hackers

The FBI today made good on its promise to take down its DNSChanger network. But people who ignored warnings may find themselves unable to get online.

At 12:01 a.m. EDT today, the FBI shut down the DNS servers that had kept computers infected by the DNSChanger malware still able to connect to the Internet, according to the Washington Post.

About five years, a group of hackers who deployed the DNSChanger malware, which modified the DNS settings of infected computers to point to rogue servers. After catching the criminal gang and taking controls of the servers, the FBI converted … Read more

There's a pretty good chance you've scanned a QR code with your smartphone. QR is short for "quick response." Hidden in those lines are embedded code only your smartphone can read that points it to a new location on the Web. Online marketing gurus are singing the digital praises for the inexpensive cost with maximum return on investment.

The real estate industry is one example. Agents are able to market their hottest properties and themselves by embedding QR codes into their signs and brochures. QR design companies say they're seeing exponential growth in their business … Read more

Stratfor has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit filed against the global intelligence firm after hackers affiliated with Anonymous stole subscriber data from its computers last year, Reuters reported today.

The settlement -- which calls for Stratfor to offer subscribers one month of free access to its service, a digital version of a book, and credit-monitoring service, in addition to paying attorney fees -- is expected to cost the company about $1.75 million, according to the settlement given preliminary approval by Judge Denis Hurley in U.S. federal court in New York.

Stratfor does not admit any "wrongdoing, … Read more

A group of hackers has posted to the Web today data that appears to include Comcast employee names, ages and salaries, as well as e-mails and passwords associated with AT&T VoIP service accounts.

Proclaiming the kickoff of "#WikiBoatWednesday...when all the members from @TheWikiBoat fight corruption, leak data, and bring down websites," the hackers released the data in two different posts to the Pastebin Web site. Several of the Twitter handles used by the group, including @AnonymousWiki, referenced the Anonymous online activist group, but the connection to the larger, decentralized collective is unclear.

"The first … Read more

Two British men pleaded guilty today to conspiracy charges related to a spree of attacks on U.S. and U.K. government and corporate Web sites by the LulzSec hacking group last year.

Ryan Cleary, 20, and Jake Davis, a 19-year-old who used the hacker handle "Topiary," admitted to launching distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on Web sites including Sony, Nintendo, News International, Arizona State Police, HBGary Federal and PBS, according to The Telegraph.

Cleary pleaded guilty to four additional charges, including hacking into U.S. Air Force computers at the Pentagon. He was indicted by a U.S. federal grand jury … Read more

Hackers have released consumer data stolen from an online loan provider, after the company refused to pay an extortion fee.

"On June 12, AmeriCash Advance received a fax, telling us that part of our Web site had been hacked. The letter went on to demand initial payment of $15,000 from us," AmeriCash Advance, an online payday cash advance provider, said in a statement provided to CNET. "We immediately notified the appropriate authorities and promptly took steps to ensure that no other data could be accessed. We will not cave in to blackmail, and are cooperating fully … Read more

A hacker claiming to have broken into networks of dozens of banks and stolen customer data, has released as proof a file that contains names, addresses, e-mail addresses, and phone numbers in plain text, but no credit card numbers.

"I penetrated over 79 large banks, I've been targetting these banks since 3 months," read a tweet from the Twitter account of Reckz0r. "Actually, I didn't hacked VISA & Mastercard, I hacked the banks, #Chase..etc."

A Pastebin post from today has a link to a downloadable file on the AnonFiles.com site that appears … Read more

The British man that allegedly hacked into the Fox reality TV show "The X-Factor" and the "PBS News Hour," along with music companies and government security agencies, was indicted by a U.S. federal grand jury on conspiracy and hacking charges today, according to the Associated Press.

Ryan Cleary, 20, reportedly had ties to the well-known branch of Anonymous called LulzSec before he was arrested in London last June (although the hacktivist group denies his involvement with it). U.S. federal prosecutors said today that he worked to take down, deface, and steal personal information from … Read more

It's been three months since the arrest of a handful of people accused of conducting denial-of-service and other attacks on police and corporate networks as part of the notorious LulzSec hacking crew.

Yet rather than laying low following the arrests, hacker activists are still going strong and, in fact, regrouping, taking up the baton from the Lulz crew or citing dissatisfaction with the schizophrenic nature of all the various Anonymous operations. Suddenly, there is "LulzSec Reborn," "MalSec," and "SpexSec," fresh names for groups of malicious hackers using old techniques.

It's unknown if … Read more