Monthly Archives: January 2015

Spreading the Disease and Selling the Cure

January 26, 2015

When Karim Rattani isn’t manning the till at the local Subway franchise in his adopted hometown of Cartersville, Ga., he’s usually tinkering with code. The 21-year-old Pakistani native is the lead programmer for two very different yet complementary online services: One lets people launch powerful attacks that can knock Web sites, businesses and other targets offline for hours at a time; the other is a Web hosting service designed to help companies weather such assaults.

Flash Patch Targets Zero-Day Exploit

January 22, 2015

Adobe today released an important security update for its Flash Player software that fixes a vulnerability which is already being exploited in active attacks. Compounding the threat, the company said it is investigating reports that crooks may have developed a separate exploit that gets around the protections in this latest update.

Java Patch Plugs 19 Security Holes

January 21, 2015

Oracle this week released its quarterly patch update for Java, a widely-installed program that for most casual users has probably introduced more vulnerability than utility. If you have Java installed and require it for some application or Web site, it’s time to update it. If you’re not sure you have Java on your computer or are unsure why you still have it, read on for advice that could save you some security headaches down the road.

How Was Your Credit Card Stolen?

January 19, 2015

Almost once a week, I receive an email from a reader who has suffered credit card fraud and is seeking help figuring out which hacked merchant was responsible. I generally reply that this is a fruitless pursuit, and instead encourage readers to keep a close eye on their card statements and report any fraud. But it occurred to me recently that I’ve never published a primer on the types of card fraud and the likelihood with each of the cardholder ever learning how their account was compromised. This post is an effort to remedy that.

Another Lizard Arrested, Lizard Lair Hacked

January 16, 2015

Several media outlets are reporting that authorities in the United Kingdom early this morning arrested an 18-year-old in connection with the denial-of-service attacks on Sony Playstation and Microsoft Xbox systems over Christmas. The arrest is one of several tied to a joint U.K. and U.S. law enforcement investigation into a group calling itself the “Lizard Squad,” and comes as the group’s attack-for-hire online service was completely compromised and leaked to investigators.

Park ‘N Fly, OneStopParking Confirm Breaches

January 14, 2015

Late last year, KrebsOnSecurity wrote that two huge swaths of credit card numbers put up for sale in the cybercrime underground had likely been stolen from Park ‘N Fly and from OneStopParking.com, competing airport parking services that lets customers reserve spots in advance of travel via Internet reservation systems. This week, both companies confirmed that they had indeed suffered a breach.