Category: Around the World
Enormous Global 419 Nigerian Scam Bust
In what is being hailed as one of the largest spam&scam busts of the decade, and the biggest 419 bust in history, the FBI and Spanish police have collaborated to arrest three hundred and ten (that’s right, 310) people in Spain, all of whom were connected with an enormous email…
Iraq Terrorist Sniper Attack Footage Posted by Army Times
In what has been seen by some as an unusual move, but may be a sign of times to come, the Army Times has posted on its website video footage of a terrorist sniper attack in Iraq which resulted in the wounding of an American soldier.
Microsoft Sues Google for Stealing Employee Kai-Fu Lee
Is it a case of sour grapes, or good business? Microsoft this week has sued Google. Not over technology or copyright. Nope. Over poaching one of their top executives, Executive Vice President Kai-Fu Lee. It’s no secret that Microsoft has recently forayed into the Chinese Internet scene, and Google has…
Mariam Abacha Convicted! Nigerian 419 Scam Fraudstress Jailed
We’ve all seen variations on the theme. “I am Mariam Abacha, widow of the late Nigerian head of state, Gen. Sani Abacha. After the death of my husband who died mysteriously…” They always end with a plea for you to help them get millions of dollars out of Nigeria, in…
Fly the Unfriendly Skies – Feds Want Broad In-Flight Internet-Tapping Anti-Terror Access for Fly-Fi
Ever since the FCC approved wireless Internet access on U.S. flights, the promise of fly-fi on domestic flights has titillated U.S. passengers. Up until then, fly-fi had eluded domestic U.S. flights, although fly-fi has been available on European and Asian flights for some time now. However, a proposal by the…
Biggest ISPs? The Answer May Surprise You.
Every year Security Space puts out a report on the top ISPs, measured by number of web servers hosted on the ISP’s networks. Who do you think that the top three ISPs are? Well, if you said MSN, AOL and/or Earthlink, well, you’d be wrong. In fact, AOL and MSN…
Couple Fights Over Who Gets Custody of the…Online Game Points?
Remember that study that said that Internet addiction was not a big factor in online gaming? Well maybe Internet addiction itself isn’t, but surely online gaming addiction has to be a factor in the rise in issues surrounding the “ownership” of online game ‘property’. And when we say “issues”, we…
Nasa Hacker: “I Found More Hackers There. And Aliens Too”
Gary McKinnon, the extra-terrestrial-seeking Nasa hacker who was apprehended last month, has explained how he managed to hack into Nasa’s computers, along with those of several other government agencies, and what he found there. According to the 39-year old Londoner, he simply searched for senior network administrators who didn’t use…
What a Shock! Tivo and Replay Owners Skip Commercials!
A new study released in the UK this week indicates that DVR (digital video recorders, such as the Tivo and the ReplayTV) owners fast forward through commercials. Well, duh. Apparently this is a surprise, although to whom, Aunty can’t imagine. I mean, why wouldn’t you fast forward through the commercials?…
Teach a Boy to Phish…
A high school student has been identified as the mastermind behind a phishing scheme involving a fake banking website. According to authorities in Korea, the teenager, identified only by his surname ‘Kim’, managed to get personal and financial data from seventy-seven targets before he was ultimately caught. Officials explained that…
Cell Phone Service Cut Off to NYC Tunnels Following London Blasts
Nobody is exactly sure exactly why, but cell phone access has been intentionally turned off in the four major tunnels servicing New York City since the London terror bombings last week. The affected tunnels include the Holland Tunnel, the Lincoln Tunnel, the Midtown Tunnel, and the Battery Tunnel. This is…
New Virus Scam Exploits London Bombings
Like Christopher Pierson, the Tsunami Spammer before him, some sicko has decided to take advantage of the recent bombing in London, and to use them as a hook for his (or her) spam, which carries a Trojan horse to the victim’s computer. The spam bearing the Trojan claims to offer…
Crime Pays! Microsoft to Reward Sasser Informants
It turns out that crime does pay, after all. Informants, that is. Microsoft has announced that they will pay out a promised $250,000 USD reward to two informants who helped lead authorities to Sasser creator Sven Jaschan. The teenaged Jaschan was tried last week, and received a suspended sentence for…
Genuine Tsunami Warning Email Blocked as Spam
From our “Ultimate-Irony-Spam-Who-Cried-Wolf” department, Computerworld Australia is reporting that the first live test of the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System, following a 6.7 earthquake off Northern Sumatra, failed miserably when the email alerts were blocked as spam. Aunty’s readers will recall that immediately following the horribly devestating tsunami last December,…
Worldwide Trojan Attacks in Progress
Online security company MessageLabs is warning people that there has been a sudden sharp rise in Trojans assailing user inboxes, worldwide. In just one morning this week, MessageLabs says that they blocked 54,000 copies of new Downloader Trojans. The Download Trojans include Trojan horse programs Downloader.ABC and Downloader.XZ. The Trojan…