China's Internet hit by biggest cyberattack in its history

Internet users in China were met with sluggish response times early Sunday as the country's domain extension came under a "denial of service" attack.

The attack was the largest of its kind ever in China, according to the China Internet Network Information Center, a state agency that manages the .cn country domain.

The double-barreled attacks took place at around 2 a.m. Sunday, and then again at 4 a.m. The second attack was "long-lasting and large-scale," according to state media, which said that service was slowly being restored.

Official state media said the attack targeted websites with the .cn country domain, as well as the popular microblogging site Sina Weibo.

Denial of service attacks aren't technically "hacks," since they can be done without breaking into any systems. Typically, DoS attacks overwhelm a website's servers by flooding them with requests. That makes websites unreachable or unresponsive.

To bring down bigger sites, attackers will sometimes organize large numbers of infected computers to send requests all at once. Read more >>

Website Allows Users To Rate Prostitutes

People like to read reviews online before buying a car or reserving a hotel room. But one website, http://www.eccie.net, once based in North Texas, allows users to review the services of local prostitutes.

CBS 11′s I-Team Investigator Mireya Villarreal confirmed with the Texas Attorney General’s office that the website is a factor in a few of their investigations. They wouldn’t expand on what they’re looking for or share if anything on the site is illegal; but just the idea that you can review prostitutes has a lot of people concerned.

Google the words “escort review” and not far from the top is http://www.eccie.net, a website that’s been around for years, but flourished, while it was based right here in Fort Worth.

Women actually create profiles on this site and customers can post reviews about their services.

“I’m not amazed because I’ve seen worse ads and websites than this,” Jenny Ford, Human Trafficking Expert with ACH Child and Family Services, told us. Read more >>

Hacked PCs falsify billions of ad clicks

Online investigators have exposed a network of hijacked computers that defrauded advertisers by generating billions of fake ad views. The so-called botnet scheme, which hijacked 120,000 residential PCs in the US and cost advertisers millions of dollars a month, highlights the increasing complexity and opacity of online advertising.

Spider.io, a London-based start-up that tracks web browsing activity, estimates traffic from the “Chameleon” botnet accounted for almost two-thirds of the total visits to certain websites. The inflated number of page views increased advertising revenues for the websites’ owners.

In a report published on Tuesday, Spider.io said the hijacked PCs generated up to 9bn ad views or “impressions” every month across a network of more than 200 sites. Sophisticated software even mimicked cursor movements and mouse clicks, giving the impression that potential consumers were visiting the sites. Read more >>

SECRET Pentagon video to be released by fugitive founder of WikiLeaks

Image by The U.S. Army via Flickr

theage.com

A SECRET Pentagon video showing an air strike in Afghanistan that killed dozens of children is set to be released by the fugitive founder of WikiLeaks.

Julian Assange, the Australian-born man behind the secretive web group, has been in hiding since last week following claims US authorities were ''hunting him''.

US media reported that Pentagon investigators were trying to find him and discourage him from publishing confidential diplomatic cables allegedly leaked to him by a disillusioned intelligence analyst

While Mr Assange's location is unknown - he may still be in Australia - he has continued to send email and Twitter messages to supporters.

In an email sent on Tuesday, he suggested he would soon release a secret Pentagon video of a US air strike on Granai in western Afghanistan in May last year.

US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have both apologised for the bombing, which left as many as 100 people, mostly children and teenagers, dead.

In Tuesday's email, Mr Assange confirmed the website was ''still working on'' the ''Garani [sic] massacre''. More...

Citibank exposes 600,000 customers' Social Security numbers

Image via Wikipedia

chicagotribune.com
Ralph Remakel received a Citibank letter postmarked Feb. 16 that notified him of a recent Citibank error. It turns out he wasn't the only one.

In late January, Citibank mailed year-end tax statements to 600,000 Citi customers via the U.S. Postal Service that included the customers' Social Security numbers ... on the outside of the envelope.

Citi called the mistake a "processing error."

Although the nine-digit numbers were not identified as Social Security numbers (they were printed at the lower edge of the envelope with other numbers and letters and resembled a mail routing number), Citi still reacted to the mistake. EVP and Director of Citibank Client Services Norman White sent customer notification letters to every affected Citi customer during the week of Feb. 15, apologizing for the error.

The letter offered Citi customers the option to enroll in a free, 180-day credit monitoring service arranged by Citibank, but White also encouraged customers to regularly review activity on their accounts.

Remakel said he did not take advantage of Citibank's credit monitoring service offer.

"It’s like small change compared to the effect of me getting my Social Security number compromised," Remakel said. "Who would would really see it except the post office? But it’s not like it’s hidden in any way. What’s the easiest way to take someone’s identity? Their Social Security Number."

(See the full text of the letter below)

Citibank said in a statement that the company believes the error produced little to no risk to its customers and that it has been corrected for all Citibank's future mailings.

"Although there is little or no risk to our customers, we decided to be completely transparent to our customers by notifying them of the error," the statement said. "It is an important part of our commitment to our customers to be fully transparent and to give them the peace of mind that comes from banking with people they trust."

Remakel, however, was not satisfied with his notification letter.

"I was almost to the point of calling them and saying, 'Hey, for your blunder, how about wiping out everything I owe you?',” he said.

Full text of Citibank's notification letter:We are writing to inform you that due to a processing error the nine digits in your Social Security number, along with a string of other numbers and letters all resembling a mail routing number, were printed on the lower edge of an envelope containing a year-end tax statement that we mailed to you recently.

We believe there is little or no risk to you. However we wanted to bring this to your attention, apologize and confirm that changes have been made for all future mailings.

Should you nonetheless remain concerned, we have arranged for you at your option to enroll in a credit monitoring service at no cost to you for the next 180 days. To activate this coverage, please call the toll-free number or visit the website listed below and enter the redemption code. The redemption code is required for enrollment. As always, we encourage you to regularly review activity on your accounts.

For credit monitoring service coverage:
Toll-Free Number: 1-866-212-9114
Website: www.identityguard.com/alert
Redemption Code: _______________

We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Do not hesitate to contact us at 877-478-6597 if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Norman Wright
EVP & Director, Citibank Client Services