CYBERCRIME

With the help of programmers worldwide, Kaspersky researchers were finally able to identify the Duqu Trojan's mystery code. Part of the malware was created with a little used programming language, which prompts researchers to believe it may have been written by experienced, old-school programmers. The Duqu Trojan is an espionage tool that drew lots of attention last year because it has many Stuxnet-like features.

Internet security experts have set up a system to alert Americans when sensitive personal information such as social security numbers and online banking log-in credentials turn up in the hands of cyber fraudsters.

The BBC has suffered a sophisticated cyber-attack following a campaign by Iranian authorities against its Persian service, director-general Mark Thompson said on Wednesday.

In turning one of its best-known hackers into an informant and breaking open the highest profile elements of the "Anonymous" movement, authorities have dealt a serious blow to a group they found a growing irritant.

One late-night visit by the FBI was all it took for the notorious hacker known as Sabu to switch sides and become a valued snitch.

The Italian branch of the hackers group Anonymous took down the Vatican's website on Wednesday, saying it was an attack on the Roman Catholic Church's scandals and conservative doctrine.

One of the world's most-wanted hackers secretly became an FBI informant last year, providing evidence that led to charges on Tuesday against five other suspected leaders of the Anonymous international hacking group.

Six suspected leaders of the international hacking organization known as Anonymous were charged by U.S. authorities of computer crimes, dealing a major blow to the loose-knit group that has wreaked havoc on the websites of government agencies and major corporations.

Anonymous has taken to Twitter to downplay the incident and to warn users after Symantec released a report claiming that anti-Anonymous hackers had duped the hactivist collective into adding Zeus Trojan malware to a guide for distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. Although some Anonymous-affiliated Twitter handles have warned users of the modified link, most have gone after Symantec for misrepresenting the threat.

NASA said hackers broke into its computer systems 13 times last year, stealing employee credentials and gaining access to mission-critical projects in breaches that could compromise U.S. national security.

Anti-virus software maker Trend Micro Inc has hired a prominent expert on cybersecurity policy to help boost its sales to the U.S. government.

Two executives who left security software maker McAfee after Intel Corp bought the company last year have started a firm that is developing technology to help corporations and government agencies track down elusive hackers.

Pornographic video site YouPorn was compromised by a security breach on Wednesday after a third-party chat service didn't secure its data, resulting in thousands of users seeing their e-mails, usernames and passwords exposed.

Philips Electronics said on Thursday it is cooperating with the police in connection with an investigation into a possible criminal cyber security breach discovered at Philips earlier this month.

International Business Machines is gearing up to take a chunk of the growing Internet security market by applying its data analytics to help companies and organizations fight cyberattacks.

The 'hacktivist' collective known as Anonymous will have the capabilities to cause a limited power outage within the next few years said the National Security Agency head at the White House. Anonymous denied any plans to attack the U.S. infrastructure online.

OS X Mountain Lion has extended the functionality of its predecessor viz. Mac OS X Lion by adding over 100 new features to it. Gatekeeper is one of those news features and it provides a whole new security mechanism for Mac users.

Republican critics of a Senate cybersecurity bill want to slow down consideration of the measure, saying it could give government too much power over private-sector infrastructure companies.

Iranian engineers have succeeded in neutralizing and purging the computer virus known as Stuxnet from their country's nuclear machinery, European and U.S. officials and private experts have told Reuters.

Leading senators introduced a cybersecurity bill on Tuesday aimed at safeguarding the nation's water and power systems, which experts have warned often only have the most rudimentary protections against hackers.

Websites of exchange operators Nasdaq and BATS have been attacked by hackers over the last 24 hours, causing ongoing disruptions for those trying to use the sites, spokespersons for the companies said on Tuesday.