest milestone in the evolving cybercriminal underground: a one-stop-shop for hackers.

Microsoft seeks $750,000 in lawsuit over click fraud

Angela Moscaritolo June 16, 2009

Microsoft on Monday filed a civil lawsuit to stop a click fraud scheme from being perpetrated on its advertising network.

Spam king Wallace could be jailed

Chuck Miller June 15, 2009

Sanford Wallace, the so-called spam king who has been sued on multiple occasions, may finally face prison time.

Three charged with hijacking corporate phone systems

Dan Kaplan June 15, 2009

Three Filipino residents have been charged with hacking into the telephone systems of U.S. companies, enabling callers to run up some $55 million in charges.

Pricewert shutdown brought only short-lived drop in spam

Angela Moscaritolo June 10, 2009

Any spam drop that resulted after the takedown of a rogue internet service provider last week was short-lived, researchers said Tuesday.

T-Mobile confirms hack but doubts crooks have the goods

Dan Kaplan June 09, 2009

T-Mobile has confirmed that hackers were able to swipe data from its systems, but the wireless carrier is downplaying the threat to customers.

Defendant pleads guilty in brokerage keylogger case

Chuck Miller June 08, 2009

One of three conspirators in a computer-fraud scheme that used trojans to steal funds from brokerage accounts has pleaded guilty to federal charges in New York..

Bank insider nabbed

Angela Moscaritolo June 08, 2009

Former Bank of America teller Jeffrey Gautreaux, 25, of Peabody, Mass. has been charged in federal court for allegedly stealing bank customer identities in a scheme to fraudulently withdraw bank funds. According to a news release issued by the U.S. Attorney's office, Gautreaux participated in the scheme with other unnamed people, netting more than $330,000 from numerous accounts. He was charged with 17 counts of bank fraud, two counts of aggravated identity theft and one count of access device fraud. If convicted, he faces up to 30 years in prison. — AM

Hackers claim they raided sensitive T-Mobile information

Dan Kaplan June 08, 2009

T-Mobile has yet to release details about an alleged massive hack of its systems.

Virginia notifies breach victims

Dan Kaplan June 05, 2009

The Virginia Department of Health Professions this week began notifying about 530,000 people whose Social Security number was part of records that may have been exposed when hackers gained access to the agency's Prescription Monitoring Program database. The agency learned of the compromise when it received letters that the culprits were demanding a $10 million ransom be paid, or they would release some eight million patient records. State officials still are unsure what information may be at risk but said they are sending the letters as a precaution. — DK

ISP Pricewert shuttered for distributing spam

Angela Moscaritolo June 05, 2009

An internet service provider accused of violating federal law by hosting malicious sites and working with cybercriminals has been shut down, but the California-based company plans to appeal.

Cybercriminals targeting Twitter "trending topics"

Angela Moscaritolo June 04, 2009

Cybercriminals are using Twitter to propagate malicious links in an attack that's easier to mount than black-hat search-engine optimization (SEO), according to PandaLabs.

Software crack site hides malware repository

Chuck Miller June 02, 2009

A website found by a security research organization serves malicious files to people who are looking for cracks to software applications.

Identity theft ring busted in New York

Chuck Miller May 28, 2009

Using financial information purchased from crooked bank insiders, a ring of thieves stole millions of dollars.

Bank sues Savvis over 2005 CardSystems breach

Angela Moscaritolo May 28, 2009

Utah-based Merrick Bank claims to have lost $16 million as a result of a 2005 breach of payment card processor CardSystems Solutions and is now seeking legal restitution.

Setting cybersecurity as a national priority is just the beginning

Greg Masters May 27, 2009

A review of federal cybersecurity policies, scheduled for release Friday, will serve as a call to action for the public and private sectors.

"Chain of Trust" initiative launched to fight malware

Angela Moscaritolo May 19, 2009

A group of cybersecurity advocacy organizations have teamed up to fight malware on the web.

Scientology hacker admits guilt

Dan Kaplan May 18, 2009

A 19-year-old New Jersey man has pleaded guilty for his role in a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack that took down the website of the Church of Scientology. Dmitriy Guzner, who was charged in October, was part of an underground group named Anonymous. Guzner faces up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced Aug. 24. Anonymous has said it wanted to bring down the church site after the church tried to claim copyright infringement over the spread of edited clips from a 2004 promotional video featuring actor and well-known Scientologist Tom Cruise. — DK

Website risks highlighted in two new studies

Greg Masters May 18, 2009

Two reports released this week confirmed the tidal shift in the type of websites into which cybercriminals are injecting malware.

Octomom's hospital fined

Angela Moscaritolo May 15, 2009

California health officials have fined Kaiser Permanente Hospital $250,000 after hospital employees illegally accessed medical records for octuplet mother Nadya Suleman. Hospital spokesman Jim Anderson told the Associated Press the state found that the hospital did not do enough to prevent the privacy breach. The hospital did, however warn workers to stay away from Suleman's files. — AM

Study: Majority of adolescents online have tried hacking

Greg Masters May 15, 2009

A new study from Panda Security found that 67 percent of teenagers surveyed admitted to having tried to hack into friends' instant messaging or social network accounts.