Tal Koppan reports: The federal agency that had more than 21 million Americans’ personal information stolen in a massive hack is once again in congressional cross-hairs — this time for improperly doling out taxpayer dollars to protect those Americans after the data breach. The Office of Personnel Management’s inspector general released a report this month,…
Category: Hack
Former U.S. State Department Employee Pleads Guilty to Extensive Computer Hacking, Cyberstalking and “Sextortion” Scheme
A former U.S. State Department employee pleaded guilty today to perpetrating a widespread, international e-mail phishing, computer hacking and cyberstalking scheme against hundreds of victims in the United States and abroad. Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney John A. Horn of the Northern District of Georgia, Director…
South America Hacker Team Targets Dissidents, Journalists
Frank Bajak of AP reports: A shadowy cyber-espionage group that sent malware to the prosecutor whose mysterious death transfixed Argentina early this year has been hitting targets in left-leaning nations across South America, the Internet watchdog group Citizen Lab reported Wednesday. The breadth and brazenness of the hackers’ activity bear the hallmarks of state sponsorship….
Member of Computer Hacking Group “NullCrew” Pleads Guilty in Cyber-Attacks on Corporations, Universities and Governments
Here’s the government’s press release on Timothy French’s plea yesterday: A Tennessee man pleaded guilty in federal court today to charges he helped launch cyber-attacks on corporations, universities and governmental entities throughout the world. As a member of the hacking group “NullCrew,” TIMOTHY JUSTEN FRENCH exploited computer vulnerabilities to obtain unauthorized access and steal confidential…
Hackers Could Take Control Of Your Car, But You Can’t Sue Carmakers For That Risk
Eric Goldman writes: Cars contain millions of lines of software code, which makes them tempting targets for hackers. Further, with the increased automation of cars, we face growing risks that malicious hackers will remotely take control of cars and cause significant personal or property damage. Ideally, car manufacturers would be actively combating this risk, but…
Wyndham caves, settles charges with FTC (updated)
I did not see this coming. Wyndham has settled FTC charges, bringing an end to a closely watched court case involving FTC’s authority to enforce data security. The case was the first one that hadn’t resulted in a consent order. Today’s settlement leaves only the LabMD as a challenge to FTC’s authority to enforce data…