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IDG News Service - The mastermind behind one of the biggest hacking paydays in history has been sentenced to four years’ probation and an US$8.9 million fine, according to published reports.
Victor Pleshchuk, 28, was sentenced to four years’ probation on Wednesday, according to Bloomberg News. He is considered the leader of a group of criminals who organized a 2008 precision strike on RBS WorldPay, the payment processing division of the Royal Bank of Scotland.
In addition to the reduced sentence of probation, Pleshchuk must also pay back more than 275 million rubles ($8.9 million) to RBS WorldPay, Bloomberg reports.
Russia is trying to fight a reputation for being soft on cybercrime, but this light sentence won’t do much to change that perception. Security experts say that Pleshchuk falls into the same category of highly accomplished cybercriminals as Albert Gonzalez, best known
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A number of distinct developments brought about the current authentication schemes we see in networks today.
In the ’70s, the creators of UNIX recognized that in order to give a number of individuals in the enterprise access to a collection of machines connected to a single network, the enterprise would have to give each individual an account. This account would require access rights, which we recognize today as the username/password combination. It’s a pattern that was started by the technical community, one that has become the world’s most common authentication scheme and a mainstay of modern life.
By the ’80s, the individual had a machine sitting on her desk, and it was connected to an enterprise network, which gave her access to networked machines throughout the building. But because all of those machines were physically located within the building, guaranteeing the enterprises security was a relatively simple… Read the rest
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The federal agency in charge of protecting other agencies from computer intruders was found riddled with hundreds of high-risk security holes on its own systems, according to the results of an audit released Wednesday.
The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team, or US-CERT, monitors the Einstein intrusion detection sensors on non-military government networks, and helps other civil agencies respond to hack-attacks. It also issues alerts on the latest software security holes, so that everyone from the White House to the FAA can react quickly to install workarounds and patches.
But in a case of physician, heal thyself, the agency — which forms the operational arm of DHS’s National Cyber Security Division, or NCSD — failed to keep its own systems up to date with the latest software patches. Auditors working for DHS’s inspector general ran a sweep of US-CERT using the vulnerability scanner Nessus and turned… Read the rest
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Computerworld - Adobe today warned users that attacks have begun exploiting an unpatched bug in its popular Reader and Acrobat PDF viewing and creation software.
The company issued an advisory on short notice today, saying that it had learned of in-the-wild attacks only on Tuesday.
“A critical vulnerability exists in Adobe Reader 9.3.4 and earlier versions for Windows, Macintosh and UNIX, and Adobe Acrobat 9.3.4 and earlier versions for Windows and Macintosh,” Adobe’s warning read. This vulnerability could cause a crash and potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system.
“Adobe is in the process of evaluating the schedule for an update to resolve this vulnerability,” the advisory added.
Other than to say that “at this point, [attacks] appear to be limited,” Adobe offered little information on the bug today.
But Mila Parkour, the independent security researcher who reported
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Binyam Mohamed, a British resident, is among five plaintiffs who claim CIA torture
Citing the Obama administration’s evocation of the state secrets privilege, a divided federal appeals court agreed Wednesday to toss a lawsuit against a Boeing subsidiary accused of helping the CIA transport detainees to secret foreign prisons where they allegedly were tortured.
Ruling 6-5, a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it was bound by a 1953 Supreme Court precedent requiring judges to dismiss cases if litigating them could expose government secrets and imperil national security.
“This case requires us to address the difficult balance the state secrets doctrine strikes between fundamental principles of our liberty, including justice, transparency, accountability and national security,” Judge Raymond Fisher wrote for the majority. “Although as judges we strive to honor all of these principles, there are times when exceptional circumstances create an… Read the rest
