Independent – Page 118 – Computer Security Articles

Credit to Author: Gregg Keizer| Date: Wed, 02 Oct 2019 05:29:00 -0700

Microsoft on Tuesday changed its plans for selling Windows 7 post-retirement support, saying that it will offer patches-for-a-price to any business, no matter how small, that’s willing to pay.

“Through January 2023, we will extend the availability of paid Windows 7 Extended Security Updates (ESU) to businesses of all sizes,” Jared Spataro, an executive in the Microsoft 365 group, wrote in a post to a company blog.

Microsoft had announced the ESU program in September 2018. Since April, when the company started selling ESU, only customers with volume licensing deals for Windows 7 Enterprise or Windows 10 Professional have been eligible to purchase the support add-on.

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ComputerWorld Independent

October 2, 2019 admin

How to safely erase data under Windows

Bitlocker and self-encrypting hard drives can make it easier to erase data so that it cannot be recovered. This is how the “crypto-erase” method works.

Independent Krebs

October 1, 2019 admin

Mariposa Botnet Author, Darkcode Crime Forum Admin Arrested in Germany

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Tue, 01 Oct 2019 16:33:19 +0000

A Slovenian man convicted of authoring the destructive and once-prolific Mariposa botnet and running the infamous Darkode cybercrime forum has been arrested in Germany on request from prosecutors in the United States, who’ve recently re-indicted him on related charges.

ComputerWorld Independent

September 30, 2019 admin

Microsoft Patch Alert: Botched IE zero-day patch leaves cognoscenti fuming

Credit to Author: Woody Leonhard| Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2019 10:16:00 -0700

So you think Windows 10 patching is getting better? Not if this month’s Keystone Kops reenactment is an indicator.

In a fervent frenzy, well-meaning but ill-informed bloggers, international news outlets, even little TV stations, enjoyed a hearty round of “The Windows sky is falling!” right after the local weather. It wasn’t. It isn’t – no matter what you may have read or heard.

The fickle finger of zero-day fate

Microsoft has a special way of telling folks how important its patches might be. Every individual security hole, listed by its CVE number, has an “Exploitability Assessment” consisting of:

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Independent Krebs

September 28, 2019 admin

German Cops Raid “Cyberbunker 2.0,” Arrest 7 in Child Porn, Dark Web Market Sting

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Sat, 28 Sep 2019 23:25:48 +0000

German authorities said Friday they’d arrested seven people and were investigating six more in connection with the raid of a Dark Web hosting operation that allegedly supported multiple child porn, cybercrime and drug markets with hundreds of servers buried inside a heavily fortified military bunker. Incredibly, for at least two of the men accused in the scheme, this was their second bunker-based hosting business that was raided by cops and shut down for courting and supporting illegal activity online.

Independent Krebs

September 27, 2019 admin

MyPayrollHR CEO Arrested, Admits to $70M Fraud

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2019 16:17:07 +0000

Earlier this month, employees at more than 1,000 companies saw one or two paycheck’s worth of funds deducted from their bank accounts after the CEO of their cloud payroll provider absconded with $35 million in payroll deposits from customers. On Monday, the CEO was arrested and allegedly confessed that the diversion was the last desperate gasp of a financial shell game that earned him $70 million over several years.

ComputerWorld Independent

September 27, 2019 admin

Cheers!

Credit to Author: Sharky| Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2019 03:00:00 -0700

Pilot fish has a sweet deal with one of the owners of a local drinking establishment he frequents. The bar owner is in the habit of using the main office computer for what fish calls “nonstandard business activity.” What does that mean? Suffice to say that that computer gets infected by viruses a couple of times a year. Bar owner would then call fish and ask for expedited service.

Fish stops by on his way home, grabs the tower, and disinfects the hard drive at home. He usually returns the system to the bar late that night or on his way to work the next morning.

Either way, the next time he stops by for an adult beverage, he receives a gift card that usually covers several rounds.

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Independent Krebs

September 25, 2019 admin

Interview With the Guy Who Tried to Frame Me for Heroin Possession

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Thu, 26 Sep 2019 00:28:36 +0000

In April 2013, I received via U.S. mail more than a gram of pure heroin as part of a scheme to get me arrested for drug possession. But the plan failed and the Ukrainian mastermind behind it soon after was imprisoned for unrelated cybercrime offenses. That individual recently gave his first interview since finishing his jail time here in the states, and he’s shared some select (if often abrasive and coarse) details on how he got into cybercrime and why. Below are a few translated excerpts.