Online privacy is pretty much always in the news nowadays, but this week it really has been front-and-center. The FBI wants the ability to track the social media activity of suspected terrorists, and to that end, already has the right “to mandate Internet providers and phone companies to install surveillance equipment within their networks.” But [...]

By IT-Lex Intern Shannon Allen (LinkedIn) The New York Times first brought our attention to “the latest lightning rod in the continuing battle between proponents of Internet freedom and the Justice Department.” Boing Boing offers more details: “Matthew Keys, 26, a social media editor for Reuters, has been indicted on charges that he helped members of Anonymous [...]

By IT-Lex Intern Karina Saranovic (LinkedIn) Mobile malware can attack all devices, but it would appear that Android phones appear to be the main victims lately. It’s unclear whether this surge in malware cases is due to Android’s domination in the market as the most popular smartphone platform, or just because its system is easier [...]

In one of our very earliest posts here at IT-Lex, we discussed the LinkedIn security breach, where six million passwords (without the accompanying usernames) were stolen by hackers. Back then, a class action lawsuit was filed against the company, with the allegation that LinkedIn’s security system was weak, and ran contrary to the social network’s [...]

By IT-Lex Intern Eric Everson (LinkedIn Twitter) A recent NY Times story has put cyber warfare literally on the front page.  For many years, the American legal system has battled with punishing hackers.  Some of the strong arm laws at the behest of Federal prosecutors include the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the Stored Wired and Electronic Communications Act; these laws [...]

On Superbowl Sunday, while all eyes were focused on Jacoby Jones’ remarkable running, the 34-minute blackout at the Superdome, and that one Budweiser commercial with the Clydesdale, the Federal Reserve was being hacked and robbed by Anonymous. According to a spokesperson, ”the Federal Reserve system is aware that information was obtained by exploiting a temporary vulnerability in a [...]

By IT-Lex Shannon Allen (Linkedin) Four Romanian nationals are charged in a hacking conspiracy in US District Court in New Hampshire.  The hackers collected customer credit card information from 80,000 Subway (and other retail) customers and made millions of dollars of unauthorized purchases by hacking the restaurant’s point of sale (POS) or checkout computer systems. The [...]

On Monday, Ars Technica carried the extraordinary story of what has been named “Operation Red October,” which is “an ongoing, large-scale computer espionage network that’s targeting hundreds of diplomatic, governmental, and scientific organizations in at least 39 countries, including the Russian Federation, Iran, and the United States.” Though only recently discovered by researchers at Kaspersky, [...]

There’s a sliver of good news in this week’s installment, but we’ll get to that at the end. First though, here are things that are scary this week: Point of sales systems: A bug called Dexter has infected card readers in over 40 countries, stealing tens of thousands of cards’ worth of data. Well, it’s [...]

On Friday, former Anonymous spokesman Barrett Brown was hit with a twelve-count grand jury indictment, in relation to his alleged involvement with a huge hack on the security firm Stratfor. Brown, who was arrested back in September and has been in custody in Texas ever since, faced mostly “aggravated identity theft” charges, but the first [...]