As upsetting on a personal level as the whole hacking of Sony’s Playstation Network might have been it pales in comparison to the news from Reuters that government weapons contractor Lockheed-Martin has been hacked.

We don’t have any word that any data was compromised and Lockheed-Martin is keeping pretty closed mouth on the report but according to Reuters’ the attack looks to be a direct result of a previously confirmed security breach at EMC; which is the company that provides Lockheed-Martin’s SecurID tokens.

During the attack on EMC this past March, hackers were apparently able to steal information which allowed them to produce their own passcodes. This breach was followed by a string of phishing and malware attacks designed to match tokens to users, and thus circumvent the system.

As of yet, the motivations behind the attacks remain unknown. It should be noted that while the report specifically mentions Lockheed-Martin, many other organizations employee the SecurID system and are potential targets. One possibly motivation behind the attacks could be espionage; Lockheed-Martin, for instance, is developing both the F-35 Lightning II and the F-22, the two newest fighter jets in the U.S. fleet. Some commentators have already speculated that similar attacks in previous years may have contributed to the development of China’s J-20 stealth jet.

via Geekosystem

Lockheed-Martin the weapons maker – Hacked! is a post from: The Inquisitr

Kids that wish to attend college have very little choice when it comes to the SAT exam- it’s generally either take the test or learn a trade, given its ubiquity as a college entrance requirement.

Two congressmen are requesting the College Board, owner of the SAT exam, explain how data is collected and shared in an effort to protect the privacy of the teens who don’t really have the option of opting out of the epic test. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Joe Barton (R-TX) hit up the ACT exam’s owners as well, asking about the sale of the data to entities like colleges. The push is part of a larger bill to expand laws protecting childrens’ privacy online to teens as well. (You can read the letter sent to the College Board here.)

Jeff Chester, executive director at consumer advocacy group the Center for Digital Democracy, said organizations like the SAT and ACT may lack proper oversight because they are non-profits:

“The Markey-Barton bill is focused on commercial businesses, even though many of these same disturbing practices are being conducted in a widespread fashion by nonprofit organizations,” Chester said. “Nonprofit organizations operate under a golden halo effect.”

Fordham Law professor Joel Reidenberg was a bit more critical when it came to the College Board and ACT’s sale of the information gathered from their captive audience:

“The College Board and ACT exploit their role as gatekeepers to college access and use that role to obtain consent from minors to sell their information,” Reidenberg said. “High schoolers are like deer in the headlights against a very sophisticated marketing industry. Parents have no idea and the law does not protect the students’ privacy. It should.”

Should the SAT and ACT quit making money off students’ information? Does disclosure need to be better when participation is essentially compulsory?

College Board Asked to Explain SAT Data Collection Policies is a post from: The Inquisitr

The communications company sent more than a dozen e-mails containing the addresses, according to technology professionals who contacted Network World. The messages touted a series of upcoming events, including one called “Secure the Information, Secure the Infrastructure,” and another called the “Data Breach Investigations Report Road Show.” The Verizon employee who sent them put all the e-mail addresses in plain view in the “To” field, rather than obscuring them in the “BCC” field as most mass mailings would do, the recipients say.

When one IT worker responded to point out the problems, Verizon wrote back and apologized for the “lapse in judgment,” he tells Network World. The worker says he received 17 different messages from Verizon within the day, each with hundreds of e-mail addresses listed at the top.

Let’s hope Verizon saved a front-row seat at the seminar for its employee to attend.

Verizon Suffers Security Slip in Security Seminar Invites is a post from: The Inquisitr