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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://www.slideshare.net/atheenalie/abney-and-associates-warning-avoid-internet-scams Abney and Associates Warning, Avoid Internet Scams - Ne laissez pas votre désir d'aider les victimes de l'attentat à la bombe de la semaine dernière à Boston à vous transformer en victime de la cybercriminalité. Internet watch groupes et cyber sécurité experts ont déjà identifié plusieurs domaines fausses et les sites Internet en profitant de l'attentat du Marathon de Boston. Les internautes ont besoin d'avoir un oeil critique avant de cliquer sur des liens, visiter des sites Internet ou faire des dons. N'allez pas vers des sites inconnus pour afficher l'événement ou l'information à son sujet. N'envoyez jamais de renseignements de nature délicate sur Internet avant de vérifier la sécurité du site et de confirmer sa légitimité. Méfiez-vous des courriels/sites qui prétendent fournir des renseignements parce qu'ils peuvent contenir des virus. Ne pas ouvrir les e-mails de spam, ou cliquez sur les liens et pièces jointes contenues dans ces messages. Jamais divulguer des informations personnelles ou financières dans l'email. Source: http://crevecoeur.patch.com/articles/creve-coeur-police-warn-of-boston-marathon-donation-scams Watch more: http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/haidee21865-1785823-abney-associates-warning-avoid-internet-scams/ http://www.scribd.com/doc/138032409/Abney-and-Associates-Warning-Avoid-Internet-Scams http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xzbyiz_abney-and-associates-warning-avoid-internet-scams_news#.UXn7b6Knp0a

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-03-27/pune/38068982_1_cyber-criminals-symantec-social-media PUNE: An invitation to a Bollywood Holi party in your inbox may entice you, but there are chances that the slightest carelessness you show in responding to such an email will drain the colour from your face. Cyber goons may be exploiting your festive mood through such 'offers' to rob you of your personal information and money, say experts. Antivirus software and internet security solutions developer Symantec has warned that fake emails and social networking feeds that offer free passes for Bollywood parties or share celebrity updates are likely to proliferate around festive times. "It is that time of the year when social media witnesses a spike in malicious activities; cyber criminals won't miss the opportunity to scam you or steal your personal information," a statement from Symantec has said. Ritesh Chopra, the firm's country sales manager, has said in the release that a user should be careful when clicking on links or responding to notifications and abide by social media etiquettes, which go a long way in securing personal information and reputation online. Chopra said one should keep social media settings private, so that only selected friends can find you and post or respond on your profile. "Using tools such as Safe Web to scan news feeds on Facebook and identify URLs containing security risks such as phishing sites, malicious downloads and links to unsafe internet sites will help," he said. The note said people should be responsible when socialising offline as well, as the risk existed even when users of digital devices are offline. During Holi parties and get-togethers, when everyone is in a playful mood, mobile devices can easily be lost or stolen, putting personal identity and privacy at stake, the statement added. "It is important to set a password to lock the keypad of the device and to make sure mobile security software is up-to-date, Chop

http://www.macaubusinessdaily.com/Society/Experts-issue-warnings-about-internet-security Macau er sårbare over for cyberkriminalitet på grund af mængden af turister og sprede Wi-Fi-dækning, information teknologieksperter mener, og de advarer det brugere til at være ekstra forsigtig om internetsikkerhed. "Du har mere end 25 millioner mennesker besøger Macau årligt og du kan ikke kontrollere alle denne menneskelige trafik," fortalte Universitet af Insubria lov Foredragsholder Giuseppe Vaciago Business Daily i går. "Halvfems procent af disse mennesker er lommepenge og lave transaktioner via internettet, så der er et stort problem med sikkerhedsspørgsmål som hvidvaskning af penge eller svig." Hr. Vaciago og FN 's interregionale kriminalitet og retfærdighed Research Institute project officer Francesca Bosco gennemfører en fem-dages cyberkriminalitet seminar, som begyndte her på mandag. "Jeg er ganske optimistisk over Macaus juridiske instrumenter, som den personlige databeskyttelseslovgivning og ekspertise i forbindelse med det," sagde hr. Vaciago. "Men åbne Wi-Fi kan være et følsomt punkt, især i hoteller," sagde han. "Folk kan nemt glemme sikkerhedsprincipper, åbne Wi-Fi og forbinde med banker til at foretage betalinger, som vil udsætte dem for en masse af mulige risici." Geoffroy Thonon, principal konsulent i Macao Computer Emergency Response Team koordinering centrum, fortalte Business Daily, phishing websites havde været det største problem for organisationer og enkeltpersoner her. Phishing er et forsøg på at erhverve oplysninger af forklædt som en troværdig hjemmeside. "Bankkunder er målrettet," sagde hr. Thonon. "Der er et phishing-websted siger, venligst log ind eller du vil længere kunne få adgang til webstedet, hvor, ja, navnet på den bruger og password få hacket. Dette er sket ganske ofte."

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

Google uitvoerend voorzitter Eric Schmidt geeft regelmatig salie advies inzake technologie en aanverwante onderwerpen zoals privacy en vrijheid van meningsuiting. De woorden van wijsheid die hij tijdens een recent bezoek aan Hongkong aangeboden lijken al niet zo verrassend. Hij zei dat onze economie leunde ook zwaar op de financiën en eigendom en had om te diversifiëren om betere kansen en werkgelegenheid. Kleine bedrijven moest vinden een manier rond hoge huurprijzen om te groeien en de regering moet meer technische universiteiten open zodat onze stad haar concurrentievermogen zou kunnen vergroten. Autoriteiten hebben jarenlang geprobeerd om te bevorderen van nieuwe industrieën om onze economie een nieuwe richting. Het ontbreken van wetenschap, informatietechnologie en engineering graden aan onze universiteiten is waarom zo weinig hi-tech bedrijven hier instelt. We zijn niet langer verbaasd te horen dat de hoge huurprijzen de sluiting van nog een andere favoriet hebben gedwongen winkel of restaurant in onze buurt. Dit zijn de realiteit van het leven in Hong Kong en velen van ons zijn gekomen zonder twijfel overnemen. Het is daarom dat we naar Schmidt luisteren moeten. Als we de problemen van onze samenleving kunnen weten, vaak het moet een waarschuwing van een buitenstaander te schudden ons van onze zelfgenoegzaamheid. De voormalige Google chief executive officer is geen gewone buitenstaander. Behalve dat het een van's werelds rijkste mensen, ranking van 139th op de meest recente lijst van de Forbes van miljardairs met een persoonlijke rijkdom van US$ 8,3 miljard, hoofd hij ook van de tweede-grootste technologie onderneming. Hong Kong gemakkelijk omarmt van nieuwe technologieën en heeft een goed opgeleide bevolking. De hoog ontwikkelde infrastructuur en vrije markt maakt het een ideale plek voor startende ondernemingen. Dat was waarom Schmidt, een softwareingenieur van beroep, op bezoek was. Hij kondigde een partnerschapsprogramma met de Chinese Universiteit

AN Abney Associates News Flash Phishing sites, which masquerade as genuine websites to steal users' personal information, are on the rise in Hong Kong, Microsoft warned on Thursday. Some 6.23 phishing sites were found per 1,000 hosts in the fourth quarter last year, up from 6.01 in the third quarter, according to Microsoft's latest Security Intelligence Report. However, the number of malware infections remained low in the same period. Every 1,000 computers had 2.2 malware infections on average, the report found. Tim Rains, director of product management in Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing group, said the rise could be because Hong Kong is a financial centre and phishing sites masquerade as banking websites to steal information. "The fact that we have a low malware infection rate in Hong Kong, but slightly elevated level of phishing is actually interesting," he said. He said the reason could be that the attackers were using a smaller number of compromised systems in Hong Kong to do more phishing than other attacks. Roy Ko Wai-tak, manager of Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Centre, said websites of small and medium enterprises were often hijacked by attackers to build phishing sites - which pose as big corporations - because of poor cyber security. Rains also said the most common malware is called keygen, which comes with key generators that produce serial numbers required to run piracy software. Ko said it showed that Hong Kong people still continue to use piracy software. The report, which also found that 2.5 out of 10 computers on average did not have up-to-date antivirus software in the city, was based on data from over 600 million computers worldwide using Microsoft's products. The number of Hong Kong computers was unknown at the time of going to press. AN Abney Associates News Flash READ MORE: http://mariahabney.weebly.com/ http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xz5ub4_online-attempts-to-steal-personal-information-on-the-rise-i

http://www.instructables.com/community/Abney-And-Associates-Hong-Kong-News-Behance/ Do you constantly check your cell phone for e-mail alerts, news updates, and the weather? If so, you could be one of the 66 percent of people who suffer from "no mobile phone phobia" - nomophobia - the fear of being without a cell or mobile phone, says SecurEnvoy, a UK-based Internet security and mobile technology firm who conducted the survey. Living in a revolutionizing digital age where everything is fast, instant and, most importantly, on-the-go, people are disengaged from having one-on-one face interactions. While Apple applications like FaceTime, and the program Skype help reinforce personal connections, the unhealthy usage of cell phone devices continues to escalate. According to the Morningside Recovery Rehabilitation Center, the average American spends 144 minutes a day using their phone. For those who suffer from nomopohbia, the fear of being disconnected from the virtual world is heightened when they are restrained from checking their phone. The lives of cell phone addicts are so contingent on their need to feel socially connected on their phones that without mobile technology, they begin to express a sense of vulnerability that can trigger certain moods and behaviors. "Cellphones are addictive in the same way slot machines are," said Dr. Fran Walfish, child, couple, and family psychotherapist and author in Beverly Hills, Calif., to Medical Daily. "The immediacy of response, gratification, and excitation combine to make the user want more and want more now." This type of addictive behavior can be explained in a situation where a person is dining by themselves. Despite no sounds or alerts coming from the cellphone, addicts will take out their phones from their pocket and start to press buttons or scan their phones with their fingers for a sense of safety and security. While back-and-forth communication through text or e-mail is seen as a threat to replacing nose-to-no