Calling protection of government and private computer and communications networks "one of the most serious... security challenges we face," President Obama said he would appoint a White House advisor to oversee a national effort to improve cyber-security throughout the U.S. The president noted that millions of Americans already had been victimized by computer tampering and that his own campaign computers had been breached by hackers between August and October.
Military Contractors Seek Cyberwarfare Work
The government’s urgent push into cyberwarfare has set off a rush among the biggest military companies for billions of dollars in new defense contracts. The exotic nature of the work, coupled with the deep recession, is enabling the companies to attract top young talent that once would have gone to Silicon Valley.
Hacking Group Breaks Into Two U.S. Army Servers
A known computer hacking clan with anti-American leanings has successfully broken into at least two sensitive Web servers maintained by the U.S. Army, InformationWeek has learned exclusively. Department of Defense and other investigators are currently probing the breaches, which have not been publicly disclosed.
EU Pursuing New Sanctions Against Microsoft
Frustrated with past efforts to change Microsoft Corp.'s behavior, European Union regulators are pursuing a new round of sanctions against the software giant that go well beyond fines. The regulatory push is focused on a longstanding complaint against Microsoft: that it improperly bundles its Web browser with its Windows software.
U.K. Puts Price Tag on Illegal File-Sharing
Around seven million people in the UK are involved in illegal downloads, costing the economy tens of billions of pounds, government advisers say. Researchers found 1.3m people using one file-sharing network on one weekday and estimated that over a year they had free access to material worth £12bn.
Pentagon Set to Create New Internet Military Command
The Pentagon plans to create a new military command for cyberspace, administration officials said, stepping up preparations by the armed forces to conduct both offensive and defensive computer warfare. The military command would complement a civilian effort to be announced by President Obama that would overhaul the way the United States safeguards its computer networks.
Gumblar Attack Spreading Malware, Security Firm Says
The Web site compromise attack known as Gumblar has added new domain names that are downloading malware onto unsuspecting computers, stealing FTP credentials to compromise more sites, and tampering with Web traffic, a security firm said.
European Union to Examine Google's Book Settlement
The European Union's executive body will study plans by Google to make millions of books available online after Germany said the Internet company's project flouts EU copyright law. The bloc's industry ministers agreed to ask the European Commission to look at how Google's settlement with authors in the United States affect writers' rights in the EU.
Man Gets 8 1/2 Years for Running Phishing Scam
A Romanian immigrant has been sentenced to 8 1/2 years in prison for running a lucrative computerized "phishing" scheme that collected financial records and personal identification from thousands of individuals, including nearly 100 from Minnesota. Sergiu D. Popa, 23, of Shelby Township, Mich., was sentenced in federal court in Minneapolis for a plot that cost his 7,000 or so victims about $700,000, by his own admission.
Bank Robber Confesses on MySpace, Pleads Guilty
A man who confessed to robbing a South Carolina bank in a message posted on MySpace has pleaded guilty. Federal prosecutors said that 27-year-old Joseph Northington of Roanoke, Va., will be sentenced later for using a firearm during a crime of violence.
FCC Chairman Releases Report on Rural Broadband Strategy
Acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps released a report on broadband strategy for rural America as part of the 2008 Farm Bill. In that bill Congress asked the Federal Communications Commission to work with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to submit "a report describing a comprehensive rural broadband strategy."
EU Pushing Music Industry to Change Online Licenses
EU antitrust regulators told the music industry to move quickly and change licenses that currently restrict online music stores such as iTunes from offering the same songs for sale across Europe. Internet music downloads in Europe lag behind those in the United States, pulling in just a fraction of revenues the record industry is losing from falling CD sales.
Music Industry Striking Deals That Work for Smaller Sites
The recording industry is considering an all-digital future in which it needs popular Web services like Imeem, both as sources of revenue and as supplements to older channels of promotion like radio and MTV. As a result, music labels are now striking more favorable terms with Web firms, while start-ups have come to realize they can’t rely on Web ads to support themselves.
Website Collecting Views on Google Book Settlement
Caroline Vanderlip believes the escalating debate over Google's plans for a vast Internet library of copyright-protected literature will yield enough compelling material to fill a book. That's one reason why SharedBook, a 5-year-old company run by Vanderlip, has set up a website so the supporters and opponents of Google's digital book project can more easily post their opinions about a legal settlement that will help fulfill or possibly derail the Internet search leader's ambitions.
Obama to Announce White House "Cyber Czar"
President Obama is expected to announce that he will create a "cyber czar," a senior White House official who will have broad authority to develop strategy to protect the nation's government-run and private computer networks, according to people who have been briefed on the plan. The adviser will have the most comprehensive mandate granted to such an official to date and will probably be a member of the National Security Council but will report to the national security adviser as well as the senior White House economic adviser, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deliberations are not final.
More Than 90% of E-mail is Spam, Report Says
Spam now accounts for 90.4 percent of all e-mail, according to a report released from security vendor Symantec. This means that 1 out of every 1.1 e-mails is junk. The report also notes that spam shot up 5.1 percent just from April to May.
New Phishing Attacks Playing on Twitter's Popularity
Recent days have seen a slew of Twitter phishing attacks, possibly orchestrated in a chess-like multi-move plan that resulted in three sets of victims and, very likely, some seedy profits. The scheme appears to have begun with the creation of bogus Twitter accounts, which the scammers used to "follow" other users, says Rik Ferguson, a senior security advisor at security-software maker Trend Micro.
Internet Retailers Report Increase in "Friendly Fraud"
Online merchants are fighting a surge in so-called friendly fraud, as more consumers try to get out of paying for their Internet purchases in the recession. Online jeweler Ice.com Inc. and travel site Expedia Inc. are among companies seeing at least 50% spikes from October in friendly fraud, a term used to describe when a consumer disputes an online charge but doesn't return the item or has already used the product.
Activist Sues Facebook for Spreading Virus
A Florida librarian and activist has filed a civil lawsuit against Facebook alleging that the social network failed to adequately protect users from a virus. Theodore Karantsalis, of Miami Springs, Fla., is seeking $70.50 from Facebook in the lawsuit, which was filed in Miami-Dade county court.
Macintosh Clone Maker Files for Bankruptcy
Macintosh clone vendor Psystar has filed for bankruptcy protection in Florida, effectively stalling its legal battle with Apple while the company tries to resuscitate its coffers. The clonemaker petitioned for Chapter 11 protection in US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida.