Cybercrime Costs on the Rise, DDoS hits on Banks and more

By RyanKamauff

Here is the top cyber news from the weekend and this morning.

• An HP-sponsored study has found Cybercrime costs on the rise – This study, “2012 Cost of Cyber Crime Study,” conducted by the Ponemon Institute found that the average annual cost to US organizations rose to $8.9M in 2012, from $8.4M in 2011. The number of successful cyber attacks has jumped up to 102 per weeks vs 72 in 2011 and 50 in 2010. This study also highlighted that organizations have very different costs per capita depending on their size. Small organizations had far higher costs per capita (more than 4x) than larger organizations. Via Web Pro News, more here.
• Fake Rovio games for Chrome are hijacking browsers – much like the fake Android applications that mimic real ones, the Chrome store is now home to fake Rovio (the Angry Birds developer) apps and hijack your browser. The listed developer for these is not Rovio, but rather “Playook.” Be careful out there. Via Net-Security.org, more here.
• Ars Technica takes a look at the DDoS attacks that struck major US banks (and finds no Stuxnet) – when these attacks hit, there were worries that a new attack had risen, one that could easily crack encrypted financial networks. These DDoS attacks caused disruptions at JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, US Bancorp, Citigroup, PNC Bank and Bank of America. They used guerilla attacks of varying methods to continue to assault these banks. Via Ars Technica, more here.
• InfoSecurity Magazine examines Microsofts Patch Tuesday – In this month’s update are six important patches and one critical. The critical update addresses a vulnerability that would allow remote code execution via Microsoft Office 2003, 2007 and 2010. It is not clear so far whether Office for Mac is affected. It appears that this would be a key patch to install. Via InfoSecurity, more here.
• OMB waives 3-year security reauthorization in favor of continuous monitoring – The OMB says that agencies that adopted the OMB Circular A-130 moving towards continuous monitoring do not required the 3-year reauthorization process. Via FierceGovernment IT, more here.
• General Keith Alexander advocates cybersecurity legislation – Gen Alexander, the director of NSA and commander of CYBERCOM is asking for “the ability to work with the Internet service providers and allow that to benefit the rest of the critical infrastructure and the rest of government.” Via Aviation Week, more here.

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