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Are Hollywood Hackers Bogus or Bright? (336 diggs) After studying 50 films, a researcher says that most movies portray hackers pretty accurately.

FTC: Identity Theft No. 1 Consumer Complaint (307 diggs) Are you really you? It's hard to say. That's because identity theft was the top consumer complaint for 2009, the Federal Trade Commission reported.

BUSTED! Google Hackers Linked To Chinese Government (1,538 diggs) US analysts believe they have identified the Chinese author of the critical programming code used in the alleged state-sponsored hacking attacks on Google and other western companies, making it far harder for the Chinese government to deny involvement...

‘Sophisticated’ Hack Hit Intel (409 diggs) Intel is the latest U.S. corporation to acknowledge that it was hacked in January in a sophisticated attack that occurred at the same time that Google, Adobe and others were targeted.The giant chip maker was rumored to have been among some 34 companies that were targeted, but said there was no evidence to tie its hack to the attack...

How rootkits are threatening smartphone security (293 diggs) Computer scientists at Rutgers University have shown how a familiar type of personal computer security threat can now attack new generations of smart mobile devices. Coming up with a defense is next on the agenda

U.S. Pinpoints Coder Behind Google Attack (509 diggs) U.S. government analysts believe a Chinese man with government links wrote the key part of a spyware program used in hacker attacks on Google last year. The man, a security consultant in his 30s, posted sections of the program to a hacking forum where he described it as something he was “working on”...

Please Rob Me (1983) (496 diggs) Regarding Foursquare and Please Rob Me? The more things change ...

Chuck Norris Botnet Karate-chops Routers (527 diggs) If you haven't changed the default password on your home router, you may be in for an unwanted visit from Chuck Norris -- the Chuck Norris botnet, that is. Discovered by Czech researchers, the botnet has been spreading by taking advantage of poorly configured routers and DSL modems.

Twitter Phishing Attack Spreading via Direct Message WARNING (370 diggs) A Twitter phishing attack is spreading rapidly today, attempting to obtain Twitter logins via Direct Messages. If you receive a message reading “lol, is this you”, and linking to a site called “bzpharma”, do not click the link.

TX Plane Crash Exposes Gap in U.S. Air Security (341 diggs) After 9/11, cockpit doors were sealed, air marshals were added and airport searches became more aggressive, all to make sure an airliner could never again be used as a weapon. Yet little has been done to guard against attacks with smaller planes

College IT Analyst Charged w/ Blackmail over music Downloads (293 diggs) He caught a student downloading copyrighted music at the University of Georgia. But instead of ratting the kid, Dorin Dehelean wanted a bribe to make it go away.

U.S. Intel Wants Super-Sensitive Human Lie-Detectors (253 diggs) The U.S. intelligence community wants to master the art of BS-detection. But instead of improving on pre-existing methods, like polygraph tests or voice stress analysis, they want to amplify our own, intuitive, “pre-conscious human assessment of trustworthiness.”

Cyber attacks on Google came from Chinese schools (367 diggs) Online attacks on internet giant Google and several other US companies have allegedly been traced to computers at a university and a school in China, according to reports.

Feds Can Search, Seize P2P Files Without Warrant (444 diggs) The authorities do not need court warrants to view and download files trading on peer-to-peer networks, a federal appeals court says. Wednesday’s 3-0 ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concerned a Nevada man convicted of possessing child pornography as part of an FBI investigation. The defendant claimed the Fourth Amendment required...

Massive Botnet Attack Strikes 75,000 Systems (495 diggs) Security researchers have unearthed a massive botnet affecting at least 75,000 computers at 2,500 companies and government agencies worldwide.

Nuke-Hunting Robo-Roaches Enlisted for Animal Army (310 diggs) America’s rapidly expanding cyborg-animal army could soon add a new crawler to its ranks. National Defense magazine reports that scientists in Texas have turned the near-indestructible cockroach into a remote-controlled nuke detector.

Google content-filter patent about copyright, not censorship (308 diggs) Search giant Google has received a patent that covers methods for selectively restricting access to content based on the user's region. Despite appearances, the patent isn't about censorship. It's actually about conforming with copyright law.

$15,000 For Anyone Who Can Break Into An iPhone (380 diggs) The hacking contest next month will award cash prizes of $15,000 to anyone who can break into an iPhone, BlackBerry Bold, Droid or Nokia smartphone.

China Home to Most Hacked Computers (365 diggs) A McAfee report reveals that more computers are hacked in China than anywhere else in the world. The hacked computers often are clustered into "botnets," a.k.a. battalions of corrupted computers commandeered to attack websites and spew spam. The growing presence of botnets is yet another sign of network insecurity...

When Mozilla Updates Go Bad (492 diggs) Mozilla has a history of many "regression errors" in updates: These are updates that introduce new errors or re-expose old ones.

Chip and pin should be overhauled to protect millions (323 diggs) Chip and pin technology must be overhauled it was claimed yesterday after it emerged that one in seven people could have already been a victim of a "fatal flaw" in the system.

People's Passwords: Worst Practices (Graphic) (2,269 diggs) Analysis of the 32 million passwords exposed in the recent breach at RockYou provides further proof that people routinely use easy to guess logins. Many use the same password for everything - from their private work accounts. But how breakable is your password and what does it say about you?

Record 13-Year Sentence for Hacker Max Vision (544 diggs) A skilled San Francisco-based computer intruder was sentenced to 13 years in federal prison for stealing nearly two million credit card numbers from banks, businesses and other hackers — receiving the longest hacking sentence in U.S. history.

Google Buzz Makes Private Contact Info Public (456 diggs) When launched, Buzz automatically makes you a follower of the people you contact and chat with most frequently via Gmail. But the rub is this — anyone who follows you can see all the people you follow.

Facebook Denies ‘All Wrongdoing’ in ‘Beacon’ Data Breach (359 diggs) Facebook is denying it illegally breached the privacy of its users in a proposed $9.5 million settlement to a class action challenging its program that monitored and published what users of the social-networking site were buying or renting from Blockbuster, Overstock and other locations.