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German Defense Minister von der Leyen’s fingerprint copied by Chaos Computer Club
A speaker at the yearly conference of the Chaos Computer Club has shown how fingerprints can be faked using only a few photographs. To demonstrate, he copied the thumbprint of the German defense minister.
Jan Krissler, also know by his alias “Starbug,” told a conference of hackers he has copied the thumbprint of German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen. Speaking at the 31st annual conference of the Chaos Computer Club in Hamburg, Krissler highlighted the dangers in relying on security technology.
Krissler explained that he didn’t even need an object that von der Leyen had touched to create the copy. Using several close-range photos in order to capture every angle, Krissler used a commercially available software called VeriFinger to create an image of the minister’s fingerprint.
Along with fellow hacker Tobias Fiebig, Krissler has been working at the Technical University of Berlin on research into weaknesses of
Hacker group claims access to 12M Apple device IDs
Computerworld – Hacker group AntiSec has published what it claims is about 1 million unique device identifier numbers (UDIDs) for Apple devices that it said it accessed earlier this year from a computer belonging to an FBI agent.
The group, which is a splinter operation of the Anonymous hacking collective, claims that it has culled more than 12 million UDIDs and personal data linking the devices to users from the FBI computer. AntiSec said it chose to publish a portion of those records to prove it has them.
In an unusually lengthy note on Pastebin, a member of AntiSec said the group had culled some personal data such as full names and cell numbers from the published data. Instead, the group said it published enough information such as device type, device ID and Apple Push Notification Service tokens to let users determine whether their devices are on the list. Apple device owners who want to Read more…
Anonymous ‘may soon be able to hack into power grid’, warns US national security chief
The Anonymous hacking group may soon have the ability to launch an attack on global power networks, a US official has warned.
Anonymous has no official spokesman but the claims were immediately rejected via the YourAnonNews Twitter account, which is often used by the group to announce events and news Photo: EPA/PANTELIS SAITAS
The claim was immediately rejected by the loosely-linked group of hackers, who accused the National Security Agency of “fear-mongering” after its director, General Keith Alexander, made the claims in the Wall Street Journal.
Hackers also launched a “comments flash mob” attack on the newspaper’s website, and warned “We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us!”
Gen Alexander is said to have warned that the hackers could develop the ability to bring about a limited power outage across the United States and beyond within a “year or two”.
In the report, Gen Alexander was said to have briefed the White House and other top officials about the growing threat from Anonymous.
He said that cyber-attackers could disable or damage computer networks linked to national grids across the globe.
The general has not spoken publicly about the supposed fears, but one unnamed industry executive told the Read more…
High-tech devices leave users vulnerable to spies
Spy technology is now available to the average person who wants to glean cellphone information, read private emails and track someone’s location using global positioning systems. And increasingly, experts say, the technologies are being used by spouses and partners to track, harass and stalk.
“Technology has just exploded. It’s so sophisticated now, and it’s very easy to utilize these different technologies to keep tabs on a person and find out where they’re going,” said Gina Pfund, chief assistant prosecutor of the Domestic Violence Unit in Passaic County, N.J.
The person watching or listening is often a family member and frequently a suspicious or controlling partner. They have scanned Facebook pages, viewed online Web-browsing histories, and examined cellphone records for proof. But some take it a step further, planting Read more…
New Cyber Attacks Will Target Power Grids And Major Public Works
Russian turbine before the accident
Image: wikipedia commons
Commander of the new U.S. Cyber Command General Keith Alexander said Tuesday that he’s most concerned about attacks targeting America’s electrical grid, and destroying large public machinery.
Gen. Alexander says cyber-attacks over the Internet are shifting from data theft to physical assaults.
To illustrate his point the General used two examples.
First, he pointed to the 2003 Northeast power outage started by a downed tree branch. Following the initial accident at the pole, the utility company’s Read more…
Hackers may target cars next, McAfee says
(Credit: McAfee/Wind River)Think of it as carjacking for the Digital Age.
The increasingly sophisticated systems running a car may lead to new vulnerabilities, according to a study (PDF) released today from security software provider McAfee in partnership with mobile software provider Wind River and embedded security provider Escrypt. Those systems could allow hackers to take control of the car, track its location, and even access devices that are connected to it, including smartphones and tablets carrying valuable personal data.
The potential threat comes as hackers have increasingly shown a willingness to attack companies, government officials and agencies, and even Hollywood. Hacker groups such as Anonymous have caused headaches as they have stolen and released private information.
Those same threats could arrive in your Read more…
Did China Tip Cyber War Hand?
A programme broadcast on the military channel of China’s state TV raises new questions about Beijing’s support for cyber attacks.
Amid growing US concerns over ongoing Chinese cyber attacks, attribution remains the most complex issue. At the open source level at least, it has been hard to find a ‘smoking cursor.’ That is, until the broadcast of a recent cyber warfare programme on the military channel of China’s state TV network.
The programme appeared to show dated computer screenshots of a Chinese military institute conducting a rudimentary type of cyber attack against a US-based dissident entity. However modest, ambiguous—and, from China’s perspective, defensive—this is possibly the first direct piece of visual evidence from an official Chinese government source to undermine Beijing’s official claims that it never engages in overseas hacking of any kind for government purposes. Clearly, Washington and Beijing have Read more…
Hackers target 72 organisations in ‘biggest cyber attack in history’
Security experts have discovered the biggest series of cyber attacks to date, involving the infiltration of the networks of 72 organisations including the United Nations, governments and companies around the world.
Security company McAfee, which uncovered the intrusions, said it believed there was one “state actor” behind the attacks but declined to name it, though one security expert who has been briefed on the hacking said the evidence points to China.
The long list of victims in the five-year campaign include the governments of the United States, Taiwan, India, South Korea, Vietnam and Canada; the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN); the International Olympic Committee (IOC); the World Anti-Doping Agency; and an array of companies, from defence contractors to high-tech enterprises.
In the case of the United Nations, the hackers broke into the computer system of the UN Secretariat in Geneva in 2008, hid there unnoticed for nearly two years, and quietly combed through reams of secret data, according to McAfee.
“Even we were surprised by the enormous diversity of the victim organizations and were taken aback by the audacity of the perpetrators,” McAfee’s vice president of threat research, Dmitri Alperovitch, wrote in a 14-page report.
“What is happening to all this data Read more…
Anonymous Fires Back at NATO with FBI Hack, Releases 400MB of Their Data
Despite the recent spate of arrests on their side, Anon released 400MB of NATO data courtesy of big-time cybersecurity firm ManTech last night. This is their way of making good on a promise and reiterating that they “aren’t scared anymore”.
You’ll recall that NATO officially condemned Anonymous early last month. Well, as part of their long attack on ManTech, you’ll find a bevy of stolen NATO reports from the past several years, financial charts, and pictures of personnel both on duty and at rest. Pretty big, and this is only a portion of the gig of data they say they’re sitting on.
Anonymous effectively called ManTech’s $100 million contract with the FBI into very loud question. Indeed, ManTech also have contracts with the likes of the DOJ, NSA, and and NASA. All of whom are at risk now that Anon has gotten inside. They end their release with this:
Dear Government and Law Enforcement, we are repeating this message as we have the suspicion you still do not take us seriously: We are not scared anymore and your threats to arrest us are meaningless. We will continue to demonstrate how you fail at about every aspect of cybersecurity while burning hundreds of millions of dollars that you do not even have.
Big gaps in Australia’s cyber defences
Australia has not plugged all the gaps in its online defences despite the threats posed by the rapid rise of cyber espionage and “hacktivism”, a government-commissioned report has found.
The report discusses the results of cyber war games called Cyber Storm, involving Australia and 12 other countries last year, which simulated a large-scale international cyber security incident.
Citing “gaps” in the cyber security procedures of both government and Australian industry, the report’s author, former army intelligence officer Miles Jakeman, noted that there were areas where “communications and planning could be further developed”.
The gaps were acknowledged by the federal Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, during a speech at a cyber security conference in Canberra yesterday.
“[The report] did highlight gaps within existing government and business cyber incident processes … this feedback allows both government and businesses to take steps to improve our cyber security,” he said.
The report is further evidence that the Read more…
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