Honest Corporate America? Three Equifax executives sold $2 million worth of shares days after cyber-attack became Public - by Todd Haselton

Three executives of Equifax (EFX) sold shares worth nearly $2 million in the company days after a data breach was found to affect 143 million consumers in the United States, filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission showed.

The fillings showed that the trio – Chief Financial Officer John Gamble Jr., workforce solutions president Rodolfo Ploder and U.S. information solutions president Joseph Loughran – offloaded the shares on August 1 and August 2.

Equifax said on Thursday it discovered a data breach on July 29. The credit reporting firm said the exposed data included names, birth dates, Social Security numbers, addresses and some driver's licence numbers.

The company added that 209,000 U.S. credit card numbers were obtained, in addition to "certain dispute documents with personal identifying information for approximately 182,000 U.S. consumers."

Equifax acknowledged in a statement that the three executives sold a "small percentage" of their shares, but that they "had no knowledge that an intrusion had occurred at the time they sold their shares."

The SEC declined to comment on the share sales.

Note EU-Digest:The SEC fillings showed that the trio – Chief Financial Officer John Gamble Jr., workforce solutions president Rodolfo Ploder and U.S. information solutions president Joseph Loughran – offloaded the shares on August 1 and August 2. 

Equifax should fire the executives and they should be prosecuted by the SEC for using "inside information" to their financial gain, regardless of what Equifax or they say.

For the complete report clck here

Chinese Hacking of U.S. Data May Extend to Insurance Companies - by N,Perlroth, D.Sanger and J. H. Davis

The same Chinese hackers who breached the records of at least four million government workers through the Office of Personnel Management appear to have been responsible for similar thefts of personal data at two major health care firms, Anthem and Premera, according to cybersecurity experts.

The multiple attacks, which began last year and were all discovered this spring, appear to mark a new era in cyberespionage with the theft of huge quantities of data and no clear motive for the hackers.

There is no evidence that the data collected was used for criminal purposes like faking identities to make credit card purchases. Instead, the attackers seem to be amassing huge databases of personal information about Americans. Some have high-level security clearances, which the Office of Personnel Management handles, but millions of others do not, and the reasons for their records being taken have puzzled investigators.

All of the attacks have one thing in common: The United States government has traced them to China, though it is unclear whether the attackers are working for the state

Read more: Chinese Hacking of U.S. Data May Extend to Insurance companies

The Netherkands - Cybercrime; Visting the Netherlands make sure you have good security on your computer

The Netherlands is popular with cyber criminals Tech & Media April 14, 2015 Protection concept: computer keyboard with Closed PadlockThe Netherlands is the number one country in Europe and fourth in the world for cyber criminals, according to figures published on Tuesday by security company Symantec. Dutch servers process a great deal of spam, phishing, botnets and other digital threats, Symantec reports. Globally, only the US, China and India process more malware. The Netherlands is popular with cyber criminals because its internet network works so well. The connections are fast and reliable, there are a lot of people online and Amsterdam has one of the largest internet junctions in the world. The fact that so much cyber crime is routed through the Netherlands does not mean all the criminals are Dutch, however. The country is mainly used by criminals around the world as one step in an attack in order to make detection difficult, Symantec says. Globally, Symantec registered 317 million new malware programmes in 2014.

Read more at DutchNews.nl: The Netherlands is popular with cyber criminals http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2015/04/the-netherlands-is-popular-with-cyber-criminals/

The Netherlands is the number one country in Europe and fourth in the world for cyber criminals, according to figures published on Tuesday by security company Symantec. Dutch servers process a great deal of spam, phishing, botnets and other digital threats, Symantec reports.

Globally, only the US, China and India process more malware. The Netherlands is popular with cyber criminals because its internet network works so well. The connections are fast and reliable, there are a lot of people online and Amsterdam has one of the largest internet junctions in the world.

The fact that so much cyber crime is routed through the Netherlands does not mean all the criminals are Dutch, however. 

The country is mainly used by criminals around the world as one step in an attack in order to make detection difficult, Symantec says. Globally, Symantec registered 317 million new malware programmes in 2014.

Read more: The Netherlands is popular with cyber criminals - DutchNews.nl

Internet - Free WiFi: Surf Safe Tips While On “FREE Wi-Fi” - by Andrea Eldridge,

It seems every shop and gathering place proclaims “Free Wi-Fi,” but is it safe to check your email at the airport, library or McDonalds?  There are risks to accessing private data while connected to an unsecured, community network.  Here’s how to surf safely when you’re on public Wi-Fi.

When you access the Internet on a public network, your computer or Smartphone is at risk of being accessed by other users on the same network.  It’s surprisingly easy for the person sipping the Macchiato next to you to run simple programs to collect passwords and information entered by fellow patrons.

Most Wi-Fi “hotspots” are unencrypted since it’s a hassle to make every customer find out the day’s Wi-Fi password, meaning even if you’re alone in the store someone sitting in the parking lot could be connected to the network.

It may seem unlikely that your data will be hacked, and that’s probably true.  But just like you might be able to leave your car unlocked and never suffer a break-in, is it worth the risk?  Anyone who’s had their Facebook account hacked or banking password compromised can attest that it can take months or more to put your online identity back in order.

Luckily there are some easy steps you can take to protect yourself on public Wi-Fi.  Since logging on to a network gives other users on that network access to your shared folders, the first thing to do when you’re on a public network is to turn off sharing.  Windows users should navigate to the Control Panel, then Network and Internet.  Select the option to “Choose homegroup and sharing options” and then select “Change advanced sharing settings…” Turn off file and printer sharing and public folder sharing.  If you’re using a Mac, go to System Preferences and then Sharing.  Make sure all boxes are unchecked.

Consider also disabling network discovery as it prevents others from seeing your machine on the network.  You can re-enable it when you’re no longer logged on to a public network.

Read more: Surf Safe Tips While On “FREE Wi-Fi” | Business 2 Community

Internet - security: Smartphones increasing global cyber crime

The flaw in the smartphone is that it is too useful and too user friendly – for users who trade convenience for security.

They collect our emails, store our bank details, we tweet and use Facebook on them. They are our bank vault, our confidante, and our guide.

Criminals use Wi-Fi connection to harvest passwords and other sensitive data from smartphones or computers – often giving their Wi-Fi hotspots fake names familiar to punters at cafes and in airports.

Many smartphones are set up to automatically leap on to available Wi-Fi hotspots and start downloading emails.

Forty per cent of mobiles sold this year have been smartphones – and this has been a bumper year for malware developers who have focussed their attention on smartphones.

Those running Google’s Android system have been especially targeted.

Note EU-Digest: the first step to take is to get an anti-virus program for your smartphone to reduce the risk of being "zapped". There are even some reputable free ones available on the market. 

Travelers should be particularly wary of cyber threats on vacation as they access free wireless networks with their smartphones, tablets or laptops, says software security company Symantec Corp.

Read more: Smartphones increasing global cyber crime - Hindustan Times

Dutch government to give law agencies powers to hack foreign computers - by Lucian Constantin

The Dutch government wants to give law enforcement authorities the power to hack into computers, including those located in other countries, for the purpose of discovering and gathering evidence during cybercrime investigations.

In a letter that was sent to the lower house of the Dutch parliament last week, the Dutch Minister of Security and Justice Ivo Opstelten outlined the government's plan to draft a bill in upcoming months that would provide law enforcement authorities with new investigative powers on the internet.

According to the letter, the new legislation would allow cybercrime investigators to remotely infiltrate computers in order to install monitoring software or to search them for evidence. Investigators would also be allowed to destroy illegal content, like child pornography, found during such searches.

Read more: Dutch government to give law agencies powers to hack foreign computers - Techworld.com