Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Chicago. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Chicago. Sort by date Show all posts

Chicago Police Department Website Under Attack From AntiS3curityOPS (#Anonymous)

Chicago Police Department Website Under Attack From AntiS3curityOPS (#Anonymous)

A hackers collective group named "AntiS3curityOPS" associated with hacktivist Anonymous claims to have taken down Chicago's police department website. As of about 11:10 a.m., the Chicago Police Department website, cityofchicago.org/police, was down along with Chicago's city website,  cityofchicago.org . The sites were back up just before 1 p.m. Chicago Police News Affairs said they weren't aware the sites weren't working as usual, but Supt. Garry McCarthy confirmed to reporters at noon the sites were indeed down. Chicago's Office of Emergency Management site, hosted on the city of Chicago site, also would not load and shortly after also went down. Officials say they continue to investigate. 

In the video statement posted online, the group AntiS3curityOPS claimed they are "actively engaged in actions against the Chicago Police Department." Earlier we have seen similar attack when Anon members targeted websites of several Police organizations like Salt Lake City Police Dept, Los Angeles Police Department, International Association of Chief of Police & so on. 


-Source (NBC Chicago)



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A Chicago Woman Sentenced To 2.5 Years in Prison For $9 Million ATM Hacking

A Chicago Woman Sentenced To 2.5 Years in Prison For $9 Million ATM Hacking

$9 million ATM hacking case takes a new direction. The Federal authorities have track down a ring of cyber-criminals. A Chicago woman was busted and sentenced to two years and six months in federal prison for helping steal more than $9 million USD back in 2008. She was also ordered to spend five years on supervised release following prison, and pay $89,120.25 in restitution. According to federal prosecutors, 45-year-old Sonya Martin was the member of a cell in what they claim was "one of the most sophisticated and organized computer hacking and ATM cashout schemes ever." Her Chicago cell was one of many "cashing crews" that drained millions of dollars from roughly 2,100 ATMs in 280 cities across the globe.
U.S. District Court officials claim that a group of hackers obtained unauthorized access to Atlanta-based payment processing company WorldPay U.S. Inc. back in November 2008. WorldPay handles companies who use payroll debit cards to pay their employees that in turn use these cards to make purchases or withdraw their salaries from an ATM. The hackers allegedly used "sophisticated techniques" to compromise the data encryption used to protect customer data on these cards. Once they gained access to these accounts, the hackers fraudulently raised the balances and ATM withdrawal limits. They then handed over 44 debit card account numbers and their associated PIN numbers to the cashing crew cells to cash out the accounts. Martin's cell and others located around the world including United States, Russia, Ukraine, Estonia, Italy, Hong Kong, Japan, and Canada drained those accounts in less than 12 hours on November 8, 2008.
Officials said Sonya Martin worked with one of the lead cashers and supervised a cashing crew in Chicago. This cell withdrew approximately $80.000 from various Chicago area ATMs using counterfeit debits cards she manufactured using a payroll card number and PIN code. "While this was a complex, internationally coordinated crime with many different players and components, it would not have gotten very far without the cashing crews [like the one Martin worked with]," said Brian D. Lamkin, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office.



-Source (TOM'S HARDWARE)









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Iran Accused of Carrying out Cyber Attacks Against US Banks Over Anti Islamic Movie Issue

Iran Accused of Carrying out Cyber Attacks Against US Banks Over Anti Islamic Movie Issue

Since last few days, the conspiracy with the 'Anti Islamic Movie' was the headline in every where. We have seen global violence and a mass protest mainly came from Muslim brotherhood. This protest was also touched the internet, and as expected Muslim hackers joined the movement, which cost many damages for the cyber fence. Thousands of websites became victim of cyber attack, and among them several US banks also faced huge disturbance. This protest takes a new direction when Govt of Iran announced the blockage of Google Inc's search engine and its email service. "Google and Gmail will be filtered throughout the country until further notice," an official identified only by his last name, Khoramabadi, said, without giving further details. The Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) said Google ban was connected to the anti-Islamic film posted on the company's YouTube site which has caused outrage throughout the Muslim world. 
This stand of Iran Govt created a controversy, which make them responsible for carrying out cyber attacks against US banks. According to NBC news report US National Security officials accused the Iranian government for engaging cyber attacks against US Banks mainly Bank of America. But when the ball goes to Iran's side then they completely denies the blame, while saying "We officially announce that we haven't had any attacks," This statement came from the Head of Iran's civil defense agency Gholam Reza Jalali when he was asked about the report. The western media reports alleged on Friday that Muslim hackers have repeatedly attacked Bank of America Corp, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Citigroup Inc over the past year as part of a broad cyber campaign targeting the United States. Security sources told Chicago Tribune and NBC News that the attacks on the three largest US banks originated in Iran, but it is not clear if they were launched by the state, groups working on behalf of the government, or "patriotic" citizens. 

Here we want to refresh your memory while digging up a story, when Iran Govt decided a permanent Internet ban in Iran, where Iran Government has announced its plans to establish a National Intranet within five months. The Iranian minister for Information and Communications Technology, announced the setting up of a national Intranet and the effective blockage of services like Google, Gmail, Google Plus, Yahoo and Hotmail, in line with Iran's plan for a "clean Internet." And that five months is almost over, so may be the blockage of Google came due to that reason, or may be not. We suggest our readers that, it will be better if you ask yourself, that whether Iran was indeed responsible for the cyber attack or not??!!


-Source (Reuters, NBC & FARS News Agency)








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#OpFreeAssange -Hertfordshire Police Website Hacked & Login Information Stolen

#OpFreeAssange -Hertfordshire Police Website Hacked & Login Information Stolen

Just few days ago hacktivist group Anonymous strikes on the cyber fence of UK Government, and sent Ministry of Justice and the Britis Home Office offline for certain period of time. The motive of the cyber attack was directly linked with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange extradition. Not only Anonymous, but also hackers from different part of globe joined 'Operation Free Assange' dubbed '#OpFreeAssange'. As a result  A hacker codenamed '0x00x00' has posted online what appears to be login information for police officers in the Hertfordshire and Nottinghamshire constabularies. The usernames, passwords and PINs were posted to Pastebin on Thursday, along with the banner 'OpFreeAssange' and a quote from Wikileaks founder. The hacker said in the Pastebin document: "This is nothing big not some l33t h4x shit ... but this tells how insecure the Web is." A spokesperson for Nottinghamshire Constabulary said in a statement that, following initial inquiries, the force was "confident at this stage that no restricted or confidential information was accessed or databases compromised". "We continue to investigate and have taken steps to further strengthen security around our website as a precaution," the statement continued. In a statement, Hertfordshire Constabulary said it was investigating the breach, and confirmed that the information had been "stored on a database linked to the public Safer Neighbourhoods pages of the external Constabulary website". 
This is not the very first time, earlier hackers have targeted website of Police Dept many times. A hacker group named Redhack hit Turkish Police Dept and stolen 850+ police officers details. Also hacker from Anonymous has exposed 600 MB of Personal Data of Boston Police Patrolmens Association (BPPA). Also for #OpPiggyBank Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police & Salt Lake City Police Department Hacked by Anonymous. In 2011Austrian PoliceChicago Police Department also get hacked By Anonymous where more 25K+ Officers Personal Data get leaked.  





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Stratfor Hacker Jeremy Hammond Sentenced to 120 Months in Prison

LulzSec Hacker Jeremy Hammond Sentenced to 120 Months in Prison For Stratfor Hack

Infamous hacker Jeremy Hammond convicted by the Judge for cyber-attacks on government agencies and businesses, including a global intelligence company. This 28 year old Chicago hacker who is also known as "Anarchaos" was arrested by the federal authorities and been charged for the  breach of the security analysis company Stratfor. In December last year the bail application of Hammond was also been rejected by the the U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska. On June this year Hammond pleaded guilty for his sin. In his statement he said "I have pleaded guilty, it is a relief to be able to say that I did work with Anonymous to hack Stratfor, among other websites." 
That guilty plea indeed worked out for him, as that time it was predicated that Hammond  might have to face 30 years in prison, but on Friday Judge Loretta Preska sentenced Hammond to 120 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release for illegally accessing computers systems of law enforcement agencies and government contractors. In an emotional proceeding that lasted more than 2 hours in a Manhattan federal court room on Friday, victims and relatives of Hammond railed against the FBI and shed tears on his behalf following the sentencing. One overwrought person claiming to be a victim was forcibly escorted from the court by officers. But Hammond likely knew the sentence was coming, his lawyer said. "When Jeremy took this plea with a 10-year maximum, I think he understood this was very likely the outcome," said Sarah Kunstler, Hammond's defense attorney outside of court house.
Chief U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska said Hammond's digital handiwork had compromised thousands of people's personal and financial data, including the unpublished phone numbers and addresses of law enforcement, who then received threats. Hammond tried unsuccessfully to argue that his actions were politically motivated, she said. Hammond pleaded guilty to a single charge with a 10-year maximum sentence. Still his lawyers are asking to reduce his punishment for a sentence of 20 months.
Hammond has been held without bail since his arrest in March on charges connected with last year's hacking of Strategic Forecasting, or Stratfor, an Austin, Texas-based international intelligence broker, by AntiSec, an offshoot of LulzSec, which is in turn an offshoot of the hacktivist collective AnonymousProsecutors say the hack of Austin, Texas-based Strategic Forecasting resulted in the theft of 60,000 credit-card numbers and records for 860,000 clients. The government alleges that he published some of that information online, and used some of the stolen credit card data to run up at least $700,000 in unauthorized charges. He is also accused of giving about five million internal emails to WikiLeaks, which were published under the name The Global Intelligence Files.


-Source (Fox News)



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The World's Safest Browser: BitBox



There is no such thing as an entirely secure browser. Let's be realistic: You will always need a good portion of common sense and Internet smarts to avoid nasty attacks hijacks.

However, if you are paranoid about security, there is one browser that will reliably protect you from virtually all threats. It's a browser you already know: Firefox 4.0.1. Well, a boxed version of Firefox 4.0.1.
I am not exactly an adventurous Internet user as far as the dark corners of the web are concerned. Just I am not the kind of person to enjoy the silence in a dark alley in Chicago's south suburbs after dawn, I typically avoid websites I don't generally trust. I have had my fair share of spyware, trojans and other malware that caused me quite a bit of headache in the past and I am just more cautious than I was 10 years ago. Yet, that might change. I have just discovered a bulletproof wrapper for Firefox and, at least for now, I don't care that much anymore what is happening below the content the browser shows. There might be lots of malware and I really don't care anymore.
The reason is that I have started using BitBox as my browser for my general work-related tasks. BitBox is essentially a heavily armored version of Firefox 4.0.1 that is encased in Oracle's VirtualBox virtual machine (VM) environment that houses a secured Debian 6 Linux OS. That sounds relatively complicated, but once it is installed, this secure version of Firefox works just like a regular version of the browser. The difference is that it runs in a virtualized environment that is separate from your Windows XP/Vista/7.

The upside clearly is that you are dealing with a self-contained package. If you click on malicious malware, the usual EXE files cannot be executed in your Linux VM. You can download files, but they will not explicitly affect your Windows system and need to be manually moved out of the VM, if you have connected the drives. malware that infects Firefox during your session is automatically deleted the next time you start BitBox, as it always starts with its default configuration in the way it was installed. However, phishing attacks that target your personal data and may trick you in providing critical information will still require some common sense not to do so and will not protect you from the effects of such actions.
There are a few downsides. First, it is a hefty 990 MB download and the installed software will require almost 2 GB of space, as there is a need for Oracle's VirtualBox that is included in the package as well as a Debian 6 installation. Since the software is set back to a default level at every time it starts, it is not the most convenient browser to be used on an every day basis for the consumer. The deal breaker is its language. The software was developed for the German government and while it is available as a free download, it is only available in German. Unless you have basic knowledge of German, the installation will be a hurdle too high to overcome and even then it may be rather uncomfortable to be generally used.
The installation of the entire package is documented via PDF file and is somewhat straight forward, but some knowledge about virtual machines and virtualization in general does help when the individual components of the software are installed. In the end, you really want to know what is happening on your PC and you would want to know what effects a configured virtual drive on your PC has. Other than that, I was able to install BitBox within 15 minutes, once it was downloaded. The only criticism I would have is that developer Sirrix is not using the most recent version of Oracle's Virtual Box software (4.04 vs. 4.06). Custom configuration options include a specific download folder as well as a separate malware scanner as well as random root passwords for the virtual machine and proxy settings. During the installation, the software installs a Linux guest (Firefox) inside Virtual Box. Typically you would run the software form within VirtualBox, but Sirrix has managed to trim down the entire process to a single icon on the desktop.
I briefly mentioned it - this is not a browser to get deeply emotional about and discuss its performance features, but the concept is very compelling as far as browser safety is concerned. Plain browsing tasks make a lot of sense in such a package. In fact, I wonder, why such versions aren't offered by Mozilla and Google as well as Opera and Microsoft by default. 

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A New Privacy And Data Security Group Edelman


Edelman has launched a new unit to provide specialized communications support on matters related to privacy and information security. The group is launched at a time of mounting concern over data breaches, cyber-attacks and privacy issues among consumers, advocacy groups, government and business.
Edelman’s new data security and privacy group will help clients navigate the increasingly complex environment surrounding the collection, use and protection of corporate and personal data.
The group is co-led by two of Edelman’s global practice chairs, Pete Pedersen (technology) and Ben Boyd (corporate communications), and combines knowledge of the privacy and security landscape with expertise in corporate reputation, crisis communications, public affairs, social media and consumer marketing. Key geographic hubs will include Edelman’s Chicago, Washington, DC, New York, Silicon Valley, Seattle, Brussels, London and Beijing offices.
“Privacy and information security have moved from the back office to the boardroom,” said Pedersen. “These topics are brand and reputation drivers now, not just legal and IT considerations.”

A key focus of the group initially is providing communications counsel and support to help companies prevent, prepare for, and respond to data security incidents and breaches. Other specialized services include:
• Corporate privacy and security positioning and impact assessment
• Policy and issue landscape analysis, stakeholder mapping and engagement
• Competitive benchmarking
• Communications counsel for introduction of new products and services
• Measurement of evolving consumer behaviors, attitudes and expectations using primary research tools like 8095 Live, Edelman’s proprietary millennial insights program
• Employee education and awareness programs
• Thought leadership and stakeholder engagement platforms
• Incident and data breach communications planning and preparation
• Crisis communications engagement

-News Source (Holmes report)

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LulZsec Hacker Jeremy Hammond Aka "Anarchaos" Might Have to face 10 Years Imprisonment

LulZsec Hacker Jeremy Hammond Aka "Anarchaos" Might Have to face 10 Years Imprisonment
Federal prosecutors said four Irish and British men charged in a crackdown on the international hacking group Anonymous also helped breach the security analysis company Stratfor last year. Among them 27-year old Chicago hacker Jeremy Hammond had been formally charged with the Stratfor breach. Hammond, who is in custody in New York, was formally indicted on Wednesday for the first time, and has yet to be arraigned. His lawyer declined comment. Hammond's arrest was announced on March 6 along with charges against the four suspected "AntiSec" members, Donncha O'Cearrbhail and Darren Martyn of Ireland, and Jake Davis and Ryan Ackroyd of Britain. 
In announcing the charges in March, U.S. authorities revealed that a leading hacker known online as "Sabu" was Hector Xavier Monsegur, and that he was arrested at his small apartment in a Manhattan housing complex last June and had been cooperating with the FBI ever since. U.S. authorities said all six men were top members of LulzSec, an offshoot of the loose-knit cyber-activist group Anonymous.

Wednesday's indictment also charged Hammond, known online as "Anarchaos," "tylerknowsthis" and also "cred­iblethreat," and Davis, known as "Topiary," with a June 2011 hack of the Arizona Department of Public Safety. The four Irish and British defendants are charged with three counts of conspiracy to commit computer hacking, which each carry a 10-year maximum prison term. Hammond is charged with two hacking conspiracy charges and one substantive hacking count. He also faces one count each of aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to access device fraud.


-Source (Reuters)

 

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Sabu Former #LulzSec #Anonymous Leader Working As An Informant For FBI (Key-Members of LulzSec Arrested)

Sabu Former #LulzSec #Anonymous Leader Was Working As An Informant For FBI (Key Members of LulzSec Arrested)
Several members of the LulzSec and Anonymous hacking groups were arrested this morning by the Federal Bureau of Investigations. It is reported that the arrests were made possible after turning the group’s "senior leader", Hector Xavier Monsegur aka "Sabu", 28, who is believed to be a cooperative witness after the FBI turned him last June. Monsegur pled guilty to several charges of computer hacking conspiracy, for which he could receive a maximum of 124 years behind bars. Those arrested today included a member of the AntiSec hacking group who is believed responsible for the massive intrusion at security think tank Stratfor last December.
A law enforcement official in New York confirmed the arrests and said that six hackers belonging to the Anonymous, LulzSec and Antisec groups were nabbed in U.S. and overseas locations. The official described those arrested as "principal members" of Anonymous and LulzSec. The five hackers are identified in the report as Ryan Ackroyd, aka "Kayla" and Jake Davis, aka "Topiary" from London, two residents of Ireland, Darren Martyn, aka "pwnsauce" and Donncha O'Cearrbhail, aka "palladium", and Jeremy Hammond aka "Anarchaos," from Chicago, USA. According to the FBI press release, all but Davis face charges of computer hacking conspiracy and various other charges. Each carries a maximum 10 year prison sentence.
According to Anonymous Twitter feed: "We are Legion. We do not have a leader nor will we ever. LulzSec was a group, but Anonymous is a movement. Groups come and go, ideas remain"
It is unclear what to expect from Anonymous in reaction to the arrests. The hacking group is known for revenge cyber attacks. After 25 Anonymous members were arrested on February 29, the group downed Interpol’s main website. The same thing happened when the CIA website became a victim of Anonymous. The group also downed several large music industry, Department of Justice, FBI and many other federal authorities websites in response to the shutting down of Megaupload and the arrest of its founder Kim Dotcom. 
News of Sabu's arrest prompted several tweets from Anonymous this morning, including one that threatened retaliation. "The way Sabu & gang took control of Anonops.. anonops gonna retaliate," the tweet said.
 

-Source (FOXNews, Computer World)



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XML Encryption Cracked By Researchers Of Ruhr University



Researchers at the Ruhr University of Bochum (RUB) say they have succeeded in cracking parts of the XML encryption used in web services, thus making it possible to decrypt encrypted data. The official W3C XML encryption specification is designed to allow the secure transmission of information between different e-commerce and financial systems. The attack is limited to where AES is used for encryption in the cipher-block chaining (CBC) mode; other techniques, such as using an RSA key and X.509 certificates, are not susceptible.
According to the researchers, IBM, Microsoft and Red Hat Linux use the standard solution in web service applications for a number of large customers. The researchers say that, based on their findings, the standard should now be considered insecure. They plan to publish details about the problem at the upcoming ACM Conference in Chicago (ACM CCS 2011).



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Google CEO Larry Page said G+ Hit 10M Users in 2 Weeks


Google's Facebook competitor Google Plus grew to 10 million users in just two weeks, the company announced Thursday.
That's only a bit more than 1 percent of Facebook's 750 million global users, but it still represents staggering growth for Google's infant social network, which isn't yet open to the public. The site remains in a "limited" trial phase.
"Growth on Google has been great," Google CEO Larry Page said on a conference call with analysts. 

"Over 10 million have joined. That's a great achievement for the team. There has been a ton of activity."

Page said more than 1 billion items are being shared on the network every day. The " 1" button, which populates search results with friends' recommendations, has been clicked 2.3 billion times a day.
Google represents a part of the new CEO's grand vision for the 13-year old company. Despite Google's position as the worldwide leader in search, Page has opted to treat the company as a startup, increasing hiring and starting several new initiatives. 
"Today, I see more opportunities for Google than ever before; we're just at the beginning of what we want to do," Page said. "We're only at 1 percent of what's possible. Google's just getting started."

Accordingly, Google continued its hiring spree in the second quarter, upping its headcount by nearly 9 percent, or 2,500 employees -- including 450 from the acquisition of flight data company ITA .
The company also has spent freely, putting more than $900 million into its infrastructure during the quarter, including expanding its massive data centers. The company says it expects to continue to make "significant" capital expenditures going forward.
Google says all that spending will keep the company ahead of its rivals.

The past quarter has been a busy one. In addition to Google , the company started selling its Chromebook line of laptops aimed at current Microsoft corporate clients and launched its Music application to compete with Apple's iTunes and Amazon's Cloud Drive.
The company also unveiled Google Wallet, which will allow customers to pay for items using their smartphones, and it launched Google Offers, a Groupon competitor.
But Google also shut down several products that weren't working, such as Google Health and PowerMeter.
"Our focus is more wood behind fewer arrows," said Page. "I'm very happy with our progress."
Still, the free spending has made some stock analysts cautious. Page lashed back at that criticism, noting that when Google started its search engine, no one believed the company could monetize that besides the occasional banner ad.

"Fast forward to today, it seems like we're playing the same movie all over again," he said.

The world's online search leader said its net income in the second quarter rose to $2.5 billion, up 36 percent from a year earlier.
Results included one-time charges totaling $1.06 per share. Without the charges, Google said it earned $8.74 per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, who typically exclude one-time items from their estimates, had forecast earnings of $7.85 per share.
Profit rose as both the number of clicks on Google's ads and the amount that advertising partners pay per click increased substantially: Paid clicks surged 18 percent and cost per click grew 12 percent compared to last year.

Sales for the Mountain View, Calif., company rose 32 percent to $9 billion. Excluding advertising sales that Google shares with partners, a figure also known as traffic acquisition costs, the company reported revenue of $6.9 billion, which topped analysts' forecasts of $6.6 billion.
Shares of Google jumped 12 percent after hours.
Still, not all the news has been positive for Google, which has recently landed in antitrust crosshairs.

The Federal Trade Commission began investigating the company for evidence of abusive practices, and a federal judge rejected Google's planned settlement deal in its attempt to create a universal online book library.
The Department of Justice also heavily scrutinized the company's recent purchase of flight data software company ITA, and Google set aside $500 million for a potential settlement with the DOJ regarding the company's advertising practices. The DOJ is currently studying Google's proposed $400 million purchase of digital advertising toolmaker Admeld.
Late last month, French search company 1plusV said it would seek $423 million in damages from the American search giant over alleged anti-competitive practices.


-The News Source (Chicago Tribune)

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