As reported late last week, Facebook is encouraging hackers to try hacking its security systems to find weaknesses.
Those who succeed will receive a reward of US$500 or more and have their name added…
Modern pay-TV systems have improved security, but the techniques for getting into them are also better.
goodbanta
Over the last couple of days a small furore has erupted over allegations a News Corp subsidiary, NDS, has been hacking the pay-TV smartcards of News Corp’s competitors, and even News Corp’s own companies…
Reckon you know a lot about your online friends? Are you sure?
Stian Eikeland
Whenever the press covers a story about hackers, a great deal of the discussion concerns the nature of online identity, the cohesiveness of hacking groups, and the individuals that identify with these…
Stopping the internet isn't impossible, but it's unlikely any time soon.
iNKMan
By Philip Branch, Swinburne University of Technology
In a statement posted online last month, hacker collective Anonymous announced plans to shut down the internet. Yes, you read that right.
Operation Global Blackout, planned for March 31, is apparently…
Have the corporate exposés by Anonymous already backfired?
mr.smashy
Of all the tactics used by hacker collective Anonymous in any of its “operations”, the release of their victims' emails has been one that potentially could cause the most damage.
Previous releases have…
You can't believe everything you read in the papers … but you probably will.
EPA/Ian Nicholson
So The Guardian has now retracted its earlier reports that News of the World journalists had deleted Milly Dowler’s voicemails. Those journalists hacked the dead girl’s phone but they may not have deleted…
Faced with the latest recruitment challenge, would Sean Connery have cracked it?
x-ray delta one
It’s unlikely James Bond would have been recruited this way. The perks of this job do not include driving an Aston Martin, sipping martinis in exotic locations or saving the UK by shooting the cat-stroking…
The scandal isn't the emails, it's the hacking.
UN Climate Change
Emails from the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit have once again been hacked and released on the internet. The timing is similar to the “climategate” scandal of 2009, with emails published…
Compromising E-commerce sites has become the bread and butter of many hackers.
http://store.steampowered.com
One of the world’s largest online video gaming networks, Steam, has been hacked and its 35 million users may have had their accounts “compromised”. And yes, “compromised” means their (encrypted) credit…
Threats of exposure have been met with threats of murder – or so it seems.
Eneas.
In recent weeks, the fractured nature of Anonymous, the hacktivist collective, has come to the fore after it declared war on Los Zetas, a Mexican drug cartel.
Dubbed “Operation Cartel”, it was announced…
Technology reinforces traditional power structures.
Jared Rodriguez/Truthout
Last night, SBS screened the first instalment of a three-part documentary by Adam Curtis, All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace. The program attracted intense debate when broadcast in the UK earlier…
R2D2 could be listening to conversations and logging keystrokes, with high-level backing.
practical owl
On October 8, Berlin’s hacking collective the Chaos Computer Club (CCC) announced it had analysed a piece of software it believed had been written by the German Government.
Once installed on a computer…
Keep your friends close and your enemies, wherever possible, at bay.
Karat
On September 22, 23-year-old college student Cody Kretsinger was arrested by the FBI for his part in the hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment by the high-profile hacking group LulzSec.
The hack resulted…
America and Australia have made moves towards defending against online attacks.
Johnson Cameraface
How worried should we be about cyber warfare?
The latest amendment to the ANZUS treaty between the US and Australia, announced at the end of last week suggests it’s a genuine threat to the national security…
We've come to view operating securely online as a given, but it's not.
shellygrrl
Two recent hacking incidents have highlighted the increasing fragility of the internet’s core infrastructure. They serve as a stark reminder that online security is somewhat illusory.
The weaknesses have…
Has TeaMp0isoN missed the point with its latest hacking stunt?
Kerim Okten/AAP
By Philip Branch, Swinburne University of Technology
The hacking of BlackBerry’s official blog by the mysterious collective TeaMp0isoN raises serious questions.
This black-hat hacking group, founded in 2009, has so far claimed responsibility for more than…
What would Hunter S. Thompson have made of DefCon 2011?
Profound Whatever
Las Vegas has a long association with people on the fringe of society but even Hunter S. Thompson’s characters Raoul Duke and his drug-soaked Samoan lawyer would have found visitors to the DefCon hacker…
At least 72 major organisations were hacked in "Operation Shady Rat".
Gilderic (Recovering)
It’s official: we have entered a brave new world.
On Tuesday (US time), IT Security company McAfee announced the discovery of the most extensive hack-attacks ever seen, which the company referred to as…
A successful attack on PayPal could cause havoc.
[!!!] Sweet Peas Photography [!!!]
In a joint statement published earlier this week, hacking groups Anonymous and LulzSec urged readers to boycott e-commerce giant PayPal, claiming:
“PayPal continues to withhold funds from WikiLeaks, a…
Great headlines … shame about the reality.
Australian Federal Police/AAP
By Philip Branch, Swinburne University of Technology
Another day, another hacking exploit makes headlines.
This time it’s a “self-taught, lone hacker”, David Cecil, apparently known online as “Evil”, who allegedly broke into Platform Networks' site, one…
Cyber crime is a growth industry, if you have the head for it.
Truthout.org
By Philip Branch, Swinburne University of Technology
The hacking stories just keep on coming. Of course, The News of the World is the big one at the moment, matched, for the moment at least, by the hacking of The Sun’s website by celebrity – and proficient…
In the fight against cyber crime, a winning move is proving hard to find.
dlkinney
Cyber security has been in the news a lot lately. Corporate giants have had their data stolen, intelligence agencies have had their websites taken down and hacker groups have become household names.
Closer…
Does Sony have unique vulnerabilities, or has it just been unlucky?
Everett Kennedy Brown/EPA
Recent high-profile cyber attacks have dented the image of Japanese technology giant Sony and left millions of customers worried about the security of their personal information.
An attack in April resulted…
Is it time to get tougher on hackers, whatever their motivations?
Philippe Huguen/AFP
PRIVACY – Who are hackers and what do they want from you?
Pop culture would have us believe they live in dank basements, wear black leather from head to toe and have pseudonyms such as Warlock or Neo…
