attack

Middle East cyberwar hits Israeli banks, stock exchange, airline

Hackers in Israel and other Middle Eastern countries are in the middle of a cyberwar that has led to disruptions of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, several Israeli banks, and an airline. As a result, some Israeli banks have blocked or are threatening to block international access to their sites to avoid attack.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks Monday that crippled the Web sites of the Tel Aviv bourse Web site and El Al Airlines, as well as the marketing sites of the First International Bank of Israel (Fibi), Massad bank, and Otzar Hahayal bank, according to … Read more

The 404 at CES 2012: Where we put it all on black (podcast)

LAS VEGAS--Day 1 of the Consumer Electronics Show has begun, and we're broadcasting another live show straight from the South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

We'll begin by wrapping up yesterday's press conferences with a lukewarm announcement from Panasonic and Justin Timberlake, then throw it over to our guest of the day, Kevin Pereira from G4's Attack of the Show!

But first we have to make fun of Panasonic's lukewarm announcement with Justin Timblerlake about MySpace TV. The idea of social networking isn't new, and Panasonic was hazy on the details, but basically it allows couch potatoes to share what they're watching, assuming it's something you want to share with the world.… Read more

Adobe to release zero-day fixes for Reader and Acrobat

In early December, Adobe issued a security bulletin regarding new zero-day PDF-based attacks that took advantage of flaws in its Reader and Acrobat programs, allowing a hacker to crash the program and take control of the system.

The flaw was initially found to be in Reader and Acrobat versions 9.4.6 and X (10.1.1) on all supported platforms, with a similar flaw later being found in Adobe's Flash Player, though in its security bulletin Adobe claims this is not the same issue as those in Reader and Acrobat.

Despite it being present in multiple platforms and … Read more

Dying teen's final video goes viral

Shortly before Christmas, teenager Ben Breedlove, creator of the YouTube channel BreedloveTV, posted a two-part video about his lifelong heart condition, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. It was the high school senior's most serious video and would prove to be his last.

On Christmas morning, while playing with his younger brother in the family's backyard, Breedlove succumbed to the condition that causes a thickening of heart muscle, went into cardiac arrest, and died.

In the days following, Breedlove's final two videos--in which he does not say a word but cycles through a series of flash cards to the music "… Read more

Security threat in Reader and Acrobat poses threat to Macs

Yesterday Adobe released a security bulletin that discusses a new attack which is targeting a flaw in its Acrobat and Reader programs.

The flaw affects both version 9.4.6 and 10.1.1 of its Reader and Acrobat programs, on all supported platforms, which include both Windows and Macintosh PCs.

Described only as a "U3D memory corruption" vulnerability, if the attacker takes advantage of it by releasing a compromised PDF document that when opened causes the target system to crash, it allows the attacker to take control of the system. Adobe does not go into any additional … Read more

Spam sinks to lowest level in almost three years, says Symantec

Think you're seeing less junk mail in your inbox these days? If so, it's not just your imagination.

The rate of spam across the world has hit close to a three-year low and now encompasses just 70 percent of all e-mails, according to Symantec's November Intelligence Report (PDF).

That number is a healthy drop from 2009 when spam accounted for 90 percent of all global e-mails. And it's close to the 68 percent level seen in late 2008 after the spam hosting ISP McColo was shut down.

In particular, pharmaceutical spam is at its lowest level … Read more

The 404 958: Where we lied our way into this job (podcast)

Our guest today is Emily Dreyfuss from CNET's newest tech gossip podcast, Rumor Has It!

We're learning all kinds of stuff from Emily, like to how to defeat an oncoming shark attack, the best way to win a burger-eating competition, and the backstory behind the Carrier IQ keylogging controversy.

Leaked from 404 Podcast 958:

How Carrier IQ was wrongly accused of keylogging. Controversy, confusion over Carrier IQ. Congress lifts five-year ban on the sale of horse meat. Thanks Obama! Rumor: Apple TV sets will be mighty pricey.… Read more

DHS denies report of water utility hack

The Department of Homeland Security and FBI today dismissed the conclusions of a report that a cyber intrusion caused a pump at an Illinois water utility to burn out. But the statement doesn't explain why an Illinois state terrorism intelligence center would say it was a hacker when it wasn't.

In the meantime, the DHS is investigating a claim by a hacker who goes by "pr0f" who claimed to have compromised a Texas water utility last week.

"After detailed analysis, DHS and the FBI have found no evidence of a cyber intrusion into the SCADA … Read more

AT&T thwarts hacking attempt on mobile accounts

AT&T said today that it successfully thwarted what appeared to be an attempt by someone to steal mobile customer data.

"We recently detected what could have been an organized attempt to obtain information on a number of customer accounts," AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel said in a statement. "The people in question appear to have used autoscript technology to determine whether AT&T telephone numbers were linked to online AT&T accounts."

No accounts were breached, he said, adding that less than 1 percent of AT&T's 100 million … Read more