A Los Angeles man is on his way to prison after being handed a 13-year sentence for his part in a bizarre crime ring that involved both phishing and marijuana growing. Authorities say 27-year old Kenneth Joseph Lucas was a key operative in a massive international phishing ring, that led to the arrests of over more »

Since that pesky healthcare thingy has been wrapped, the United States Senate has decided to fight the disease of lax laws for cybercrimes. A bill introduced in the Senate on Tuesday seeks to establish a new system for identifying countries that don’t do enough to stop tech-based criminals, and finding ways to pressure them into more »

There have been quite a few security issues in the news this past week. Let’s take a look at some of the top stories: Hackers wasted no time in exploiting the release of the much anticipated MMS functionality for the iPhone. AT&T finally made it available on Friday (September 25, 2009), and experts say that now that 6 out of the top 10 search results for search phrases involving the keywords iPhone and MMS are malicious, directing to sites that try to push fake anti-virus scareware.

A Maine construction firm had nearly $600,000 stolen from its bank account and is suing the bank, claiming they are to blame for not monitoring accounts more closely. Hackers hit Patco Construction Co.’s bank account at Ocean Bank of Delaware (also known as People’s United Bank) in May, ripping off the funds in 6 separate more »

A new online scam targets the hundreds of thousands of unemployed people who use the net to job hunt and those who use it to fill job vacancies. Scammers are posting fake job ads on Craigslist and the big job sites such as Monster.com and Careerbuilders and then taking the resumes they receive and selling them. They are then sold to recruiters all over the world. These recruiters are told by the scammers that the resumes are all from individuals who are fully vetted and have been thoroughly checked out.

Experts are warning of a new Trojan that is so sophisticated it’s being called “ferocious.” The Clampi Trojan has infected up to 1 million computers and is stealing massive amounts of financial data. The Trojan’s botnet is so huge and the Trojan itself so cloaked in encryption it’s nearly impossible to crack. “Clampi is the more »

Security experts have found a silver lining in the recession: it’s hitting cybercriminals hard too, leading to a drop in malware. That’s right; there really are hard times all over. A German security firm has released a report showing a 30% drop in unique malware signatures and says it’s no holiday lull.

Interested in a life of cybercrime? All it takes is $50. Researchers at security firm Finjan have discovered that a site called “Golden Cash” is doing a bustling business in the buying and selling of infected computers. A small botnet of 1,000 malware infested PCs goes for just $50. That’s a mere 5 cents each! more »

A U.S. judge has shut down an ISP after FTC complaints that it offered a haven to spammers, child pornographers, hackers, and more. ISP Pricewert, also known as 3FN and APS Telecom has been disconnected from the net. The FTC claimed the ISP deliberately advertised to malware distributors, botnet servers, spammers, illegal porn sites and more »

Imagine being on your computer one day, minding your own business, surfing the web-and then suddenly finding yourself locked out of your own computer! A message pops up on your screen saying control will be returned to you-for a price. It might even tell you dire things will happen to your files if you don’t pay. Is it a joke? No. Unfortunately you’ve got ransomware.