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Bank Hackers Stole Hundreds of Millions via Malware

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In late 2013, an A.T.M. in Kiev started dispensing cash at seemingly random times of day. No one had put in a card or touched a button. Cameras showed that the piles of money had been swept up by customers who appeared lucky to be there at the right moment.

But when a Russian cybersecurity firm, Kaspersky Lab, was called to Ukraine to investigate, it discovered that the errant machine was the least of the bank’s problems.

The bank’s internal computers, used by employees who process daily transfers and conduct bookkeeping, had been penetrated by malware that allowed cybercriminals to record their every move. The malicious software lurked for months, sending back video feeds and images that told a criminal group — including Russians, Chinese and Europeans — how the bank conducted its daily routines, according to the investigators . . .

Kaspersky Lab says it has seen evidence of $300 million in theft through clients, and believes the total could be triple that. But that projection is impossible to verify because the thefts were limited to $10 million a transaction, though some banks were hit several times. In many cases the hauls were more modest, presumably to avoid setting off alarms . . .

But the largest sums were stolen by hacking into a bank’s accounting systems and briefly manipulating account balances. Using the access gained by impersonating the banking officers, the criminals first would inflate a balance — for example, an account with $1,000 would be altered to show $10,000. Then $9,000 would be transferred outside the bank. The actual account holder would not suspect a problem, and it would take the bank some time to figure out what had happened. (Read more about how the bank hackers stole millions HERE)

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“We Are Coming”: ISIS Hacks US Central Command, Publishes Residences of High Level Officers

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By Fox News. The Twitter account and YouTube page for U.S. Central Command were hacked on Monday and for several minutes carried incendiary messages promoting the Islamic State — including one that said, “AMERICAN SOLDIERS, WE ARE COMING, WATCH YOUR BACK. ISIS.”

The cyber-attack sent U.S. military officials scrambling to respond, and they quickly suspended both accounts.

Officials said they’re still investigating the hack, but claimed it appears no classified information was released.

“We’re still looking into this,” Central Command spokesman Col. Patrick S. Ryder said. “Our initial assessment is that no classified information was posted.”

A statement from Central Command added that their operational military networks “were not compromised” and downplayed the incident as “a case of cybervandalism.” (Read more from “ISIS Hacks Central Command” HERE)

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Senior Officers’ Personal Information, Addresses Published by ‘ISIS’ Group

Photo Credit: Interdependent By Aaron Mesmer. The @CentCom Twitter account’s first hacked tweet came at 12:29 Monday afternoon, after the account’s profile images had been changed to black and white graphics with the phrases “Cyber Caliphate” and “I love you isis.”

“AMERICAN SOLDIERS, WE ARE COMING, WATCH YOUR BACK. ISIS,” warned the first tweet.

That was soon followed by more posts ranging from apparent military scenarios on PowerPoint to listings of officers’ personal information. Another tweet included a photo apparently showing the inside of a military office space.

One tweet featured a spreadsheet titled “Retired Army General Officer Roster” and listed the home addresses, phone numbers and email accounts of generals like Colin Powell, David Petraeus, and Tommy Franks.

“We won’t stop! We know everything about you, your wives and children,” read another tweet. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Hacktivist Group Confronts ISIS (+video)

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By Michael Hasuam. The underground activist group “Anonymous” posted a video on multiple websites on Thursday as a direct response to the Muslim terror attacks in Paris.

Calling it #OpCharlieHebdo, after the name of the satirical French magazine that was the focus of the attacks, they also published a statement summarizing the points made in the video as well.

(Read more on the Hacktivist group confronting ISIS HERE)

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Martin Dempsey: ISIS Will ‘Collapse Under It’s Own Contradictions’

By Greg Richter. While the United States is committed to defeating the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) and other terrorist groups, General Martin Dempsy, current chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said eventually ISIS will collapse on its own.

In a pre-taped interview that aired on “Fox News Sunday,” Dempsey said he has long maintained that a group that embraces radical ideology has to maintain momentum to succeed.

The United States has destroyed a lot of their equipment and reversed some of their territorial gains and has had an impact on their leadership and command and control, Dempsey said, but added, “What will eventually cause the defeat of ISIL is that it will collapse under its own contradictions, frankly. When the populations in which it tries to maneuver realize that that ideology is not to their future benefit.” (Read more from this story HERE)

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Hackers Show Us How Easy They Can Steal Our Identities from Selfies (+video)

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Photo Credit: The Blaze
Like snapping selfies? Here’s something to consider next time you mug for the camera: hackers.

Germany’s biggest hacker group, the Chaos Computer Club, demonstrated just how easy it is for someone to break through the four most common types of computer protection.

Speaking to an enthusiastic audience at a cybersecurity conference in Hamburg late last month, the keynote speaker (identified only as “Starbug” and sporting a black hoodie with the word “terrorist” emblazoned across the front) showed how unsecured computers and cellphones really are, despite seeming protected with passwords, lock codes, fingerprint scanners, facial recognition systems or even iris scanners.

As Starbug demonstrated, a hacker doesn’t even have to be in the same room as the victim to swipe their information.

He showed how photographs posted online can be used to recreate the fingerprints of an unsuspecting victim. Once captured, prints can be recreated and used to unlock an iPhone with a thumbprint scanner, a computer with a fingerprint lock system, or even a gun safe that relies on a fingerprint to gain access. (Read more on how easy they can steal our identities HERE )

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Six Hackers Identified in Sony Hack, One a Former Employee

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hackersNorse, the cybersecurity firm that first identified a potential insider in the massive November hack of Sony Pictures, believes it’s uncovered evidence on six individuals primarily involved in the attack, including one former Sony employee with ”extensive knowledge of the company’s network and operations.”

Senior vice president at Norse Kurt Stammberger told the Security Ledger late Sunday the company has identified six people “with direct involvement in the hack,” two of whom are based in the U.S. along with one in Canada, Singapore and Thailand.

The list also includes a former decade-long Sony veteran who “worked in a technical role” and was laid off in May. Norse previously identified the ex-employee as “Lena,” and said she claimed to have connection to the “Guardians of Peace” hacker group that took credit for the attack against Sony, which has so far resulted in leaked employee information, executives’ emails, unreleased films and the limiting of “The Interview” theatrical release in response to a terrorist threat.

The FBI has attributed all of the above to North Korea due to the film’s plot, which centers around an attempt to assassinate North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. (Read more about the hackers identified HERE)

13,000 Stolen Passwords Released by Hackers to Popular Websites

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Photo Credit: Breitbart

Photo Credit: Breitbart

Given the size of the user base for major shopping and entertainment websites like Amazon.com, Walmart, Xbox Live, and Hulu, the odds that your account was compromised by the antics of hacker group Anonymous are very low. They published 13,000 user names and passwords in a huge text file on Friday; some of the web sites they hit have memberships that run into the tens of millions, making the odds of any individual user being affected at well under one percent. Still, as DailyDot advises, now might be a good time to change your password if you have accounts with any of these websites:

Amazon

Walmart

PlayStation Network

Xbox Live

Twitch.tv

Origin.com

Hulu Plus

Dell

Brazzers

Playboy

Shutterstock. . .

As is their wont, Anonymous claimed they “did it for the lulz” (i.e. for fun.) Inconveniencing thousands of people during the holidays and stealing their property is presumably amusing if you’re not one of the victims. (Read more about the stolen passwords released HERE)

FBI Examining Whether Russia Is Tied to JPMorgan Hacking

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Photo Credit: Peter Foley / Bloomberg

Photo Credit: Peter Foley / Bloomberg

Russian hackers attacked the U.S. financial system in mid-August, infiltrating and stealing data from JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and at least one other bank, an incident the FBI is investigating as a possible retaliation for government-sponsored sanctions, according to two people familiar with the probe.

The attack resulted in the loss of gigabytes of sensitive data, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the probe is still preliminary. Authorities are investigating whether recent infiltrations of major European banks using a similar vulnerability are also linked to the attack, one of the people said.

In one case, the hackers used a software flaw known as a zero-day vulnerability in one of the banks’ websites. They then plowed through layers of elaborate security to steal the data, a feat security experts said appeared far beyond the capability of ordinary criminal hackers. The incidents occurred at a low point in relations between Russia and the West. Russian troops continue to mass on the Ukrainian border and the West tightens sanctions aimed at crippling Russian companies, including some of the country’s most important banks.

Read more from this story HERE.

iPhones Frozen by Hackers Demanding Ransom

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Photo Credit: AlamyOwners of iPhones and iPads have been targeted by a hacker who is freezing iOS devices and demanding a ransom of up to £55 to unlock them.

The majority of the attacks have taken place in Australia although there are also reports of Britons being affected.

It appears that the hacker, who goes by the name Oleg Pliss, has managed to exploit the Find My iPhone feature which can track and remotely lock stolen devices.

Users have been told to send ransoms of between $50 and $100 Australian dollars (up to £55) to a PayPal account in order to have their devices unlocked.

Those affected have taken to Apple’s support forums to seek help. One user, veritylikestea from Melbourne, said: “I was using my iPad a short while ago when suddenly it locked itself.

Read more from this story HERE.

Security Flaw Makes iPhones, iPads, Macs Vulnerable to Hackers

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Photo Credit: ReutersA major flaw in Apple Inc. software for mobile devices could allow hackers to intercept email and other communications that are meant to be encrypted, the company said on Friday, and experts said Mac computers were even more exposed.

If attackers have access to a mobile user’s network, such as by sharing the same unsecured wireless service offered by a restaurant, they could see or alter exchanges between the user and protected sites such as Gmail and Facebook. Governments with access to telecom carrier data could do the same.

“It’s as bad as you could imagine, that’s all I can say,” said Johns Hopkins University cryptography professor Matthew Green.

Apple did not say when or how it learned about the flaw in the way iOS handles sessions in what are known as secure sockets layer or transport layer security, nor did it say whether the flaw was being exploited.

But a statement on its support website was blunt: The software “failed to validate the authenticity of the connection.”

Read more this story HERE.

U-Md. Database Containing Thousands of Student, Staff Records Hacked

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University of Maryland officials have released a statement a day after the university’s president announced a database containing sensitive information about faculty, staff, students and affiliated personnel had been hacked.

Records including the names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and University identification numbers of more than 300,000 people from the College Park and Shady Grove campuses who have been issued a University ID since 1998 have been compromised.

University System of Maryland Chancellor William “Brit” Kirwan released a statement in the wake of the breach.

“Our campus information security officers meet regularly, and I am confident we will all learn from this development and make our security defense mechanisms even stronger. The objective of managing information security at each USM campus has been a priority objective for each president, and this incident only means that we must continue to increase our vigilance in attending to Internet theft and personal information security.”

Read more this story HERE.