Hackers take down Australian government site
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On Wednesday Australian hackers, protesting a proposed internet censorship bill, launched an attack against the Communications and Media Authority and planned to attack the Communication Minister's site. It is unclear whether the group's attack was fully successful or if the sites were taken down as a precaution. The hackers only identified themselves as "Anonymous."
Self-hosted WordPress sites under attack
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Users running older versions of the popular blogging software WordPress are reporting that their sites are being compromised by hackers. WordPress founder Matt Mullenwag has confirmed that older versions can be compromised by hackers through a security hole that has been patched in the latest version. Hackers have already claimed one high-profile victim, tech blogger Robert Scoble. Websites hosted on wordpress.com are not affected by the security hole.
Malicious hacker pleads guilty to $10m hacking case
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Ehud Tenenbaum, the Israeli born hacker who was caught in Canada after stealing $1.5 million from Canadian banks, has plead guilty to US charges claiming the notorious hacker stole nearly $10 million from a credit card processor, and two U.S. banks, according to Wired.
Tenenbaum faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
DDOS attack periodically brings down Gawker sites
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In a blog post this morning, Gawker Media confirms a DDOS attack from unknown hackers periodically brought down the network over the weekend. The attack was reportedly aimed at a site formerly owned by Gawker but remains hosted on its servers.
Computer security czar steps down
Melissa Hathaway, head of the Obama administration's efforts on computer security, is stepping down from her post, citing undisclosed personal reasons. Hathaway was originally appointed by President Bush, and as the WSJ notes, she didn't have too many political friends in her corner.
President Obama previously outlined a plan to make computer security a top priority back in May, but hasn't yet been able to fill a cabinet-level position.
AT&T blocking controversial site after DDoS attack: Reports
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TechDirt, and others, report AT&T is blocking access to 4Chan, a controversial internet site known as being a place for internet pranksters to cavort (more on its Wikipedia page). Apparently, the move started after 4Chan launched some sort of DDoS attack against AT&T, a claim that can't be verified. If true, AT&T's stance would likely violate net neutrality mandates and could serve as additional provocation for the 4Chan tricksters to perform more pranks on the company.
Update 8:44 AM EST: Apparently, the site is back, but suffering its own DDoS attack from attention. Expect this story to continue over the next several days.
Update 10:31 AM EST: One of our commenters points to this post, where a network engineer points out they were trying to save 4chan from the mess. If the posts are to be believed, looks like AT&T was actually the good guy in this case.
[Originally posted July 27th at 7:14AM]