Cybercrime

The Chinese government and military are behind large numbers of cyberespionage attacks directed at U.S. government computer systems, according to a Pentagon report released this week.

Celebrity news service E! Online became the latest high-profile media Twitter account to fall victim to hackers, with a series of false Tweets that began with a claim that Justin Bieber was gay.

Wireless carriers Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile are putting customers at risk by failing to fix well-known security vulnerabilities on Android phones, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

Daily deals site LivingSocial has become the latest high-profile site to fall victim to hackers, after an attack accessed information for 50 million accounts last week.

Adrian Price, Head of Information Security at Britain's Ministry of Defence, suggested that governments should devote 20% of their budget to protecting the nation’s data - a sum worth billions more than that currently allocated in countries such as the UK itself.

Twitter is said to be testing new security systems in the wake of a false Tweet from an official Associated Press account which sent stock markets tumbling in America.

Most cyber attacks are simple and predictable, relying on basic tactics and preventable employee errors, according to Verizon’s annual Data Breach Investigations Report. The problem is made worse by the fact that companies often take months or even years to detect such breaches.

The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) passes the U.S. House despite privacy concerns and the threat of presidential veto.