EXCLUSIVE: Apple said it was attacked by hackers who infected “small number” of its Mac computers. Apple says the hackers also hit Facebook and other small companies. Apple says there is “no evidence that any data left Apple,” adding that the company is working with law enforcement to identify hackers. More soon on Reuters.com.
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EXCLUSIVE: Apple said it was attacked by hackers who infected “small number” of its Mac computers. Apple says the hackers also hit Facebook and other small companies.

Apple says there is “no evidence that any data left Apple,” adding that the company is working with law enforcement to identify hackers. More soon on Reuters.com.

The website of a Moscow court that convicted three members of punk band Pussy Riot to two years in jail each for belting out a profanity-laced anti-Kremlin song inside a cathedral was hacked on Tuesday. A slogan denouncing President Vladimir Putin was posted on the site as was an appeal for the trio’s release along with a video clip of one of the band’s latest anti-Putin songs and a clip by Bulgarian singer Azis, local media reported. The hack attack - claimed by AnonymousRussia, which says it is affiliated with hacking activist group Anonymous - comes amid a chorus of criticism of the sentences, which Western governments and singers said were disproportionate and opponents of Putin called part of a crackdown on dissent. A screenshot posted by opposition activist Ilya Yashin on Twitter showed the court’s web page topped by an inscription reading: “Putin’s thieving gang is plundering our country! Wake up, comrades!” Another caption called for the release of the band’s jailed members - Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, Marina Alyokhina, 24, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30. The site of Moscow’s Khamovniki district court hamovnichesky.msk.sudrf.ru/ was operating normally by noon (0800 GMT) but its hacked version was on display for several hours on Tuesday morning. Darya Lyakh, a spokeswoman for the court, said a department of the Supreme Court had asked federal investigators to look into the hacking attack. READ ON: Hackers target website of court that jailed Pussy Riot
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The website of a Moscow court that convicted three members of punk band Pussy Riot to two years in jail each for belting out a profanity-laced anti-Kremlin song inside a cathedral was hacked on Tuesday.

A slogan denouncing President Vladimir Putin was posted on the site as was an appeal for the trio’s release along with a video clip of one of the band’s latest anti-Putin songs and a clip by Bulgarian singer Azis, local media reported.

The hack attack - claimed by AnonymousRussia, which says it is affiliated with hacking activist group Anonymous - comes amid a chorus of criticism of the sentences, which Western governments and singers said were disproportionate and opponents of Putin called part of a crackdown on dissent.

A screenshot posted by opposition activist Ilya Yashin on Twitter showed the court’s web page topped by an inscription reading: “Putin’s thieving gang is plundering our country! Wake up, comrades!”

Another caption called for the release of the band’s jailed members - Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, Marina Alyokhina, 24, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30.

The site of Moscow’s Khamovniki district court hamovnichesky.msk.sudrf.ru/ was operating normally by noon (0800 GMT) but its hacked version was on display for several hours on Tuesday morning.

Darya Lyakh, a spokeswoman for the court, said a department of the Supreme Court had asked federal investigators to look into the hacking attack.

READ ON: Hackers target website of court that jailed Pussy Riot

A new startup is embracing the openness of mobile and Internet platforms and developing Ouya, a $99 gaming console for the television with software and hardware that is designed to be hacked. The device will include a controller with a touch pad and a free software development kit. “The current console market is closed, it’s expensive to develop and it’s expensive to buy games,” Julie Uhrman, a former executive at video game website IGN, said. “And we really wanted to turn that idea on its head by creating an open game console where it was inexpensive and affordable for gamers both on console side and game side.”  The team hopes Ouya will bring innovation to the good old video game console by attracting “indie” or independent game developers and makers of Triple-A game titles in a bid to capture the imagination of casual and core gamers alike. Moreover, all the games will be free-to-try. That means developers can pick any plan to monetize their offerings like micro-transactions through sales of virtual goods or subscriptions, as long the gamer can try the game at first for free. MEDIAFILE: Meet Ouya, the $99 gaming console designed to be hacked
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A new startup is embracing the openness of mobile and Internet platforms and developing Ouya, a $99 gaming console for the television with software and hardware that is designed to be hacked. The device will include a controller with a touch pad and a free software development kit.

“The current console market is closed, it’s expensive to develop and it’s expensive to buy games,” Julie Uhrman, a former executive at video game website IGN, said. “And we really wanted to turn that idea on its head by creating an open game console where it was inexpensive and affordable for gamers both on console side and game side.” 

The team hopes Ouya will bring innovation to the good old video game console by attracting “indie” or independent game developers and makers of Triple-A game titles in a bid to capture the imagination of casual and core gamers alike.

Moreover, all the games will be free-to-try. That means developers can pick any plan to monetize their offerings like micro-transactions through sales of virtual goods or subscriptions, as long the gamer can try the game at first for free.

MEDIAFILE: Meet Ouya, the $99 gaming console designed to be hacked

Almost every Fortune 500 company has been hacked and likely won’t even know it until 6 months after the breach, according to one leading expert.

The task of protecting your company seems almost insurmountable, but there are ways to make would-be hackers seek easier targets as Antony De Rosa finds out in this edition of Tech Tonic. 

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Computer security experts discovered files with some 6.4 million scrambled passwords on Tuesday, which they originally suspected belong to LinkedIn members because some of the passwords included the phrase “LinkedIn,” said Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant with British computer security software maker Sophos. When Sophos dug further, it turned out that other passwords found in the list belonged to Sophos employees who only used them to secure their LinkedIn accounts, he said. But it is possible that all or just some of those 6.4 million passwords belong to LinkedIn members, Cluley added. The data was found on underground websites where criminal hackers frequently exchange stolen information, including scrambled passwords. READ MORE: Security experts say LinkedIn suffered data breach [Unscrambled, the hashes in the image above spells “reuters” - via LeakedIn]
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Computer security experts discovered files with some 6.4 million scrambled passwords on Tuesday, which they originally suspected belong to LinkedIn members because some of the passwords included the phrase “LinkedIn,” said Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant with British computer security software maker Sophos.

When Sophos dug further, it turned out that other passwords found in the list belonged to Sophos employees who only used them to secure their LinkedIn accounts, he said. But it is possible that all or just some of those 6.4 million passwords belong to LinkedIn members, Cluley added.

The data was found on underground websites where criminal hackers frequently exchange stolen information, including scrambled passwords.

READ MORE: Security experts say LinkedIn suffered data breach

[Unscrambled, the hashes in the image above spells “reuters” - via LeakedIn]
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has arrested three suspected members of the hacker group LulzSec and charges will be made public against two more, a law enforcement official told Reuters on Tuesday. LulzSec, an underground group also known as Lulz Security, along with fellow hacking group Anonymous have taken credit for carrying out a number of high-profile hacking actions against companies and institutions including the CIA, Britain’s Serious Organized Crime Agency, Japan’s Sony Corp and Mexican government websites. Last month, the activist group Anonymous published a recording of a confidential call between FBI agents and London detectives in which the law-enforcement agents discuss action they are taking against hacking. Read more: FBI arrests three suspected LulzSec hackers
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The Federal Bureau of Investigation has arrested three suspected members of the hacker group LulzSec and charges will be made public against two more, a law enforcement official told Reuters on Tuesday.

LulzSec, an underground group also known as Lulz Security, along with fellow hacking group Anonymous have taken credit for carrying out a number of high-profile hacking actions against companies and institutions including the CIA, Britain’s Serious Organized Crime Agency, Japan’s Sony Corp and Mexican government websites.

Last month, the activist group Anonymous published a recording of a confidential call between FBI agents and London detectives in which the law-enforcement agents discuss action they are taking against hacking.

Read more: FBI arrests three suspected LulzSec hackers

A conversation between FBI special agents and authorities at the UK’s Scotland Yard was leaked online Friday morning, the latest in a series of data dumps conducted by Anonymous hackers to protest against law enforcement. But the conference calls may have inadvertently released more information than the hacking collective would be comfortable with. Read more: Details in leaked FBI call could prove uncomfortable for Anonymous
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A conversation between FBI special agents and authorities at the UK’s Scotland Yard was leaked online Friday morning, the latest in a series of data dumps conducted by Anonymous hackers to protest against law enforcement.

But the conference calls may have inadvertently released more information than the hacking collective would be comfortable with.

Read more: Details in leaked FBI call could prove uncomfortable for Anonymous

China hackers breached U.S. Chamber of Commerce: report

Ben Blanchard at Reuters - Hackers in China broke through the computer defenses of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce last year and were able to access information about its operations and its 3 million members, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.