Hacked PCs Falsify Billions of Ad Clicks
March 20th, 2013Via: Financial Times:
Online investigators have exposed a network of hijacked computers that defrauded advertisers by generating billions of fake ad views.
The so-called botnet scheme, which hijacked 120,000 residential PCs in the US and cost advertisers millions of dollars a month, highlights the increasing complexity and opacity of online advertising.
Spider.io, a London-based start-up that tracks web browsing activity, estimates traffic from the “Chameleon” botnet accounted for almost two-thirds of the total visits to certain websites. The inflated number of page views increased advertising revenues for the websites’ owners.
In a report published on Tuesday, Spider.io said the hijacked PCs generated up to 9bn ad views or “impressions” every month across a network of more than 200 sites. Sophisticated software even mimicked cursor movements and mouse clicks, giving the impression that potential consumers were visiting the sites.
U.S. Still Paying Civil War Veterans’ Families
March 20th, 2013Via: CBS / AP:
If history is any judge, the U.S. government will be paying for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars for the next century as service members and their families grapple with the sacrifices of combat.
An Associated Press analysis of federal payment records found that the government is still making monthly payments to relatives of Civil War veterans — 148 years after the conflict ended.
At the 10 year anniversary of the start of the Iraq war, more than $40 billion a year are going to compensate veterans and survivors from the Spanish-American War from 1898, World War I and II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the two Iraq campaigns and the Afghanistan conflict. And those costs are rising rapidly.
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray said such expenses should remind the nation about war’s long-lasting financial toll.
Top Colorado Official Shot Dead Night Before New Gun Law Signing
March 20th, 2013Via: Reuters:
One of Colorado state’s top law enforcement officials was shot and killed at his home Tuesday night, just hours before the governor is scheduled to sign landmark gun control legislation drafted in response to a series of mass shootings.
A manhunt was launched by law enforcement officials for the assailant, but no suspects have yet been identified in the attack.
Tom Clements, 58, executive director of the Colorado Department of Corrections, was shot once at his home in the town of Monument, said El Paso County Sheriff’s Department Lieutenant Jeff Kramer.
He also said there is also “no information at this point” to indicate the shooting was a suicide.
Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper is on Wednesday scheduled to sign legislation to expand background checks on gun buyers and limit the size of ammunition magazines that may be sold.
Chase Bank Customers Had Balances Reduced to Zero for Over an Hour on Monday
March 20th, 2013Via: CBS:
Chase Bank experienced technical difficulties for over an hour Monday night, worrying customers who logged into their accounts and saw their balance at $0 or were unable to get any access to them at all.
A spokesman for the bank said it was strictly an internal technical issue and customers’ accounts were not in danger.
“The problems are an issue with the checking account portion of chase.com, nothing to do with mortgage or credit banking. We have a technology problem regarding customers balance information that we are working to resolve,” the spokesman to CBS News. “It has nothing to do with cyber threats or hacks. It is an internal issue. We are very sorry to our customers for the inconvenience.”
Within two hours, the bank tweeted that the issue was resolved. Customers reported seeing their balances once again.
Amazon and CIA Ink Cloud Deal
March 20th, 2013Via: FCW:
In a move sure to send ripples through the federal IT community, FCW has learned that the CIA has agreed to a cloud computing contract with electronic commerce giant Amazon, worth up to $600 million over 10 years.
Amazon Web Services will help the intelligence agency build a private cloud infrastructure that helps the agency keep up with emerging technologies like big data in a cost-effective manner not possible under the CIA’s previous cloud efforts, sources told FCW.
Amazon officials would not confirm the existence of the contract, and a CIA spokesperson likewise declined to comment on the matter.
South Korea Raises Alert After Hackers Attack Broadcasters, Banks
March 20th, 2013Via: Reuters:
South Korean authorities were investigating a hacking attack that brought down the servers of three broadcasters and two major banks on Wednesday, and the army raised its alert level due to concerns of North Korean involvement.
Servers at television networks YTN, MBC and KBS were affected as well as Shinhan Bank and NongHyup Bank, two major banks, the police and government officials said. At least some of the computers affected by the attacks had some files deleted, according to the authorities.
“We sent down teams to all affected sites. We are now assessing the situation. This incident is pretty massive and will take a few days to collect evidence,” a police official said.
The banks have since restored their operations, but the TV stations could not say when they would be able to get their systems back up. Some workers at the stations could not boot their computer.
Broadcasts were not affected.
South Korea’s military said it was not affected by the attack but raised its state of readiness in response. None of the country’s oil refineries, power stations, ports or airports was affected.
Related: South Korea Network Attack ‘A Computer Virus’
A Tale of Two Londons
March 20th, 2013Via: Vanity Fair:
Who really lives at One Hyde Park, called the world’s most expensive residential building? Its mostly absentee owners, hiding behind offshore corporations based in tax havens, provide a portrait of the new global super-wealthy.
MoD Flies Emergency Cash to Cyprus for British Personnel
March 19th, 2013Via: BBC:
An RAF plane carrying 1m euros is flying to Cyprus from Britain as a “contingency measure” to provide military personnel with emergency loans, the Ministry of Defence said.
The money is to be used for British personnel and their families if cash machines and debit cards stop working.
…
The levy was due to affect many of the 3,000 UK military personnel in Cyprus, and up to an estimated 25,000 expatriates.
The cash – about £850,000 – is being flown out on one of the two weekly flights that travel between Britain and Cyprus. It is being carried on a Voyager aircraft, which left from RAF Brize Norton and is expected to arrive at RAF Akrotiri at about 20:00 GMT.
An MoD spokesman said the situation was being kept under review and that it would consider further shipments if required, but that the cash was a contingency and not currently due to be distributed.
Test of Anthrax Vaccine in Children Gets Tentative OK
March 19th, 2013Oh sure.
Via: Reuters:
A presidential ethics panel has opened the door to testing an anthrax vaccine on children as young as infants, bringing an angry response from critics who say the children would be guinea pigs in a study that would never help them and might harm them.
…
Under a 2005 law, children in an anthrax-vaccine study would be prohibited from seeking damages through the legal system. The presidential commission, said Gutmann, “strongly recommended that a plan be in place to compensate any children” who are harmed.
Feds Investigating Microsoft, Partners Over Foreign Bribery Claims
March 19th, 2013Via: ZDnet:
US federal authorities are reportedly investigating an alleged bribery scheme involving Microsoft and its partners in China, Romania and Italy, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.
According to the paper, the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission are looking into claims made by a former Microsoft representative in China, as well as the company’s “relationship” with consultants and resellers in the two European member states.
The allegations, made by the former Microsoft representative, said China’s local subsidiary company offered benefits in return for the completion of software contracts. The person who tipped off the Journal ended his contract with the company in 2008, but was also involved in a dispute over labor with Microsoft in China.
It’s understood that the two US federal agencies are reviewing whether Microsoft had any involvement in offering bribes to secure contracts in Romania’s Ministry of Communications, which refutes the claims. In Italy, the two agencies are reportedly looking into Microsoft’s relationships with its consultants, and if they offered gifts and trips in exchange for government business.
Related: Berlusconi on Bribery
