Hackers Hacked Into NASA, Us Military , Us Air force ,European Space Agency,Harvard,European Space Agency & Many More Websites

A hacker collective called “The Unknowns” has published Two Pastebin document that allegedly proves they managed to gain unauthorized access to a number of high profile websites.



The list of targets includes the Bahrain Ministry of Defense, Thai Royal Navy, a subdomain owned by car manufacturer Renault, Harvard University, French Ministry of Defense, Jordanian Yellow Pages, European Space Agency (ESA), US Military’s Joint Pathology Center, NASA’s Glenn Research Center and the US Air Force.

After hacking They Release Lots Of Screen Shots , Leaked Data , Admin Access In Pastebin In Two Docs.

1st Docs : Click here
2nd Docs : Click here

Message By The Attacker On Pastebin After The Attack :

A Message:

We are The Unknowns; Our Knowledge Talsk and Wisdom Listens...

Victims, we have released some of your documents and data, we probably harmed you a bit but that's not really our goal because if it was then all of your websites would be completely defaced but we know that within a week or two, the vulnerabilties we found will be patched and that's what we're actually looking for.
We're ready to give you full info on how we penetrated threw your databases and we're ready to do this any time so just contact us, we will be looking forward for this.

And for all the other websites out there: We're coming, please, get ready, protect your website and stop us from hacking it, whoever you are. Contact us before we take action and we will help you, and will not release anything... It's your choice now.

And for the Public: We're looking for your support... Support us to deliver our message to everyone out there...



We are The Unknowns; Our Knowledge Talsk and Wisdom Listens...

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New Vulnerability Analysis Tool Delivers Cyber Scope-ready Content

Xacta(R) Flux, the new vulnerability analysis tool recently released by Telos(R) Corporation, enables federal agencies to feed security scan results directly to CyberScope in keeping with mandates relating to the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA).

Xacta Flux collects and correlates data from a wide variety of security products into a single view and maps the results to the relevant controls for security and risk management. This same SCAP- (Security Content Automation Protocol) formatted output can be fed to the CyberScope tool without additional scanning or processing.

CyberScope is the online portal federal agencies must use to submit their security assessment and authorization (A&A) results for FISMA reporting. It was established by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and is managed for OMB by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Agencies have been required by OMB to submit monthly reports via CyberScope since November of last year. More than one in five federal agencies did not report their results through CyberScope in Fiscal Year 2011, according to a recent OMB report.

"Federal agencies are making good progress in their use of CyberScope, but more needs to be done," said Rinaldi Pisani, Telos vice president and general manager, emerging technologies. "A SCAP-based vulnerability analysis and reporting tool such as Xacta Flux can help more agencies take advantage of the efficiency and consistency of reporting their security results through CyberScope."

About Telos Corporation

Telos Corporation has provided innovative IT solutions and services to the federal government for more than 30 years, focusing since 1997 on cybersecurity. Telos solutions ensure that the government's most security-conscious organizations comply with demanding federal and DoD information security mandates. Offerings include Xacta(R) IA Manager for enterprise IT security management, enterprise security consulting services, secure networks, secure enterprise messaging, and secure identity management solutions. Solutions are represented to the federal government on Telos' GSA schedule. For more information, visit http://www.telos.com .

SOURCE: Telos Corporation

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Samsung to launch Next Galaxy Phone at London event

Samsung will put the rumours and alleged leaks about its next flagship smartphone to rest when it unveils the handset in London later on Thursday.




More than 20 million copies of the existing Galaxy S2 have been sold since its launch in April 2011.

Analysts say its success helped Samsung overtake Nokia to become the world's best-selling mobile phone maker.

Changes in screen size, form factor and a higher-resolution camera are among changes that may drive its appeal.

Battery life
Samsung has been close lipped ahead of the event, refusing even to confirm the device's name - its website only states that its is "the next Galaxy".

It has, however, said the phone will not include a 3D display, but will be the first device to feature its new Exynos 4 quad-core chip.

It promised the Arm-based design would offer double the processing capability while using 20% less energy than the chip used in the S2. It can also record and playback video in 1080p high definition resolution.

But many company watchers believe the presentation will concentrate on what the device is like to use rather than raw statistics.

"To the normal consumer the chip is not important per se, but the experience it offers is," said Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at the tech analysis firm Gartner.

"So less battery use, better touch response and the ability to better handle multitasking to let more operations be carried out simultaneously will all be noted."

Smartphone shoppers can be very fickle. Blackberry-maker Research In Motion and HTC have both seen sales lag after misjudging the appeal of their high-end devices to consumers.

But Gavin Byrne, principal analyst at telecoms experts CCS Insight believes Samsung should avoid the same pitfall.

"There are only two big companies in the smartphone market making sizeable volumes of profit at the moment - Samsung and Apple," he said.

"Samsung is now a long way ahead of its Android-based rival HTC after the Taiwanese firm had misses with some of its launches.

"Samsung on the other hand has finally learned the lesson that software and making its devices desirable in themselves counts, rather than just having the best technology and specifications."

Special event
The level of speculation surrounding the phone suggests Samsung's decision to hold a special event, rather than launch the handset at Barcelona's Mobile World Congress, is already paying off.

But that also increases the risk of a backlash if the upgrade is not seen as a major step forward.

"Events such as this are incredibly important as it gives the company a world stage to launch their product," said Stuart Miles, founder of the tech site Pocket-lint.

"I'm a great believer that trade shows are good for trade but not launches, as a company only has an hour until a rival's product comes along competing for attention.

"It's all about positioning and timing - if you don't get it right the fire isn't lit and the product won't carry forward."

Samsung will reveal details of the device at 7pm BST at London's Earls Court Exhibition Centre.

Source : BBC News

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Motorola wins Xbox and Windows 7 ban in Germany

Motorola Mobility has been granted an injunction against the distribution of key Microsoft products in Germany.




The sales ban covers the Xbox 360 games console, Windows 7 system software, Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player.

It follows a ruling that Microsoft had infringed two patents necessary to offer H.264 video coding and playback.

A US court has banned Motorola from enforcing the action until it considers the matter next week.

The handset maker is in the process of being taken over by Google.

Appeal
This is just one of several cases involving about 50 intellectual properties that the smartphone maker has claimed that Microsoft should have licensed.

Microsoft has said that if it met all of Motorola's demands it would face an annual bill of $4bn (£2.5bn). Motorola disputes the figure.

A statement from Motorola said: "We are pleased that the Mannheim Court found that Microsoft products infringe Motorola Mobility's intellectual property. As a path forward, we remain open to resolving this matter. Fair compensation is all that we have been seeking for our intellectual property."

Microsoft said it planned to appeal against the German ruling.

"This is one step in a long process, and we are confident that Motorola will eventually be held to its promise to make its standard essential patents available on fair and reasonable terms for the benefit of consumers who enjoy video on the web," a spokesman said.

"Motorola is prohibited from acting on today's decision, and our business in Germany will continue as usual while we appeal this decision and pursue the fundamental issue of Motorola's broken promise."

US hearing
Microsoft moved its European software distribution centre from Germany to the Netherlands last month ahead of the verdict to minimise potential disruption.

However, Motorola cannot enforce the ruling until a Seattle-based judge lifts a restraining order.

The restriction was put in place after Microsoft claimed that Motorola was abusing its Frand-commitments - a promise to licence innovations deemed critical to widely-used technologies under "fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory" terms.

A hearing is scheduled for 7 May, although the judge may issue his ruling at a later date.

The German case is also likely to be considered by the European Commission.

It is carrying out two probes into whether Motorola's Frand-type patent activities amount to "an abuse of a dominant market position".

Source : BBC News

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Looking For Vpn For Bypass Pirate Bay Ban

Every people are increasingly turning to virtual private networks (VPNs) to anonymise their free sharing of music and movies, a new study has suggested.



Sweden's Lund University indicated that there had been a 40% rise in the number of 15 to 25-year-olds using such services since 2009.

Many believe a clampdown on piracy is behind their rise in popularity.

The Pirate Bay has advised visitors to make use of VPNs. It would be illegal to do so to download pirated files.

In its first public response since five of the UK's big ISPs agreed to block their subscribers from the file-sharing site, The Pirate Bay remained defiant.

"As usual there are easy ways to circumvent the block. Use a VPN service to be anonymous and get an uncensored internet access, you should do this anyhow," it said.

Some industry experts now believe that VPNs could become publishers' next target.

Anonymity systems
Once the preserve of the business world, VPNs are secure networks that allow data sharing behind heavily encrypted firewalls.

The fact that they allow users to swap files without being detected makes them perfect for pirates.


Virgin Media has begun blocking users' access to The Pirate Bay
"VPNs could become the next front in the battle against piracy," predicted independent music analyst Mark Mulligan.

He pointed to the growing popularity of VPNs such as BT Guard - in this case, BT stands for bit torrent not British Telecom.

Increasingly services such as the bluntly named HideMyAss have been taking extra measures to protect their users, he added.

"Some providers have already starting putting anonymity systems in place, such as not tracking IP addresses and deleting logs after seven days."

The music industry has changed its focus over the last year, away from targeting individual file-sharers to shutting off access to sites via domain name service blocking - meaning anyone typing in the address of a torrent site will not get through.

To achieve this, content providers must come to an agreement with internet service providers to block access or force the block via the courts.

Crackdowns against The Pirate Bay have now been enforced across Europe and are imminent in Britain.

Some have questioned the effectiveness of current blocks.

BT, for example, has adapted its porn filtering system known as Cleanfeed, but has made no secret of the fact that the system is not entirely foolproof.

Use of so-called proxy servers in conjunction with a VPN is one way to circumnavigate the filters.

"BT's Cleanfeed is the Rolls Royce of filtering software but there are always ways around it," said Mr Mulligan.

Source : BBC News

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BBC News website wins People's Voice news award

The BBC News website has won the People's Voice award for news at this year's Webbys.


Other awards went to Pinterest, Google+ and Spotify, all of whom picked up their first Webbys.

The Daily Beast won the judges' award for news website.

The People's Voice awards sit alongside the judges' awards and are voted for by online fans. This year nearly 1.5 million votes were cast from more than 200 countries.

The breakout of the year award went to Instagram, the photo-sharing startup recently bought by social media giant Facebook.

Facebook also won a People's Special Achievement for Social Change, set up to recognise the impact of the net on political development.

'Real honour'
Pinterest and Google+ picked up the more traditional social media award, Pinterest getting the official Webby and Google+ picking up the People's Voice award.

Commenting on the BBC News website's win in the news category, editor Steve Herrmann said: "It's a real honour to win the People's Voice award once again. This award is hugely appreciated by everyone working to make sure BBC News online remains such a valued service to the public, in the UK and around the world."

Other Webby winners included FactCheck.org which won the best political website, while spoof news site The Onion picked up five awards including Best Comedy website.

Non-profit organisation TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design), famous for its TED talks, also picked up several gongs this year, including ones for best app, best education site and best use of video.

Singer Bjork was among this year's special achievement winners for her Biophilia album, which has been dubbed the world's first app album.

The Webby awards were set up in 1996 and are voted on by a body of web experts. Seen by many as online equivalents of the Oscars, 2012 judges included Twitter co-founder Biz Stone and mobile phone inventor Martin Cooper.

"This year's winners represent an amazing cross-section of the new and continuing trends we've seen across the internet this year," said David-Michel Davies, executive director of the Webby Awards.

Winners will be honoured at an event in New York on 21 May, where each must deliver a five-word speech.

Source : BBC News

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Report Says :Google Staff Knew of Wi-Fi Snooping

The Google engineer who wrote a program that collected personal data from wi-fi networks told at least two other colleagues, a report has revealed.




Google released the full investigation conducted by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

It said senior staff on the Street View team were unaware of the plans.

The company was fined $25,000 (£15,300) earlier this month for impeding the FCC's investigation, but was ruled to not have broken the law.

The report came two weeks after a heavily redacted version was released by the FCC at the time of the original fine.

It detailed how one Google engineer, referred to only as "Engineer Doe", produced a computer program capable of collecting data from people's unsecured home wireless networks.

The data gathered included contents of some emails and web browsing history.

'Collect, store and review'
The collection took place while Google was photographing areas in its Street View car between 2008 and 2010.

"Engineer Doe specifically told two engineers working on the project, including a senior manager, about collecting payload data," the agency said in its report.

"Engineer Doe intended to collect, store and review payload data for possible use in other Google projects."

However, the investigation added that other senior managers on the Street View team were unaware of Engineer Doe's actions.

Google said it wanted to now "put the matter behind us".

"We decided to voluntarily make the entire document available except for the names of individuals," the company said.

"While we disagree with some of the statements made in the document, we agree with the FCC's conclusion that we did not break the law."

Source : BBC News

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Cybersecurity Bill a Step Toward Protection Against New Threats

As the first anniversary of the death of Osama bin Laden approached last week, members of the House of Representatives were debating the impact of the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act in Washington.



The bipartisan proposal passed, 248-168, on Thursday, despite the predictable threat of a White House veto if it is passed in the Senate. The House bill allows for the exchange of potentially threatening data between private companies and the National Security Agency, as well as other government departments.

A separate Senate bill would focus cybersecurity efforts in the Department of Homeland Security and require companies to increase their security for critical infrastructure, such as electrical and water systems. Both bills have merit and come at a time when digital data is in increasing danger of being stolen or intercepted by enemies of the United States. It is a new battleground where no one has an accurate road map to follow. The House has taken the initiative.

The Obama administration favors oversight by civilian agencies. Forcing private businesses to increase electronic security measures could be seen as another burden imposed on corporations large and small by Washington – driving up the cost of manufacturing in many cases. The House bill would give this authority to the NSA, a nationwide agency already well equipped to implement stronger measures to safeguard vital information. But that’s the kind of government involvement that sends liberal lawmakers into a tailspin.

“Supporters – Republicans and Democrats alike – said the proposal is a reasonable compromise between the need for privacy and security,” according to the news agency The Hill. “The intelligence community has the ability to detect cyber threats, these malicious codes and viruses, before they are able to attack our networks,” said Intelligence Committee ranking member Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md. “But right now, federal law prohibits our intelligence community from sharing the classified cyber threat with the companies that will protect us that control the network, the AT&Ts, the Verizons, the Comcasts, those groups. We have the ability to give them the information to protect us,” according to The Hill.

Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., added that the bill is an “unprecedented, sweeping piece of legislation that would waive every single privacy law ever enacted in the name of cybersecurity.”

Yet supporters cooled the rhetoric by insisting that the federal government’s use of voluntarily provided information would be limited. No one argues that the line between privacy and intelligence-gathering is swizzle stick-thin. But ignoring the need to protect the country is a potentially fatal error. It is objectionable to compare the mission of CISPA to how nervous federal agencies dealt with domestic fears in the past, but that’s the tack taken Thursday on the House floor by Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga.

“We remember our nation’s dark past. Martin Luther King Jr.’s telephone was wiretapped. His hotel room was wiretapped. His home was wiretapped. Our offices were wiretapped. Our meetings were wiretapped. And it was not just people spying on civil rights activists, but people protesting against the war in Vietnam. We didn’t have a Facebook or Twitter or email. These new tools must be protected. Today, we have a mission, a mandate, a moral obligation to protect future generations of activists and protestors,” he said to the dozen or so members of Congress present.

Mr. Lewis should remember that every average American citizen deserves just as much protection as his “future generations of activists and protestors.”

Cybersecurity is an international issue that eclipses the former threats presented by the Students for a Democratic Society, for example. In 2010, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s network was compromised. Attackers stole six weeks of email correspondence from four employees who were focused on Asian policy and had access to all the information the Chamber of Commerce has on its 3 million members, according to the Wall Street Journal.

We cannot see the overseas individuals who would profit from acquisition of unsecure data. Congress needs to expedite an effective compromise to protect information. That’s the real “moral obligation” in Washington.

source : The Sun

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Indian Cyber Army Is Organising A Ethical Hacking Boot camp In Kerala.

According To A Update On INDIAN CYBER ARMY Official Facebook Page , They Are Going To Organise A Hacking Boot Camp In Kerala Of Five Days ( Date: 15-19 May 2012 ).

INDIAN CYBER ARMY Has Created A Facebook Event Too : Click Here

Key Features:

>>First time ever in Indian IT Industry, UGC + University recognized certification in Information Security & Ethical Hacking which is cost effective and accepted globally.

>>Course content is developed with the support of Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications and IT, Government of India.

Interested Persons Who Want To Join This Boot Camp :

Mail INDIAN CYBER ARMY : kerala@icalab.com

Or Contact INDIAN CYEBR ARMY South Zone : +91 88 8200 8200 or +91 88 8255 8255

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How To Join Official Indian Cyber Army # Ethical Hacking Training.# Membership

Are You Looking For Best & Fastest Growing "Certified Ethical Hacker / Licensed Penetration Tester / Cyber Crime Forensics Expert / Certified Cyber Crime Lawyer Training "
Then, The Best Choice Is To Go For INDIAN CYBER ARMY.

One Question May Start Coming In Your Mind & Why We Are refering You For INDIAN CYBER ARMY?

#What Is INDIAN CYBER ARMY ? #What Is The Benefits Of Their Programs ? How To Join INDIAN CYBER ARMY ?

INDIAN CYBER ARMY : THE ORGANIZATION

Indian Cyber Army is the largest group of ethical hackers and cyber security experts involved into social service. Its sole aim is to research, analyze, train and develop technology. We are a team of Ethical Hacker, Security Experts, Programmers from across the globe involved into creating awareness in the field of cyber security and to reduce the increasing Cyber Crimes. Apart from creating awareness, we do researches in the field of IT security & ethical hacking, discovering vulnerabilities/loopholes in websites, networks, developing exploits and providing the advisories to overcome the exploit or loopholes. The team had been constantly trying to solve the social problem by creating awareness in the field of Cyber/ Digital Information Security to protect kids, students, youths, individuals, and organizations etc. from the unseen criminals of the wired and wireless world. Protecting the National Information Heritage, Financial freedom, privacy of the individuals and the intellectual property from the global menace of unseen cyber criminals is a social necessity. We strengthen the hands of people by strengthening the power that runs the world in this age of the internet..
A 100 % security can never be accomplished, but we can ensure that we quickly learn from our mistakes and avoid them in future. We have soldiers from every part of India and together we have put up an effort to secure the Indian cyber space. We are ready to Serve anybody who needs us for defending this vital information. Partner Organization with Symantec (Norton Antivirus), IBM India, Data Security Council of India (A Unit of NASSCOM), GFI, LEO Impact Securities and Many More Organizations Working in the field of Cyber Security.

RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Indian Cyber Army also focuses to conduct high quality research in the general areas of security, and performance optimization in Networking, at affordable costs. The Centre will be a platform to provide defense against other threats such as information warfare. Our mission is to develop information infrastructures into more secure and reliable infrastructures and to enhance the communication networks and protocols of todays best-effort Internet. Hence, the urgent need to establish a Cyber Security Research Centre. We established Indian Information Security Research Organization [IISRO]. The research work to be undertaken in the Indian Information Security Research Organization and data collected here shall be of great benefit to the entire Research community. We aim at creating a technology rich environment conducive to constructive discussions and evolving thoughts which will lead to innovative ideas in unwiring and digitizing the world securely at affordable costs.

So why should a student go for Indian Cyber Army Programs We think the following summarizes the plethora of reasons why Indian Cyber Army Program is a dream for every Information Security and Ethical Hacking
enthusiast:

INDIAN CYBER ARMY is a Professional Cyber Security Organization Aimed with Digitally Secured.India, which is providing its services to government and Indian Police. It is the only Organization in India which is providing UGC recognized cyber security courses. As a result of these courses, Indian Cyber Army Certified Professionals will build real world security knowledge that will enable them to recognize vulnerabilities, expose system weaknesses and help safeguard clients against security threats. Professionals will learn the essentials of Networking and Ethical Hacking, along with the added professional edge of new corporate demands.



> Information Security and Ethical Hacking is best understood by applying it in System Administration or Network Administration.
> Information Security and Ethical Hacking have a lot of scope in career.
> A participant gets to learn and apply Information Security which is important for every system and network administrators.
> This is the best way to get to know other Ethical Hacking enthusiast around the country.
> One gets to be in touch with the most talented and experienced professionals in this area of academics and interacts with them.
> Receive an unparalleled education on the art of computer security with personal one-on-one attention from the Indian Cyber Army Cyber Security Team.
> Learn and interact with one of the most respected authorities on computer security
> Toppers of each batch to be personally interviewed by Indian Cyber Army and will receive a chance to work with them on security projects at Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau, New Delhi or Indian Information Security Research Organization (IISRO) under Indian Cyber Army Student Partners Program (ICASP).
> Indian Cyber Army Ethical Hacking & Information Security Software Tool Kit with Manual for each student. Study materials prepared by the legends of hacking world.
> Authorized Certificate, recognized in the security industry globally after the completion of the Workshop.
> 24x7 Live Doubt Clearing Sessions via Chat by Experts and Webinars.
> Free Membership*** to “Indian Cyber Army” India's first White Hat Hacker's Team.
> One Year Free Subscription to “Hackcrypt” Magazine (E-Copy)


## Any Person From Any Country Of The World Can Join /Take Training From INDIAN CYBER ARMY Experts.

To Join INDIAN CYBER ARMY Or For Any Queries Mail at training@indiancyberarmy.org

Indian Cyber Army Is Also Recruiting Security Professionals, Marketing Specialist And Techno Crates For The Post Of State Executive Officer All Over India in All States and Union Territories.
Interested Applicant Can Mail Their Resume Along With Their Qualification Documents at hr@indiancyberarmy.org

For Any Other Query Contact
+91 78 3877 3877 or +91 7827 422 422
between 10AM to 8PM All Days.

Website : http://www.indiancyberarmy.org
Facebook: Click here
Chat With INDIAN CYBER ARMY Team : Click Here

Source : INDIAN CYBER ARMY Blog

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Cybercriminals stole $5 million in 72 hours

While the rest of the world was making resolutions and sleeping off a night of partying, a South African cybercrime gang rang in the New Year by stealing more than $5 million from a government bank.

In a 72-hour span ending shortly after 6:00 a.m. Jan. 3, the crooks made off with 42 million rand (about $5.2 million) from the state-owned Postbank, part of the South African Post Office that holds about 4 billion rand in deposits, the South African newspaper Times Live reported.

South Africa's National Intelligence Agency and the police have launched an investigation but no suspects have been named. The bank said none of its more than 4 million customers were affected.

The high-tech heist began in the end of December, when members of the criminal gang began opening accounts across the country with Postbank. Over the New Year holiday break, the syndicate infiltrated a Rustenberg Post Office employee's computer. From there, the crooks were able to access Postbank's server and make fraudulent deposits to the numerous accounts they'd just set up.

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Suspicion grows China was behind hack of U.S. commission

News of the hacking of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission surfaced earlier this month when an amateur "hacktivist" group purporting to operate in India published what it said was a memo from an Indian Military Intelligence unit to which extracts from commission emails were attached.

But U.S. officials who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity said the roundabout way the commission's emails were obtained strongly suggests the intrusion originated in China, possibly by amateurs, and not from India's spy service.

A large cache of raw email data from the security breach, reviewed by Reuters, indicates that the principal target of the intruders was not the commission, but instead a Washington-based non-governmental pro-trade group called the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC).

The trade council is headed by William Reinsch, a former top U.S. Commerce Department official who until recently served as the U.S.-China Commission's chairman.

A large proportion of the raw email traffic downloaded by the hackers consists of messages to and from Reinsch at his NFTC email address. Many of the emails were spam, but some related to the work of the commission, which was set up by Congress to take a critical look at a wide range of U.S. dealings with China.

Reinsch told Reuters that the NFTC first became aware in November that large quantities of its message traffic had been hacked. He said that law enforcement authorities, including the FBI, had been quickly notified. The FBI has declined comment.

Reinsch said he could think of "no particular reason" why the Indian government or Indian hackers would be interested in him. By contrast, he and several other U.S. officials said that Chinese hackers, whether amateur or directly affiliated with Chinese government, would have great interest in the U.S.-China Commission's activities, both public and private.

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Facebook Is Also Not In Support Of SOPA and PIPA

Mark Zuckerberg the founder of Facebook has announced that facebook is also not in support of SOPA and PIPA.

Lets read the announcement in Mark Zuckerberg words :

The internet is the most powerful tool we have for creating a more open and connected world. We can't let poorly thought out laws get in the way of the internet's development. Facebook opposes SOPA and PIPA, and we will continue to oppose any laws that will hurt the internet. The world today needs political leaders who are pro-internet. We have been working with many of these folks for months on better alternatives to these current proposals. I encourage you to learn more about these issues and tell your congressmen that you want them to be pro-internet. You can read more about our views here: https://www.facebook.com/FacebookDC?sk=app_329139750453932.

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Israeli Hackers Reveal Details of 4,800 Saudi Credit Cards

The cyber war between Israeli hackers and Saudi hackers is growing day by day.Israeli hackers claim to break into database of one of Saudi Arabia's largest banks.

Israeli hackers unveiled details of approximately 4,800 credit cards from various accounts held in Saudi Arabia.

The hacker group, which goes by the name Nuclear, was able to reveal many more details than in the past, including card number, password, security code, code type, and expiration date. The hackers claim they were able to access the information after hacking into the database of one of Saudi Arabia's largest banks.

The latest round come one day after Israeli hackers brought down the websites of both the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX).The hackers were able to paralyze the Tadawul website, while causing significant delays to the ADX exchange site.

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Virgin Boss Richard Branson in .xxx domain Name Dispute

The company took the action after an individual unconnected with the company registered the name.

"We have a complaint against the owner of richardbranson.xxx," a Virgin spokesman said.

The top-level domain launched last year after considerable debate. Virgin said it was spending an increasing amount of time protecting its brands, including the Branson name, online.

In order to win control of the domain Virgin has filed an application with the National Arbitration Forum, a body which deals with domain name disputes.

Web changes

The .xxx domains went on sale for the first time on 6 December.

Last week Icann, the body which has overall responsibility for the system, opened applications for a further expansion of the net naming system.

Under the new scheme it will be possible to register almost any word as a domain name suffix.

Critics argued companies would have to spend large amounts of money to protect themselves from cybersquatters.

"We spend a lot of time protecting the Virgin brand and the Richard Branson name and increasingly this takes us online," a spokesman told the BBC.

"We do see this as a growing problem with the changes to top-level domains and we not alone," he added.

ICM Registry, which oversees the .xxx domains, had offered firms the chance to pay a one-off fee to protect their brands prior to the scheme's launch.

Virgin's claim will turn on factors such as whether the original registration was in good faith and what legitimate interest the present owner may have to the use of the name.

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World IPv6 Launch Day Set to Aid Net Address Switchover

IPv6 is the new net address system that replaces the current protocol IPv4, which is about to run out of spaces to allocate.

Web companies participating in the event have pledged to enable IPv6 on their main websites from that date.

The Internet Society, which made the announcement, said the day represented "a major milestone" in the deployment of the standard.

Facebook, Google, Microsoft Bing and Yahoo are the inaugural web firms involved.

Problem solving

IPv6 is incompatible with IPv4, so the transition has required old hardware to be replaced or updated.

Internet service providers (ISP) taking part have promised that by the launch date they will have enabled at least 1% of their fixed line subscribers to visit IPv6-enabled websites. The ISPs involved include the US firms AT&T and Comcast, and the Dutch firm XS4all.

The home networking equipment manufacturers Cisco and D-Link say they aim to enable IPv6 on all their home router products by the date.

And Akami and Limelight - two firms that help improve third parties' delivery of content over the net - have also promised to allow their customers to join the list of firms participating in the scheme by enabling the new protocol throughout their infrastructure.

Amsterdam-based RIPE NCC, which allocates IP addresses in Europe, the Middle East and parts of Asia, said: "Operational experience and measurements on World IPv6 Launch will help content providers and ISPs to identify and rectify any potential problems with delivering services."

Facebook's vice president of infrastructure engineering, Jay Parikh, added: "Last year's industry-wide test of IPv6 successfully showed that the global adoption of IPv6 is the best way to keep web devices communicating in the future.

"Permanently enabling IPv6 is vital to keeping the internet open and ensuring people stay connected online as the number of web users and devices continue to grow."

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Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang resigns from its board

Mr Yang founded the online company in 1995 with David Filo and was its chief executive from June 2007 until January 2009.

His resignation comes two weeks after the company hired former PayPal executive Scott Thomson to be its new chief executive.

Mr Yang annoyed some shareholders by turning down a $47.5bn (£31bn) takeover offer from Microsoft in 2008.

The company's current market value is about $20bn.

Mr Yang has also resigned from the boards of Yahoo Japan and Alibaba Group and said in a statement: "The time has come for me to pursue other interests outside of Yahoo!".

He also expressed support for the company's current management.

"I am enthusiastic about the appointment of Scott Thompson as Chief Executive Officer and his ability, along with the entire Yahoo! leadership team, to guide Yahoo! into an exciting and successful future," he said.

Yahoo! shares rose 3.4% in after-hours trading.

Some analysts had seen Mr Yang as an impediment to the sale or restructuring of the business.

"This is clearly a positive. It provides a more objective and unemotional approach to strategic alternatives," said Brett Harriss at Gabello & Co.

"It's also good for the new CEO. He has one less entrenched legacy board member to resist his vision."

In addition to leaving the board, Mr Yang is also giving up his title of "Chief Yahoo".

"While I and the entire board respect his decision, we will miss his remarkable perspective, vision and wise counsel," said Yahoo! chairman Roy Bostock.

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Facebook Koobface Worm 'Hacker Gang Named'

Alleged cybercriminals behind an internet worm, which spread via Facebook and other social networks, have been named.

The suspected gang were tracked down to St Petersburg after an investigation by Facebook and cybersecurity researchers.

The worm gave the gang control of hundreds of thousands of computers.

While not the largest such network of hijacked machines or "botnet", the so-called Koobface worm is notable for its targeting of social networks.

The security company Sophos published details of an extensive investigation into Koobface on its blog.

The report, based on work by independent researcher Jan Dromer, and the firm's Dirk Kollberg, details how the suspects were tracked down.

Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant at Sophos, told the BBC he believed they had identified the right people: "We're pretty confident. I mean obviously we have to assume these people are innocent until proven guilty

"It's very difficult to be 100% certain of these things. Of course it's always possible that someone could be trying to frame these people, but the evidence feels pretty strong to us. Certainly there's enough evidence to investigate these people."


None of the alleged gang members have been arrested or charged with offences connected to Koobface.

The BBC attempted to contact members of the group via a business linked to the gang but was unsuccessful.

Security researchers say Koobface became active in 2008.

The worm spread through social networks, presenting users with bogus links to online videos.

The links encouraged users to install a copy of the Koobface malware masquerading as a Flash update.

The worm was even able to create fake social networking profiles able to propagate the malware.

"It can create Facebook accounts and then use those accounts to start sending links to people," Mr Cluley said.

Researchers believe that up to 800,000 machines could have been infected by the worm.

Facebook is expected to share details of the gang with security and internet companies later.

Mr Cluley is aware that publishing details of the suspects will affect the inquiry into their activities: "These sort of investigations can take years. I think in an ideal world then these identities wouldn't have become public knowledge. But the cat is out of the bag now and we have to take a different tactic.

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Google protests SOPA on home page

18 January means today will mark the apocalypse of the internet. Two of the world’s biggest websites, Wikipedia and Reddit, will shut down for 24 hours in order to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA)–two bills that the U.S. government is trying to pass.

In addition to the participation of these huge websites in the protest, the top website in the world, Google, will join in tomorrow–using the leverage of their homepage. This simple webpage just happens to get over a billion page views every day of the year! Take that SOPA!

A Google spokesperson recently told Mashable that there will be a link on the homepage for any of these hundreds of millions of people to click on in order to learn more about SOPA and its congressional counterpart, PIPA. The links will also include reasons why global tech firms like Google, Reddit, and Wikipedia oppose the bills.

“Like many businesses, entrepreneurs and web users, we oppose these bills because there are smart, targeted ways to shut down foreign rogue websites without asking American companies to censor the Internet,” the spokesperson said in an e-mail statement. “So tomorrow we will be joining many other tech companies to highlight this issue on our U.S. home page.”

Although these head honchos of the world wide web are making a full-fledged attack on the government act, there are some household website that aren’t taking the same kind of action, one of these being Twitter. Following the news that had surfaced in the last few weeks of the Wikipedia and Reddit blackout, and in response to the call for help, CEO of Twitter, Dick Costolo responded to this by stating: “closing a global business in reaction to single-issue national politics is foolish.”

Social networking site Twitter was also part of the protest letter that was sent to the senate in, but they would rather not shut down their site. Google, Wikipedia and Reddit are using their influence to raise awareness about these controversial bills. Time will tell if these bills ever see the light of day; but with President Obama in opposition, it is unlikely that PIPA and SOPA will pass.

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Anonymous to Hack Sony on Monday

Hackers from Anonymous are planning to attack Sony for once supporting SOPA next Monday, according to a report from SC Magazine, which claims that both Sony.com and the Sony Music store are the targets.
‘Hacktivists’ from the collective are reportedly plotting to load Sony’s homepage with BitTorrent files, which are exactly the type of Internet content SOPA is aimed at closing, and deface the executive bios that sit on the corporate site. Furthermore, they are planning to cause more issues by removing the price of all of the content in its store, effectively making everything in there free.
The project is being referred to as a “payload” which suggests that the hackers are planning to militarise to bring their hacking plans to fruition.
A number of Anonymous’ teams are being used to get things into place, according to the report, which explains:


Certain skilled hackers have been placed into elite, members-only teams, Eta, Theta and Zeta, which have been tasked with hacking into Sony’s online stores so the payload may be uploaded.
Eta is working to remove price tags from the Sony store, Zeta is aiming to set the payload up and direct anyone who visits Sony.com to it, to maximise the chaos. The Theta has been tasked with securing the hack against any measures that Sony may take to fix the situation.

The rest of the teams – Alpha, Beta, Delta and Gamma — are developing the payload for anyone to take part and add their own torrents, while they are specifically locating copyright-infringing torrents to place further emphasis on SOPA and the issues.

A draft Anonymous press release is apparently claiming that the collective is able to cause mayhem from its previous efforts hacking into Sony systems:

“Last April, we took down the Playstation Network. We are firmly rooted in your servers and we can, at will, take them down again.”


rom its enquiries, SC Magazine believes that the hackers are conscious of their public image following the series of hacks that they have carried out, which have included exposing Sony gamers’ details. This new project appears to be aimed at providing social awareness through hacking, rather than just causing outright chaos.

The original report appears to have been compiled with considerable access to the workings of Anonymous, or at least by communicating with sources that are close to the organisation. It remains to be seen whether the plans will hatch as is anticipated or whether Sony will be able to thwart it in advance of the hack.

Sony backtracked on its support of SOPA late last year, having come under criticism from across the Internet, with Anonymous itself threatening the company with action. Despite the change of stance, it seems that the hacking collective is intent on picking out the company for treatment, once again.

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