With all of these data security breaches lately, customers of Amazon and Turbo Tax are letting me know they're concerned.

But do they need to be?

Let's take a look at the Amazon issue first.

Nicki from the West Valley, emailed about a deal she was making on Craigslist.
She was looking for a motor home and found one for a good price.

Then she got this email from the seller saying she wanted to use Amazon payments for the transfer of money.

Here's part of the email:

"I had prearranged the deal with Amazon FPS. The trailer is located at Amazon's shipping company, ready to be delivered. It will arrive at your address in 3 days. You will have 5 days to test it and inspect the motorhome and if by any reason you find something you don't like about it you can send it back at my expense but I'm sure will not be the case.

If you are interested in knowing more info about how it works, I can ask Amazon to send you an email with more information on how to purchase it. Amazon will contact you shortly after they have the details with all the information that you need to complete this deal and you will also have proof that I am covered by them and a legitimate seller. If you would like to receive the email from Amazon with all the transaction information go on Amazon Payments by clicking on this link."

Amazon payments are a legitimate site.

We sent Nicki's concerns to Amazon. They say it appears this site is a scam.

Here's Amazon's statement to us:

"Thank you for bringing this to our attention. The URL in your email is not owned or operated by Amazon.com or any of its affiliates. The site appears to be a scam and Amazon will take immediate steps to have it taken down. We also encourage any victims of these types of phishing scams to contact law enforcement.

"Amazon Payments was designed to help millions of Amazon customers securely pay on a third party website or mobile site with the information already stored in their Amazon account. When you click on 'Login with Amazon' or 'Pay with Amazon' the login page or pop-up window should only ask for your Amazon credentials (email address and password) and the URL should read either: payments.amazon.com or amazon.com. We will not ask you for your shipping or credit card information outside of the secure Amazon.com site. Customers trust Amazon with their payment information and we take that responsibility very seriously.

"There is more Amazon Payments security information here. We also encourage our customers to review the Amazon FAQ on phishing and Internet scams here. Please send any concerns to stop-spoofing@amazon.com."

So Nicki's email to us may have saved others from getting scammed.

Make sure to check your credit report for any activity you don't recognize.

http://www.livemint.com/Consumer/fGAUk3XyZ0JqrZeQ467cHI/Cyber-security-market-may-reach-870-million-by-2017-report.html

Cyber sécurité marché peut atteindre 870 millions $ d'ici 2017 : rapport, abney and associates cyber security

Environ 25 % des ordinateurs infectés par le bot en Inde étaient situés dans les villes de niveau-II, selon un rapport de Symantec

Mumbai : Marché mondial des solutions de sécurité de cyber peut croître à 870 millions $ d'ici 2017, affirme la firme de recherche IDC.

Les cybercriminels utilisent des milliers d'ordinateurs en réseau (botnets) « effacer » un site Web de diriger la circulation excessive, faisant se crash. Ces attaques sont souvent désignées comme un refus de service (distribué DDoS). Selon IDC, il y avait une forte augmentation dans la fréquence, de volume et de l'orientation de ces attentats sur les sites Web des principales sociétés financières et d'autres organisations l'an dernier.

"Que les attaques ont fait un bond dans la prévalence et de la sophistication, les organisations ont souvent prises au dépourvu. Capacités embarquées ont été rapidement débordées et pannes étaient facilement visible sur le Web,"IDC vice président (recherche de produits de sécurité et de Services) Christian Christiansen a déclaré dans un communiqué.

C'est le moteur de la demande de solutions proactives. « Le marché mondial des solutions de prévention DDoS va croître par un taux de croissance annuel composé (TCAC) de 18,2 % par rapport à 2012 jusqu'en 2017 et atteindre 870 millions $», il ajouté.

Expansion des services en nuage et les réseaux mobiles pourrait créer des cibles pour des attaques DDoS. Alors que les pare-feu, protection contre les intrusions et les autres périphériques peuvent atténuer les attaques de bas niveau, grandes attaques volumétriques peuvent être un problème car elles peuvent être incapables de séparer légitime de trafic illégitime.

Selon le fournisseur de solutions de sécurité Symantec, à la fin des années 1990, réseaux de machines zombies ont été utilisés pour frapper des sites Web en mode hors connexion, ce qui les rend inutilisables pour les clients - souvent empêcher de commerce électronique.

En 2007, Internet en Estonie a été fermé en raison d'attaques par le biais de botnet. La Géorgie a été sévèrement désactivée par les botnets en 2008.

Réseaux d'ordinateurs « zombies » fleurissent à travers le monde, et l'Inde est un des pays plus infectés.

Environ 25 % des ordinateurs infectés par le bot en Inde étaient situés dans les villes de niveau-II, selon Symantec Internet Security menace rapport XVII l'année dernière.

Alors que les organisations doivent s'engager avec leur fournisseur de Service Internet (FSI) et investir dans des solutions, aussi les consommateurs doivent veiller à ce que leur solution de sécurité est mis à jour pour prévenir de telles attaques, a déclaré Symantec.

Cyber sécurité marché peut atteindre 870 millions $ d'ici 2017 : rapport, abney and associates cyber security

[ Articles connexes: http://www.wattpad.com/12561607-abney-associates-hong-kong-technology-news-topp and http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xxuh61_internet-warning-abney-associates-review-hong-kong_news#.UVqzqRdTDCY ]

http://www.good.is/posts/yahoo-s-email-system-hacked-by-criminal-spammers

Yahoo!'s email system hacked by criminal spammers abney associates news

As the world's third largest email provider recovers from a hack attack, Technology Producer Geoff White has the details of the scam and how Yahoo! users can protect themselves.

Yahoo!'s email system has been hacked by criminals who have hijacked users' accounts for a global spam email campaign.

The FBI has moved to shut down the operation after a Channel 4 News investigation revealed accounts around the world had been broken into. We understand the hacker lives in the Russian Federation.

Yahoo!, the world's third largest email provider, was hacked in January and claimed it had fixed the problem. But this new vulnerability has raised fresh concerns about security at the internet giant.

Suspicious log-ins

From as early as 1 March Yahoo! users' accounts began to show suspicious log-ins, apparently from a mobile phone, from locations around the world.

Within a minute of the hacker logging in, the users' mailboxes had been hijacked and used to send spam email. The hackers covered their tracks to leave their victims none the wiser.

Holly Willis was one of many victims. "It looks like there was a log-in to my account from Romania - but I've never been there," she said. "The first I knew of it was when people started contacting me asking why I'd sent them strange emails.

"I do have friends and family who don't use computers that often. They see an email from me, they trust me, so they click on the link. I feel terrible that I might have led to people's computers being compromised."

Yahoo's automated systems highlighted the suspicious log-ins, but three weeks later it seems the company has been unable to stop the attacks and has not informed its customers of the problem. It has around 13m UK users.

We're committed to protecting our users and their data

Yahoo spokeman

Until today, the company's Twitter feed has for the past month carried the same message: a link to a safety update from last July which does not mention the email flaw.

When first approached for comment, Yahoo issued a statement relating to the January hack. When asked for an updated response, a Yahoo! spokesman said: "We take data protection very seriously and are currently investigating reports that some Yahoo! Mail accounts may have been compromised."

Random recipients

Once inside a user's account, the criminal sent an email containing a single web address to a handful of the victim's contacts - seemingly chosen at random from emails they have sent or received.

The links appear to lead to a legitimate website, but in fact, those legitimate websites have themselves been hacked. The spam link leads to a hidden page on the legitimate website, which immediately redirects to the hacker's website - a get-rich-quick scheme which promises thousands of dollars of income before asking for a credit card payment.

But Spamhaus, a UK organisation which tracks spammers, believes the website may also have contained a trojan - malicious code which can infect the computers of those who visit it.

"A trojan is a piece of software which is transferred silently from the criminal's computer to yours," said Richard Cox of Spamhaus. "It changes the settings on your computer, reduces its security, and it can allow the criminal to track the keystrokes you make, for example when logging into your bank account."

The hacker's site is based on a server in California, and following Channel 4 News's investigation the FBI has moved in to shut it down and seize the vital evidence it holds, in the hope of tracing the culprit.

Channel 4 News is not naming the suspected hacker, but we understand he is based in the Russian Federation and has a long history of computer crime.

"He's been involved in cyber-crime over a number of years. We've built up quite a comprehensive file on him. If it's handled correctly, the chances of an arrest are high," said Cox.

If you think you've been affected, Channel 4 News's technology producer Geoff White would like to hear from you - you can find him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/geoffwhite247.

How to protect yourself

 Change your Yahoo email password immediately. A strong password includes upper and lower case letters and numbers, and should be unique to the account. Non-dictionary words are best: for example, take the first letter from each word in a line from your favourite song.
 Check for suspicious log-ins to your Yahoo account here.
 Spam links take the form of a legitimate web address followed by random code - for example: www.legitimatesite.com/afafn9234/?21qwerp. Do not click on the link.
 If you did click on the link, update your anti-virus software and run a virus check.
 Yahoo gives good security advice here and here.

Yahoo!'s email system hacked by criminal spammers abney associates news

Related Articles: http://abneyassoc.wordpress.com/ and http://www.sunzu.com/articles/abney-and-associates-cybercrime-be-wary-of-public-wi-fi-while-on-vacation-facebook/

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/09/us-spain-bad-bank-idUSBRE91808G20130209

an abney associates blog

(Reuters) - Spain's so-called 'bad bank', Sareb, has rejected overtures from investment funds Cerebrus, Fortress and Centerbridge to enter into its capital because they were asking for advantages over other shareholders, a source with knowledge of the matter said on Saturday.
"They asked for privileges when it came to buying the assets, and Sareb rejected that offer," the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity said. "Sareb has a commitment to treat all shareholders the same."
Sareb declined to comment. None of the three funds could be reached for comment and neither the Bank of Spain nor the Economy Minister could confirm the matter.
Spain set up the bad bank to hive off rotten real estate assets dating from a property crash from lenders' balance sheets as a condition of receiving around 40 billion euros ($54 billion) of European money to bail out ailing banks.
The head of Sareb, Belen Romana, sent a letter to the three funds on Friday declining their entry into the bad bank's capital, but leaving the door open for further talks, Expansion newspaper reported on Saturday.
The funds wanted first choice on buying portfolios of finished buildings and on supplying services to the bad bank, the paper said.
Sareb took on 37 billion euros worth of troubled real estate assets at the end of December from four nationalized banks, including Bankia (BKIA.MC)
an abney associates blog

http://www.slideboom.com/presentations/688211/Android-befall-iOS-in-popularity-in-Singapore,-HK

internet technology by abney and associates

When it comes to Smartphones, It is clearly a battle between Android and iOS. But signs are emerging that Apple might be loosing grip in the two Asian markets.
Conforming to Reuters report, most of the well-off smartphone users in Singapore and Hong Kong are turning to Android handsets, mostly Samsung, rather than iOS of Apple. The trouble that iPhone is their desire to be different that causing them as weakness and in turn an advantage to competing device.

Reuters states that Apple's share of mobile devices in Singapore-iPad and iPhone-fell from a peak of 72 percent in January 2012 to 50 percent this month. As for Android devices, they now account for 43 percent of the market, up from 20 percent in the same month last year.
Hong Kong shows no different aftereffect, iOS devices declined from 45 percent to 30 percent in a year, while Android accounts for about two-thirds of smartphones used.
These findings are not surprising at all, maybe not foreseen but definitely not shocking. We are used to long lines for the new iPhone but we are seeing longer lines for the Samsung Galaxy S III and Note II LTE in Singapore.
With the support of our familiarity, we can safely claim that the interest in the apparent S4 will surely come as another hit in the market for the coming months.

internet technology by abney and associates

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