Computer Security

Viruses, worms, Trojans, phishers, bots. The list of computer threats never shrinks, and the number of devices at risk only grows. Now we have to worry about security on smartphones and tablets along with personal computers and laptops. But could one of the biggest threats to your online safety have two legs, a smart mouth, and a carefree attitude? That's one implication of a recent survey conducted for Trend Micro, a leading computer security company. Forty percent of respondents said they suffered damage from clicking on links "leading to an unexpected place" online, at a cost that averaged about $42. More than a third of those blamed a child for the error.

WASHINGTON - When Kevin Mandia, a retired military cybercrime investigator, decided to expose China as a primary threat to U.S. computer networks, he did not have to consult with American diplomats in Beijing or declassify tactics to safely disclose government secrets. He pulled together a 76-page report based on seven years of his company's work and produced the most detailed public account yet of how, he says, the Chinese government has been rummaging through the networks of major U.S. companies.

Hackers attacked Wawa's website Friday afternoon, replacing images of hoagies and smoothies with a cartoon Hitler. A hacker group called UGNazi announced that it had defaced the website. The group replaced Wawa's promotional content with a portrait of "Kawaii Hitler," an obscure Internet meme. A spokeswoman for Wawa initially denied that the Delaware County company's website had been compromised. But late Friday, Lori Bruce issued a statement acknowledging that visitors were being redirected to a "non-legitimate Web page.

They call themselves Data Cops. They are the thin line of defense that separates the megabucks corporate computer system from the free-lance hacker with an Apple knock-off and a bad attitude. They are keenly aware of the hacker-induced outbreak of computer viruses that has screwed up computers across the United States, and they are not amused. "We take computer security, as a whole, very seriously," said Jane Paradise, computer security expert at Cigna Corp., explaining why many large corporations have been immune to the recent rash of computer viruses that have fouled up computer banks at universites, government research centers and a few small firms.

BARRE, Mass. - Working from a beige house at the end of a dirt road, Jeff Bardin switches on a laptop, boots up a program that obscures his location, and pecks in a passkey to an Internet forum run by an Iraqi branch of al-Qaeda. Soon the screen displays battle flags and AK-47 rifles, plus palm-lined beaches to conjure up a martyr's paradise. "I do believe we are in," says Bardin, 54, a computer security consultant. Barefoot in his bedroom, Bardin pretends to be a 20-something Canadian who wants to train in a militant camp in Pakistan.

The federal government is not well prepared to deal with computer virus attacks such as the recent "I LOVE YOU" virus, experts told a House of Representatives subcommittee yesterday. "Twenty-two out of the 24 largest federal agencies [studied] have significant computer weaknesses," said Jack Brock, computer issues director for the General Accounting Office, auditors for Congress. The two agencies that received adequate ratings - the National Science Foundation and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission - have not been completely evaluated, he said.

Reginald Branham became a computer whiz while at Overbrook High School in the 1980s, earning a four-year scholarship to Drexel University and becoming a computer executive. In recent years, however, he had turned his attention to fixing up bars. On Christmas night, Branham, 37, was shot dead at his latest bar, Cognac Corner in the 1400 block of South 21st Street in Point Breeze, making him the city's 402d homicide victim of the year. Police were not talking about a motive yesterday, but on the street outside the bar, those who said they knew Branham spoke of a possible hit and witness intimidation involving an earlier shooting.

FORT MEADE, Md. - The U.S. State Department took extraordinary steps to limit harm to foreign relations and individuals after an Army private allegedly sent more than 250,000 classified diplomatic cables to the secret-sharing website WikiLeaks, two agency officials testified at a court-martial hearing Thursday. One group of up to 25 high-ranking officials worked around the clock to try to get ahead of the problem before WikiLeaks began publishing the cables on Nov. 28, 2010, said Rena Bitter, director of the agency's operations center.

Growing up in Newark, N.J., Richard Epstein wanted to be a professor so he could be a writer like the city's native son, Philip Roth. Being a writer wasn't exactly what his parents had in mind for him, however. "It so upset my parents. My father said that writing was like a hobby," he recalled. Epstein went on to become a professor of computer science at West Chester University. Now a West Chester resident, he also found a way to combine his work in computer science, particularly ethics, with his desire to write.

They're terrorists with names like the Legion of Doom and Masters of Deception. But unlike the Red Guard or the Symbionese Liberation Army of a previous era, their weapon of choice is a keyboard, not an assault rifle. They are among the subversives launching sporadic attacks on the information superhighway and raising troubling questions about security and privacy for individuals, corporations and federal law enforcement agencies. During the last year, electronic invaders compromised passwords or stole data from scores of computer systems, including those using the Internet.

WASHINGTON - When Kevin Mandia, a retired military cybercrime investigator, decided to expose China as a primary threat to U.S. computer networks, he did not have to consult with American diplomats in Beijing or declassify tactics to safely disclose government secrets. He pulled together a 76-page report based on seven years of his company's work and produced the most detailed public account yet of how, he says, the Chinese government has been rummaging through the networks of major U.S. companies.

BARRE, Mass. - Working from a beige house at the end of a dirt road, Jeff Bardin switches on a laptop, boots up a program that obscures his location, and pecks in a passkey to an Internet forum run by an Iraqi branch of al-Qaeda. Soon the screen displays battle flags and AK-47 rifles, plus palm-lined beaches to conjure up a martyr's paradise. "I do believe we are in," says Bardin, 54, a computer security consultant. Barefoot in his bedroom, Bardin pretends to be a 20-something Canadian who wants to train in a militant camp in Pakistan.

How secure are your Internet communications and phone calls? How private are your travels with a cellphone in your pocket or purse? "Privacy is dead" earned the status of an Internet meme long before Facebook and other social media showed how willingly some of us would sacrifice our personal information for connection, celebrity, or even just the lure of free stuff. But commercial intrusions such as ads based on our Web surfing aren't the only risks we face in the age of the Internet, cellphones, and ubiquitous electronics.

Hackers attacked Wawa's website Friday afternoon, replacing images of hoagies and smoothies with a cartoon Hitler. A hacker group called UGNazi announced that it had defaced the website. The group replaced Wawa's promotional content with a portrait of "Kawaii Hitler," an obscure Internet meme. A spokeswoman for Wawa initially denied that the Delaware County company's website had been compromised. But late Friday, Lori Bruce issued a statement acknowledging that visitors were being redirected to a "non-legitimate Web page.

FORT MEADE, Md. - The U.S. State Department took extraordinary steps to limit harm to foreign relations and individuals after an Army private allegedly sent more than 250,000 classified diplomatic cables to the secret-sharing website WikiLeaks, two agency officials testified at a court-martial hearing Thursday. One group of up to 25 high-ranking officials worked around the clock to try to get ahead of the problem before WikiLeaks began publishing the cables on Nov. 28, 2010, said Rena Bitter, director of the agency's operations center.

TEHRAN, Iran - Computer technicians battling to contain a complex virus last month resorted to the ultimate firewall measures - cutting off Internet links to Iran's Oil Ministry, rigs, and the hub for nearly all the country's crude exports. At the time, Iranian officials described it as a data-siphoning blitz on key oil networks. On Wednesday, they gave it a name: A strike by the powerful "Flame" malware that experts this week have called a new and highly sophisticated program capable of hauling away computer files and even listening in on computer users.

WASHINGTON - An Army officer recommended a general court-martial Thursday for a low-ranking intelligence analyst charged with causing the biggest leak of classified information in U.S. history. Lt. Col. Paul Almanza's recommendation to try Pfc. Bradley Manning on all 22 counts, including aiding the enemy, now goes up the chain of command for a final determination. Almanza sent his report to Col. Carl Coffman, garrison commander of Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall near Washington.

Viruses, worms, Trojans, phishers, bots. The list of computer threats never shrinks, and the number of devices at risk only grows. Now we have to worry about security on smartphones and tablets along with personal computers and laptops. But could one of the biggest threats to your online safety have two legs, a smart mouth, and a carefree attitude? That's one implication of a recent survey conducted for Trend Micro, a leading computer security company. Forty percent of respondents said they suffered damage from clicking on links "leading to an unexpected place" online, at a cost that averaged about $42. More than a third of those blamed a child for the error.

Carl M. Campbell Jr., 79, who developed computer-security systems from his home office in Newtown Square, died Sunday, June 26, of pneumonia at Bryn Mawr Hospital. A son, Carl M. 3d, said Mr. Campbell closed his home-based firm, Transaction Security Products, in 2003. His son said that, during much of his career, Mr. Campbell "was chiefly involved with the application of cryptography for the protection of electronic financial-messaging systems. "He was also integral in the development of national and international standards currently in use for protection of electronic financial data throughout the world.

As soon as the news broke that the FBI was investigating former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo, his computer technicians stepped up security and became more vigilant about getting rid of his e-mails, one of the computer experts testified yesterday. Testifying under a grant of immunity from prosecution, Donald Wilson told the jury in Fumo's federal corruption trial that he and another computer technician, Leonard Luchko, also used sophisticated software programs to permanently wipe out any traces of deleted e-mails.