Those who attempt to predict the future run the risk of being wrong. But those who overlook the importance of conducting a prospective analysis adopt a passive attitude that weakens them against the dictatorship of events. Anticipating societal changes prepares us to weather the storm. That quote comes from the recently published Prospective Analysis on Read more…
Tags: Cybercrime, predictions
Since March 20, the @Anonw0rmer Twitter account has been silent. Its owner, w0rmer, is known as a member of the CabinCr3w group, a hacker team linked to Anonymous. In early February, as part of the Operations PiggyBank and PigRoast, the CabinCr3w members were suspected of hacking various police department- or law enforcement-related websites including: West Read more…
Tags: Anonymous, Exif, Hacktivism, Open Source
Did you imagine that the recent arrests of LulzSec members would put a dent in their activities? It seems not, as two new groups have already taken action. We should keep in mind that some of the online actions by Anonymous can be seen as beneficial. Two of their targets have included the pornography industry Read more…
Tags: Anonymous, Hacktivism, LulzSec, pornography
Recently I blogged about some exploit packs. In that post I showed a table that had 10 common malware kits. I listed the vulnerabilities used, referenced by their Common Vulnerabilities & Exposures (CVE) names. There were 45 vulnerabilities in the table. From the data, this idea was taken up by Mila Parkour via her Contagio Read more…
Tags: Cybercrime, data breach, Data Protection, Endpoint Protection, global threat intelligence, identity theft, malware, Network Security, social networking
Two weeks ago, I discussed the difficulties of obtaining relevant data regarding medical identity theft. I started my research in this field after I read some old stories on the Internet: Lind Weaver refused to pay hospital bills she received for the amputation of her right foot. It was in 2006, but the story still Read more…
The topic of medical identity theft makes the headlines one or two time per year. In spite of its rarity, it’s worth delving into this subject. The elements that define private health information in the United States can be found in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Medical identity theft is the inappropriate Read more…
To celebrate the recent victory of the Tunisian Islamist party, the French satirical magazine “Charlie Hebdo” published a special issue in which it named the prophet Muhammad (also spelled Mohammad) as its editor-in-chief. Late night, the magazine’s offices in Paris were destroyed by a Molotov cocktail attack. The entire French political establishment has condemned this Read more…
Tags: hacking, Hacktivism
Following my previous blog on Francopol 2011, here are some data and slides from my own talk on the Anonymous Group. Anonymous circles are not the only component of hacktivism, merely a loose collection with the highest media profile. Other representatives of this informal protest movement include the “Indignants,” who use social networks around the Read more…
Tags: Anonymous, Hacktivism, identity exposure, identity theft
Last week, I attended the Francopol conference on cybercrime in Nicolet, Canada, inside the impressive Quebec National Police School. As in 2010, I was impressed by the sessions and speakers taking part. Here are some elements I would like to share with you. A part of the talks approached the techniques used online by suspects Read more…
Tags: Cybercrime, law enforcement, online child safety, online gangs
In September we added 1.6 million malware to our database. With these new entries, our malware collection surpassed 70 million samples. The five million new samples in the third quarter represent approximately 55,000 samples per day, 2,300 per hour, or 38 per minute. To get a sense of these threats, I examined one day at Read more…
Posts by Francois Paget