Kim Zetter reports: Wal-Mart was the victim of a serious security breach in 2005 and 2006 in which hackers targeted the development team in charge of the chain’s point-of-sale system and siphoned source code and other sensitive data to a computer in Eastern Europe, Wired.com has learned. Internal documents reveal for the first time that…
Category: Hack
Expert provides more proof hackers hijacked Hotmail accounts
Gregg Keizer reports: It’s almost certain that hackers obtained the Hotmail passwords that leaked to the Internet through a botnet-based attack, a researcher said today as she provided more proof that Microsoft’s explanation was probably off-base. “When I look at the infamous list of 10,000 Hotmail accounts, it just does not appear to be cataloged…
Cyberthieves find workplace networks are easy pickings
Byron Acohido provides a write-up of some of the TJX and Heartland Payment Systems incidents that emphasizes the point that many hacks go undetected or unnoticed — and that cyberthieves often take considerable time to start and continue stealing data: Companies, understandably, rarely discuss data breaches. However, proof that data thieves are targeting hundreds of…
Former teen stock swindler pleads to new hacking charges
Kevin Poulsen reports: A former teenage hacker who once served prison time for an online stock-trading scheme pleaded guilty last week to new charges of cracking a New York-based currency exchange service and gifting himself more than $100,000. On Sept. 29, Van T. Dinh, now 25, confessed to computer fraud and identity theft in federal…
Hannaford breach case not over yet
Trevor Maxwell reports: Just as a potential class-action lawsuit against Hannaford Bros. appeared dead, there’s a glimmer of hope this week for consumers who hope to recover damages from the Scarborough-based grocer for a massive electronic data theft in late 2007 and early 2008. The federal judge overseeing the case plans to ask Maine’s highest…
Lawsuit: Heartland Knew Data Security Standard was ‘Insufficient’
Linda McClasson reports: Months before announcing the Heartland Payment Systems (HPY) data breach, company CEO Robert Carr told industry analysts that the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) was an insufficient protective measure. This is the contention of a new master complaint filed in the class action suit against Heartland, which in January…