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A federal indictment unsealed earlier today alleges that a 35-year-old Texas man hacked into the computer network of an Eden Prairie business, stealing approximately $274,000. The indictment, filed in Minneapolis on October 13, 2010, charges Jeremy Parker of Houston, Texas, with one count of unauthorized access to a protected computer to further fraud and one count of wire fraud. It was unsealed following Parker's initial appearance in United States District Court. The indictment claims that from December 23, 2008, through October 15, 2009, Parker hacked into the computer network to obtain money belonging to Digital River, Inc., through a subsidiary, SWReg, Inc. SWReg pays independent software developers who write code that can run on Digital River's system. Royalties owed to these developers accumulate at SWReg, allowing developers to view their royalty balances online and cash out those accounts. When a developer cashes out, SWReg electronically transfers the money into the ...

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recently identified minor security gaps in the Internet security procedures of the Belfast Police Department during a fall audit. Local officials acknowledged the need to address these issues over the next few years. The department was chosen randomly for the review, which concentrated on the use of the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database. This database is crucial for local departments to access national records on past violations, bail conditions, protection orders, or outstanding warrants from other states. According to Police Chief Jeffrey Trafton, the database has significantly improved law enforcement processes, providing officers with instant access to mug shots and criminal records. "I don't understand the connectivity, but it works," Trafton said. "I can go in here, run a license, and it's immediate. Within a few minutes of seeing a stranger from Minnesota, I can be on the phone with the police dep...

Businesses can leave themselves vulnerable to data theft and other online threats, particularly as security and IT budgets are under pressure while companies try to save money. Although budgets are tight, it is crucial for companies to stay protected online. On average, the total cost of security breaches, including lost business, in the UK last year was $2,565,702. Data theft and other online threats represent significant dangers for businesses in the UK. The economic downturn exacerbates this problem, leading many executives to cancel, defer, or downsize security budgets. To highlight the risks facing companies today, Astaro has compiled the following list of the five most serious internet security threats. 1. Browser Vulnerabilities No browser provider is immune to security holes. A recent example is the CSS bug that affected Internet Explorer versions 6, 7, and 8 (CVE-2010-3962). This bug targets computers in a two-stage attack: first, the user follows an email link to a webpag...

Animosity between neighbors has landed a Minnesota man in serious legal trouble. Vincent Ardolf of Blaine, Minn., is facing decades in prison after pleading guilty to hacking his neighbor's WiFi, distributing child pornography, and threatening the Vice President of the United States. Ardolf halted his trial on December 17 by admitting to these crimes. He confessed to two counts of aggravated identity theft, one count of possession of child pornography, distribution of child pornography, unauthorized access to a protected computer, and making threats against Vice President Joe Biden. Authorities revealed that in February 2009, Ardolf hacked into his neighbor’s WiFi and created multiple Yahoo email accounts under his neighbor’s name. On May 6, 2009, he used one of these accounts to send an email to Biden’s office. The email read: “This is a terrorist threat! Take this seriously. I hate the way you people are spending money you don't have... I'm assigning myself ...

Opera releases monthly data generated by its users. In November 2010, Opera reported significant increases in unique users, pages viewed, and data consumed via its Mini browser. Around 80 million people used the Opera Mini browser in November, viewing 44.6 billion pages. According to Opera, its server-side compression reduced 6.3 petabytes of data. Year-over-year, Opera Mini's page views grew by 103.1%. The number of unique users increased by 28.4%, with the average user viewing 422 web pages per month. Each user consumed about 10MB of data, with the average web page size being just 2KB. In 2009, Facebook was the most visited mobile site, according to Opera. This year, Google regained the top spot globally. The top 10 websites globally, as ranked by Opera, are: Google Facebook Vkontakte.ru YouTube Odnoklassniki.ru Yandex.ru Yahoo My.opera Mail.ru Getjar In the U.S., the top 10 websites are more familiar: Google Facebook YouTube Wikipedia Yahoo My.opera Accuwe...