Could the hacking group Anonymous group be at it again? It is a definite possibility. The website englishdefenseleague.org went offline today in what is a possible take down by a hacker. It has been a crazy two weeks for many BART commuters. The hacking group Anonymous even got in on the action, claiming to hack the BART system in protest of a shooting death by a BART police of transient. The police are hoping to put a stop to the madness as they began to make arrests. Facebook is working to mak...
Aug 30, 2011•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast If you think that cyber crime doesn’t pay, think again. Unfortunately it paid off big time for a group of cyber criminals. The gang apparently withdrew $13 million dollars in one day from ATMs in six countries. That made it one of the largest and most complex banking heists ever. Two rivals are teaming up hoping that it will keep children safe from online predators. The U.S. and China will work together to take down a network of sites that exploit children. It’s considered a rare cyber crime bus...
Aug 29, 2011•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast The British are doing everything possible to keep children safe online, including considering banning adult content. British officials say getting that type of entertainment out of the cyber world could go a long way in protecing their children and worth it in the end. One man may consider himself a hacker, but he's doin it to make life better for disabled sister. Glenn is an electrical engineer. And he used those skills to create what he's calling the Frankenkindle for his sister, who has cereb...
Aug 26, 2011•4 min•Transcript available on Metacast If you’re tired of getting a bunch of spam mail, Google has some good news for you. The company recently announced it plans to hire search quality associates to fight spam. The employees will be based in the Dublin, Ireland office. Attacks on Androids are way up according to cyber security company McAfee. Android malware is reportedly up 76 percent over the last three months. That spike has made it the most assaulted mobile operating system on earth during that period. Something as simple as tak...
Aug 25, 2011•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Australia is stepping up to the plate to fight cyber crime. It has a three- year plan to stop cyber crime. The Australian government made the announcement of the new legislation on Tuesday. One airline is ditching paper and is turning to cyber technology. United Continental plans to replace flight manuals and aeronautical navigational charts with electronic versions on Apple iPads. The airline has ordered 11,000 iPads that it plans to put in the hands of all United and Continental pilots. Some o...
Aug 24, 2011•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast China may have gotten caught with its hand it the cyber cookie jar. There have been plenty of rumors swirling around over the years claiming that China is responsible for various cyber attacks. There’s not been enough proof to support those claims until now. China has always refuted those accusations but an accidental leak reveals that they are engaging in cyber warfare and routing it through US IP addresses. Nigeria is also jumping into the ring to knockout cybercriminals. Microsoft Nigeria, al...
Aug 23, 2011•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast The FBI says the U.S. is a target for cybercrime and they believe the attacks are coming from Russia. There have been several distributed denial of service attacks against American websites costing more than $600,000. Hackers don’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. This time the target was Omaha’s Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority or MECA. Police say computer hackers broke into their payroll systems and got away with more than $200,000. The problems apparently started whe...
Aug 22, 2011•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Google says IP spoofing is on the rise. It reviewed more than 160 million web pages on more than 8 million sites in order to see how malware is distributed. It found that while social engineering tricks play a major role, cyber criminals are turning more to IP spoofing as a way to avoid detection. UK police believe rioters used social media to increase the riots there. Now the government will meet to discuss the role social media played in making matters worse. Facebook, Twitter and Research in ...
Aug 19, 2011•4 min•Transcript available on Metacast Targeting the BART system once this week apparently wasn’t enough for Anonymous. The hacking group says members focused on the transit system again, this time hacking into the Police Officers Association website. The group claims to have the private information of more than 100 BART police officers. This next story proves that you can hack just about anyone, anywhere, even at McDonalds. 37-year old Jason Cornish of Smyrna, Georgia allegedly attacked his former employer, Shionogi, for revenge. Co...
Aug 18, 2011•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Cyber crime is an international problem and the Thai government is joining the fight against cyber criminals. It plans to expand its information security capabilities in an effort to stop global cybercrime. Catching up with friends on Facebook is becoming an easy way for cyber criminals to target you and your information. A new survey from Webroot says that users should take more steps to protect your privacy. The news isn’t good for Dell. Yesterday it predicted weak sales growth after the closi...
Aug 17, 2011•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Heading to the Internet is a great way to get a great deal on just about anything. However, it can also be a way for scammers to take advantage of you. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center says scammers are catching shoppers in their web of deception with fraudulent vehicle sales and false vehicle protection claims. Most people use Facebook just to catch up with old friends. But one man decided to use the social media site as a way to steal thousands of dollars. A judge sentenced Iain Wood ...
Aug 16, 2011•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast The hacking group Anonymous apparently hoped to stop the BART Transit System in its tracks. According to a statement and Twitter messages, the group claimed responsibility for the Sunday online attack of the San Francisco transit system. The system apparently went down from noon to six pm yesterday. Members of Anonymous say the attack was for the system’s decision to cut off cellphone signals at certain subway stations because of planned protests last week. Law officers are on the lookout for a ...
Aug 15, 2011•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast The crackdown continues as British police arrests those accused of using social media sties to start riots. Police say they arrested and charged three men for allegedly posting notices on social sites to stir up trouble. A woman who took advantage of a computer glitch will spend nine years behind bars. A Pittsburgh U.S. District judge handed down the sentence to 46- year old Jamie Harris on Thursday. She is one of four people charged in the scheme that stole more than a million dollars from the ...
Aug 12, 2011•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast It seems that those in the financial industry are not optimistic about cyber crime and their abilities to stop it. In a poll of 100 banking executives from 50 US financial institutions attending a Fundtech client conference, 66% expressed fears that cyber-crime was uncontrollable. A similar majority see fraud monitoring as their biggest challenge, with 84% believing that better detection tools are the keys to addressing high levels of online crime. Do you have a password for your cell phone? If ...
Aug 11, 2011•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Law officers think technology may have played a key role in the rioting going on in England. Research in Motion's Inside BlackBerry Blog was hacked Tuesday after the Canadian smartphone maker suggested it would cooperate with London police to help identify rioters who may have used a BlackBerry messaging service to plan mayhem. The hacking group Anonymous is giving Facebook fair warning to prepare to be hacked. Members of the group say they plan to attack Facebook on November 5th in retaliation ...
Aug 10, 2011•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast The world of government and hacking could soon collide. The U.S. just launched a program called Cyber Fast Track. It will fund what the government calls quick and dirty security research projects. The program launched at this year’s Black Hat conference in Las Vegas and will accept proposals for research projects lasting up to 12 months offering new benefits for the US defense and military agencies. The Philippines is turning to the Internet to help catch child predators. The country’s primary i...
Aug 09, 2011•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast The list of hacked businesses just keeps getting longer and longer. The Travelodge hotel chain in the UK confirmed that its email marketing database was breached earlier this year resulting in spam being sent to a number of its customers.??The company launched an investigation back in June after multiple customers reported receiving job spam on addresses they registered with the hotel chain. Some stores want to give you the look and feel of an Apple store and that’s a big problem for the company...
Aug 08, 2011•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast It appears that hackers proved the makers of Google’s Chrome OS wrong. Security was one of the biggest selling points, saying it had better built in security than other operating systems. However, hackers were able to get into the system. It’s a war of words for cyber security companies and it appears that the winner depends on whom you believe. On Tuesday, antivirus vendor McAfee described a five year hacker operation that infiltrated more than 70 U.S. and foreign government agencies, defense c...
Aug 05, 2011•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Even medical equipment may not be safe from hackers according to some researchers. One researcher found flaws in medical equipment, which diabetics use to monitor blood sugar levels. He believes that an attacker could remotely control insulin pumps and the readouts from blood sugar monitors. Because of that, diabetics could get too much or too little insulin to regulate their metabolism. It seems that hackers are stealing millions of dollars with just a few clicks of a mouse. In increments of a ...
Aug 04, 2011•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Cyber crime may be more organized that some first thought. Security company McAfee says it’s found evidence of a cyber criminal campaign that has compromised 72 organizations since 2006, including the United Nations and several military defense contractors. More than 50 members of a ring who engaged in what authorities describe as "horrific" and "unspeakable" crimes have been arrested for exploiting children from 12 years old to as young as infants. In an effort to stop cyber crime in its tracks...
Aug 03, 2011•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast There’s a war going on and if you’re a hacker, the government hopes you will join its side. The National Security Agency is looking for cyber warriors this year and next year to help them battle the increasingly intense international cyber war. To help them find the best, NSA, Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security plan to scan the annual DEF CON hacker conference in Las Vegas this weekend. It’s not only costing companies private information, but cyber crime is also costin...
Aug 02, 2011•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast One of the latest LulzSec suspects is out on bail today after a judge released him until he appears at another court hearing on August 30th. He can go home but he must wear an electronic monitoring device. Jake Davis was arrested on Wednesday in England and faces several charges including conspiracy to mount a cyber attack on the Serious Organized Crime Agency’s website. It’s a big problem now, but members of the FBI expect cyber crime will only get worse in a few years. Right now, it’s the agen...
Aug 01, 2011•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Large, organized crime syndicates have been launching sophisticated attacks against individuals and major corporations for decades. The result of their efforts is the theft of billions of dollars every year, and a large, ongoing presence in many of our most sensitive computer systems. The recent cyber attacks across the world has highlighted a very big need for cyber security experts. A grant from the National Science Foundation has given Whatcom Community College in Washington State $200,000 gr...
Jul 29, 2011•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast The federal government says it’s working to make sure your privacy is protected, even on the internet. Government officials put Google, Microsoft, Apple and other technology companieson notice to give consumers a way prevent advertisers from tracking their movements across the Web - or face regulation. A panel of government experts Tuesday once again warned lawmakers that cyber-attacks against the nation’s computer networks are growing more frequent and increasingly sophisticated, while the U.S....
Jul 28, 2011•4 min•Transcript available on Metacast Scotland Yard's cybercrime unit has arrested a teenager it suspects of working as the spokesman for the Lulz Security hacking collective, officials said Wednesday. The Metropolitan Police's Central e-Crime Unit arrested a 19-year-old, the force said in a statement. His name wasn't released, but police said he was believed to be one of LulzSec's most prominent members. The hacker group Anonymous posted a message Tuesday to PayPal customers, urging people to close their accounts with the online pa...
Jul 27, 2011•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast President Obama unveiled his plans to combat what the United States is calling "Transnational Organized Crime" in a paper released by the White House Tuesday morning. The document focuses primarily on encouraging more international cooperation to target organized criminals dealing in smuggling people, smuggling drugs, committing acts of terror and online financial crime. U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced his support for legislation to crackdown on counterfeit parts in weapons systems, ai...
Jul 26, 2011•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Hackers have started to release gigabytes of secret documents stolen from an Italian cybercrime unit. The 8GB of files has allegedly been taken from the network of the Italian CNAIPIC which oversees the country's critical IT infrastructure. In a message announcing the release, the Anonymous hacker group said it received the files from a source. To fight cyber crime, Michigan law enforcement officials are teaming up with the F.B.I. They've now established an office that will specifically target c...
Jul 25, 2011•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Just a few weeks after German authorities opened a national Cyber Defense Centre in Bonn, it was attacked by hackers and now officials are struggling to arrest all of those involved. While security authorities reported they had arrested two members of the hacking group linked to the attacks, the group released a statement saying that only its leader was under arrest. Researchers at the security firm Kaspersky Lab have spotted phishing scams that attempt to gain illegal access into the accounts o...
Jul 22, 2011•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast As a part of its ongoing AntiSec campaign Anonymous hackers have reportedly breached NATO's cyber security making-off with one gigabyte of stolen data. Like its previous attacks, the hack was reported on the group's Twitter page. Anonymous has since released two PDFs containing a portion of the data stolen, linking to them via two tweets. The US and India have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) to collaborate on cyber security. The MOU was signed in New Delhi by Jane Lute, de...
Jul 21, 2011•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Apple released the latest version of its computer operating system named Lion. So far, the response has been positive. Many are saying it is a great leap forward in usability and security. Apple has changed the computer world in the last few years with their mobile operating systems and Lion represents the beginnings of the merger of touch-based mobile OS and their desktop OS. Google has identified traffic patterns consistent with infection, and it’s letting users know that they need to take act...
Jul 20, 2011•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
