Cybercrime

Malware has been turning computers into what security pros calls "zombies" since the turn of the century. Ever since, the security industry has struggled to keep pace with new malware variants to keep the threats in check. An approach called "containerization" adds a promising new way to control the...

The Justice Department is stepping up its program to engage more actively with the private sector on dealing with cybercrime and cybersecurity breaches. "We in government know that we cannot go it alone in fighting cybercrime. We need a strong partnership with you in the private sector," Assistant A...

Lawyers help their clients as they negotiate confidential business transactions, hold intellectual property, manage funds and litigate disputes, among many other business activities. In the ordinary course of business, lawyers also maintain numerous confidential documents and data of and about their...

Five police departments in Maine, whose networks are linked together so they can share files, recently deposited bitcoins worth 300 euros into a Swiss bank account as ransom for their records. The departments' management system was locked down by Megacode ransomware, which scrambled their data and r...

Identity thieves are using Apple Pay to defraud banks of what could amount to millions of dollars. Armed with iPhones, the fraudsters are entering stolen payment card information into Apple Pay. Due to weak authentication procedures at the institutions issuing the cards, they are able to use the sto...

The major headline hacking event of 2014 involved data theft at a highly visible enterprise: Sony Pictures. Perhaps just as significant in e-commerce security was a 2014 federal court ruling which allows the Federal Trade Commission to continue penalizing commercial firms for failure to protect cons...

Criminals using Carbanak malware have stolen up to $1 billion from 100 financial institutions in Russia, China, Germany and the United States, Kaspersky Lab has revealed. The gang is expanding operations to other countries. Kaspersky has advised financial institutions to scan their networks for intr...

Almost every day there are reports of cyberintrusions, attacks and related security breaches. If your company does not have the right insurance, it could be even more of a disaster. For example, according to regulatory filings, at the time of Target's cyberbreach in 2014, it had about US$100 million...

"No foreign nation, no hacker, should be able to shut down our networks, steal our trade secrets, or invade the privacy of American families," President Barack Obama told the U.S. Congress during the State of the Union Address last week. However, hunting down the perpetrators of cyberattacks that co...

Coinbase on Monday launched Coinbase Exchange, the first regulated bitcoin exchange in the U.S. The firm raised $75 million last week in a round of funding from new backers including DFJ Growth and BBVA Ventures, as well as existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, Union Square Ventures and Ribbit Cap...

As members of the U.S. Congress started to prepare for the upcoming legislative session, President Obama lost little time in putting cybersecurity near the top of a to-do list for lawmakers. During a visit to the federal National Cybersecurity Communications Integration Center, Obama called for addi...

A fledgling website created last fall connects hackers with clients willing to pay for their services. Nearly 50 hackers have listed their services on Hacker's List so far, for tasks including data recovery, penetration testing and computer forensics. More than 500 hacking jobs reportedly had been o...

A proposed national data breach reporting law, aimed primarily at protecting consumer privacy, headlined several initiatives the Obama administration announced Monday. The Personal Data Notification & Protection Act clarifies the obligations of companies when there's been a data breach. It inclu...

An estimated $5.2 million was stolen over the weekend from Bitstamp, a digital currency exchange. It has suspended services pending an investigation. The company assured its customers that bitcoins held with Bitstamp prior to suspension of services were completely safe and would be honored in full.