Top 10 Stories

The reward schemes of at least 10 leading retailers have been compromised by hackers, with numerous fraudulent loyalty point accounts available on the dark web in exchange for Bitcoin, according to security experts. Hackers appear to have obtained the information through a variety of means, including exploiting vulnerabilities in retailers’ platforms, targeting individuals, and compiling information from third-party sites. Those accounts are then being fraudulently used to redeem a variety of free items, according to...

The comeback was 16 years in the making, but macro malware is once again on security professional's radar in a big way impacting at least 100,000 people since it began its resurgence earlier this year, according to Intel Security. The malware, which uses the macros found in Windows Office products like Word and Excel, saw its heyday in 1999 when it was first observed and known as the Melissa virus. Some good work by Microsoft at...

An associate professor and white-hat hacker, Hiroyuki Inoue, has demonstrated a proof-of-concept showing cars that are equipped with internet-connected devices can be hacked and even remotely controlled by wielding a smartphone. In an experiment, Hiroyuki Inoue, an associate professor at Hiroshima City University’s Graduate School of Information Sciences, Japan, has proved that connected cars can be remotely hacked with a smartphone application. The associate professor and hacker used a 2013 Toyota Corolla Fielder Hybrid for the...

Researchers at the University of Toronto have created a mapping tool that shows how internet data moves around and how the NSA can use just a few surveillance sites to scoop up online traffic. IXmaps is a visual, interactive database of traffic routes, and uses real data to help Canadians get a sense of what happens when they are sending and receiving information. In some cases, even when the servers you are accessing are next door,...

Three Safeway grocery stores in Colorado were targeted in a credit card skimming attack last month, the company said Wednesday. Skimmers were found on three point-of-sale machines in the self-checkout areas of the stores at 9160 W. Colfax Ave. in Lakewood; 3800 W. 44th Ave. in Denver; and 27152 Main St. in Conifer, said Safeway spokeswoman Kris Staaf. Skimmers can scan and capture credit card data such as the card number and personal identification numbers....

Any hope Morrisons' bosses had of trying to draw a line under last year's mass data breach - in which a disgruntled IT worker posted bank, salary and National Insurance details of almost 100,000 members of staff online - have been scuppered after 4,000 of those who were hit joined what is believed to be the UK's biggest ever data security claim. The move follows a High Court ruling allowing them to pursue a group...

The European Union has laid out its plan for the strict reform of personal data regulations across its 28 member states The European Union ushered in new rules regarding data protection on Tuesday, allowing citizens to better control their personal data and keeping businesses in check by threatening rule breakers with heavy fines. The eagerly-anticipated rules will come into effect by early 2018, and will be law across the 28 European Union member states. View full...

TalkTalk chief executive Dido Harding has admitted that the firm has major "lessons to learn" after the breach on its systems in October. "I'm not going to pretend that I think TalkTalk got everything right," Harding told the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, which has launched an inquiry into the incident. "Clearly, you have to look back with the benefit of hindsight and say ‘If I had the time again would I have...

Police in England today announced an arrest made in connection to the hacking of VTech, a Hong Kong-based toy maker. Last month, a breach at the company, first revealed by Motherboard, exposed personal information on 11 million people, including more than 6 million minors. The unidentified 21-year-old man was arrested today in a town about 30 miles outside of London on suspicion of crimes including using "unauthorised access to computer to facilitate the commission of an offence," but...

Last week, FireEye has silently pushed out a patch for an extremely easy-to-exploit remote code execution bug affecting its NX, EX, FX and AX Series security appliances in their default configuration. "For networks with deployed FireEye devices, a vulnerability that can be exploited via the passive monitoring interface would be a nightmare scenario. This would mean an attacker would only have to send an email to a user to gain access to a persistent network...