Stuxnet-based cyber espionage virus targets European firms

This time it's called Duqu.  Why not Dookie?  When the cyber war really heats up, that's what'll be dropping worldwide..   The Telegraph has details..

European firms that play a key role in nuclear power and other critical industries have been targeted by a cyber espionage attack based on Stuxnet, the computer virus that was designed to sabotage the Iranian nuclear programme.

Security engineers say it is likely the new variant, Duqu, was created by the same government agencies thought to be behind Stuxnet, an attack that heralded a new era of state conflict online.

But while Stuxnet was created to cause physical damage to Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities by surreptitiously adjusting machinery, Duqu is an intelligence-gathering tool.

The new virus’ precise targets have not been disclosed, but they include European firms that make the software that controls power stations and other industrial facilities. By infiltrating their computer networks, it aims to steal confidential information and potentially reveal vulnerabilities that could be exploited in later attacks.
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Analysis of Duqu has revealed it may have been in use since December last year. It is programmed to remove itself from infected systems after 36 days, so nobody can be sure how many firms have been targeted or how much confidential data stolen.

Same people responsible, not the same people..  It doesn't matter.  Eventually, the Law of Unintended Consequences will come into play..  Cyber-Boomerang doesn't have the elegance I'm looking for, so I will, instead, allow Lenny Kravitz to interject..

IMF hit by 'very major' cyber security attack

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says it has been targeted by a sophisticated cyber attack.

Officials at the fund gave few details but said the attack earlier this year had been "a very major breach" of its systems, the New York Times reports.

Candid.  Must be BIG.

In related news, Anonymous is back, baby..

Hackers penetrate U.S. defense contractors’ security networks

From Raw Story  Excerpts:

Reuters is reporting that unknown hackers have broken into the networks of Lockheed Martin and other major defense contractors and may have gained access to sensitive information on present and future weapons systems.

Reuters had reported earlier on Friday that "Lockheed Martin, the Pentagon's No. 1 supplier, is experiencing a major disruption to its computer systems that could be related to a problem with network security." The disruption began last Sunday, when security experts detected an intrusion.

According to an anonymous source with knowledge of the attacks, the hackers used data stolen in March from the RSA security division of EMC Corp. to duplicate security keys which gave them access to the networks.

"You have no idea how many people are freaked out right now," one security expert told Reuters, explaining that the RSA keys could no longer be considered fully secure.

I'm sure that last statement is a major understatement.  This article is just a tiny peek into the Cyber War, already in progress..  Will this endgame involve a massive explosion, or prevention of a massive explosion?  Another scary as hell, yet fascinating scenario.  Damn this Information Age and it's would be controllers and their silly deadly games..

Anonymous/WikiLeaks: This Week In Cyber War, March 18, 2011

‘Anonymous’ puts central banks on notice, demands Bernanke resign  Video here, too.  Uh Oh..  I'm going to pop some popcorn..  Excerpts:

..But now, one of the group's members has issued a call for perhaps their most audacious campaign yet: civil disobedience against the private central banking system that underpins all the world's industrial economies.


In a little-noticed video published Sunday, one "Anonymous" calls for the dawning of "Operation Empire State Rebellion": a "relentless campaign of peaceful resistance" against organizations that participate in they termed the "control" of large populations through pieces of paper and bits of data.

Japan earthquake: Japan warned over nuclear plants, WikiLeaks cables show  From The Telegraph.

Japan was warned more than two years ago by the international nuclear watchdog that its nuclear power plants were not capable of withstanding powerful earthquakes, leaked diplomatic cables reveal.

An official from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in December 2008 that safety rules were out of date and strong earthquakes would pose a "serious problem" for nuclear power stations.

The Japanese government pledged to upgrade safety at all of its nuclear plants, but will now face inevitable questions over whether it did enough.

While it responded to the warnings by building an emergency response centre at the Fukushima plant, it was only designed to withstand magnitude 7.0 tremors. Friday's devastating earthquake was a magnitude 9.0 shock.

In India, Leaked Cable About Bribes Sets Off a Furor

 India’s Parliament erupted in outrage on Thursday over a report of an American diplomatic cable that described insiders in the governing Congress Party showing off chests of money and boasting of paying bribes to wavering lawmakers to secure passage of a critical 2008 vote on a landmark civilian nuclear deal between India and the United States.

The revelations, contained in a July 18, 2008, cable obtained by WikiLeaks, portray a large, all-out effort by the Congress Party to win a confidence vote in Parliament that could have toppled the wobbly coalition government and doomed the nuclear deal. According to the cable, written five days before the critical vote, a political assistant to an influential Congress Party lawmaker told a United States Embassy diplomat that one small regional political party had already been paid millions of dollars in bribes for support.

The aide also “showed the Embassy employee two chests containing cash and said that around Rupees 50-60 crore (about $25 million) was lying around the house for use as pay-offs,” according to the cable. Another Congress Party member told an American diplomat that Kamal Nath, a government minister, “is also helping to spread the largesse” and was offering jet airplanes as enticements.

I think the good people of India would like a word with you and your associates, sir..

WikiLeaks founder was warned of CIA “dirty tricks” campaign

According to the article, “Sources within WikiLeaks have told The Age that an Australian intelligence official privately warned WikiLeaks on August 11 last year that Assange was the subject of inquiries by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, and that information relating to him and others associated with WikiLeaks had been provided to the US in response to requests through intelligence liaison channels.”

The Australian intelligence official “specifically warned that Assange could be at the risk of ‘dirty tricks’ from the US intelligence community, including the possibility of sexual entrapment,” the newspaper said.

Hacker group says BofA tried to hide loan information

..The data released by Anonymous appear to contain internal e-mails from Balboa Insurance, which was acquired by Bank of America in 2008 when it purchased Countrywide Financial. In the correspondence, the employees discuss changing loan numbers and maybe even deleting them in their records. In one exchange, an employee said the changes may raise “huge red flags” for auditors. “It just doesn't seem right to me,” the employee allegedly wrote.

Anonymous claims that the changes were tantamount to “knowingly hiding foreclosure information from federal auditors.”  (I hope they can do better than that..  Not that it's not legal, it's not outrageous enough for the public to demand action.  And that's why I don't think these are the main event..  By any stretch..)
And:
WikiLeaks' Julian Assange has repeatedly promised to release documents in early 2011 that “could take down a bank or two” and that the documents will show “flagrant violations” and “unethical practices” at the executive level. Assange has not identified the banks in question but has said in a media interview that he is “sitting on 5GB from Bank of America, one of the executive's hard drives.”

Bank of America website exposes customer accounts, data

High incompetence from America's Bank. Blurg.. From Jalopnik Excerpts:

Bank of America's account websites are experiencing an unprecedented online security breach and isn't rectifying the problem. That's right, your online account data and full account access may be in the hands of someone else.
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The person I spoke with immediately called Bank of America, and was told that although they knew of the problem, they didn't they yet know what was causing the problem, and despite having known about it for over a half an hour, they had not shut down online access. One hour later, my source tells me she still has access to the other party's account information.

There you have it. If you've got an account with BofA, enjoy your Sunday! Maybe the people who hold your money will get around to fixing a problem that allows others to steal said money: Or not.. The level of indifference BofA has shown towards their clients is astonishing, even for these clowns.