Hasta La Gadget!

The Australian Federal Police arrested a man in Sydney on Monday who claims to be the leader of Lulz Security, more commonly known as LulzSec. Though his name has not been revealed, ABC News Australia reports that he is 24-years-old, and worked in a “position of trust” in a NSW-local branch of an international IT company. Because of his work position, he had access to government client data.

The name of the company for which he worked has not been specified, nor has the exact position he held. Says the AFP’s Commander Glen McEwan, he is someone “known to international law enforcement,” and that he is the first LulzSec member to be arrested by them. His arrest took place after being under surveillance for less than two weeks, something that was prompted by a compromised government website.

As a result, the alleged leader has been arrested and charged with one count of unauthorized access to a restricted computer system, as well as two counts of unauthorized modification of data to cause impairment. Such charges have a maximum prison sentence of 12 years. Some of the Australian targets of the hacking collective are said to be departments of the Victorian and NSW governments, local councils, and AusAid. In addition, ten high schools and universities had their login information and email accounts leaked.

The claim that this individual is LulzSec’s leader comes from posts he allegedly made on forums, in which he claimed to be the leader. The AFP also says that they have talked about it with him, and that he has discussed it. He’s due back in court on May 15. Says Commander McEwen: “The AFP will not tolerate the attempts of hackers to damage or destroy the online property of Australian individuals, companies or national infrastructure resources.”

[via ABC News]

Alleged LulzSec leader arrested in Australia is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

In an announcement that should have Android users having a double-check of the applications they’ve downloaded in the recent past, the mobile security group Lookout has identified what they call the “BadNews” malware family. The applications affected by BadNews have, according to Lookout, potentially affected between 2,000,000 and 9,000,000 users due to the number of downloads recorded in the apps that have been tagged. Lookout has made it clear that not all downloads of these apps (especially early versions) contained malicious code, all those on the list should be cautious.

According to Lookout, this operation has affected primarily Russian devices and has been aimed at devices in the Russian Federation and neighboring countries. The Ukrain, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, and others are on the list of those areas affected, and the full list of BadNews-toting apps can be found in the image immediately following this paragraph. If you’ve downloaded one of these apps, Lookout suggests that you take heed!

What happens here with BadNews is a series of actions. Once activated – and we’re not entirely clear on what activates said software – BadNews begins sending sensitive information from your smartphone to a remote server. Your phone number, serial number (IMEI), and more can be sent without the user’s knowledge.

From there, a “fake” advertisement will be targeted to the user through the app, this advertisement prompting the installation of a new piece of software. This step could show up as an update to “Vkontakte”, a popular Russian Social Networking app, an update to Skype, or various other oddities. If this piece of the puzzle is completed, BadNews will begin working with cash fraud apps such as AlphaSMS.

With AlphaSMS, it will appear that a user is making entirely free SMS messages, but the user will be sending cash to the malicious parties in charge of this whole operation without their knowledge.

To prevent this from happening to you, you’ll want to make sure you avoid the apps listed above (of course), and make sure your Android device’s system setting is unchecked for “Unknown Sources” installing apps. If you’ve got this checked, it’s possible (however unlikely) that an app can install itself without needing your permission. Stay smart!

[via Lookout]

Lookout security announces “BadNews” Android malware family discovery is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Google is mighty proud of Chrome‘s security, something it has taken a proactive stance on. Back in December, the Internet giant put the kibosh on silent extensions, which are the sleeper-cell kind that slip in unnoticed and unwanted, installing by default. This move has been expanded on, with the company announcing earlier today a new safeguard that ensures malicious extensions stay out of your browser.

This safeguard was just implemented into Chrome browser, and involves additional measures that keep an eye on extensions that don’t follow the path-laid-before-it mechanisms Google has deemed the proper route to extension installation. If a piece of software doesn’t follow these measures, Chrome will assume it is malware and will flag it as such.

The malware designation will be applied because such methods are typically used to circumvent the silent installation blockers that Google has in place for the purpose of fixing something in place that doesn’t belong. The way it does this results in installation by default, and as such the user will not be able to disable it or uninstall it like an ordinary extension. Other varieties of malicious software that use other methods to get around the system are also detected and flagged.

Users will be made known of this attempted installation via a Safe Browsing warning that will appear stating that a malicious download is present. The warnings won’t start appearing for another week or so, however. The result will not only be better protection, but also performance improvements and a better experience, says Google.

[via Google]

Google to roll out new Chrome safeguard against malicious extensions is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Symantec has published its 2013 Internet Security Threat Report, revealing data about the state of the Internet and the threats in it. According to the security report, small and medium businesses have seen the greatest increase in threats, with over all targeted attacks in 2012 jumping to 42-percent, with 31-percent of those attacks being aimed at companies with less than 250 employees.

According to the report, those who use social networks, particularly Facebook and Twitter, should be careful, with the instances of phishing websites that spoof popular social networks having jumped a huge 125-percent last year. Not all numbers jumped, however, with the amount of spam sent in 2012 dropping to 69-percent of all email sent during the year.

The number of vulnerabilities found last year clocked in at 5,291, with a fair chunk of them – 415, to be precise – being vulnerabilities with mobile OSs. In line with that is the numbers on data theft, with the report stating that 32-percent of the mobile threats resulted in stolen data. The number of web-based attacks also followed the upward trend, jumping 30-percent.

There were 14 zero-day vulnerabilities last year, as well as some big events, including 600,000 Macs being affected by a virus, and a single waterhole attack hit 500 organizations in one day. Other relevant data is contained in the infograph above, which was made by Symantec. Particularly of note is the increase in the number of web-based attacks that were blocked last year over 2011, jumping from 190,370 to 247,350.

[via Symantec]

Symantec security report reveals attacks up and spam down is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Many techies have dreamed of the day when they can control things by simply thinking about them, and that reality is yet a step closer thanks to researchers at the University of California Berkeley’s School of Information and a $99 brainwave device. Using NeuroSky’s Mindset wearable EEG headset and custom software, users have successfully replaced passwords with passthoughts.

While one might be inclined to imagine a huge, expensive headset beyond the means of the average consumer, NeuroSky’s brainwave headset is priced at only $99, and connects to a computer or mobile device via Bluetooth connectivity. The headset has an ear-piece for audio, a grounding clip that goes on the ear, and a small sensor that rests on the forehead. In many ways, it resembles a cross beween an audio headset and an augmented reality eye piece.

Using this device, the researchers measured participants’ brainwaves and were able to use the resulting data to unlock a computer using a so-called passthought rather than a password. The passthought involves thinking of a specific thing, such as a word repeatedly or a certain movement. Such a method is more secure than a conventional password, and takes biometric security to a whole new level.

Just like placing a finger on a biometric scanner won’t unlock a computer unless it has the right fingerprint, using a brainwave headset to think of the passthought won’t unlock the computer unless it is the owner. This is because one’s brainwaves are unique, and one person thinking of something won’t have the same pattern as another person thinking the same thing. Of course, recovering a forgotten passthought is sure to be more difficult than recovering a forgotten password.

[via Mashable]

Researchers use brainwave device to replace passwords with passthoughts is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.