McDonald's is working with law enforcement authorities after malicious hackers broke into another company's databases and stole information about an undetermined number of the fast food chain's customers.

McDonald's has also alerted potentially affected customers via e-mail and through a message on its Web site. "We have been informed by one of our long-time business partners, Arc Worldwide, that limited customer information collected in connection with certain McDonald’s websites and promotions was obtained by an unauthorized third party," a McDonald's spokeswoman said via e-mail on Saturday. McDonald's hired Arc to develop and coordinate the distribution of promotional e-mail messages, and Arc in turn relied on an unidentified e-mail company to manage the customer information database. This e-mail company's systems were hacked into.

(Source: Computer World)

Full story

Computer World

Google said Thursday that it expects to introduce more stringent copyright protection policies to prevent questionable web sites from participating in Google's services. The goal is to protect content creators from having their intellectual property exploited, the company said. At YouTube, Google already offers Content ID -- a set of audio and video matching tools that give content providers controls to manage their content if someone uploads it.

Participating rights holders provide reference files for comparing with the content on YouTube, and when matches are found the rights holder is given the opportunity to block, track or earn money from creations. "We're seeing media companies make the most of this revenue opportunity," noted YouTube Product Manager David King in a blog. "In the last quarter alone, claims to make money from videos increased 200 percent."

(Source: Newsfactor Network)

Full story

Newsfactor Network

The British government says cyber crime is now one of the biggest risks to national security. A new cyber crime unit is to be set up which will both defend from and be able to attack other nations. As more of the world comes online, so the number and location of PCs available for hijacking is changing. Spencer Kelly investigates what the latest threats look like, and how they can be avoided. For the full story on "How to avoid the fake security tool scam", click here

(Source: BBC)

Full story

BBC

Identity theft and misuse of data is of top concern to people around the world as well as in the United States. That's a challenge for our society, our political leadership and the IT industry. It's also a challenge to our customers. End users are sensitive to security technology and security safeguards used for Internet banking and online transactions. Our belief is that it's best to let people see that you have good security rather than making it invisible to people. It's the equivalent of showing people the vault in the back room in your great grandmother's generation.

What people want to see now is that their Internet banking and identity data is safe. We've seen this more than we did three or four years ago. Our customers want two-factor identification not to be invisible. If you log onto your bank through a kiosk device it acknowledges that you haven't used this device before and it puts you through an extra handshake.

(Source: Forbes)

Full story

Forbes

Facebook admitted late last week that some developers have sold user IDs (UIDs) to data brokers. The popular social-networking site said it has taken steps to prevent this in the future, including a six-month suspension of some developers. In a post Friday on the company's Developer Blog, Facebook's Mike Vernal said the company has "discovered some instances where a data broker was paying developers for UIDs." He noted that the developers were less than a dozen, mostly small developers, and that none of the apps were in the top 10 on the platform. He also noted that some sharing of UIDs happened "inadvertently" due to "an issue with the way that web browsers work." He added that no evidence was found that this "sharing" resulted in the collection of private user information. With a user ID, a user's public information, including name, can be found. The Journal found that at least one data broker, RapLeaf, had correlated the user IDs with its own database of Net users, and had shared the Facebook IDs with other firms.

This kind of data correlation can help to create a user behavioral profile. RapLeaf said the sharing wasn't intentional, and has agreed to remove all the UIDs it has. The company is no longer allowed to conduct activities on the Facebook platform.

(Source: News Factor Network)

Full story

News Factor Network

A former IT staffer has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison for stealing sensitive information belonging to his co-workers and using the data to make money filling out online health surveys. Cam Giang, 31, was fired from the University of California San Francisco Medical Center earlier this year after investigators discovered that he'd been using the names, birthdays and Social Security numbers of other UCSF employees to fill out hundreds of online surveys.

The point was to collect online vouchers, worth US$100 each. He had worked at the medical center's IT department for five years and had access to the sensitive information through his job, according to court records. Between January and April of this year, Giang filled out 382 surveys before the company that was paying for them, StayWell, figured out what was going on. StayWell had been offering UC employees the gift vouchers as incentives to fill out health surveys, but it grew wise to the scam. The company received complaints from employees who couldn't fill out the survey. When StayWell investigated, it turned out that Giang had already filled out surveys in their names.

(Source: Computer World)

Full story

Computer World

ZDNet reported recently that a Western Australian man was the victim of a new bizarre twist of identity theft. According to the report, Roger Mildenhall, was contacted by a neighbor saying he had seen one of his investment houses for sale. Mildenhall looked into it and found that it was for sale . He was also surprised to learn that he sold another property in June. In this economy, you might jump for joy. Roger was dumbfounded since he never intended to sell these properties - this was done unauthorized by him.

ALL transactions were made via email, telephone, and fax. No human interaction. The report indicates that alleged scammers hacked into Mildenhall's email account. From there they were able to get to his personal and property documents.

(Source: Infosec Island)

Full story

Infosec Island

As technology advances, children are becoming quite adept at using smart phones, surfing the web, posting pictures, etc. So it may be important to sit your child down and teach them one quick lesson about the Internet:

What happens on the Internet, Stays on the Internet FOREVER

And as parents, before you hand over that phone to provide some extra entertainment when you get stuck in line at a restaurant, you may want to make sure all other applications are locked down, you have signed out of your email and other social networking sites, and that before anything can be sent a passwords must be entered.

(Source: Infosec Island)

Full story

Infosec Island

Google Inc admitted for the first time its "Street View" cars around the world accidentally collected more personal data than previously disclosed -- including complete emails and passwords -- potentially breathing new life into probes in various countries. The disclosure comes just days after Canada's privacy watchdog said Google had collected complete emails and accused Google of violating the rights of thousands of Canadians. "If in fact laws were broken...then there's some serious question of culpability and Google may need to face significant fines," said Marc Rotenberg, the executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a Washington DC-based privacy advocacy group.

Regulators in France, Germany and Spain, among others, have opened investigations into the matter. A coalition of more than 30 state attorneys general in the United States also have launched a joint probe. It remains unclear how many people may have been affected by the privacy breach.

(Source: Reuters)

Full story

Reuters

Nearly half of home wi-fi networks can be hacked in less than five seconds, according to a study carried out across the UK. Of the 40,000 networks identified across six cities, just under 20,000 had no password or the most basic form of security encryption, the research for card protection and insurance company CPP found. In the “ethical hacking” experiment, researchers spent half an hour in each city using freely-available software to use as many unsecured wireless connections as possible. Nearly a quarter of the private networks (9,249) had no password, despite 82% of Britons saying their network is secure. But the study found even password-protected networks were not secure, with hackers able to breach a typical password in seconds.

(Source: Belfast Telegragh)

Full story

Belfast Telegragh

All network security equipment, the strongest of which is used by the financial industry, is exposed to a new kind of online attack, Finnish data security vendor Stonesoft said on Monday. Stonesoft said it has found a new threat category -- advanced evasion techniques (AETs) -- which simultaneously combine different evasions in several layers of networks, and in the process become invisible for security gear. While evasions -- tools hackers often use to penetrate network security -- are nothing new, AETs package them in new ways to let attackers bypass most firewalls and intrusion detection and prevention systems (IPS) without being detected.

This could give them access to data on secure corporate networks and allow them to plant further attacks. "From the point of view of cybercriminals and hackers, advanced evasion techniques work like a master key to anywhere," said Klaus Majewski, business development chief at Stonesoft. "Current protection against advanced evasion techniques is next to zero. This is a new thing and there is no protection against it currently," Majewski said.

(Source: Reuters)

Full story

Reuters

INTERPOL has launched an international initiative which will see the world police body provide a list of Internet domains containing severe child sexual abuse content to Internet Access Service Providers (ASPs) voluntarily participating in the scheme to reduce the availability of such material on the Web. Under the scheme, Internet users attempting to access severe child abuse material on the web will be re-directed away, either to an INTERPOL stop page or to an error page.

INTERPOL’s Trafficking in Human Beings unit, which steers the world police body’s combat against child sexual exploitation, will work with the Organization’s National Central Bureaus and international police forces amongst its 188 member countries in updating and enlarging this “Worst of” list of domains containing severe child sexual abuse material, according to criteria defined in collaboration with the pan-European police project CIRCAMP – the COSPOL (Comprehensive Operational Strategic Planning for the Police) Internet Related Child Abusive Material Project.

(Source: Interpol)

Full story

Interpol

PRE-TEENS should not be on Facebook, insists Queensland Premier Anna Bligh - and the social networking site needs to work harder at enforcing the 13-year age limit. "I think that parents are right when they say that primary school children should not be on Facebook and I support Queensland parents when they say that Facebook needs to do more to address their legitimate fears," Ms Bligh said. "Vigilant parents can email the company if their child is under 13 and the child's site will be shut down.

''Unfortunately, there really is nothing to stop their child setting up another site." Sandy White from Norman Park in Brisbane's inner east is the mother of Thomas, 13, and Ryan, 12. She believes the number of primary school children using Facebook is growing. "I do not allow my boys to have a Facebook account, even though they would love to. It seems the norm these days is for children as young as 10 or 11 to join up but I believe that children of that young age are defenceless to predators.

(Source: Queensland Newspapers)

Full story

Queensland Newspapers

Adult websites and applications are too easily accessible to adolescent smartphone users, with the Korean government unable to censor materials uploaded from foreign soil, a lawmaker said Monday. Rep. Han Sun-kyo of the governing Grand National Party (GNP) said that smartphone users, including minors, can access many applications containing sex-related material and games. “Internet users cannot search sites containing adult materials by typing in sex-related words. But if you do that in the App Store and Google-backed Android market, you get up to 900 X-rated applications,” he said during the National Assembly’s audit of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Sports. In particular, those who are over 17 can download adult content from the App Store, Han said. “Even if they are minors, they can have access to adult content as long as they type in passwords and click the approve button.” Among the most downloaded applications, one involving sex acts ranked 40th, he said, stressing there are even applications allowing smartphone users to view adult video clips by providing their uniform resource locators (URL).

“The Korea Communication Standards Commission (KOCSC) has recently decided to tighten applications on App Store and other online open application markets, believing there is too much sex-related material. But it is not certain that the commission will be able to apply local regulations to foreign companies,” the lawmaker said.

(Source: The Korea Times)

Full story

The Korea Times

Addiction counsellors have told Newsbeat they're seeing more cases of people worried about being hooked on playing video games. There are now calls for the gaming industry to offer more support to people who can't switch off. Technology or computer addiction isn't officially recognised as a clinical condition. But the group representing games companies admits there needs to be more research into the problem.

"Most of the people that are getting into difficulties tend to be in their teenage years and early 20s. "As that generation moves through and others come on behind, I think the problem is going to get bigger."

(Source: BBC)

Full story

BBC

Appropriately for a month that concludes with a holiday designed around scary things, October has been declared Cyber Security Awareness Month. President Obama recently signed a proclamation and urged everyone to back up files, keep Internet-surfing children safe, and "play an active role in securing the cyber networks we use every day." National Cyber Security Awareness Month is part of a campaign organized by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and backed by the Department of Homeland Security.

The government agency said, "America's competitiveness and economic prosperity in the 21st century will depend on effective cybersecurity." NCSA said October's designation is part of the first Global Online Safety Campaign, called STOP | THINK | CONNECT, which began Monday. The public-private partnership is intended to "help all digital citizens employ universal behaviors to protect themselves," the organization said.

(Source: NewsFactor Network)

Full story

NewsFactor Network

The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has sponsored a new online directory of Australia's security professionals and academia, which aims to highlight leaders in the industry. The National Security Research Directory is a brain's trust of hundreds of experts operating in a burgeoning list of fields across IT security, biometrics and counter-terrorism. It includes research topic areas such as applied cryptography, physical security and "ubervelliance" — a system with the ability to automatically locate and identify individuals and predict their movements.

Deputy national security advisor Margot McCarthy said the network will tighten coordination on matters of national security in the public and private sectors. McCarthy also announced the National Security Advisor's Group within the Department of the Prime Minster and Cabinet, which will report directly to the National Security chief information officer, Rachael Noble, on issues including cybersecurity.

(Source: ZD Net)

Full story

ZD Net

Nearly six-in-ten adults (58%) have done research online about the products and services they buy, and about a quarter (24%) have posted comments or reviews online about the things they buy. On a typical day, 21% of adults search for product information online.

This is an increase from 15% in 2007 and 9% in 2004. The 2010 data come from a telephone survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project conducted between August 9 and September 13, 2010. The survey was administered to a sample of 3,001 adults, age 18 and older, using a combination of landline and cellular telephones. Interviews were conducted in English or Spanish. The sample margin of error is plus or minus 2.5 percentage points for the general population and plus or minus 2.9 percentage points for internet users (n=2,065). Among internet users, 78% say that they at least occasionally conduct product research and 32% report that they have posted online product comments.

(Source: Pew Internet Research)

Full story

Pew Internet Research

500 million users worldwide and still growing, Facebook is now ubiquitous. Because of its popularity, minors have jumped onto the social media bandwagon, too, and they use networking the same way adults do--to share pictures, connect with friends, organize events, and play social games. And that can be a problem.

For the most part, Facebook provides a fun and safe way for users of all ages to communicate with their pals. But because kids and teens are, well, kids and teens, they're the ones most at risk of falling victim to the dangers of Facebook. With a bit of strategic parental guidance, you can educate your kids about the potential hazards of social media and give them the tools they need to protect themselves from online predators, guard their personal information, preserve their online reputation, and avoid suspicious downloads that could harm your PC.

(Source: PC World)

Full story

PC World

Students awaiting loans and grants should watch out for scam emails asking for bank details, Student Finance England warns Students were today warned to beware of scam emails purporting to be about loans and grants, after it emerged that 50 phishing websites targeting young people have been shut down during the last year.

Hundreds of thousands of people are starting university in the coming weeks, and Student Finance England, which processes English students' loans and grants, today urged students to "remain vigilant" and not disclose any personal or bank details in response to email requests that look like they are from either itself or its parent company, the Student Loans Company. Student Finance England expects to make payments to more than 600,000 students this week, and fraudsters are taking advantage of the timing to target students who are waiting for money to arrive. Heather Laing, its fraud manager, said: "Students are likely to receive a great deal of correspondence from Student Finance England at this time, with payment schedule letters or letters requesting further information coming through the door. Some students may fall victim to an email request that looks to be from Student Finance England or the Student Loans Company asking for confirmation of bank details. However, we will never ask students to confirm their bank details via email. If they do receive such a request, they should forward it on to us to investigate."

(Source: Guardian)

Full story

Guardian

For the 10th eLearning Awards, European Schoolnet and ENISA, the European Network and Information Security Agency, announce a new prize category called "Teaching online safety and citizenship".

The rapid spread of internet use among young people is making it essential to address eSafety and ePrivacy, in order to protect young people from online risks and threats and to prepare them to use digital technologies in a secure and responsible way. As a major European actor for eSafety and ePrivacy, ENISA highly encourages all teachers to address these issues with their young students. “Young people and children are today amongst the biggest user groups of online technologies in Europe. It is important to equip them with the skills and knowledge to stay safe online,” said Dr Udo Helmbrecht, Executive Director of ENISA.

(Source: ENISA)

Full story

ENISA

In UK, ISPs must pay 25 per cent of the cost of implementing new anti-piracy measures, it has been announced. The process of identifying and informing broadband customers suspected of copyright infringement will be paid for partially by ISPs and copyright holders, who will pay the other 75 per cent.

The decision comes as the government attempts to thrash out the details of how some parts of the controversial Digital Economy Act will actually work in practice. Minister for Communications, Ed Vaizey, said: "Protecting our valuable creative industries, which have already suffered significant losses as a result of people sharing digital content without paying for it, is at the heart of these measures. "The Digital Economy Act serves to reduce online copyright infringement through a fair and robust process and at the same time provides breathing space to develop better business models for consumers who buy music, films and books online.

(Source: Webuser)

Full story

Webuser

Germany is the first country to launch a large scale malware cleaning project backed by the government, Internet service providers and security companies.

The new Anti-Botnet Counseling Center (Anti-Botnet Beratungszentrum) is an organization dedicated to assisting German users with removing botnet infections from their computers. It was established with funding from the Federal Ministry of Interior and the technical assistance is provided by the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI). The initiative was announced late last year as a collaboration between the Federal Government and the German Internet Industry Association (eco).

(Source: Softpedia)

Full story

Softpedia

Sometimes it's a story of a grown woman who has chosen prostitution as a path to a better life. More often, it's a story of a woman being forced to sell her body by a pimp. And then there are the children, and the mothers that miss them.

"They told me to look on Craigslist and it almost blew my mind," the mother of one missing 12-year-old told CNN. "She was there with a wig on. She was there in a purple negligee. The same day the woman spoke to CNN, her daughter was rescued by police at a seedy hotel near Washington where she was being sold for sex. And she's not alone. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's website contains thousands of posters of missing children. Many are girls, classified as "endangered runaways," and the center says more than fifty of them have been pushed into the sex trade. But that's just a snapshot, a tiny indicator of the true scale of the problem.

(Source: CNN)

Full story

CNN