Broad New Hacking Attack Detected: Global Offensive Snagged Corporate, Personal Data at nearly 2,500 Companies; Operation Is Still Running

Posted in: Legal, Privacy & Security at 18/02/2010 21:26

Hackers in Europe and China successfully broke into computers at nearly 2,500 companies and government agencies over the last 18 months in a coordinated global attack that exposed vast amounts of personal and corporate secrets to theft, according to a computer-security company that discovered the breach.

The damage from the latest cyberattack is still being assessed, and affected companies are still being notified. But data compiled by NetWitness, the closely held firm that discovered the breaches, showed that hackers gained access to a wide array of data at 2,411 companies, from credit-card transactions to intellectual property.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704398804575071103834150536.html

Also see:

Malicious Software Infects Corporate Computers
A malicious software program has infected the computers of more than 2,500 corporations around the world, according to NetWitness, a computer network security firm.

The malicious program, or Botnet, can commandeer the operating systems of both residential and corporate computing systems via the Internet. Such botnets are used by computer criminals for a range of illicit activities, including sending e-mail spam, and stealing digital documents and passwords from infected computers. In many cases they install so-called "keystroke loggers" to capture personal information.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/19/technology/19cyber.html

More than 75,000 computer systems hacked in one of largest cyber attacks, security firm says
More than 75,000 computer systems at nearly 2,500 companies in the United States and around the world have been hacked in what appears to be one of the largest and most sophisticated attacks by cyber criminals discovered to date, according to a northern Virginia security firm.

The attack, which began in late 2008 and was discovered last month, targeted proprietary corporate data, e-mails, credit-card transaction data and login credentials at companies in the health and technology industries in 196 countries, according to Herndon-based NetWitness.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/17/AR2010021705816.html

Read more now