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Hackers break into Azerbaijan Eurovision websites - BAKU (Reuters) - A group of hackers calling themselves Cyberwarriors for Freedom attacked the official websites of the Eurovision song contest on Thursday, demanding that the host nation, Azerbaijan, cancel next week's competition. Azerbaijan, a mainly Muslim ex-Soviet republic, won the right to host the contest by winning last year's event in Germany, and sees the competition as a chance to showcase the country. The grand finale is scheduled for May 26. ...

UK agency approves BlackBerry 7 OS for government - (Reuters) - Research In Motion Ltd said the UK agency responsible for setting standards for computer security has approved the BlackBerry 7 operating system for government use. This will allow the government employees to use six models of the smart phone including BlackBerry Bold 9900, BlackBerry Torch 9810 and BlackBerry Torch 9860, RIM said. Ministry of defence, central government employees and more than half of the country's police force use BlackBerry smart phones, the company said. (Reporting by Aftab Ahmed in Bangalore; Editing by Joyjeet Das)

Hackers booby-trap foreign policy group websites - Internet security researchers warned that foreign policy and human rights websites are being booby-trapped by hackers in what appears to be cyber espionage.

Utah tech director resigns in wake of data theft - Utah's chief technology officer has resigned following the theft of hundreds of thousands of online medical records from state computers by unknown hackers.

Cyberattacks Target Russian Broadcasters, Ustream CEO Responds - Popular online video broadcasting and streaming service Ustream has gone down only three times in its five-year history, but on Wednesday it was hit with the most complex Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack it's ever seen.

2 teens arrested in Norway for alleged cyber attacks against government, corporate sites - OSLO - Norwegian police say they have arrested two teenage hackers accused of so-called denial-of-service attacks against websites in Norway, the U.S. and other countries.

2 teens arrested in Norway in cyber attack case - Norwegian police say they have arrested two teenage hackers accused of so-called denial-of-service attacks against websites in Norway, the U.S. and other countries.

Activist hackers temporarily block Putin's website - MOSCOW (Reuters) - Hackers temporarily blocked President Vladimir Putin's web site on Wednesday, carrying out a promise to disrupt government information portals two days after his swearing-in for another six-year term that has drawn street protests. The hacker activist group Anonymous used the "Op_Russia" twitter account to publicize the attack, saying "kremlin.ru - TANGO DOWN" and "Anonymous shuts down Kremlin's websites". Internet users in Russia said they were unable to access the www.kremlin.ru website for several minutes on Wednesday. ...

Twitter Debunks Reports of 55,000 Hacked Accounts - Hackers claiming to be affiliated with the hacktivist group Anonymous claimed this week to have accessed and published the details of about 55,000 Twitter accounts. But Twitter said Tuesday those claims are largely bogus, and that the group mostly posted duplicate information or username and password information for suspended spam accounts.

Interpol says organised gangs behind internet crime boom - Interpol president Khoo Boon Hui said on Tuesday that organised international gangs are behind most internet scams and that cyber crime's estimated cost is more than that of cocaine, heroin and marijuana trafficking put together.

Interpol to crack down on cyber crime - Interpol said Tuesday it is making the war against cyber crime a main priority this year as online fraud crosses borders and increases in scope.

McAfee founder claims persecution in Belize - The founder of the computer virus software company McAfee, Inc. says he is being persecuted by police in his home in the Central American country of Belize.

Lockheed wins contract to run U.S. cyber crime lab - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp on Thursday said it had won a contract worth up to $454 million to support the Pentagon's Cyber Crime Center, a government facility that investigates the growing number of attacks on U.S. government networks. Lockheed beat out General Dynamics Corp, which previously ran the center, to win the contract in January, but the award was held up by a protest filed with the General Accountability Office. ...

Crime agency SOCA's website hit by hackers - The website of Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) has been taken offline after an attack by hackers, the agency said on Thursday.

Cyber-attack shuts UK crime body's website - LONDON (Reuters) - Hackers attacked the website of Britain's Serious Organized Crime Agency (SOCA), a spokesman said on Thursday, the latest in a wave of assaults against high profile targets like NASA, the Vatican and multi-national companies. The national police agency, often described as the British FBI, said it closed the website late on Wednesday after it came under attack from an unknown source. Internet activist groups such as Anonymous, LulzSec and Antisec have previously been linked to attacks against bodies including the U.S. Senate, Sony and Visa. ...

Cyber-attack shuts crime body's website - LONDON (Reuters) - Hackers attacked the website of Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), a spokesman said on Thursday, the latest in a wave of assaults against high profile targets like NASA, the Vatican and multi-national companies. The national police agency, often described as the British FBI, said it closed the website late on Wednesday after it came under attack from an unknown source. Internet activist groups such as Anonymous, LulzSec and Antisec have previously been linked to attacks against bodies including the U.S. Senate, Sony and Visa. ...

British crime agency website knocked out by attack - Britain's Serious and Organized Crime Agency says its website has been taken down following a denial-of-service attack.

Hackers pick Google's pocket with Mac virus - A virus infecting Macintosh computers is picking Google's pocket by hijacking advertising "clicks," tallying as much as $10,000 daily, according to Internet security firm Symantec.

Religion riskier than porn for online viruses: study - Web wanderers are more likely to get a computer virus by visiting a religious website than by peering at porn, according to a study released on Tuesday.

Spam Texts: 4.5 Billion Messages a Year and Counting [VIDEO] - Text message spam promising free iPads or cash rewards may be obnoxious and unwanted, but they also carry a greater danger: clicking on texts can install malware that collects personal data from your phone.

Microsoft says raid damaged cybercrime operation - Microsoft and the banking industry on Monday provided a detailed, behind-the-scenes account of an operation they said disrupted a major cybercrime operation that used malicious software to allegedly steal $100 million from consumers over the last five years.

Taliban website hacked as Afghan cyber war heats up - KABUL (Reuters) - Hackers have for the third time in less than a year crippled the main website of the Afghan Taliban, with a Taliban spokesman on Friday blaming Western intelligence agencies amid an intensifying cyber war with the insurgents. The unidentified hackers broke into the Taliban's El Emara website twice on Thursday, replacing usual insurgent victory messages with images of executions and support for the Afghan government and security forces in English, Arabic and Pashto. ...

Hackers hit Philippines websites amid China dispute - Philippine government websites are under heavy attack from hackers, apparently from China, amid a tense territorial dispute between the two countries in the South China Sea, officials said Thursday.

Google raises bounty on software bugs - Google on Monday raised to $20,000 its bounty on software bugs that hackers could exploit for cyber attacks on the Internet giant's online services.

Symantec shares drop after lowered 4Q outlook - Shares of Symantec Corp. took a hit Tuesday after the computer security and data storage company lowered its fourth-quarter adjusted earnings and revenue outlook citing weaker demand from its business customers.

Official: Iran oil industry safe after cyberattack - An Iranian official says the country's oil industry is working well despite an attack from hackers and a computer virus that targeted the sector's computer systems.

1 in 5 Macs Has Malware [STUDY] - In a challenge to the prevailing belief that Apple computers are immune to the sort of cyberattacks that plague WIndows-based machines, research firm Sophos has released a study claiming that one in five Macs have malware.

Summary Box: Report of cyberattack in Iran - HACKING IN THE MIDEAST: A report says the Iranian oil ministry's computer network came under attack from hackers and a computer virus, prompting Iran to disconnect its main oil export terminal from the Internet.

Report: Iran unplugs oil facilities from Internet - The Iranian oil ministry's computer network came under attack from hackers and a computer virus, prompting the Islamic Republic to disconnect the country's main oil export terminal from the Internet as a preventative measure, a semiofficial news agency reported on Monday.

Check Point Software 1Q profit grows 18 percent - Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. said Monday that its first-quarter earnings rose 18 percent, helped by growing demand for its Internet security software.

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Socialcam closes hole that enabled accidental sharing - The popular video-sharing app responds to complaint from privacy advocate.

Pirate Bay, WikiLeaks fight off crippling attacks - Tables turn as hacker favorites are targeted in DDoS attacks.

U.S. cybersecurity chief Howard Schmidt retiring - The two-time adviser to the U.S. government on cybersecurity is stepping down to spend more time with family, look into teaching, and ride his motorcycle on a trip out West.

Twitter announces support for Do Not Track - The social network stops the tracking when users are on Firefox or other browsers that support the Do Not Track feature. Of course, that feature also has to be turned on.

Friday debut of SF bar-cams stirs sour reception - With a new service called SceneTap set to put video cameras in bars, privacy advocates warn that a red line's about to get crossed.

Euclid downplays privacy concerns about Wi-Fi tracking - Startup called Euclid Elements shows up at privacy conference to say there are no problems with recording locations of millions of smartphones (unless their owners go to the company's Web site and opt out).

Flashback makers missed out on their payday, Symantec says - According to the security firm, the makers of the Flashback malware made $14,000 from click fraud last month, but can't collect on it.

Facebook IPO doesn't mean the end of privacy - Privacy experts say that just because the company is going public, doesn't mean that it's game over for user privacy. In fact, it might shine a brighter light on privacy concerns.

Microsoft readies NUads: They watch you watching them - Interactive NUads advertisements tied to the Kinect sensor will roll out in late spring, Microsoft tells CNET. But will all other Kinect apps be as privacy-sensitive?

Apple QuickTime update for Windows only; Macs already secure - Apple's security and OS updates included the latest version of QuickTime, which Apple has just made available for Windows PCs.

Avira update blocked Windows applications - Avira resolves faulty software update after it is found to block Windows applications.

Bots dominate small Web site traffic, research shows - Shared hosting providers can lose more than 50 percent of their capacity from parasitic drag generated by bot traffic, according to a new report.

Rebekah Brooks charged in phone-hacking scandal - The Crown Prosecution Service says Brooks, along with her personal assistant and chauffeur, among others, are charged with "perverting the course of justice."

Facebook attempts to clear up privacy questions - Social network's privacy chief says policy changes aren't really new but include more details on how the site uses your data.

After a decade of Windows malware, feel any safer? - After a rash of Windows-related malware, Microsoft took Bill Gates' urging in 2002 to make security more of a priority.

After a decade of Windows malware, do you feel any safer? - After a rash of Windows-related malware, Microsoft took Bill Gates' urging in 2002 to make security more of a priority. How trustworthy is your computing these days?

Kaspersky: Apple needs to face up to Mac threats - The security company says it analyzed Mac OS X vulnerabilities and new forms of malware on its own initiative, but that "Apple is open to collaborating with us."

Kaspersky probe: Apple working with us on new vulnerabilities, malware - Kaspersky said its analysis of the Mac OS platform was conducted independently of Apple.

Kaspersky probe: Apple doesn't take security seriously enough - Probing the Mac OS for malware vulnerabilities at Apple's request, Kaspersky doesn't think the company is paying enough attention to security.

Adobe will issue free security fixes for CS5 apps after all - The company says it's working on patches for Creative Suite 5.x versions of Photoshop, Illustrator, and Flash. Previously, customers would have had to pay to upgrade to CS6 to get the fixes.

Adobe will issue security fixes for CS5 apps after all - The company says it's working on patches for Creative Suite 5.x versions of Photoshop, Illustrator, and Flash. Previously, customers would have had to pay to upgrade to CS6 to get the fixes.

Startup proposes a safer Internet locale via a '.secure' domain - Security researcher envisions a top-level domain designed with security in mind for safer Web browsing.

Adobe users must pay for security upgrades - The company has released patches for four of its software suites, but users concerned about the vulnerabilities in these products will be required to purchase upgrades of each product except for one.

EFF: Prosecutors want location data via a Twitter shortcut - A subpoena for a protestor's Twitter account information could reveal location data without forcing authorities to obtain a search warrant, privacy advocates at the EFF note.

Loose wording in cyberwar bill raises question: Who's in charge? - House committee approves bill that appears to give DOD power to conduct military activities in cyberspace, including clandestine operations, without running it by the President.