The denial-of-service attacks against Web sites in the U.S. and South Korea may have stopped for now, but code on the infected bots was set to wipe data, security experts said. There were no immediate reports of any of the compromised PCs in the botnet having files deleted, but that doesn't mean it wasn't happening or won't in the future, said Gerry Egan, a product manager in Symantec's Security Technology Response group.
Power.com Sues Facebook Over Rights to User Data
Power.com, a San Francisco based aggregator of social networking sites, sued Facebook in a California court to try to resolve who owns data on social networking websites -- users or the sites. Power says it plans to take a stand in its lawsuit to ensure that users have rights to "complete and total" ownership and control of their content, and to protect their content from other users and corporate entities.
Calif. Health Companies Report 800 Data Breaches
Health care organizations in California have filed over 800 reports of breaches this year since new law came into the effect, according to a report in the Journal of the American Health Information Management Association.
Blogger in Azerbaijan Arrested for Hooliganism
An opposition blogger in Azerbaijan has been remanded in custody pending trial on hooliganism charges, prompting protests from his employer, oil major BP Plc, a media rights group said on its website. Adnan Hajizade, a video blogger and member of the "OL!" opposition movement, was arrested along with youth activist Emin Milli at a cafe in Baku on July 8, after they were beaten up by two men, Reporters Without Borders said.
Google Adds Rights Filter to Image Search
In an effort to keep people from incorrectly reusing or repurposing images found on its image search tool, Google has added new options that let users filter results by usage rights. Users can now filter photos by whether they're available for reuse, commercial reuse, reuse with modification, or commercial use with modification.
More U.S., S. Korean Targets Hit by Cyberattacks
A fresh wave of cyber attacks that slowed U.S. and South Korean websites hit more targets, a Web security firm said, while the South's spy agency has said the hacking may be linked to North Korea. The impact of the attacks, aimed so far at dozens of sites including the White House and the South's presidential office, was seen as negligible, experts said, but served as a reminder that Pyongyang has been planning for cyber warfare.
EU Telecom Chief Calls for New Downloading Rules
The European Union needs new rules for Internet downloads that would make it easier for people to access music and films thout resorting to piracy, the bloc's telecoms chief said. Mapping out priorities of the EU's executive arm for the next five years, EU Telecommunications Commissioner Viviane Reding said it should consider new laws that would reconcile the interests of intellectual property owners and Internet surfers.
N.Y. Attorney General Plans to Sue Tagged.com
Andrew Cuomo, New York's attorney general, has announced he intends to sue the spammy social network Tagged.com "for deceptive e-mail marketing practices and invasion of privacy," according to a statement put out by his office. Tagged, Mr. Cuomo said, illegally tried to lure new members by tricking visitors into providing their personal address books, which the company used to send out more invitations.
British Police Probe Reporters' Cell Phone Hacking
Britain's most senior police officer said he had ordered a preliminary inquiry into reports by The Guardian newspaper that Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper subsidiary paid about $1.6 million to settle court cases involving allegations that its reporters worked with private investigators to hack into the cell phone messages of numerous public figures.
NYSE, Nasdaq Report Attacks on Their Websites
NYSE Euronext and Nasdaq OMX Group said their public Web sites were targets of "cyber attacks," though market operations were unaffected. Neither exchange would say whether the attacks were linked to a wide-ranging assault on other Web sites that included the U.S. Treasury, the State Department and the White House.
S. Korea Blames N. Korea for Cyberattacks
South Korean intelligence officials believe North Korea or pro-Pyongyang forces committed cyberattacks that paralyzed major South Korean and U.S. government websites, aides to two lawmakers said. The sites of 11 South Korean organizations, including the presidential Blue House and the Defense Ministry, went down or had access problems since late Tuesday, according to the state-run Korea Information Security Agency.
Microsoft Warns of Security Flaw in Explorer
Microsoft warned users about yet another serious security flaw related to its Internet Explorer browser for which there is no fix. Security firm Symantec said the vulnerability, which affects PCs using Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 operating software, is already being taken advantage of by cybercriminals.
Computer Attack Shuts Down Government Websites
The Associated Press has learned that a widespread computer attack that began July 4 knocked out the websites of several government agencies, including some that are responsible for fighting cyber crime.
Music Labels, Webcasters Reach Agreement on Royalties
After a two-year battle, record labels and online radio stations agreed on new royalty rates that cover music streaming. The new agreement treats sites differently depending on their size and business model.
Microsoft Discussing Antitrust Settlement with EU
Microsoft Corp., which has been fined $2.34 billion in European Union antitrust cases, is in preliminary talks to settle two additional probes before EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes leaves office, four people familiar with the negotiations said. Any agreement would have to resolve a case over Microsoft’s Internet browser as well as a separate investigation into word processing and spreadsheet software, said the people, who declined to be identified because the talks are confidential.
U.K. Football Association Wins Some Claims Against Google
A U.S. judge dismissed some damages claims in a copyright infringement lawsuit against Google and its video-sharing Web site YouTube.com but left open the possibility that non-U.S. based rights owners could seek damages for live broadcasts, if they prevail. A group of sports and music copyright holders, led by the UK-based Football Association Premier League, had argued that foreign works were exempt from any registration requirements under the U.S. Copyright Act.
More Spam Messages Using Shortened URLs
In yet another piece of anecdotal evidence of the increasing threat from shortened URLs, e-mail security provider MessageLabs said it saw a dramatic spike in the number of spam e-mails that include truncated Web addresses.
La Russa Drops Suit Against Twitter Over Name
Score one for Twitter in the legal battle over who is responsible for stopping social media imposters. After initially reporting that Twitter was going to reach a settlement with Tony La Russa, the baseball manager's lawyer filed a short statement in court on June 26 saying that he had dropped the suit -- and that Twitter made no payment to him.
Music Industry Wants to Block Woman from Downloading
Attorneys for the recording industry are asking a federal judge to bar Jammie Thomas-Rasset from downloading music, sharing music files and distributing songs to the public. The attorneys also want a judge to order that Thomas-Rasset destroy all copies of recordings that she has downloaded without authorization.
China Clamps Down on Internet User After Riots
China clamped down on the Internet in the capital of China's northwestern region of Xinjiang, in the hope of stemming the flow of information about ethnic unrest which left 140 people dead. The government has blamed riots in Urumqi -- the deadliest unrest since the 1989 military crackdown on the Tiananmen pro-democracy demonstrations -- on exiled Muslim separatists.
