Previously we mentioned hackers targeting a South African bank and it looks like this time, hackers went after a United Arab Emirates bank and Arab Bank. While no money was stolen in this case or user accounts compromised, they managed to completely shut down the websites.

No one knows the names of the people behind the attack except that it is the work of Israeli hackers who operate under the name ‘IDF Team’. The hacker group had mentioned the day before their plan to shut down the central bank website as well as the website of Arab Bank.

Via Financial Times:

“Both sites were inaccessible on Thursday. UAE Central Bank officials brushed aside the significance of their site being compromised, saying talks with the European delegation, which included Mr Draghi and a number of ECB governors, were their top priority.”

“We have been busy here,” said Sultan bin Nasser al-Suwaidi, governor of the UAE Central Bank, when asked about the hack. “There are IT technicians who will take care of it.”

As to how they pulled off the attack and took both websites down, it became very clear.

“The sites are likely to have been hit by denial-of-service attacks, which use a network of computers to flood the system running a website with requests, causing it to break down. Often the computers used for such attacks have been infected by viruses that allow hackers to control the machines remotely, without the knowledge of their owner.”

Hackers and various groups have been taking down sites and causing disruption for years and doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon.

What would you do if your website got taken down by hackers?

Hackers Attack Two Banking Websites And Bring Both Offline is a post from: The Inquisitr

According to the Norton Cybercrime Report for 2011, more than two thirds of online adults have been a victim of cybercrime in their lifetime. Every second, 14 adults become a victim of cybercrime, resulting in more than one million cybercrime victims every day.

Globally, the most common type of cybercrime is computer viruses and malware with 54 percent of the 19,636 respondents to the study saying that they have experienced it in their lifetime. Online scams (11 percent) and phishing messages (10 percent) follow.

Among adults, men between 18 and 31 years old who access the Internet from their mobile phone as more likely victims of cybercrime.

Despite the severity of cybercrime, people are obviously not in tune with reality. This is manifested by the fact that while 74 percent of respondents say they are aware of cybercrime, many are still not taking precautionary measures: they do not protect their personal information online; about 47 percent do not review their credit card statements for fraud; and 61 percent don’t use complex passwords or change them regularly.

Adam Palmer, Norton Lead Cybersecurity Advisor, stressed the seriousness of cybercrime, saying:

“There is a serious disconnect in how people view the threat of cybercrime. Cybercrime is much more prevalent than people realize. Over the past 12 months, three times as many adults surveyed have suffered from online crime versus offline crime, yet less than a third of respondents think they are more likely to become a victim of cybercrime than physical world crime in the next year. And while 89 percent of respondents agree that more needs to be done to bring cybercriminals to justice, fighting cybercrime is a shared responsibility. It requires us all to be more alert and to invest in our online smarts and safety.”

Don’t you think it’s high time to change your year-old password?

Study Reveals More Than 1 Million CyberCrime Victims Daily is a post from: The Inquisitr

Snoop Dogg may dig some real life illicit activities like smoking weed rolling with hos, but he isn’t down with the online sort.

Snoop has teamed up with Norton to encourage the internet public to submit rap videos that are shorter than two minutes, with a theme of “Hack is Wack.” On HackisWack.com, Norton explains what they’re looking for in submissions and details the grand prize for the sickest beat:

A panel of Norton representatives along with Snoop’s management will judge videos based on originality, creativity and how well they convey the anti-cybercrime message. At the end of the contest, a grand prize winner will be selected and receive two tickets with accommodations to a Snoop concert, the opportunity to meet his management or agent and a super cool Toshiba laptop. We’ve included some tips on the different elements of cybercrime to help guide you and ignite your creativity. And remember, keep the content clean, have fun and Hack Is Wack!

The site encourages rap hopefuls to pimp their entries on social media sites like Twitter with the hashtag #SnoopNorton. The contest is accepting submissions until September 30th, and winners will be announced October 20th. If you’ve got some dope ass flow about hacking, identity theft and malware, you can enter here.

Snoop Dogg pairs with Symantec to fight cybercrime is a post from: The Inquisitr

The United States FTC issued a statement today announcing a rare takedown of rogue ISP Pricewert, LLC. (Aliases include 3FN and APS Telecom.)

Besides sounding vaguely like an obscure German-industrial band, Pricewert stands accused of actively recruiting and colluding with cybercriminals to infect computers with spyware, viruses, trojan horses, Jonas Brothers tracks, and according to the FTC statement, pornography containing bestiality, incest, and violence. The FTC alleges that Pricewert advertised its services on the “darkest corners of the internet” (4chan?) and even set up a forum to allow criminals to exchange information more readily.

According to the FTC, Pricewert either ignored take-down requests or moved criminal elements to other IPs to thwart detection. Further dastardly acts cited in the complaint include DOS attacks, botnet deployment and spam distribution.

The FTC have backed up their case with IM transcripts that show senior employees conspiring to configure botnets with bot herders. The court issued a temporary injunction barring upstream providers from enabling the alleged bad guys, and froze Pricewert’s assets pending a hearing on June 15th.

FTC swoops in and smacks down rogue ISP Pricewert is a post from: The Inquisitr