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According to a report from Sky News, the Stuxnet worm has already been traded on the black market. The report does not clarify whether this refers to the source code or to binary samples. British security specialists now fear that terrorists could use the worm to attack critical infrastructure. The report quotes an IT security consultant to the UK government as claiming, "You could shut down power stations, you could shut down the transport network across the United Kingdom". According to the report, there is hard evidence that Stuxnet is in the hands of highly motivated, well trained, well financed criminals. Sky News' source declined to give more precise information. Audun Lødemel, VP of Marketing and Business Development at German IT service provider Norman, believes that, "It was just a matter of time before the Stuxnet code was made available for anyone, with even the most basic knowledge of coding, to alter and potentially wreak havoc on the UK infrastructure.

Two former University of Central Missouri students have been charged with hacking university databases, stealing and trying to profit from the sale of confidential information. Joseph Camp and Daniel Fowler were both indicted by a federal grand jury. The pair allegedly developed a computer virus and distributed it through email attachments and USB flash drives. In all, they breached the personal data of about 90,000 UCM students, faculty, staff and alumni. Camp and Fowler then tried to sell the information for $35,000. The seven-count indictment also charges them with trying to steal university funds and using Facebook accounts to threaten potential witnesses. The charges carry possible prison sentences of between two and 10 years. "The duo used Fowler's room as their base and over a three-month period between October and December 2009 broke into numerous university databases and computers - including one belonging to a university administrator," acc

The introduction of Open AI's ChatGPT was a defining moment for the software industry, touching off a GenAI race with its November 2022 release. SaaS vendors are now rushing to upgrade tools with enhanced productivity capabilities that are driven by generative AI. Among a wide range of uses, GenAI tools make it easier for developers to build software, assist sales teams in mundane email writing, help marketers produce unique content at low cost, and enable teams and creatives to brainstorm new ideas.  Recent significant GenAI product launches include Microsoft 365 Copilot, GitHub Copilot, and Salesforce Einstein GPT. Notably, these GenAI tools from leading SaaS providers are paid enhancements, a clear sign that no SaaS provider will want to miss out on cashing in on the GenAI transformation. Google will soon launch its SGE "Search Generative Experience" platform for premium AI-generated summaries rather than a list of websites.  At this pace, it's just a matter of a short time befo

A CALIFORNIA man has been charged after he allegedly hacked into more than 100 computers to look for sexually explicit photos that he then used to blackmail his victims into handing over homemade sex tapes. Luis Mijangos, 31, was charged with extortion after he allegedly infected more than 100 computers with a virus disguised as a popular song download, which allowed him to take over the personal computers used by about 230 people, including 44 children, myFOXla.com reports . US Attorney's Office spokesman Thom Mrozek said Mr Mijangos looked for sexually explicit photos of the computer users, then threatened to email the files to everyone on the victims' mailing lists if they did not make homemade pornography for him. The Santa Ana man was also accused hacking into email and social networking sites so he could pose as the boyfriend of unsuspecting women and teenage girls — and ask them to make sex videos. After getting the videos, he would then

A COMPUTER hacker who infected more than 2300 computers with a virus capable of stealing banking details did not have serious criminal intentions, a court has heard. Today, lawyers for Anthony Scott Harrison told the District Court his " youthful curiosity " had led him into hacking into the computers of others to steal money. " Using the Google search engine he learnt all he could about hacking ," Harrison's lawyer, John Edwards, said. "He did not start hacking with serious criminal intentions ... because he was unemployed he then utilised his hacking skills to provide money. " Underlying his initial attraction to hacking was not theft or greed, but was youthful curiosity ." Harrison, 21, of Blackforest, has pleaded guilty to one count of modifying computer data to cause harm or inconvenience, two counts of possession or control of data to commit serious computer offences and one count of dishonestly manipulating

AN Adelaide computer hacker infected more than two thousand computers in Australia and overseas with a program to capture banking details, a court has heard. Anthony Scott Harrison, 20, used the internet to teach himself the necessary hacking and programming skills to launch his attack in 2009 but was caught when suspicious web activity was spotted and tracked by federal police. He also modified and sold software to allow others to infect computers, with his offending flowing from his obsession with the world of cyber fantasy. Harrison pleaded guilty to seven charges including four counts of modifying computer data to cause harm. Defence counsel John Edwards told the South Australian District Court today that from the age of 14 his client had become obsessed with playing online computer games and had become " immersed in the world of cyber fantasy ". At one stage he was playing online for up to 15 hours a day, often using a simulated hacking