Latest IT Security News and Updates from Last Week

Google Sleeps for 5 minutes, 40% of Internet Traffic Goes Kaput
Google is not called the Big G for nothing. Google and all of its services suffered a downtime for up to five minutes last Friday. This caused global Internet traffic to drop by about 40%. It is estimated that this drop caused the company a loss of $500,000. The Internet giant acknowledged the occurrence, but without any comment on the possible reason behind it. According to analysts, it is less likely that hackers were responsible for the outage. More news here.

Cyber Crooks Exploiting 3D Printers
News are up that in Australia, cyber miscreants are exploiting the technology of 3D printers to make better ATM skimmers. One gang of such crooks was identified who allegedly stole $92,000, after targeting 15 ATMs in Sydney. The skimmers were designed for specific ATM models, so that they are less conspicuous. To know more about ATM skimmers and how they work, read this post.

You don’t believe me do you?
Someone named “Khalsis”, from Palestine sniffed a vulnerability in Facebook. This vulnerability allows you to post anything on anyone’s Facebook wall, even if the person is not on your friend’s list. Although he informed Facebook’s security team about this security hole, they did not pay heed. Apparently, Khalsis posted the bug report on Mark Zuckerberg’s wall, to prove his point. After this incident, the security team of the social media admitted the presence of this vulnerability and took steps to fix it. More news here.

Hackers do not like Dalai Lama’s Supporters
Now hackers are behind supporters of Dalai Lama. Apparently, the Chinese-language version of the Central Tibetan Administration’s website, has been compromised. If any user visits this website, then they would be risking a malware infection of their system. The malware has been found to be a spyware. This hacking attempt is known as watering hole attack. Read more about this news here.

Microsoft’s Critical Security Patches
Microsoft is releasing 8 security updates for Internet Explorer, Exchange, and Windows. Among these, three are critical and five important. These patches take care of security holes that can allow hackers to remotely control their target’s computer. In total, there are 23 such vulnerabilities. You can check out more of this news here.

Rajiv Singha