CYBERCRIME

Some versions of Microsoft Corp's Windows operating system are vulnerable to attack from hackers exploiting a flaw in the software that could allow them to remotely take control of a personal computer.

McAfee expects Apple’s iPhone, geolocation services such as Foursquare, and mobile devices to be the target of malware attacks in 2011. The computer security company also predicts attackers targeting shortened URL services and internet TV platforms as well as a rise in politically motivated hacktivisim, as more groups are expected to repeat the WikiLeaks example.

Germany will create a new cyber-warfare defense center next year to fight off espionage attacks, the German interior ministry said.

Amazon.com Inc's websites in Britain, France, Germany and Spain suffered an outage for more than half an hour on Sunday night, but it was not immediately clear whether it was due to a cyber attack.

A 19-year-old Dutchman arrested on Saturday over a cyber attack on the website of the public prosecution office was released on Sunday after admitting involvement in the attack, Dutch authorities said.

Dutch police arrested a 19-year-old man on Saturday on suspicion of joint responsibility for a cyber attack on the website of the public prosecution office.

More cyber attacks in retaliation for attempts to block the WikiLeaks website are likely in a data war to protect Internet freedom, a representative of one of the groups involved said on Thursday.

Oleg Nikolaenko, a 23-year old Russian, has pleaded not guilty to federal charges that he is the mastermind behind a notorious botnet, dubbed Mega-D, that controlled a network of infected computers and generated some 10 billion spam e-mails daily, or a third of the world's total.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has told the Guardian newspaper that there are, indeed, some references to UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects) that reamined a mystery.

A group calling itself the Pakistani Cyber Army has hacked into the website of India's federal crime investigation bureau and left a warning message to Indian hackers, local media said Saturday.

A report from market research firm Input says spending on cyber security will increase to $13.3 billion by 2015.

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), which was set up by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National White Collar Crime Center in May 2000 to monitor and prevent cyber crime, recently logged its 2 millionth consumer complaint.

McAfee Inc, the No. 2 security software maker, said production of software code known as malware, which can harm computers and steal user passwords, reached a new high in the first six months of 2010.

Hackers have built a computer virus that attacks Siemens AG's widely used industrial control systems, creating malicious software that analysts said can be used for espionage and sabotage.

A contract has been awarded for research to help counter computer-based threats to national-security networks, the chief U.S. code-cracking and eavesdropping agency said, amid mounting concern over cyber vulnerabilities.

The government is launching a program nicknamed Perfect Citizen to detect cyber assaults on private U.S. companies and government agencies running critical infrastructure such as the electricity grid and nuclear power plants, the Wall Street Journal said in its online edition, citing people familiar with the program.

U.S. authorities seized nine websites on Wednesday, accusing them of movie piracy by offering free access to movies such as Toy Story 3.

A security expert has identified flaws in the design of some automated teller machines that make them vulnerable to hackers, who could make the ubiquitous cash dispensers spit out their cash holdings.

The company that oversees Web addresses ending in .org said on Wednesday it was introducing extra security measures to guard against identity theft.

Top arms groups are on high alert to counter cyber spies from stealing their own secrets at a major arms bazaar outside Paris, even as they market new ways to clients on how to repel hackers in the digital battlespace.

The U.S. Defense Department must be able to operate freely in cyberspace amid dangers of remote sabotage, an Army general tapped to streamline offensive and defensive computer operations said on Thursday.