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Submission + - Jamie Oliver's Website Serving Malware (malwarebytes.org) 1

Submitted by jones_supa
jones_supa writes: While routinely checking the latest exploited websites, Malwarebytes came across a strange infection pattern that seemed to start from the official site of British chef Jamie Oliver. Contrary to most web-borne exploits we see lately, this one was not the result of malicious advertising but rather carefully placed malicious JavaScript injection in the site itself. This, in turn, has been used to serve visitors a delicious meal consisting an exploit kit downloading the Dorkbot trojan. Malwarebytes has contacted the administrators immediately upon discovery of this infection.

Submission + - US May Sell Armed Drones (washingtonpost.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Nations allied with the United States may soon be able to purchase armed, unmanned aircraft, according to an updated U.S. arms policy. Purchase requests will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, and foreign military bodies would have to agree to a set of "proper use" rules in order for the U.S. to go ahead with the sale. For example: "Armed and other advanced UAS are to be used in operations involving the use of force only when there is a lawful basis for use of force under international law, such as national self-defense." These rules have done nothing to silence critics of the plan, who point out that the U.S. has killed civilians during remote strikes without much accountability. The drones are estimated to cost $10-15 million.

Submission + - AMC theatres call FBI to arrest a Google Glass user (the-gadgeteer.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A Google Glass user is interrogated without legal counsel for a couple of hours under suspicion that he may have been recording a film in the AMC movie theater. Although the matter could have been cleared in minutes, federal agents insisted on interrogating the user for hours. So long for our constitutional freedoms.

Submission + - Your Next Network Operating System is Linux (infoworld.com)

Submitted by jrepin
jrepin writes: Everywhere you look, change is afoot in computer networking. As data centers grow in size and complexity, traditional tools are proving too slow or too cumbersome to handle that expansion. Dinesh Dutt is Chief Scientist at Cumulus Networks. Cumulus has been working to change the way we think about networks altogether by dispensing with the usual software/hardware lockstep, and instead using Linux as the operating system on network hardware. In this week's New Tech Forum, Dinesh details the reasons and the means by which we may see Linux take over yet another aspect of computing: the network itself.

Submission + - Google to Encrypt All Keyword Searches

Submitted by Hugh Pickens DOT Com
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes: Danny Sullivan reports that in the past month, Google has quietly made a change aimed at encrypting all search activity to provide “extra protection” for searchers, and possibly to block NSA spying activity. In October 2011, Google began encrypting searches for anyone who was logged into Google. The reason given was privacy. Now, Google has flipped on encryption for people who aren’t even signed-in. In June, Google was accused of cooperating with the NSA to give the agency instant and direct access to its search data through the PRISM spying program, something the company has strongly denied. "I suspect the increased encryption is related to Google’s NSA-pushback," writes Sullivan. "It may also help ease pressure Google’s feeling from tiny players like Duck Duck Go making a “secure search” growth pitch to the media."

Submission + - Utility sets IT department on path to self-destruction (computerworld.com) 1

Submitted by dcblogs
dcblogs writes: Northeast Utilities has told IT employees that it is considering outsourcing IT work to India-based offshore firms, putting as many as 400 IT jobs at risk. The company is saying a final decision has not been made. But Conn. State Rep. and House Majority Leader Joe Aresimowicz, who is trying to prevent or limit the outsourcing move, says it may be a done deal. NU may be prompting its best IT employees to head to the exits. It also creates IT security risks from upset workers. The heads-up to employees in advance of a firm plan is "kind of mind mindbogglingly stupid," said David Lewis, who heads a Connecticut-based human resources consulting firm OperationsInc, especially "since this is IT of all places." The utility's move makes sense, however, if is it trying to encourage attrition to reduce severance costs.

Submission + - IDF Hackers Test Readiness In Israel for Cyberattacks (al-monitor.com)

Submitted by cold fjord
cold fjord writes: Al-Monitor reports, "Lt. Col. M., 39, is in charge of the [cyber] defense ... the “blue team,” .... Capt. A. heads the “red team” in the cybersecurity lineup, whose task is to simulate attacks ... Together, the two teams maintain IDF preparedness in the face of any potential cyber threat. ... We have the edge not only in terms of technological level, but also in terms of motivation: We are protecting human lives, and our soldiers are thus far more motivated than civilian security specialists. ... Lt. Col. M. is therefore not really concerned about the reports that the American National Security Agency (NSA) has found a way around the [Internet-level] encryption protocols of most of the civilian computer systems worldwide — which draw on the information leaked by former NSA employee Edward Snowden. “Our job is to monitor the goings-on and keep track of the technological developments, and we need to know what the threats and risks in cyberspace are. In any event, to protect strategic assets, encryption systems that we develop ourselves in-house ... are customarily used.” ... while the IDF realized the importance of cyber warfare long ago, it is only recently that it has recognized the need to prepare for any scenario and regularly conduct quality assurance tests of the system. "

Submission + - Does creating new online accounts to replace old ones prevent online tracking?

Submitted by rjnagle
rjnagle writes: I'm concerned about the implications of storing personal data on FB, Gmail and other social media sites. I'm less worried about individual data than the accumulating mass of data which potentially be used against me (for targeted marketing, credit reporting and who knows what else?) One solution I'm considering is just to abandon individual accounts and start clean and new gmail/facebook accounts. So while Google/Doubleclick might possess lots of data about me from 2001-2012, from this point on, they only have a clean slate. Would this kind of solution address my privacy concerns? (assuming I remove cookies, change IP address before doing so etc). Or are an individual's profile by now so unique that simply creating a new gmail or Facebook account would fail to prevent these data collection agencies from figuring out who I am? Insights and tips are appreciated.

Submission + - Unlocked Firefox OS ZTE Open is Now Available on eBay for for $80

Submitted by SmartAboutThings
SmartAboutThings writes: We’ve been hearing quite a lot lately about the Firefox OS, but there are actually only a few Firefox OS phones launched on the market. ZTE Open is one of them and is actually the first Firefox OS phone for consumers. Even if Firefox OS has support from carriers all over the world, it’s pretty hard to sell devices in more locations across the world. To remedy that, ZTE is going to sell the Firefox OS Open phone on eBay for eighty dollars, which is actually ten dollars less than the launch price. A real great thing is that the handset will be off-contract and unlocked which means you will be able to use it on all mobile networks. ZTE didn’t mention when exactly the device will go on sale on eBay, the company just mentioning “soon”.

Submission + - Ad Networks Lay Path to Million-Strong Browser Botnet (itworld.com)

Submitted by jfruh
jfruh writes: Every day, millions of computers run unvetted, sketchy code in the form of the JavaScript that ad networks send to publishers. Usually, that code just puts an advertiser's banner ad on a web page. But since ad networks and publishers almost never check the code for malicious properties, it can become an attack vector as well. A recent presentation at the Black Hat conference showed how ad networks could be used as unwitting middlemen to create huge, cheap botnets.

Submission + - Talent For Tech Is Different Than Skill

Submitted by snydeq
snydeq writes: Taming technology is sometimes more art than science, but the difference can sometimes be hard to discern, writes Deep End's Paul Venezia. 'You've probably come across colleagues who were extremely skilled at their jobs — system administrators who can bend a zsh shell to their every whim, or developers who can write lengthy functions that compile without a whimper the first time. You've probably also come across colleagues who were extremely talented — who could instantly visualize a new infrastructure addition and sketch it out to extreme detail on a whiteboard while they assembled it in their head, for example, or who could devise a new, elegant UI without breaking a sweat. The truly gifted among us exhibit both of those traits, but most fall into one category or another. There is a difference between skill and talent. Such is true in many vocations, of course, but IT can present a stark contrast between the two.'

Submission + - Remember the CS Past or Be Condemned to Repeat It? 1

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: In the movie Groundhog Day, a weatherman finds himself living the same day over and over again. It's a tale that software-designers-of-a-certain-age can relate to. Like Philip Greenspun, who wrote in 1999, "One of the most painful things in our culture is to watch other people repeat earlier mistakes. We're not fond of Bill Gates, but it still hurts to see Microsoft struggle with problems that IBM solved in the 1960s." Or Dave Winer, who recently observed, 'We marvel that the runtime environment of the web browser can do things that we had working 25 years ago on the Mac.' And then there's Scott Locklin, who argues in a new essay that one of the problems with modern computer technology is that programmers don’t learn from the great masters. "There is such a thing as a Beethoven or Mozart of software design," Locklin writes. "Modern programmers seem more familiar with Lady Gaga. It’s not just a matter of taste and an appreciation for genius. It’s a matter of forgetting important things." Hey, maybe it's hard to learn from computer history when people don't acknowledge the existence someone old enough to have lived it, as panelists reportedly did at an event held by Mark Zuckerberg's FWD.us last Friday!

Submission + - ASCAP petitions FCC to deny Pandora's purchase of Radio Station

Submitted by chipperdog
chipperdog writes: NorthPine.com reports: "ASCAP is firing back against Pandora Radio's attempt to get lower music royalty rates by buying a terrestrial radio station, "Hits 102.7" (KXMZ Box Elder-Rapid City). In a petition to deny, ASCAP alleges "Pandora has failed to fully disclose its ownership, and to adequately demonstrate that it complies with the Commission’s foreign ownership rules." ASCAP also alleges that Pandora has no intention of operating KXMZ to serve the public interest, but is rather only interested in obtaining lower royalty rates. Pandora reached a deal to buy KXMZ from Connoisseur Media for $600,000 earlier this year and is already running the station through a local marketing agreement.
Android

Submission + - Android Hackers Honing Skills in Russia (csoonline.com)

Submitted by
MikeatWired
MikeatWired writes: "The malware business growing around Google Android — now the leading smartphone operating system — is still in its infancy. Today, many of the apps built to steal money from Android users originate from Russia and China, so criminal gangs there have become cyber-trailblazers. Sophos and Symantec on Wednesday released their latest Android malware discoveries written in Russian. While the language narrows the number of potential victims, the social-engineering tactics used to get Android users to install the malware is universal. The gang tracked by Sophos is using fake antivirus scanners, while Symantec is tracking cybercriminals using mobile websites to offer bogus versions of popular games. Sophos says the criminals are like other entrepreneurs launching startups. They're starting in Russia, but have far greater ambitions. 'I don't think we can say that they're necessarily using it as a testing ground — think of it more as a local business that as it grows may gain multinational ambitions,' Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, said in an email interview on Wednesday. The cyber scam tracked by Sophos was reported this week by GFI Lab, which discovered links to the bogus antivirus software on Twitter. Sophos dug deeper and found that the .ru domains pointed to the same Internet protocol address hosted in Ukraine."
Security

Submission + - Symantec: More Malware on Religious Sites Than Porn Sites (esecurityplanet.com) 1

Submitted by
kongshem
kongshem writes: "According to Symantec's annual Internet Security Threat Report, religious and ideological websites have far more security threats per infected site than adult/pornographic sites. Why is that? Symantec's theory: "We hypothesize that this is because pornographic Web site owners already make money from the Internet and, as a result, have a vested interested in keeping their sites malware-free — it's not good for repeat business,""

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