Chris Dougherty VirtualThreat, Contributing Writer   Cyber attacks are an unfortunate reality as more and more businesses move their operations online. Earlier in October, Adobe warned customers about a series of “sophisticated attacks” against its network. The Adobe security breach allowed hackers access to private information belonging to nearly 3 million customers. The data that was accessed included user IDs …

  Chris Dougherty VirtualThreat Contributing Writer   When it comes to online privacy we generally think of things like our favorite social networking sites, mobile phones, chat records, email, etc. Now, experts have uncovered a new security flaw that makes toilets vulnerable to hackers. Trustwave, an information security company, recently published a security advisory reporting a vulnerability in the Satis  “smart” …

  Chris Dougherty VirtualThreat Contributing Writer   NSA surveillance tool, XKeyscore, is a tool that provides intelligence analysts with real-time surveillance of your email, chat and browsing history.  Tagged keyword terms and phrases may unknowingly put you under government scrutiny. Yep, the government knows exactly what keywords you search for on Google. Just ask Michele Catalano and her husband about their …

Chris Dougherty VirtualThreat Contributing Writer   Every day we hear news reports in the mainstream media about social network hacking, malware, malicious account takeovers and protecting data. It doesn’t matter if you are the average Joe Blow or a huge corporation like Burger King, everyone is being targeted these days. Cyber criminals are searching for everything from your banking and financial info …

Chris Dougherty VirtualThreat Contributing Writer   Anonymous hackers have launched ‘Operation Wall Street’, a new protest started by the loosely organized hactivist collective against the US government, Wall Street and the financial services industry. The operation is a call to all Anonymous “members” and citizens of the world and seeks justice for the “innocent and exploited people being forced into homelessness” because of the “crimes of Goldman …

Chris Dougherty VirtualThreat Contributor   The DataLocker DL3 portable encrypted hard drive is a ready-to-use solution that  provides data security and peace of mind in the event of equipment loss or theft. DataLocker, Inc. is a provider of hardware encrypted storage devices. From their headquarters in Overland Park, Kansas they have provided their secure hard drives to a variety of clients …

Chris Dougherty VirtualThreat Contributor Keeping your data safe. It might seem inconvenient, but it should be your primary concern. Whether you work for a three-letter government agency or on top of a roof pounding nails, we all have sensitive information that we want to keep away from prying eyes. These days our most private data is stored on computer hard drives, from passwords to credit card details to …

Chris Dougherty VirtualThreat Contributing Writer   You may soon have legal recourse in the fight to protect your privacy online.  If a new bill finds its way into law, social networking users might soon be able to make a federal case out of employers asking to snoop through their online accounts. Members of Congress, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) …

Chris Dougherty VirtualThreat Contributing Writer   Over the past four months, Chinese hackers have penetrated computers belonging to the New York Times and its staff. The hackers appeared to be intent on hunting down and identifying newspaper sources involved in the investigation of a top Chinese leader. China’s Defense Ministry is denying any involvement in the attacks. Fox News: “Chinese …

Chris Dougherty VirtualThreat Contributing Writer   Curtis Abernathy, a small business owner in Arizona, never expected to be caught up as the victim of an international ring of cyber criminals stealing identities online.  But that’s exactly what happened last week when he received a call from Bank of America’s security office. The bank’s security team took notice after Abernathy used …