Chinese Hackers Broke Into Indian Navy's Computer System & Stolen Sensitive Data (VOGH Exclusive)

VOGH Exclusive:- Chinese Hackers Broke Into Indian Navy's Computer System & Stolen Sensitive Data

Again cyber criminals from China targeted Indian cyber fence. This time Indian Navy have fallen victim of this cyber espionage. According to sources hackers have broken into sensitive naval computer systems in and around Visakhapatnam, the headquarters of the Eastern Naval Command, and planted malware that relayed confidential data to IP addresses in China.  There is, to date, nothing known about the data thieves. 

Primary investigation revealed that the classified data has been leaked and that the breach may have occurred as a result of the use of USB flash storage on important systems. The Navy and other armed forces store sensitive data on standalone systems, unconnected to the internet and supposedly with no free USB ports where a flash drive could be plugged in.

The malware is reported to have created a hidden folder on the USB flash drives. When the drive was plugged into a Navy system, the malware searched for files based on particular key words it had been configured to look for. These files were then copied to the flash drive where they would remain hidden. When the drive was plugged into a system which was connected to the internet, the malware would then begin to transfer the files to a specific IP address. The extent of the loss is still being ascertained, and officials said it was “premature at this stage” to comment on the sensitivity of the compromised data. But the Navy has completed a Board of Inquiry (BoI) which is believed to have indicted at least six mid-level officers for procedural lapses that led to the security breach. Navy official also said: “An inquiry has been convened and findings of the report are awaited. It needs to be mentioned that there is a constant threat in the cyber domain from inimical hack ers worldwide.”

Couple of months ago Tokyo based computer security firm Trend Micro confirmed that Chinese hackers were responsible for biggest cyber-espionage in India, Japan & Tibet. Also the director of National Security Agency (NSA) General Keith Alexander confirmed that hackers from China was responsible for the serious attack on one of the leading IT security & cyber security company RSA. Also in 2011 China was responsible behind the attack on US Chamber of Commerce, Satellite System of U.S, Nortel Network & so on.  But few days ago National Computer Network Emergency Response Coordination Center of China (CNCERT/CC), China's primary computer security monitoring network claimed that China fallen victim of one of biggest cyber attacks originated from US, Japan & South Korea. We must have to say that this statement is truly irrelevant. Cyber crime investigator have found that China was directly responsible for the hack into Japan's Biggest Defense Contractor Mitsubishi, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) & Parliament of Japan. In case of South Korea  more than 13 Million of MapleStory players data has been stolen, there also hackers from China was responsible. 

The above phenomena are clearly indicating that hackers from China was directly linked and responsible for all those biggest cyber espionage. Still it is not clear that whether these cyber criminals are supported by the Govt. or not!!

 

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Australia Joined 38 Other Nations as Part of an International Cybercrime Treaty

Australia Joined 38 Other Nations as Part of an International Cybercrime Treaty

Sitting at the edge of the latest technology, today we can easily separate our world into two parts. One is the real world where we live and another is the virtual or cyber world, in which we all are tightly attached. As these two fields are the prime factor where we have to stay happily so the matter of safety, security is highly required on the both said areas. Being one of the leading cyber media, our main concern is the cyber domain,  so we are worried as well are responsible and committed to server our readers. In this period of time many of us feel terrified to engage themselves in the cyber space due to lack of security and privacy, and also keeping in mind the major disaster done by cyber criminals. But how long? To get rid of that not only we the media people but also the sincere government of several countries make themselves committed to prepare a safe cyber world for the people. Earlier we have seen several developed countries came under a shade, in order to make an united shield to protect this cyber domain and its people. Today that shield got a new member. Yes it is Australia who has now formally joined 38 other nations as a party to the world's first international treaty on crimes committed via the internet. This deceleration came from the Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus. In his speech he said "Australia becoming a party to the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime will help combat criminal offences relating to forgery, fraud, child pornography, and infringement of copyright and intellectual property" 

By joining the Convention, Australian law enforcement agencies will be able to rapidly obtain data about communications relevant to cybercrimes from partner agencies around the world. With the Convention now in effect, Australia's investigative agencies are able to use new powers contained in the Cybercrime Legislation Amendment Act 2012 to work with cybercrime investigators around the globe. The Act amended certain Commonwealth cybercrime offences and enabled domestic agencies to access and share information relating to international investigations. Dreyfus says the Act also created new privacy protections, safeguards and reporting requirements for the exercise of new and existing powers.
"A warrant is always required to access the content of a communication whether the information is in Australia, or accessed from overseas under the Cybercrime Convention. The Cybercrime Act and the Cybercrime Convention do not impact in any way on the need to have a warrant to access content from a telephone call, SMS or e-mail." -Dreyfus said in his statement.

-Source (ZDNet)

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Now anyone can be a cyber criminal

Cyber crime is no longer the exclusive domain of nerds with advanced coding and hacking skills. Thanks to simple and affordable, DIY downloadable crimeware, even novices can jump into what has turned into a global industry.
This is a far cry from the days when hacks were motivated more by the thrill of the kill than monetary gain, with even Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak (Apple’s co-founders) allegedly on their rolls. It’s in the last decade, with the widening reach of the internet, that cyber crime turned virulent, as viruses like Melissa and I Love You clogged inboxes and spawned a multi-billion-dollar anti-virus software industry. And now, with the DIY attack kits, cybercrime is evolving into an extremely profitable, distributed global entity.
These malware toolkits aren’t just professional, marketable, and easy to deploy, they’re even being sold on a subscription model with after sales support.
Mpack, Neosploit, ZeuS, Nukespoilt P4ck, Phoenix … there’s an array of choices for script kiddies (those with minimal coding skills). “These kits come with features like encryption and hardware-based licensing, which one would find in enterprise-grade software,” says cyber sleuth Prasanna V, principal consultant of information security with Packet Verify. They enable users to launch pre-written threats against computer systems, and also customise them.
The United States, Russia, China, the UK, Germany, Brazil and Eastern European countries like the Ukraine are considered the hotbeds for development of such kits, and the damage they’re causing is already evident. According to a report by Symantec Corp, there was a 93% increase in web-based attacks in 2010 compared to the previous year, driven primarily by the prevalence of attack toolkits.
The modus operandi:
Most of the toolkits share a few common behavioural patterns, say Dr Madhupani and Dr Srinivas, technology experts with Cyber Security Works. “These can include capabilities to penetrate into browser processes, take screenshots of the victim’s machine or control it remotely, hijack e-banking sessions, add pages to a website and monitor them or steal passwords that have been stored by popular programs/browsers.” Users are lured through phishing websites, spam emails, download websites, freeware, or malicious codes inserted in legitimate programs.
What’s more worrying is that malware attacks from toolkits are difficult to monitor and curb because of both technological and legal factors. The cyber laws in most countries are largely inadequate to deal with the scale and reach of the crime. For example, a tool kit can enable a cyber criminal in Nigeria to spoof an Indian bank to send phishing emails to trick users in India. The network of cyber crime is spread so wide that it demands a coordinated effort by law enforcement agencies from all over the world that, as of now, is nonexistent.
On the technical side, “toolkits enable hackers to continuously generate new mutated malware variants, each targeting a different victim, making traditional discovery and fingerprinting of these threats nearly impossible,” says Ajay Goel, managing director, Symantec for India and SAARC.
On your guard:
So what can you do to protect yourself? For starters, realise that security does not start and end with an antivirus kit or a firewall, quips Prasanna. “Do not perform any financial transactions from shared systems like cyber cafes. Avoid connecting to free Wi-Fi hotspots. Scan USB before using. Stay away from suspicious websites and emails, limit the amount of personal information you give out on social networking sites like Facebook or Orkut,” he warns. “Finally, set the ‘automatic update’ option ON in all applications.”
Cyber Security Works issues another guideline: “Treat information the way you would treat your money.”

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Iran Accused For Engaging Cyber Attacks Against Persian Gulf Oil & Gas Companies in U.S. (Full Story)

Iran Accused For Engaging Cyber Attacks Against Persian Gulf Oil & Gas Companies in U.S. (Full Story)

The conflict and tussle between Iran and United States continues, as U.S. authorities believe that Iranian-based hackers were responsible for cyberattacks that devastated Persian Gulf oil and gas companies. Just hours later the attack was discovered, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the cyberthreat from Iran has grown, and he declared that the Pentagon is prepared to take action if American is threatened by a computer-based assault.

The former government official, who is familiar with the investigation, said U.S. authorities believe the cyberattacks were likely supported by the Tehran government and came in retaliation for the latest round of American sanctions against Iran. Before Panetta's remarks on Thursday, U.S. officials had said nothing publicly about the Gulf attacks or the investigation. But Panetta described them in a speech to business leaders in New York City, saying they were probably the most destructive cyber assault the private sector has seen to date. A current U.S. official acknowledged Thursday that the Obama administration knows who launched the cyberattacks against the Gulf companies and that it was a state actor. U.S. agencies have been assisting in the Gulf investigation and concluded that the level of resources needed to conduct the attack showed there was some degree of involvement by a nation state, said the former official. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is classified as secret. While Panetta chose his words carefully, one cybersecurity expert said the Pentagon chief's message to Iran in the speech was evident.  

It was all about what U.S. Authorities are claiming or in other word blaming, but like earlier; this time also Iran completely denies the whole matter, besides they blamed Israel & America for engaging cyber attacks on Iran's Nuclear System. Iranian officials denied any role in recent cyberattacks against oil and gas companies in the Persian Gulf and said they welcomed a probe of the case.  Mahdi Akhavan Bahabadi, secretary of the National Center of Cyberspace, denounced as "politically motivated" American allegations of an Iranian link to the Shamoon virus that hit Saudi Arabian state oil company Aramco and Qatari natural gas producer RasGas, according to remarks carried by ISNA. "We interpret the issue politically and in light of U.S. domestic issues as well as the (U.S. presidential) election," he said. The Iranian official said Tehran has already offered help to boost the companies' cybersecurity, asIran has itself recently been the victim of cyberattacks on its offshore oil platforms. Iran periodically reports the discovery of viruses and other malicious programs in government, nuclear, oil and industrial networks. On Monday, Tehran said it had successfully blocked a cyberattack on the computer network of its offshore drilling platforms. It briefly shut down part of its oil facilities because of a cyberattack in May. Iran blames Israel and the United States for the attacks. Israel has done little to deflect suspicion it uses viruses against Iran.

While talking about the cyber attacks on  Persian Gulf oil and other gas companies, we like to remind you that couple of weeks ago U.S. Authorities also blamed Iran for engaging cyber attacks on U.S. leading banking and financial sector. There also Iran official denies the attack and said "We officially announce that we haven't had any attacks,". So far its not clear whether these two attacks are linked or not. Whatever, for all the latest update on stories like this & also other updates on cyber domain stay tuned with VOGH. 

-Source (MPR News & Yahoo) 

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Anonymous Threatens Israel to Erase From The Internet (#OpIsrael)

Anonymous Threatens Israel to Erase From The Internet (#OpIsrael)

Infamous hacker collective group Anonymous along with some organized hacker communities together started a massive rampage against Israeli cyber space. The hacker group threatened Israel government while  planning to engage a massive cyber-attack on Israel, saying that, they will "erase" the country from the Internet. From some legitimate sources it has been confirmed that the hackers are planning to execute the attack on 7th of April. One of the twitter account of Anonymous also confirmed the date and timing, while saying "Hacktivists Starting Cyber Attack against Israel on 7th of April." Also twitter feed of Anonymous invited numerous hackers communities around the world to join up for the cyber rampage dubbed Operation  Israel Phase 2 (#OpIsrael). On the other hand Israel government took the threat seriously and taking almost every steps to avoid any kind of disaster. Ofir Ben Avi, director of online group Accessible Government of Israel told the media -“It’s something being organized online over the past few days. What distinguishes this plan when compared to previous attacks is that it really seems to be organized by Anonymous-affiliated groups from around the world in what looks like a joining of forces”

As you all might know that past experience of Israel while dealing hackers was not at all sweet. In case of Anonymous then we would like to remind you that, this would be the second attack on Israel by the group, as they launched the first “OpIsrael” in November 2012 in response to Israel’s attack on the Gaza Strip.  If you dig the recent past you will come to know that not only Anonymous, but also hackers from different part of the world targeted Israeli cyber space and caused big damages. For instance we can recap the hack of Kosova Hackers Security (KHS) where they hacked and exposed personal data of 35,000 Israeli people. Here we must have to name the hackers from Pakistan who are constantly against Israel causing massive cyber attack against leading IT industry of Israel and other high profile Israeli sites. Just a couple of months ago, the world seen what it call the black day in the history if Israeli cyber space where another Pak hackers community hacked the main domain controller of Israel, which causes a massive hack against almost all the big Israeli sites such as government, MSN, Bing, Live, Skype, Microsoft Store, BBC, CNN, Coca-Colla, XBOX, Windows, Intel & many more. Here we can also take the name of Indian hacker Godzilla & Arabian hacker community (Group-XP) who also harassed and harmed the Israeli cyber space very very badly. After observing all the scenario mentioned above, it is expected to watch some sensational fight between hackers and Israeli government. So lets wait for the time, and stay tuned with VOGH to get all the latest update on this story and also other cyber issues.

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Facebook Donates $250,000 to University of Alabama at CIA|JFR to Fight Against Cybercrime

Facebook Donates $250,000 to University of Alabama at CIA|JFR to Fight Against Cybercrime 

All of us, who are associated or directly involved in this cyber domain know very well that its almost impossible to stand against the rising cyber crime & cyber criminals. Then the very first question will arise and that is, what is the solution? The answer will be tie-up collaboration, unity in diversity. That means if we stand together and help each other, then definitely we can control cyber crime, not only that but also we can have a safe and secure cyber space. While talking about co-operation and collaboration then a live instance is here for you. It is your favorite social network, Facebook who stand against cyber criminals and donate $250,000 to help fight cyber crime. According to UAB News - The Center for Information Assurance and Joint Forensics Research at the University of Alabama at Birmingham has received a $250,000 donation from Facebook in recognition of the center’s role in tracking international criminals behind social-media botnet Koobface as well as other spammers. The donation, which comes from money Facebook has recovered from spammers located around the world, will be used to expand the new CIA|JFR headquarters. 

“As a result of numerous collaborations over the years, Facebook recognizes the center as both a partner in fighting Internet abuse, and as a critical player in developing future experts who will become dedicated cybersecurity professionals,” says Joe Sullivan, chief security officer at Facebook. “The center has earned this gift for their successes in fighting cybercrime and because of the need for formal cybersecurity education to better secure everyone’s data across the world.”  

Here we want to remind our readers that 'Koobface' was the most dangerous malware ever made to infiltrate Facebook made by few Russian hacker. The hackers, known as the Koobface gang, sent Facebook users attractive invitations to watch a funny or sexy video. When the unsuspecting users clicked the link, the message appeared saying that their computer’s Flash software needed updating. The “update” was in fact malware that hijacked the user’s clicks and delivered them to advertisers, making the hackers money -to the tune of over $2 million annually. According to Kaspersky Labs the network of infected computers included between 400,000 and 800,000 PC. Earlier in this year the entire Koobface gang was exposed and the C&C server of Koobface has been stopped prenatally by few German Researchers. 

With this story here we, the entire VOGH Team would like to congratulate the team at the University of Alabama at Birmingham on the donation from Facebook. More power to them and similar experts around the world, helping investigate cybercrime and making the online world a safer place! 

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Cyber Camps been organised for Children

A series of unique cyber camps are being conducted for children aged 8 years and upwards. These camps are being conducted by city-based Asian School of Cyber Laws (ASCL) and Data 64 Techno Solutions Pvt. Ltd, a company dealing in cyber laws and cyber crime investigation.
 "The internet is a world full of information, friends, fun, education and sports. It is also a world full of drug dealers, porn freaks, cyber stalkers, psychopaths, kidnappers, cyber bullies and even recipes to make bombs," said Sagar Rahurkar, project coordinator, Pune.
 "There are several threats that children face on-line. One of these is cyber bullying, which can lead to depression, substance abuse and even suicide. Another threat is from on-line buddies who can turn out to be psychopaths, kidnappers or even child molesters," he said.
 "Often children inadvertently give away vital details like their parents' incomes, their address, even credit card information! This information can then be misused by criminals to make illegal purchases and run up huge bills," said Rahurkar.
 "The solution is to make children CyberSmart. We would be making children cyber smart by acquainting them with basics of how the Internet works, IP addresses and the domain name system, an introduction to wireless networks, Firefox, guide to safe on-line shopping, among other things," he said. 

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NBC.com Compromised, Hackers Exploited The Website to Spread Malware

NBC.com Compromised, Hackers Exploited The Website to Spread Malware

The month of February is still going from bad to worse for the cyber domain, in this very month cyber criminals swallowed the security system of many giant companies like Facebook, Twitter, Apple, New York Times and many more. But the game is not over yet, as we have just passed a few weeks, when the attack on NY Times took place, which stolen the employ database; yet again the cyber criminals have targeted another media giant National Broadcasting Company widely known as NBC. During the attack, hackers have successfully gain access inside the server of NBC and planted malware, in order to harm innocent readers. Famous security expert and blogger Brian Krebs said that the hackers inserted code into the NBC.com homepage. This caused visiting browsers to load pages from third-party sites that were compromised. While explaining the nature of the attacker, Krebs said; "The compromised sites tried to foist the Citadel Trojan, a variant of the Zeus Trojan." The Zeus is a "sophisticated data theft tool that steals passwords and allows attackers to control machines remotely" he added. Not only the NBC’s home page, also several others were affected, including the pages of late night talk show hosts Jay Leno and Jimmy Fallon. Well known security firm Sophos explained how roughly attack played out, and how NBC got sucked into the equation:

• NBC's hacked pages were altered to add some malicious JavaScript that ran in your browser.
• The JavaScript injected an additional HTML component known as an IFRAME (inline frame) into the web page.
• The IFRAME sucked in further malicious content from websites infected with an exploit kit known as RedKit.
• The exploit kit delivered one of two exploit files to try to take control over your browser via a Java vulnerability or a PDF bug.
• If the exploit worked on your computer, financially-related crimeware from the Citadel or ZeroAccess families was installed.

This, of course, is an example of a dreaded drive-by download, where the crooks use a cascade of tricks to download, install and execute software without going through any of the warnings or confirmation dialog you might expect. This, in turn, means that even if you are a careful and well-informed user, you may end up in trouble, since there are no obvious signs that you are doing anything risky, or even unexpected.

As soon as this story get spotted the American commercial broadcasting television network, NBC News reported and confirmed that its site had been attacked. The broadcaster released the following statement regarding the website: "We've identified the problem and are working to resolve it. No user information has been compromised."

The emergency response team immediately take the situation under control and restored the website, and confirmed that the site is back again and completely safe for its visitors. But so far there is no evidence of attackers who were involved in this attack. For the safety of VOGH readers we would like to recommend you to update your operating systems and browser plugins. Also note that the attack on NBC was similar to many that have occurred in recent years in that the malicious sites tried to exploit vulnerabilities in Java. So it will better to disable Java, unless it is that much necessary. So stay tuned with VOGH and be safe in the cyber domain. 

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'Data Theft' A Serious Issue! Be Watch Full, Be Safe

Hidden Costs of 'Data Theft' A Serious Issue! What You Need to Know to Be Safe 

Sitting at the edge of technology, we the people of this century are blessed with all the required equipment  which makes our work so easy that one could have even imagined three hundred years ago. Along with these positive sides, we must have to keep in mind that, these technologies not only elaborating our effort  making life easier, but also posing  high level of threat. As the main concern of VOGH is cyber domain, so here w would like to share a fact which will make you think and even make your cyber life and your personal life too uncanny. Yes, I am talking about the rising cyber threats; the more we are shedding with technologies, the more we are involving our lives with some dangerous threats and challenges. Now a days cyber criminals are every where, you don't even know, what trap has already been set for you, that can ruin your happy life. One of the big example is "Data Theft" which becoming boomerang for us. In an age of fully digitized data, consumers and businesses can lose thousands of dollars in the blink of a hacker’s eye. The costs of data theft are well known to anyone who has ever found themselves victim to financial identity or medical record fraud. What few of us realize is that the procedures required to right a financial wrong are often costlier than the crimes themselves. Lets share some interesting statistic, which will surely put terror in your mind - the economy loses an average of $22,346 for every time an identity is stolen. And to fully recuperate losses, repair credit and prosecute fraudsters, consumers, accountants, lawyers and IRS officials can spend up to 5,000 hours, the equivalent of two years of full-time work on a single case. Even so, 60% of medical record fraud victims admit that they don’t monitor their medical statements for inconsistencies. 

Shocking!! Why not?

For one, most consumers don’t have time every month to file through complex medical or financial statements and check for accuracy. And secondly, the image of thousands of evil savants working around the clock to hack BOA databases sure makes a consumer feel helpless. Identity theft seems random and unpreventable–a stroke of bad luck like getting struck by lightning. If we are struck, we tell ourselves, banks, credit agencies and insurance companies are legally bound to recover our funds and correct our records. 

Now lets check out a fascinating video in our Hidden Costs Series to get a deeper look at how our high-cost, high-risk data management systems really work.

Hidden Costs of Data Theft (Statistic At a Glance):-

Data theft includes financial identity theft, identity cloning, and medical identity theft. The average cost per victim was $22,346 in 2012. And the total national cost of just medical identity fraud was $41 billion in 2012. The worst part – nearly 60% of reported victims say they don’t ever check their medical records for fraud. Depending on the severity of the case, it can take over 5,000 hours (the equivalent of working a full-time job for two years) to correct the damage.

Since 1935, over 435 million social security cards have been issued. That’s over 2,175 tons of paper issued as cards, or 52,200 trees and 5 million new cards are issued every year. 

Worldwide, digital warehouses storing private information, like banking and personal history, use about 30 billion watts of electricity, which equals roughly the output of 30 nuclear power plants. Data centers in the US make up almost a third of that usage, and waste 90% of the electricity they pull off the grid.

On average, 47% of victims encounter problems qualifying for a new loan and 70% have difficulty removing the negative information from their credit reports.

Over the next five years, the IRS stands to lose as much as $21 billion in revenue due to identity theft, and worldwide, businesses lose close to $221 billion a year with the US, UK, Canada and Australia ranking the highest in reported fraudulent activity.

After reading the above story carefully, many of you will feel insecure and panic. But I would like to inform you that the main purpose of sharing such important information, is to enhance carefulness, to rise cyber awareness. Many people became victim, not because of less knowledge, but of less information, less awareness. So from now onward before connecting your self into the digital world make sure that the significant & the emergent knowledge and information you have gathered from the article, should remain intact inside your brain. Trust me, if you became a bit cautious, you can easily get rid of all those cyber threats, and can enjoy the bless of technologies to make your life prosperous and happy. 

So stay tuned with VOGH and also be canny, be attentive and be safe inside the digital world. 

We the Team VOGH heartily thanks one of our invaluable reader and friend Emily Stewart of Insurance Quotes for the statistic and the awesome video. We love you Emily :) 

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#OpIsrael Continues: KHS & MLA Hacked Several Israeli Govt Websites & Leaked Sensitive Data

Muslim Liberation Army (MLA) & Kosova Hacker Security (KHS) Joins Operation Isreal & Hacked Several Israeli Govt Websites & Leaked Sensitive Data

Operation Israel the devastating hacking rampage continues and becoming more and more venturesome for the Israeli cyber space. In the last week of March, it was dangerous hacker collective group Anonymous who called the operation also dubbed #OpIsrael, where the hacker group vows to erase Israel from the Internet. And as expected this is happening, the first quake came from Turkey-based Marxist hacker group named RedHack and Anonymous, where they targeted Israeli intelligence agency Mossad and breached personal data of 35K officials. Operation Israel, was not among those typical rampage of Anonymous, here Anon called other hackers from different part of of the spectrum to join. First it was RedHack who responded, and now the Muslim Liberation Army lead by Pakistani hacker Hitcher, along with Kosova Hacker's Security & few other Albanian hacker's community joined #OpIsrael. 

Yesterday it was Hitcher from Muslim Liberation Army (MLA) who targeted Israel’s Ministry of National Infrastructures (MNI). The hacker managed to breach the server of Israel Ministry and defaced several website belongs to Israel Ministry of Infrastructures. The attack took place at yesterday late night, but still at the time of writing the news, several Israel MNI websites are not performing. Not only MNI, as per sources several other high profile and Israeli government sites have also been taken down in this round attack. While covering this hack of Hitcher, we must have to recap the previous hack of  Pakistan hackers who are constantly against Israel (for Gaza issue) causing massive cyber attack against leading IT industry of Israel and other high profile Israeli sites. Just a couple of months ago, the world seen what it call the black day in the history if Israeli cyber space where another Pak hackers community hacked the main domain controller of Israel, which causes a massive hack against almost all the big Israeli sites such as government, MSN, Bing, Live, Skype, Microsoft Store, BBC, CNN, Coca-Colla, XBOX, Windows, Intel & many more. 

During the hacking rampage, Hitcher delivered the following message - 

“We are outraged at the Palestine present condition and the Illegal occupation of Palestinian Land By the Zionist Israelis. This attack is in response to the Injustice against the Palestinian people. Occupied Palestinian land under the guise of residential settlements are being increased. Palestinians are deprived of their basic human rights. International Aid workers are stopped from providing any humanitarian assistance to the people. The International community and media is not allowed to bring facts to world as due to strict restrictions” 

On the other hand, Kosova Hacker's Security along with few other Albanian hacker's community performed, what it called a demolishing cyber attack, that caused huge damage to the Israeli cyber space. During the attack Kosova Hacker's Security also known as KHS hit several important Israeli government & commercial websites such as  Civil Aviation Authority, Israel Police, Ministry of Health and many more. KHS caused damage to those websites, not by doing defacement by causing data leak. KHS hacked and exposed thousands of sensitive data, including full name, email-id, passwords and other confidential information of those said Israeli websites. All those leaked data have been made available by the hackers in a website called pentagoncrew.com All those hacks have been performed under the banner of Operation Israel also dubbed #OpIsrael for the cause of Gaza. For instance, here we can recap the hack of Kosova Hackers Security (KHS) where they hacked and exposed personal data of 35,000 Israeli people. 

At conclusion, we want to say that, at the time when Anonymous first called Operation Israel, Israeli government presumed that they have taken the threat very seriously and from the government end it has been  stated that they will take almost every steps to avoid any kind of disaster. Now after observing the above scenario it is clear that Israel Government have completely failed to protect their cyber space, in spite of having precaution. Also another thing get spot light, that is different hackers community have already came under a single shade in order to hit Israel against Gaza & Palestine issue. Today is the historical 7th April, I mean the day which Anonymous promised to erase Israel from the Internet. So the clock is running, lets see what more is about to come.  for the time stay tuned with VOGH to get all the latest update on this story and also other cyber issues. 

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#OpPhilippines - Anonymous Hacked & Defaced Several Philippine Govt Sites

#OpPhilippines -Anonymous Hacked & Defaced Several Philippine Govt Sites 

When the topic or act of Internet surveillance or Internet privacy rises its head, every time the Hacktivist group Anonymous stand against it. Earlier the world seen not only Anonymous but also hackers from different of the world joined in the protest against controversial act like SOPA, PIPA, ACTA or CISPA. Quit similar scenario happens to Philippines, as soon as the anti-cybercrime law get passed, immediately hackers shown a massive protest against it. The cyber fence of Philippine was heavily disturbed since Wednesday. At the very first stage of the attack the hacker group calling themselves "Anonymous Philippines" targeted several government, civil society and other private websites of Philippine and defaced them. This ongoing cyber attack against Philippine have been dubbed as Operation Philippine (#OpPhilippines)

As of Wednesday midnight, the website of Bangko Sentralng Pilipinas, Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, the American Chamber of Commerce, and the Philippine Anti-Piracy Team succumbed to the cyber-attacks. The websites of the anti-smoking campaign unit of the Department of Health and think tank Institute for Development and Econometric Analysis followed suit, bringing to six the number of websites attacked. One hactivist announced the challenge to commit cyber-crime in social networking site Facebook by a user #pR.isOn3r.  The post hinted in its footnote that the BSP website was a target.

“Challenge Accepted,” the hacktivist said. “If speaking up against idiocy in government and unconstitutional amendments is a crime, then I am PROUD TO BE A CYBER CRIMINAL.”

“We are anonymous. We are Legion. United as one. Divided by none,” the hacktivist said. “The corrupt fear us. The honest support us. The heroic join us. Expect us.”

This attack followed by few more Govt sites and they are- National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), Philippine Information Agency (PIA) and the Food Development Center sites. 

Message of the Hacker on Deface Page:- 

“This domain name associated with GOV.PH has been seized pursuant to an order issued by Anonymous Philippines,

“A federal grand jury has indicated several individuals and entities allegedly involved in the operation of this website / department / office charging them with the following federal crimes: Conspiracy, Violations of Human Rights, Corruption, Copyright infringement, Money Laundering, PIRACY, Misuse of Devices, Libel, Plagiarism, and Destruction of Freedom of Speech.”

The attack is yet not over, The government portal of  Philippine also faced cyber attack. A twitter account which is recognized as one of of legitimate of source of hacker collective anonymous, took responsibility of engaging denial of service (DoS) attack against www.gov.ph 

"Anonymous Operation Philippines | Target: DOWN | http://www.gov.ph  | #Anonymous #OpPhilippines #FuckTheCyberCrimeLaw #Freedom  |" said the hacker, in his twitter

-Source (inquirer.net)

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Anonymous Targeted Mexican Defense, Navy & Ministry Websites

Anonymous Targeted Mexican Defense, Navy & Ministry Websites 

The whole cyber world can be the witness of bitter relation between hacker collective group Anonymous and the Mexican government. We those who used to observe the cyber domain have already seen several protest campaign came from Anonymous against Mexico, whether it was the Pope or Mexican Drug Cartels or Mexican Govt. sponsored bus organization. Here again the same thing get repeated when the infamous Anonymous targeted  several web sites of Mexico’s defense and navy departments. 

The name of the group "Anonymous Mexico" was visible on the website in front of a black background, with phrases from the manifesto of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN). The group MexicanH Team, which identified itself as part of Anonymous Mexico, said on Twitter that it had hacked and "defaced" the ministry website. In another Twitter account, the group Anonymous Hispano, which uses the handle @anonophispano, claimed that "the entire content" of the defense ministry server was hacked and that it will be "released soon." 

“Brothers and sisters, let’s raise our voices for a Mexico free of corruption, free of crime,” the message said. “Let’s show the world that were are one, we are everyone. We are anonymous. We are legion. We don’t forgive. We don’t forget. Wait for us!” -added by the hacker. 

In response of hacking, the Defense Ministry responded that its website was “momentarily out of service” but did not explain why and did not refer to the hacking claim. But on the other hand the Mexican Navy accommodated the cyber attack and said that- its web site was targeted only by a simple denial-of-service, attack and that no sensitive information was compromised. Later Sedena issued a statement hours later saying that while its Web site was indeed temporarily down, but the department’s internal information and communication systems were “functioning with complete normality.” And After couple of hours all the services and website came back live with proper functionality. 

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HostGator India Hacked & Defaced By Indian Hacker Group Named "Cyber Rog"

HostGator India Hacked & Defaced By Indian Hacker Group Named "Cyber Rog"

In the cyber space no one is secured, whether its a defense organization, govt sector, federal authorities, giant IT company or even a hosting provider. The famous line "Security is an Illusion" is quite true, and it happens to one of the giant of web hosting provider "HostGator." It was the Indian domain of HostGator which have fallen victim in front of hackers. Few Indian hackers calling them selves "Cyber Rog" breached the tight security system of HostGator, not only that, but also the hackers uploaded his deface page in order to give some message to this giant hosting provider. "Let look at your face, you get pawned man" -said  those hackers from Cyber Rog. They also vows to hit back while saying "Secure your website, next time we will be back." At the end the hacker group made a satire while camouflaging them selves while saying "We are Anonymous" followed by a funny symbol. Immediately after this massacre get spotted the HostGator team restored the site and deleted the hackers page as shown in the picture below.

But you can still view the deface page from a mirror site called "Legend-H" Such matter is deferentially shameful for company like HostGator  who had passed the 200,000 mark in registered domains in 2008 and now that number has touched 80,00,000. 

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The EU is Launching "European Cybercrime Centre" To Fight Against Cyber Threats

The European Commission is Launching "European Cybercrime Centre" To Fight Against Cyber Threats

The rise of cyber-crime and cyber-crminals are on the high node. According to a statistic more than 1m people are victims of cybercrime across the globe each day. It says the cost of cybercrime could reach US$388bn worldwide. To fight against rising cyber-crime The European Commission is proposing to set up a European Cybercrime Centre in the Hague to focus on online fraud, e-crime and identity theft. As for the European Cybercrime Centre, the commission is proposing to set it up within the European Police Office, Europol in The Hague in The Netherlands. According to the official release of European Commission - The EU plans to tackle this with a new European Cybercrime Centre , which would warn EU countries of major threats and alert them to weaknesses in their online defences. It would also identify criminal networks and prominent offenders, and provide support during investigations. The centre will use information from the public domain, industry, the police and academia to assist cybercrime investigators, prosecutors and judges.
Anyone can be a victim of cybercrime – it includes:

•   Online identity theft

•   Computer fraud

•   Credit card scams

•   Sexual exploitation of children

•   Hijacking of web accounts

•   Attacks on public or private IT systems

And this type of crime is increasing. Around 600,000 Facebook accounts need blocking every day after hacking attempts. In Belgium alone, internet fraud rose from just over 4,000 cases in 2008 to over 7,000 in 2010. And in the UK, bank account takeovers shot up by 207% between 2008 and 2009. A crackdown on cybercrime will help to increase confidence in e-banking and online booking, and will save millions of euros – a 2011 study put the global cost of cybercrime at €85-291bn. Unfortunately, very few of the perpetrators are currently caught. The pan-EU nature of the centre would ensure that threats are passed on quickly to other EU countries. If someone in Lithuania reports that their bank account has been accessed illegally, it could be linked quickly to similar incidents anywhere from Greece to Ireland, allowing the centre to immediately alert all EU countries to the threat.

Cybercrime Statistics (European Commission analysis):-  

• By 2011, nearly 73pc of European households had internet access at home.

• In 2010, more than 36pc of EU citizens were banking online.

• 80pc of young Europeans connect through online social networks.

• Circa US$8trn exchanges hands globally each year in e-commerce.

• Credit card details can be sold between organised crime groups for as little as €1 per card, a counterfeited physical credit card for around €140 and bank credentials for as little as €60.

• Up to 600,000 Facebook accounts are blocked every day, after hacking attempts.

The commission said the centre will fuse information from open sources, private industry, police and academia, as well as serving as a platform for European cybercrime investigators, where they can have a collective voice in discussions with the IT industry, private-sector companies, academia, users' associations and civil society organisations.

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