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Homeland Security hacking into gaming consoles to obtain user data The U.S. government has hired a California-based company to hack into video game consoles, such as Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, to watch criminals, especially child predators, and learn how to collect evidence against them. The U.S. government has awarded a $177,000 contract to Obscure Technologies to develop tools that can be used to extract data from video games systems. The $177,000 contract with Obscure Technologies of San Rafael, Calif., is being executed by the U.S. Navy on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security because of the Navy's expertise in the field, officials said. Anyone who has ever played a few games of Call of Duty or Halo online knows that communities like Xbox Live aren't exactly models of good behavior. But the federal government believes the occasional bursts of profanity may not be the worst of what's going on according with consoles, and it wants a way to dig deeper. In explaining t...

FlashBack Checker - Tool Detects Flashback Mac Malware A Mac developer has posted a tool that detects a Flashback malware infection on Apple's computers. Last week we posted about,  More than 600000 Macs system infected with Flashback Botnet . That's slightly more than 1 percent of all 45 million Macs in the world still a relatively small number, but a worrisome one for Mac users, as the tally of infected machines continues to grow. FlashBack Checker - 38KB tool was created by Juan Leon , a software engineer at Garmin International, the Kansas-based company best known for its GPS devices. When Flashback Checker is run, it displays "No signs of infection were found" or provides additional information if it does detect changes the malware has made to the Mac. According to Dr. Web, the Russian security company that was the first firm to quantify Flashback infections, nearly 2% of all Macs have been hit by the malware.  Dr. Web used a different technique to detect...

Anonymous target USTelecom and TechAmerica for supporting Cybersecurity Bill Two technology trade associations said they were targeted by the hacker-activist group Anonymous as it singled out supporters of proposed legislation to improve U.S. cybersecurity. The hacker group Anonymous claimed responsibility for taking down the websites of USTelecom and Tech America, which both back the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act of 2011. Both sites remained unreachable as of Monday afternoon. The attacks began yesterday when users were unable to log onto the sites. USTelecom represents telecom companies, including AT&T, Verizon, and CenturyLink; and TechAmerica's members include tech companies such as IBM, Microsoft, and Apple. A Twitter account called @Anon_Central yesterday called the Rogers bill " draconian " and posted a link to groups and companies supporting the legislation.[ See List here ] Anonymous posted a YouTube video showing USTelecom's site down S...

Anonymous plans to take down Great Firewall of China Anonymous plans to launch more attacks on Chinese government Web sites in an effort to highlight corruption and push for human rights improvements. While they managed to deface well over 500 sites we are now hearing they aren't finished yet and have even more plans for the Chinese government coming soon, and bigger targets. The group used the Twitter account " Anonymous China " to publicise the attacks, posting links to data files that contained passwords and other personal information from the hacked websites. This comes just days after all the attacks last week that even had messages warning of the downfall of the Chinese government. The attacks are part of a bigger plan according to Anonymous hacker " f0ws3r " who told Reuters that the group is hoping to take down the " Great Firewall of China " A recent tweet from the Anonymous China Twitter feed confirms the group's plans. They claim to have hundreds of translat...

TigerBot - SMS Controlled Android Malware Stealing Information A new form of Android malware controlled via SMS messages has been discovered and the malware can record phone calls, upload the device's GPS location, and reboot the phone, among other things. Researchers at NQ Mobile, working alongside researchers at North Carolina State University, have discovered this Android malware called "TigerBot", differs from "traditional" malware in that it is controlled via SMS rather than from a command & control (C&C) server on the Internet. A common aspect of Android malware is the use of a command and control server that tells the malware what to do next and acts as a repository for any captured passwords or banking information. The current information about this malware show that it can execute a range of commands including uploading the phone's current location, sending SMS messages, and even recording phone calls. It works by intercepting SMS messages sent to the...

181000 records compromised in Utah Security Breach Utah health officials said that hackers who broke into state computers last weekend stole far more medical records than originally thought, and the data likely includes Social Security numbers of children who have received public assistance. The Utah Department of Health has been hacked. 181,604 Medicaid/CHIP recipients have had their personal information stolen. 25,096 have had their Social Security numbers (SSNs) compromised. What is particularly threatening about this attack is the fact that the stolen records included personal information including client names, addresses, birth dates, SSNs, physician's names, national provider identifiers, addresses, tax identification numbers, and procedure codes designed for billing purposes. " We understand clients are worried about who may have accessed their personal information, and that many of them feel violated by having their information compromised ," said Michael Hales, deputy dir...

Anonymous Leaks Tunisia Prime Minister 's Emails Anonymous Hackers says it has hacked 2,725 emails belonging to Tunisia's ruling Ennahda party, including those of the prime minister, in the latest challenge to the Islamist-led government. The email addresses of the president, head of the Constituent Assembly, Ennahdha party officials, and other party leaders were disclosed as well as documents from the electoral campaigns. In a video posted on a Facebook page belonging to Anonymous TN, a hacker wearing the trademark activist "Guy Fawkes" mask, said the emails were released in protest against Ennahda's alleged failure to protect the unemployed and artists who were attacked by Salafi Islamists during a recent protest. The activist said the emails include phone numbers, bank transactions and invoices paid during Tunisia's election campaign in October, in which Ennahda won more than 40 percent of parliament seats, going on to lead the government. The Tunisian g...