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Cyber Crime Costs $114B Per Year, Mobile Attacks on the Rise | News & Opinion | PCMag.com

September 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

With reports of Anonymous and LulzSec data dumps and digital certificate hacks in the headlines, it should be no surprise that cyber crime is a real threat. But how much do these Web attacks actually cost? According to a new study from Symantec, it’s $114 billion each year.

If you count time lost by companies trying to recover from cyber attacks, meanwhile, you can add another $274 billion to that number, according to the company’s Norton Cybercrime Report 2011.

“With 431 million adult victims globally in the past year and at an annual price of $388 billion globally based on financial losses and time lost, cybercrime costs the world significantly more than the global black market in marijuana, cocaine and heroin combined ($288 billion),” Symantec concluded.

To reach its conclusions, Symantec hired StrategyOne to conduct interviews in February and March with approximately 20,000 people from 24 countries.

Of those surveyed, 69 percent reported being the victim of a cyber crime in their lifetime. Based on its data, Symantec calculated that 14 adults become the victim of a cyber crime every second, or more than one million attacks every day.

via Cyber Crime Costs $114B Per Year, Mobile Attacks on the Rise | News & Opinion | PCMag.com.

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Update: Researcher finds serious vulnerability in Skype – Computerworld

July 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment

A security consultant has notified Skype of a cross-site scripting flaw that could be used to change the password on someone’s account, according to details posted online. Skype said it would issue a fix next week.

The consultant, Levent Kayan, based in Berlin, posted details of the flaw on his blog on Wednesday and notified Skype a day later. He said on Friday he hasn’t heard a response yet.

The problem lies in a field where a person can input their mobile phone number. Kayan wrote that a malicious user can insert JavaScript into the mobile phone field of their profile.

When one of their contacts comes online, the malicious user’s profile will be updated, and the JavaScript will be executed when the other contact logs in. Kayan wrote that the other person’s session could be hijacked, and it may be possible to gain control of that person’s computer. An attacker could also change the password on someone’s account.

There are some mitigating factors, such as that the attacker and victim must be friends on Skype. Also, the attack may not immediately execute when the victim logs in. Kayan said he noticed the behavior happened only after the victim logged in several times. But he said in an e-mail that once it happens the first time, “it happens with each re-login.”

via Update: Researcher finds serious vulnerability in Skype – Computerworld.

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France fears ‘economic war’ over Renault technology leaks | Business | The Guardian

January 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The French government today said it was the victim of an “economic war” after Renault, the partially state-owned car maker, suspended three top executives over suspected leaks of secret electric car technology.

The French industry minister, Eric Besson, told French radio: “The expression ‘economic war’, while often outrageous, is for once appropriate here.” He said the case illustrated “the risks our companies face in terms of industrial espionage, and economic intelligence”.

Renault has launched the biggest industrial espionage investigation in its history. The three executives were escorted from their offices at Renault’s technical centre outside Paris on Monday. They had been under investigation for months over breaches of “ethics”. Renault has revealed little detail but the French media has named the three executives. They include Michel Balthazard, a senior member of the management committee for 30 years, who had access to highly sensitive material about Renault’s cars of the future. Another suspended manager worked exclusively on electric cars.

Renault said today that the investigation concerned people in “strategic positions” who had “consciously and deliberately put at risk company assets”.

There was shock at Renault’s technology headquarters, where over 1,000 engineers are devoted to developing electric car technology in top secrecy. One told Le Figaro it was a “living nightmare”.

via France fears ‘economic war’ over Renault technology leaks | Business | The Guardian.

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Google Privacy Lesson: Tighten Your Wi-Fi Security – Computerworld

October 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I hate to blame the victim, but people who inadvertently gave up personal data to Google’s Street View cameras were really asking for trouble.

That’s because a simple precaution, clicking the encryption option in your router’s set up page, will foil Google’s cyber vacuum cleaners.

Then there’s the never ending Facebook privacy leakage scandal. Last week we learned that Facebook’s largest apps, which collectively boast tens of millions of users, are capturing personally identifiable information about Facebook users and sharing it with advertisers–violating both Facebook’s and the app makers’ own privacy policies. And now thanks to a research paper that’s gotten little attention, it appears that gay men and women on Facebook may have been inadvertently outed to its advertisers.

via Google Privacy Lesson: Tighten Your Wi-Fi Security – Computerworld.

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LifeLock CEO said to be victim of identity theft 13 times – Computerworld

May 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A CEO who publicly posted his Social Security number on billboards and TV commercials as part of a campaign to promote his company’s credit monitoring services was the victim of identity theft at least 13 times, a news report says.

The Phoenix New Times reported that Todd Davis, CEO of LifeLock Inc., which is based in Tempe, Ariz., was victimized numerous times by identity thieves who apparently used his Social Security number to commit various types of fraud.

Davis has previously admitted that he was the victim of an identity theft once in 2007, when a man in Texas used his Social Security number to take out a $500 loan which wasn’t repaid and ended up being handled by a collection agency.

The New Times reported that Davis has been a victim of similar ID theft at least a dozen more times.

Among the examples cited in the report was one involving an ID thief in Albany, Georgia who opened an AT&T wireless account in Davis’ name and used it to rack up more than $2,300 in charges.

In another instance, an individual used Davis’ identity to open an account with Centerpoint Energy, a Texas utility, and leave behind $122 in unpaid bills, the report said.

It also cited examples where individuals with Davis’ identity owed more than $573 to a bank and $312 to a gif-basket company.

The numerous incidents belie LifeLock’s claims that the services it offers protects consumers against ID theft and fraud, the report noted.

Davis said by e-mail that there had been “hundreds” of attempts to use his personal information in a fraudulent manner since 2005. All but 13 of those attempts were successful, Davis said.

via LifeLock CEO said to be victim of identity theft 13 times – Computerworld.

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-12-20

December 20, 2009 By Leave a Comment
  • @eMagSol I think you are a victim of spambots, many of which are targeting blogs. in reply to eMagSol #
  • To expand references & links to their sites. RT @eMagSol: @globaledd but what purpose does it serve? i'm so confused! must have reasons! #
  • RT @mix3travel: Was Secret TSA Screening Manual Posted By a Temp? – ABC News http://bit.ly/6LO5Ww #
  • Examining a Move to Change Securities Litigation – http://nyti.ms/6cnqNd #
  • Yes! RT @eMagSol: did anyone else's timeline freeze for a couple of minutes? #
  • RT @IntegreonEDD: RT @jfehrman Interoperability: The Other Side of Our Settlement w/ European Commission http://tinyurl.com/yj969eo #
  • RT @IntegreonEDD: RT @econwriter5 WSJ: How to Write an Operations Manual http://tinyurl.com/ycx9gsg (standardsand procedures for business) #

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