Category Archives: The Coming Storm

This category includes blog posts about computer and Internet security threats now and on the horizon.

Breach at PR Newswire Tied to Adobe Hack

October 16, 2013
24 Comments

Earlier this year, hackers broke into the networks of marketing and press release distribution service PR Newswire, making off with usernames and encrypted passwords that customers use to access the company’s service and upload news releases, KrebsOnSecurity has learned. The stolen data was found on the same Internet servers that housed huge troves of source code recently stolen from Adobe Systems. Inc., suggesting the same attackers may have been responsible for both breaches.

Adobe, Microsoft Push Critical Security Fixes

October 8, 2013
37 Comments

Adobe and Microsoft today each issued software updates to fix critical security issues in their products. Microsoft released eight patch bundles to address 26 different vulnerabilities in Windows and other software – including not just one but two zero-day bugs in Internet Explorer. Adobe’s patches fix a single critical vulnerability present in both Adobe Acrobat and Reader.

Feds Arrest Alleged Top Silk Road Drug Seller

October 7, 2013
99 Comments

Federal authorities last week arrested a Washington state man accused of being one of the most active and sought-after drug dealers on the online black market known as the “Silk Road.” Meanwhile, new details about the recent coordinated takedown of the Silk Road became public, as other former buyers and sellers on the fraud bazaar pondered who might be next and whether competing online drug markets will fill the void.

Adobe To Announce Source Code, Customer Data Breach

October 3, 2013
140 Comments

Adobe Systems Inc. is expected to announce today that hackers broke into its network and stole source code for an as-yet undetermined number of software titles, including its Cold Fusion Web application platform, and possibly its Acrobat family of products. The company said hackers also accessed nearly three million customer credit card records, and stole login data for an undetermined number of Adobe user accounts.

Feds Take Down Online Fraud Bazaar ‘Silk Road’, Arrest Alleged Mastermind

October 2, 2013
138 Comments

Prosecutors in New York today said today that federal agencies have taken over the Silk Road, a sprawling underground Web site that has earned infamy as the “eBay of drugs.” On Tuesday, federal agents in San Francisco arrested the Silk Road’s alleged mastermind. Prosecutors say 29-year-old Ross William Ulbricht, a.k.a “Dread Pirate Roberts” (DPR), will be charged with a range of criminal violations, including conspiracy to commit drug trafficking, and money laundering.

Data Broker Hackers Also Compromised NW3C

October 1, 2013
34 Comments

The same miscreants responsible for breaking into the networks of America’s top consumer and business data brokers appear to have also infiltrated and stolen huge amounts of data from the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), a congressionally-funded non-profit organization that provides training, investigative support and research to agencies and entities involved in the prevention, investigation and prosecution of cybercrime.

Crooks Hijack Retirement Funds Via SSA Portal

September 18, 2013
34 Comments

If you receive direct deposits from the Social Security Administration but haven’t yet registered at the agency’s new online account management portal, now would be a good time take care of that: The SSA and financial institutions say they are tracking a rise in cases wherein identity thieves register an account at the SSA’s portal using a retiree’s personal information and have that retiree’s benefits diverted to prepaid debit cards that the crooks control.

WHOIS Privacy Plan Draws Fire

September 16, 2013
53 Comments

Internet regulators are pushing a controversial plan to restrict public access to WHOIS Web site registration records. Proponents of the proposal say it would improve the accuracy of WHOIS data and better protect the privacy of people who register domain names. Critics argue that such a shift would be unworkable and make it more difficult to combat phishers, spammers and scammers.

A Closer Look: Perkele Android Malware Kit

August 19, 2013
21 Comments

In March 2013 I wrote about Perkele, a crimeware kit designed to create malware for Android phones that can help defeat multi-factor authentication used by many banks. In this post, we’ll take a closer look at this threat, examining the malware as it is presented to the would-be victim as well as several back-end networks set up by cybercrooks who have been using Perkele to fleece banks and their customers.