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There’s more news from the China front today, but this tidbit is a little more sinister than a dry piece on PC sales numbers. For a long time, the Chinese government has been rumored to be the hidden hand behind cyber attacks across the world. They’ve always denied any wrongdoing. But now, it appears that a Chinese military propaganda documentary has inadvertently (or not) tipped China’s hand and shown proof of the nation’s role in hack attacks.
Picture the stereotypical teen in his mom's basement sitting behind a PC and running a malicious script on some random website. Is he part of the AntiSec movement? That's one possibility. But with the creation of RankMyHack.com
Maybe if Anonymous practiced what it preached and actually tried to right and/or expose the wrongs of the world, the organization would have a few more fans. Even WikiLeaks, with its controversial posting of confidential documents that could prove a security risk, has its supporters outside the organization who believe the good outweighs the bad. But Anonymous' haphazard approach to disrupting the online world and playing judge, jury, and executioner at the expense of innocent bystanders has managed to ruffle some of its own feathers.
The hacking group known as Anonymous turned its attention on San Francisco's mass transit system called BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) over the weekend, swiping and posting the names, home addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers of more than 2,400 Bay Area residents, according to a report in the L.A. Times. The agency believes another round of cyber attacks may be right around the corner.
Those attention starved script kiddies that make up the hacking group known as Anonymous have found yet another way to make headlines, this time by making public their intention to stomp out the world's largest social playground. Their vow didn't come in the form of a press release, but a YouTube video that's reminiscent of something you'd see in a bad B movie.
Why do hackers hack? Why create a worm that sends out an email to everyone in your contact list, or a Trojan that deletes your term papers? Is it mischief, malice, money, or something else entirely?
At the upcoming Black Hat Security conference in August, a researcher by the name of Charlie Miller plans to completely ruin a MacBook. The way he’s going to do it is the real story, though. Miller will demo a new attack that can be used to take control of the battery in Apple laptops and completely destroy them, even causing them to catch fire.
With LulzSec seemingly running scared and Anonymous pre-occupied with pilfering documents from NATO, Sony can breathe a sigh of relief, especially now that the PlayStation Network is back up and running with beefed up security. Now the only question that remains is who should pay for the damage? Sony's insurance agency is scoffing at the notion that it should be held responsible, likely under the assumption that Sony brought this whole mess onto itself by not taking proper security precautions in the first place.
We're long past the point of publishing every story related to the hacking community; there are too many of them, we're all tired of hearing about them, and we hate to give these cyber narcissists undue attention. Yet here we are, reporting on another security breach by the now familiar hacking organization known as Anonymous. Why? We want to put on record that these guys claim they'll be at least partially responsible with the information they stole.
With computers, total security can be achieved with absolute isolation, but if you use your computer for communication of any kind through the internet, then you depend on password security everywhere. While you have little control over how well various online communities and companies protect your password, you do have a great deal of control over the passwords you use.








