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Source: http://www.itworldcanada.com/news/u-s-agency-kills-hardware-over-routine-malware-warning/147365 The U.S. Economic Development Administration destroyed $170,000 in computers, keyboards, printers and mice over a routine malware infection. A lack of funding prevented the agency from throwing out its remaining $3 million in IT inventory An almost farcical series of miscommunications led to the destruction of $170,000 worth of IT gear by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration over a routine malware warning, and it was only a lack of budget that stopped the agency from throwing out another $3 million in hardware. The comedy of errors not only points up a lack of communication between agencies, but also a fundamental misunderstanding of technology. RELATED CONTENT Phising, E-mail en Internet oplichting: http://www.wattpad.com/12260034-abney-and-associates-hong-kong-shares-trim-strong#.UdrHpvlgdhw The upcoming cyber-security threat cycle: http://abneyandassociates.tumblr.com/ The timeline of the fiasco runs something like this: * In December 2011, the Department of Homeland Security (those guys who told the entire North American population to disable Java on its computers) warns the Commerce Department of a potential compromise of its systems. * The Commerce Department identifies the potentially compromised computers as belonging to the Economic Development Administration. Its warning to the EDA names accidentally names 146 systems as being compromised, when in fact, the number is only two. * A follow-up warning tells the EDA that only two systems are compromised, but in classic CYA fashion, does not clearly point out that the first warning was erroneous. * The EDA treats the follow-up as a confirmation of the first warning and proceeds on the understanding that 146 systems are compromised. The EDA commissions a forensic analysis of the two systems identified by Commerce and confirms that they are infected with malware. * Comm

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2013%2F3%2F17%2Fnation%2F20130317162220&sec=nation PETALING JAYA: Waging cyber war, even if done in the name of Malaysia, is still a crime. National Security Council (NSC) secretary Datuk Mohamed Thajudeen Abdul Wahab (pic) said that Malaysia outlawed cyber attacks and that anyone caught doing so, would be punished. "In Malaysia, cyber hacking is a criminal offense against the laws of the country, irrespective of whether the it has been committed by citizens or by foreigners," he said. Mohamed was referring to the three-day cyber war between Malaysian and Filipino hackers from Mac 1 to 4. Malaysian hackers first attacked Filipino Government and private websites, hours after after Sulu gunmen and security forces clashed outside Kampung Tanduo in Lahad Datu. Filipino hackers responded in kind, and up to two hundred websites belonging to both countries were defaced before a "ceasefire" was called. Mohamed said 36 local private websites were defaced, though he was mum about how many Government ones were affected. He said that NSC alerted "critical agencies" as soon as the attacks started. "None of these critical websites suffered any major problem," he said, adding that Government sites were in the past, vulnerable to attacks. Mohamed added that it was not easy to pinpoint the attacks, though he confirmed that neither Government was involved. "We understand that the Philippine side suffered a bigger problem compared to the Malaysian side," he said. Mohamed said that it was up to the Attorney-General to take action against hackers, adding that locals could be tracked "eventually", if not immediately. "Tracking attackers from the Philippine side would require close cooperation with the authorities there," he said. Hackers can be charged under Section 4 of the Computer Crimes Act 1997, which carries a fine of not more than RM150,000, a jail term of not more than 10 years or both. "Whe

Internet Reviews Abney Associates Blog Articles The US Federal Trade Commission has carried out a huge international crackdown on a number of "tech support" scams being run out of India which have conned people in the UK, US, Canada and elsewhere out of millions of pounds since 2008. As explained by the Guardian in 2010, the scams used "boiler room" tactics, dialling through phone books for English-speaking countries. People who answered the phone were told the call came from Microsoft or their internet service provider, and that the person's computer was "reporting viruses". The caller would then perform an unnecessary "fix" on the computer and charge the person for it - and sometimes sign them up to multi-year "support" contracts. The cost could run to hundreds of pounds. People in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand were targeted because they, like the people carrying out the scam, are English-speaking. The Guardian understands that the scam was worth millions of pounds a year to the organised gangs carrying it out. At the FTC's request in six cases, a federal district judge froze the US assets of 17 people and 14 companies that have been accused of taking part in the operations. The FTC has also shut down 80 internet domain names and 130 phone numbers used in the US to carry out the scams. The FTC is seeking an end to the scams, and repayments for people who were conned out of money. Though the FTC said it could not put a figure on how many people had been scammed, or how much they had lost, Microsoft - which has been working with the commission for the past two years to try to catch the criminals - provided data on more than a thousand people who had been scammed, whose losses averaged $875 each. Microsoft has repeatedly pointed out that it would not call people about any problems with their computers. In some cases, the scammers would try to sell antivirus software from reputable companies, and in some cases would install new copies of Windows