Sophisticated, Targeted Breakins Uncovered

Ichabod writes "Sophisticated computer criminals stole data from Unisys, Booz Allen, L-3 Communications, Hewlett Packard, and Hughes Network Systems. It sounds like they used a combination of social hacking and undetected low-profile malware (reportedly NTOS.exe) to steal and encrypt sensitive data, and compromised Yahoo accounts to store and retrieve it. An international investigation appears imminent. And yes, unfortunately Reuters calls the criminals 'hackers,' further besmirching the once-revered title."

Comments

The only thing I find strange..

[i8myh8]

..is that they'd use Yahoo! Mail to retrieve the data. Gmail offers more space. Hrm. Poorly researched.

DoT is on the list..

[dotpavan]

and "A Department of Transportation spokeswoman said the agency couldn't find any indication of a security breach." awesome!

"to steal and encrypt sensitive data"

[InvisblePinkUnicorn]

See, hackers get a bad rap. These folks were kind enough to encrypt the sensitive data they found, so that no outside parties could get a look at personal records.

Evil FBI at it again.

[N8F8]

Using their evil databases to identify trends and patterns.

Re:Give it up

[morari]

And while we're at it: I'm not a Trekkie, I'm a Trekker! Geeze.

Everybody's happy!

[ingo23]

From the article:

A Department of Transportation spokeswoman said the agency couldn't find any indication of a security breach.

See, it's a win-win situation - the criminals did everything smoothly without leaving a trace, and at DoT it looks like nothing happened!

"Sophisticated, Targeted Breakins"

[Pluvius]

I didn't think it could get more sophisticated than the classic Breakin 2.0: Electric Boogaloo. Bravo, hackers!

What's with the whining about the word "hacker," anyway? Talk about beating a dead horse.

Rob

Re:No, it was never that way

[fenodyree]

Asshats!

Now there is a title. Hackers gone, White Hat never made it. Enter Asshat.
Today I asshatted a Big Corp's main server, so I emailed their admin to fix the hole. I am such an Asshat.

wow

[nomadic]

I know the pro windows crowd will jump up and down but I hope they will hear me out.

Uh....the huge pro windows crowd on slashdot?

Re:Give it up

[Jack Pallance]

I guess you could say, this issue needs more than a "Band-Aid" for a solution.

Get it?

Band-Aid!!

(OK, It was a term that used to be used exclusively to mean a specific brand, but has now changed its meaning over time to mean something broader. I don't know why I even try with you people...)

Re:No, it was never that way

[Anonymous Coward]

You do know that OSX was programmed entirely in roman numerals, right?

Re:Security Answer

[Chineseyes]

My solution -- never let group #2 touch a computer again. Ever.


Congratulations you just put group #1 out of work.

Re:No, it was never that way

[It'sYerMam]

Or that their system was compromised by a thin, crispy biscuit.

Re:No, it was never that way

[Penguinshit]

I prefer the term "honky", thankyouverymuch...

Re:Give it up

[Fred_A]

I thought trekkers just went on long hikes...

Re:This isn't true

[idontgno]

cat /dev/zero | gzip -c | mail -s "Unpack this, beeotch" fulcrum@evil.org