SecurityWeek

Since Operation Ababil began, the websites of banks such as CitiGroup and Wells Fargo have faced periodic bombardment from attackers. But while the big-name banks may garner most of the headlines, the problem of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against the financial industry is more widespread than some may think.

Many Web applications prompt users to sign in using their Twitter or Facebook accounts. While convenient for users, users have to make sure the applications aren't accidentally winding up with higher levels of access than they require.

Bring-your-own device has gone from being an industry buzz word to a legitimate trend and concern for many enterprises.

Distributed-denial of service (DDoS) attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated and severe as perpetrators adopt new techniques, Radware said in its year-end report.

Insurance giant Travelers this week launched a new offering designed to help small businesses protect against the growing risks of cyber attacks and data breaches. Dubbed “CyberFirst Essentials – Small Business”, the new offering provides insurance coverage to protect against some of the most common information security breaches including:

Fixmo, a provider of mobile security and risk management solutions, announced on Tuesday that it has received a strategic investment from Samsung Ventures, the venture capital arm of the Samsung Group.

What would happen if Chinese or Russian agents were to conduct a covert operation, sabotaging America’s electricity grid using targeted bombs, leading to widespread power-outages resulting in, amongst other things, patients dying in hospitals, an economic crash, traffic accidents, and people freezing in their houses. Would this neutralize a nation’s armed forces ability to retaliate?

A draft proposal for the Cyber Security Strategy of the European Union has been circulating ahead of official publication, which would require public and private organizations to disclose cyber attacks, regardless if PII was exposed.

Oracle isn’t having a good month as far as PR and security is concerned. Adam Gowdiak, a researcher in Poland with Security Explorations, says that Oracle’s recent patch for Java contains not one, but two additional vulnerabilities.

Just like a hammer or wrench, hackers have tools in their digital toolboxes to make advanced persistent threat (APTs) campaigns simpler to manage and launch.

The computer emergency response team in Poland, CERT Polska, announced last week that they’ve taken over several domains linked to the Virut botnet. While it may not have a long-term impact on the botnets operations, CERT Polska’s actions have certainly delivered a devastating blow to the malware family.

Hackers participating in this year's Pwn2Own contest at the CanSecWest conference in Vancouver will have more than just a web browser to use as their playground. This time, the upcoming competition will feature a new focus on browser plug-ins.

If Jason Bourne was a real-world government operative today, he would focus less time on the covert world of espionage and violent assassination plots, and would focus more on cybersecurity. The critical infrastructure networks that operate our electrical grids, power our water treatment plants, and enable communications are being targeted by hackers and nation states, and the impact of such attacks have the ability to wreak significant havoc.

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion this week announced that its mobile NFC (Near Field Communication) payments solution has been approved by Visa.

WASHINGTON - Authoritarian regimes around the world are using technology from a Silicon Valley firm for Internet surveillance, filtering and censorship, according to a report by Canadian researchers.