Hacktivism | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

PandaLabs, the antimalware laboratory of Panda Security, has predicted several major cybersecurity threats for 2011. These include hacktivism, cyber warfare, profit-driven malware, social engineering, and adaptive malicious codes. Additionally, there will be increased threats to Mac users, new attacks on 64-bit systems, and more zero-day exploits. Here is a summary of PandaLabs' top ten security trends for 2011: Malware Creation : In 2010, PandaLabs observed significant growth in malware, identifying 20 million new strains, more than in 2009. Currently, Panda's Collective Intelligence database contains over 60 million classified threats. Although the year-on-year growth rate has peaked, it was 50% in 2010, down from over 100% in previous years. Cyber Warfare : Incidents like Stuxnet and the WikiLeaks cables, which suggested Chinese government involvement in cyber-attacks on Google, marked a turning point in cyber conflicts. Stuxnet targeted uranium centrifuges in nuclear pla

A controversial anti-Islamist group has advised its members to stay vigilant following a leak of their details online. Hundreds of names and addresses linked to the English Defence League (EDL) were exposed after hackers breached one of the organization's websites. The group warned its members about potential reprisals and advised them to "remain extra vigilant regarding their home and personal safety." The security breach occurred last weekend when hackers accessed a clothing website connected to the EDL. The attackers, identifying themselves as the "Mujahideen Hacking Unit," obtained lists of individuals who had recently purchased items from the site or donated money to the group. The EDL has gained attention over the past year by organizing protests against what it terms the "Islamification" of Britain. Although the group claims it is neither racist nor anti-Muslim, opponents like United Against Fascism argue that the EDL's agenda is clearly I

For years, securing a company's systems was synonymous with securing its "perimeter." There was what was safe "inside" and the unsafe outside world. We built sturdy firewalls and deployed sophisticated detection systems, confident that keeping the barbarians outside the walls kept our data and systems safe. The problem is that we no longer operate within the confines of physical on-prem installations and controlled networks. Data and applications now reside in distributed cloud environments and data centers, accessed by users and devices connecting from anywhere on the planet. The walls have crumbled, and the perimeter has dissolved, opening the door to a new battlefield: identity . Identity is at the center of what the industry has praised as the new gold standard of enterprise security: "zero trust." In this paradigm, explicit trust becomes mandatory for any interactions between systems, and no implicit trust shall subsist. Every access request, regardless of its origin,

Anonymous, a loosely affiliated group of Internet vigilantes, has claimed responsibility for various Internet attacks against organizations perceived as hostile to WikiLeaks. Today, the group sought to portray itself as more focused on symbolic protest rather than outright disruption. These claims come amid reports that the online payment site Moneybookers was taken offline by a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack launched by Anonymous members. In a statement released today, Anonymous organizers contended that they are not a group of hackers but a "gathering" of average Internet citizens. "We do not want to steal your personal information or credit card numbers. We also do not seek to attack critical infrastructure of companies such as Mastercard, Visa, PayPal, or Amazon," the statement read. Instead, the focus has been on attacking corporate websites or the online "public face" of companies seen as anti-WikiLeaks. The group described these acti

"Operation Payback" is evolving, as attackers have initiated a fax-based campaign against companies that severed ties with WikiLeaks. Hacktivists from the group "Anonymous" are urging members to send faxes to Amazon, MasterCard, PayPal, Visa, Tableau Software, and Moneybookers. This action aims to create a fax-based version of denial-of-service attacks, according to Netcraft. Over the past few days, the group has launched distributed-denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against websites of several companies and organizations, including MasterCard and Visa. Paul Mutton from Netcraft blogged, "This latest campaign by the Anonymous group is analogous to the distributed denial of service attacks it has been carrying out against websites over the past week. In essence, this has turned into a DDoS attack against fax machines. The group started the fax-attacks on Dec. 13 at 13:00 GMT and published a list of target fax numbers in their call to arms." "The Anon

A Dutch hacker collective called Revspace aims to "re-educate" Dutch teens suspected of cyberattacks against Mastercard, Visa, and the Dutch National Prosecutors Office, transforming them into "ethical hackers." Last week, Dutch police arrested a 16-year-old boy for participating in web attacks against MasterCard and Visa as part of a grassroots effort to support WikiLeaks. On Saturday, another teenager was arrested in Hoogezand-Sappemeer for admitting to flooding the website of the Dutch prosecutor. The 19-year-old, known online as Awinee, reportedly encouraged others to join the attack. The teen was released today. Martijn Gonlag, who admitted to using the tool, claimed he only wanted to test software and did not support Wikileaks. Both arrests were straightforward because the teenagers used LOIC (Low Orbit Ion Cannon), a tool that lacks security features like anonymization. The attackers' IP addresses were visible in all packets sent during the attacks, as

On December 10, 2010, Anonymous released a press statement to clarify its identity and objectives. Who is Anonymous? Anonymous, often misunderstood, is not a conventional group. Instead, it is an internet gathering without formal structure. Both Anonymous and the media acknowledge the perceived internal disagreements within the group. However, this does not imply a failure in their command structure. The decentralized nature of Anonymous is based on shared ideas rather than hierarchical directives. Unique in its form, Anonymous learns through trial and error. The collective is now working on better communication of core values to its members. They also aim to inform the public and media about their identity and principles. Contrary to popular belief, Anonymous is not a group of hackers. Members are average internet citizens driven by frustration over daily injustices. They do not seek to steal personal information or credit card details, nor do they intend to attack critical infras

Do you support WikiLeaks? Are you angry at critics trying to suppress it? Maybe you're considering joining online protests to shut down the websites of its opponents. Don't. A group of vigilantes named Anonymous has turned their Operation Payback campaign, previously targeting antipiracy organizations, on PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, Senator Joe Lieberman, Sarah Palin, and others who have criticized WikiLeaks or stopped doing business with the document-sharing project. The fallout from WikiLeaks has reached a fever pitch since the site began releasing diplomatic cables last month, causing embarrassment for U.S. diplomatic efforts. Launching denial-of-service (DOS) attacks against target websites to send a message and disrupt their operations is the modern-day equivalent of walking the picket line with a sign. However, the electronic version is illegal. "Participating in a botnet with the intention of shutting down a website violates the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act,"

In a troubling trend of tit-for-tat website defacements, a group of Indian hackers known as the 'Indian Cyber Army' hacked the Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) website [ www.ogra.org.pk ] on Saturday. The website was later restored by the site administrators. The message left on the OGRA page stated that the hack was in response to an attack on over 200 Indian websites by the 'Pakistan Cyber Army'. The message read: "You Have Been Hacked By The 'INDIAN CYBER ARMY'. This Is a Retaliation Of Hacking 'CBI'." Previously, a group of Pakistani hackers, identifying themselves as 'Predators PK,' had hacked over 200 Indian websites. This attack was a form of retaliation for a recent cyber assault on Pakistani sites carried out by the Indian Cyber Army (ICA). Unlike the ICA attack, which was cited as 'revenge for 26/11', the message inserted by the Pakistani hackers did not suggest ideological motivations, but rather pure revenge. Pakistani Hacker's Perspective The Pakist

Hacktivists are militant hackers attacking sites in Egypt, Morocco, Spain, and Israel. Their screen messages resemble banners used in protests, supporting various political, social, or religious ideologies. Active in Morocco, they often hack sensitive security systems. Behind their computer screens, these hackers meticulously encode and decode IT security systems, seeking the slightest vulnerability to launch attacks. Known as hackers in Morocco, they relentlessly penetrate local and foreign sites. Egypt, Kuwait, and Israel have all fallen victim to their actions. Rise of Hacktivism These hackers are not casual credit card thieves but belong to a new category of activists known as "hacktivists." The Internet fuels this underground movement, but their ideological beliefs keep it alive. "It is the oldest form of hacking. Many developing countries resort to this mode of protest," says Ali El Azzouzi, a Moroccan IT security expert. Recently, Morocco, like many other