Businesses risk losing over $1 trillion from loss or theft of data and other cybercrime, according to a study released on Thursday by security technology firm McAfee. The California-based company launched the survey after detecting a rapid acceleration of malicious software, or "malware," last year, CEO David DeWalt told Reuters.
Internet Helps Spread Warnings About Ponzi Schemes
The Internet is offering early warning signs, and in some cases filling a regulatory void, as the year-long recession exposes growing numbers of multimillion-dollar Ponzi schemes that pay older investors with money from new clients.
News Groups Urge Court to Stream Downloading Case
Fourteen news organizations, including The Associated Press and The New York Times Co., are urging an appeals court to allow online streaming of oral arguments in a music downloading lawsuit the recording industry filed against a Boston University graduate student. A brief filed in the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals argues that allowing audiovisual webcasting of the case is in the public interest.
Microsoft Sues Ex-Worker Over Confidential Data
Microsoft Corp. is suing a former employee, claiming that he applied for a job at the company under false pretenses and then used his role at Microsoft to gain access to confidential data related to patent litigation he is now waging. Miki Mullor was hired by Microsoft in November 2005, after stating in his job application he was a former employee at Ancora Technologies, a Sammamish software development company that he said had gone out of business.
Justice Department Hoax Tests Employees' Security
The Justice Department doesn't have to look far to find a scam that preys on people whose retirement plans have been crippled by the global financial meltdown. It designed one of its own. And e-mailed it to agency employees.
Programmer Pleads Not Guilty in Fannie Mae Case
A 35-year-old computer programer pleaded not guilty to charges that he planted a computer virus designed to destroy all the data on 4,000 Fannie Mae computer servers the day he was fired from the company. Rajendrasinh Babubhai Makwana, an Indian citizen who had been working as a contractor employee at Fannie Mae's facility in Urbana, Maryland, was indicted on Tuesday by a federal grand jury for computer intrusion.
Financial Woes Prompt Surge in Online Scams
Cybercriminals have launched a massive new wave of Internet-based schemes to steal personal data and carry out financial scams in an effort to take advantage of the fear and confusion created by tumbling financial markets, security specialists say. The schemes -- often involving online promotions touting fake computer virus protection, get-rich scams and funny or lurid videos -- already were rising last fall when financial markets took a dive.
Britian Plans to Support Fight Against Online Piracy
The British government outlined plans to bring broadband Internet service to every home in Britain by 2012, and proposed ways to support the music industry and other media businesses by cracking down on online piracy. The communications minister, Stephen Carter, is eager for the media, telecommunications and technology sectors to pick up part of the slack as other parts of the British economy, including financial services, decline.
Jailed South Korean Blogger Requests Bail
A South Korean blogger charged with spreading false information has requested bail and said his arrest was unconstitutional, a lawyer said. The 30-year-old man -- identified in court documents as Park Dae-sung -- was charged with posting a blog in December that said the government had banned major financial institutions and trade businesses from buying U.S. dollars.
Company Acquires Trasmeta's Patent Portfolio
Intellectual Ventures has acquired the patent portfolio of Transmeta, an erstwhile supplier of low-power Intel-compatible x86 processors. Intellectual Venture Funding, an affiliate of Intellectual Ventures, has picked up 140 U.S. patents and additional pending patent applications owned by Transmeta, which was acquired by privately held Novafora in November of last year.
Google Plan Would Let Customers See Net Filtering
Google unveiled a plan aimed at eventually letting computer users determine whether providers like Comcast are inappropriately blocking or slowing their work online. The scheme is the latest bid in the debate over network neutrality, which pits content companies like Google against some Internet service providers.
AT&T, Comcast May Cooperate with Music Industry
AT&T and Comcast, two of the nation's largest Internet service providers, are expected to be among a group of ISPs that will cooperate with the music industry in battling illegal file sharing, three sources close to the companies told CNET News. The Recording Industry Association of America, the lobbying group representing the four largest recording companies, said last month that it had enlisted the help of ISPs as part of a new antipiracy campaign.
Heartland Payment Processor Sued Over Data Breach
Payment processor Heartland Payment Systems has been sued over a data breach it disclosed publicly on Inauguration Day. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Trenton, N.J., alleges that Heartland failed to adequately safeguard the compromised consumer data, did not notify consumers about the breach in a timely manner as required by law, and has not offered to compensate consumers for costs they may incur in protecting themselves from identity fraud.
Government Keeps Getting Microsoft Antitrust Complaints
Government antitrust attorneys said that they continue to receive complaints from hardware makers and other companies about Microsoft's business practices, even as the software giant has stepped up its efforts to cooperate with the state and federal authorities overseeing its antitrust consent decree. In the more than six years since the department has been enforcing the consent decree, it has received the largest number of complaints from third parties about a particular Windows Vista marketing program run by Microsoft, said Steven Houck, who represents the state of California.
E-mail System Working Again at White House
Crisis averted at the White House. The e-mail system is back up and running.
Click Fraud Reached All-Time High in 2008
Thanks in part to armies of compromised computers, click fraud reached an all-time high in the fourth quarter. Click fraud lets Web sites increase revenue from ads supplied by services such as Google's AdSense or the Yahoo Publisher Network, though those companies take measures to screen out bogus links so advertisers don't have to pay.
VA to Pay Military Personnel $20 Million for Data Breach
The Department of Veterans Affairs has agreed to pay $20 million to current and former military personnel to settle a class action lawsuit on behalf of the men and women whose personal data was on a laptop computer stolen during a burglary. The names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers of about 26.5 million active duty troops and veterans were on the laptop and external drive, which disappeared while in the custody of a Veterans Affairs data analyst in 2006.
White House E-mail Hit by "Server Outage"
Shortly after the workweek began, the tech-savvy Obama administration was hit with a mysterious "server outage" that shut down all incoming and outgoing e-mail for more than eight hours, forcing aides to resort to old-fashioned phone calls and face-to-face conversation. There was no indication that the outage caused any sort of national calamity.
Security Experts Watching Large-Scale Internet Worm
The world's top virus hunters are watching every move made by the attacker in control of a nasty new Internet worm. What worries them most is that the person, or group, controlling the worm could at any time direct the PCs to carry out criminal activities on an unprecedented scale.
U.S. Claims Victory at WTO in Chinese Piracy Case
The United States claimed victory in a groundbreaking World Trade Organization case against China for failing to protect and enforce copyrights and trademarks on a wide range of goods. "Today, a WTO panel found that a number of deficiencies in China's IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) regime are incompatible with its WTO obligations," acting U.S. Trade Representative Peter Allgeier said in a statement.
